World Challenge Impact Report 2023

REPORT IMPACT

2023 ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT

The past year saw travel blossoming after the pandemic – with destinations open and ready to re-welcome visitors on scale, and travellers eager to get out and experience the world once again. With the removal of any restrictions or prohibitive entry requirements, we were able to get back to visiting 100% of the destinations we operate, allowing us to reconnect with many of our global partners and Ground Teams. With this return to a more normal travel outlook, our team has also grown, and we’ve had the pleasure of hosting several thousand student travellers from across the globe on trips all over the world.

As ever, it’s a pleasure to reflect upon and share the collective impact of those experiences. This report will identify key achievements and tracking against our three impact objectives, as described below, as well as introducing some of the achievements from within our team this year, too.

1. 2. 3.

The success of our programme and trips in delivering our educational outcomes, and the impact this has on travellers’ personal development.

The impact of our community initiatives with regards to engaging students on important global issues, and supporting local communities to further their goals.

The size of our carbon footprint, how it has been mitigated though offsetting and reforestation programmes, and how we’re progressing towards our reduction targets.

DELIVERING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OUR

Travellers who joined us in 2023 were the second cohort to access our online learning modules prior to departure. These modules span topics relating to Personal Growth, Wellbeing and Global Citizenship- designed to provide a foundation of knowledge that can be developed through experiences on the trip. The foundations of this learning material are the following six educational outcomes:

Students will gain a greater understanding of how to act for a more sustainable future, at both local and global levels.

Students will be immersed in different cultures and experiences, growing to understand their role within our global community.

Students will be challenged to think critically about topical issues that affect our past, present and future around the world.

Students will be empowered to build on their self-care strategies, enhancing their physical and mental wellbeing.

Students will experience and reflect on the power of being pushed outside of their comfort zone, allowing the development of initiative, confidence, and resilience.

Students will build a deeper connection to their own identity & personal values, developing their independence and sense of self.

MEASURING SUCCESS

What our students said

Once back home, we asked the students to tell us what they felt they had learned from the experience. We believe that the impact of a World Challenge trip lasts long after the homebound flight touches down, as our travellers carry the knowledge, skills, and values developed on their trip with them into future stages of their lives. Here’s what they told us about their experiences this year.

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

98%

of students took action to be more sustainable whilst they were travelling.

76%

68%

68%

RETURNING HOME

of students will increase their efforts to protect nature and the environment.

of students will seek more sustainable ways to travel in the future.

of students will try to reduce their plastic waste.

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

WHAT OUR STUDENTS SAID

INSIGHT

“My eyes have been opened to the effects some things can have on the world, I want to be part of the change to stop them now I am back home.”

Reuben, student

AWARENESS

“World Challenge has further encouraged me to pursue a career in conservation, raising my awareness of the crucial work conservationists do around the world.”

Rowan, student

REFLECTION

“Seeing how plastic affects beaches and marine life in other countries will make me stop wasting so much plastic.”

Jacob, student

Photo by Gill Dobson on Expedition in Borneo

MEASURING SUCCESS

PERSONAL GROWTH

99% 99% 98% of students developed their leadership skills on their trip. of students stepped out of their comfort zone whilst on their World Challenge.

of students used initiative to problem solve in challenging situations whilst they were travelling.

RETURNING HOME

81%

64%

of students returned home feeling more confident. of students returned home feeling more resilient.

89%

of students will challenge themselves to try new things more often than they did before they joined their World Challenge trip.

“TRAVELLING WITH WORLD CHALLENGE HAS MADE ME MORE CONFIDENT; I FEEL MUCH BRAVER NOW AND MORE LIKELY TO TRY NEW THINGS.“

SOPHIE –STUDENT

Sophie, student

“I HAVE LEARNED TO BE QUICK-THINKING AND MORE RESOURCEFUL IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS, I AM ALSO MORE WILLING TO HAVE A GO AT. SOMETHING NEW.

“

SICILY –STUDENT

67% 92%

of students used self-care strategies during their trip.

stated that they will continue to develop their use of these now they are back home.

“TRAVELLING WITH WORLD CHALLENGE HAS MADE ME REALISE A LOVE FOR THE OUTDOORS AND HIKING, HAS GIVEN ME AN APPRECIATION FOR THE SIMPLE THINGS IN LIFE, AND MADE ME VALUE ALL THAT I HAVE.“

MEASURING SUCCESS

WHAT OUR LEADERS SAID

We also asked our Leaders to reflect on the ways in which their teams utilised knowledge around responsible travel, reflected on experiences outside of their comfort zones, and used self-care strategies on the trips.

Here are the results

RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL

Did students demonstrate consideration of responsible travel in their decisionmaking on trip?

REFLECTION SELF CARE

Did students demonstrate recognition of learning through reflection on experiences outside of their comfort zone?

Did students demonstrate that they were comfortable using self-care strategies on the trip

WORLD C H A L L E NGE LO

To maximise the impact of our trips on students’ learning and development, in 2024, we plan to offer training to all of our leaders, to identify ways that they can promote personal growth during the trips they lead, through activities, reflections and facilitation.

Hannah Lock

ALUMNI STORIES

We believe that much of the impact of our trips takes place once the students have returned home. This comes from the different ways in which they adapt their behaviours, or even change their direction, as a result of the experiences they had on the trip. We love hearing what our past travellers are up to now, and how their trip helped them to get there.

Hannah Lock

travelled on two World Challenge trips when she was at school – firstly to Morocco for a week trekking in the Atlas Mountains, and secondly for a month of student leadership in Bolivia.

Now, she is an A&E Doctor, a teacher of Mountain Medicine and an Expedition Doctor specialising in high altitude medicine. It was during her trip to Morocco that she first became interested in pursuing medicine, influenced by her experiences of the local healthcare system.

The trip had a broader influence on her direction, too, having been led by female Expedition Leader, Paula, at the time very much a minority in a role most often held by males. Hannah saw in Paula a role model and began to consider opportunities to work in an outdoor environment. Later, in Bolivia, her interest in trekking at altitude was sparked, and she has since gone on to combine all of these elements to create a career that centres around her hobbies.

For Hannah, these trips also fostered lasting friendships, and have equipped her with the skills she has needed to travel independently.

She has since travelled on expeditions as a medic, and is often found in the mountains in her free time.

HANNAH LOCK

COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

In 2023 we visited 66 of our initiatives around the world, including 41 community and 25 conservation programmes.

41

COMMUNITY INITIATIVES CONSERVATION PROGRAMMES

66

The impact of the initiatives we visited spans 10 SDGs.

THE IMPACT OF THE INITIATIVES WE VISITED SPANS

1SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

17 Photo by Alex Frood on Expedition in Borneo

Sun Bears

50hoursofwildlife monitoring datacollection

Moonbears

10

Elephan

Onehuman-wildlifeconfli

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION PROGRAMMES

in 5 countries

Turtle conservation

Some of our key

5organicpfarming rojects

56

REGENERATION PROGRAMMES

Across destinations

21reforestat

planting

2023

56

REGENERATION PROGRAMMES

Across 8 destinations

30environmental cleanu p p r o j ce st

1watertankinstalled

12 classrooms constructed or renovated

29

12 sustainableincome

3housing

INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS projects

in 8 countries

1toilet constructed ion activities

650 trees

$ $ $

awatertank

IMPACT STORIES

TURTLE CONSERVATION

Teams assisted with 7 turtle conservation programmes in Malaysia, Borneo, Belize and Costa Rica, where they participated in night patrols, installed hatchery infrastructure, cleaned and restored beaches, to help the local turtle populations thrive.

NEPAL LAOS

In Nepal, teams worked with our local partners to construct an earthquake-proof house for a single mother and her children in a rural village near Kathmandu.

In Laos, a team installed a water tank at a school, giving students access to water for drinking and sanitation whilst they are studying.

ECUADOR

In the Ecuador, teams learned about sustainable living and ways they can change their behaviour at home to protect natural environments around the world.

CLIMATE ACTION

To find out more about how we’re working to reduce and mitigate against our impact on the climate crisis, read our CLIMATE ACTION PLAN.

We’re committed to transparently reporting our carbon emissions, which we began tracking and measuring in 2021. To benchmark our progress, we use 2019 (our last ‘normal’ year of operation) as a baseline against which we measure progress.

Per Our Carbon Footprint in Total of emissions

Customer 2019 8,675 3.16 27,447 TONNES

Office Offices & Staff 0.009 TONNES Trips 0.19 TONNES Customer flights 2.85 TONNES

READ OUR CLIMATE ACTION PLAN

Updates to our measurement methodology

As we have worked to calculate our 2023 footprint, we have seen changes to emissions factors (the measures used to turn raw data into emissions measurements), which have resulted in some changes to our measurements. In addition, we have recalculated aspects of our 2019 baseline, including our flights emissions to make the data more accurate.

As with many aspects of sustainability, as the information we have improves, we need to iterate our methodology to ensure accuracy and transparency, which has resulted in some adjustments to figures previously reported.

OUR FOOTPRINT IN 2023

The past year has been, for many reasons, the most ‘normal’ travel year we have had since 2019, and as such, provides the best indication we have had to date about the progress we have made against our climate action plan. That said, changes to emissions factors, and the data we collect to report on our carbon footprint has also enhanced this year, leading to some adjustments to our data.

Overall, our emissions per passenger have risen against both our 2022 footprint, and our 2019 baseline. This can however largely be explained by the improvements we have made to our measurement methodology and the accuracy of that data. In the year ahead, we will take another look back at our 2019 report to ensure that we are reporting our baseline as accurately as we can. We will also continue to look for ways to reduce our emissions across all of the areas outlined below.

issions

OFFICE AND STAFF EMISSIONS

Emissions resulting from the operation of our offices and from our staff team remain down 88% on 2019.

We have now taken up residence in our new, permanent, smaller office spaces in the UK and Australia. This downsizing, as well as implementing a more mindful and conscious approach to staff travel has allowed us to achieve this decrease.

OUR TRIP EMISSIONS

Trip emissions are up 142% on 2019 and 360% on 2022.

In part, the change from 2022 to 2023 can be accounted for by an increase in long-haul travel. In 2022 approximately 62% of our departures travelled long-haul, in 2023 this rose to 74%. The most likely reason for this, is that the data for 2022 is an anomaly, whereby some schools were still showing a preference for short-haul trips after the pandemic, a trend which has now dissipated.

Further to this, the increase can also be explained by a change to the way in which this aspect of the footprint is measured, a change to the emissions factors used (which have been updated by DEFRA), and a higher accuracy of data in 2023. In measuring 2023 we have accounted for a greater volume of emissions resulting from meals provided on trips, as well as for surface transport used in the destination – both of these measures are up on 2019, despite the lower volume of passengers, as a result of the way they are calculated.

We expect to see this number stabilising in 2024 with the same methodology being implemented, and then beginning to decrease with the implementation of changes to the itineraries to allow more efficient use of services on the ground.

CO2

31% UP on 2019

Our flight emissions

OUR FLIGHT EMISSIONS

Our flight emissions are up 31% on 2022.

This increase aligns with the 32% uplift in the emissions factor applied to the measurement this year compared to last (the factor is the multiplier used to turn the distance travelled into volume of emissions generated).

As ever, flights remains the largest portion of our emissions, and an area over which we have the least control. We eagerly await changes in the aviation industry which will allow us to see improvements in this area.

We will continue to monitor changes in the aviation industry and seek ways to select optimum flight routes and airlines to create emissions reductions in this area, where viable.

MITIGATION REGENERATION AND

In 2023 we began to transition away from traditional carbon offsetting, towards nature-based solutions which enable us to mitigate negative impact on the environment as a result of the emissions generated through our operations. We’ve chosen to make this change, partly due to the ongoing controversy around offsets and questions regarding their effectiveness, but primarily, due to our passion for protecting and regenerating the natural environments that we love to explore on our trips.

Why reforestation?

Trees play a key role in protecting our planet from the impacts of climate change and are a highly effective tool when it comes to removing harmful greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. By investing in reforestation initiatives, we’re confident that we’re investing in an effective solution to the problem at hand. Beyond their carbon sequestration qualities, the forests we grow will also provide habitats in which wildlife can thrive, and supply sources of food and employment to local communities.

These programmes closely align to our organisational values, allowing us to protect and nurture the environments we love to explore, ensuring future generations can enjoy them, just as we have.

We purchased gold-standard certified offsets to the amount of 5886 tonnes of emissions prior to making the change to nature-based solutions.

We then planted 133,000 trees in partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects to mitigate against the remainder of our footprint. We calculated the number of trees planted using methodology which estimates the volume of trees required to sequester the amount of emissions generated over a period of 20 years. We then plant an additional five trees for every passenger who has travelled with us.

We acknowledge however that there are many variables at play, which can adjust the actual amount of emissions sequestered by those trees. To maximise the benefit of the reforestation initiatives, alongside our reforestation partners, we take the following steps to maximise the potential impact of these initiatives:

1.

2.

3.

A large portion of our funding goes towards planting mangroves which remove emissions 2-4x faster than other forests whilst also protecting the coastline from the degradation that climate change can cause

The forests are carefully managed and monitored to ensure trees are protected- growing and thriving long into the future. We plant enough trees to absorb our emissions within a 20-year time frame, though most of the trees we plant will continue to grow for much longer, creating lasting positive impacts for our planet well into the future

Forests are carefully planned alongside local communities, with a variety of tree species planted in each location, to ensure maximum effectiveness when it comes to tackling climate change

4.

Local communities are engaged to carry out the planting programmes, creating income generation and employment opportunities for them

Delivering our trips safely, ensuring our travellers have a fantastic experience, that learning outcomes are achieved, and sustainability initiatives are implemented, would not be possible without our incredible and dedicated team.

The past year has seen us continue to grow across all of our offices, in Buckinghamshire, Melbourne and Cape Town. As we grow, we continue to work to foster an environment that promotes personal development, creating a fun and engaging workplace.

OUR PEOPLE

TEAM TRAVEL

In 2023 we were able to hit the road again, with sixteen members of the team heading out to experience our trips and destinations first-hand.

‘My World Challenge trip was a 2 week journey of self-discovery. I’m grateful for the opportunity to experience what our students do every year, and recognize the transformative nature of being out of my comfort zone. It taught me that it’s okay to disconnect. It also taught me that sometimes to get to the good experiences, you need to go through a day of challenging trekking, and that’s okay.’

Richard, 2023

These opportunities to lead and assist on trips, visit teams in high-volume locations, and meet new suppliers on recces, enable team members to:

1.

Experience a World Challenge trip first-hand, better connecting with our organisational purpose

Put themselves in our travellers’ boots; getting to understand the destinations, cultures and experiences whilst quality assuring our adventures

Network with our incredible Ground Teams around the world

2. 3.

CAMBODIA - THE TRIP I DIDN’T KNOW I NEEDED...

EUROPE

Norway Iceland

AFRICA

Tanzania eSwatini

India

Nepal

ASIA SOUTHEAST

ASIA

Cambodia

Vietnam

Borneo

AUSTRALASIA

New South Wales

New Zealand

PACIFIC

New Caledonia

CHARITY & GIVING

Every member of our team gets two days off per year to volunteer for a cause of their choice. This year, Emilie headed up to Scotland to assist Eadha with an Aspen reforestation programme; Aspen trees are planted on riverbanks to provide habitats for the local beaver population. Sophie lent a hand as a mentor with Ocean Mind in Australia. And Lucie spent her time assisting Secours Populaire in France, providing emergency support to vulnerable people, specifically through the distribution of food to those in need.

Over the course of the year our team have also fundraised for a number of causes

EARTHQUAKE RELIEF MOROCCO - £2,155

September brought devastating news of a severe earthquake in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Our team hosted a Moroccan tea party to raise funds for the relief effort, which was also supported by our wider community of students, teachers and leaders, both past and present.

Collectively we raised £2155 which was donated to Education For All, an organisation that provides support to 200 girls across six boarding houses in the High Atlas to allow them to access higher grades of education. Many of the school buildings were severely damaged by the earthquake and funds will be used to repair the damage and restore support to enable the girls to continue their education.

We also donated our entire Morocco-based stock of 100 tents to provide immediate relief to those affected and in need of shelter after the quake.

OFFICE FUNDRAISING

Earthquake relief Turkey

In February, we raised £70 for Earthquake relief in Turkey by hosting a pancake breakfast in the office.

Bowel Cancer Research UK

Spring saw the return of our annual office Bake Off competition, with 12 members of the team bringing in their best home-baked goods for judgement by the wider team. We raised £117 for Bowel Cancer Research UK through the competition.

In 2024 we aim to increase the number of staff volunteer days utilised and the amount of fundraising events held at all of our offices.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

We’re keen to promote personal development opportunities for the team, just as we do for our travellers, and this year a lot was achieved:

Outdoor First Aid Training

12 members of the UK team completed a 2-day Outdoor First Aid course, and 3 members of the Australia team completed a 4-day Wilderness First Aid course.

Mindful presenter training

18 team members did Mindful Presenter training.

Global incident simulation

We ran a global incident simulation in preparation for our peak departure season.

Mental Health First Aid Training

12 members of the team completed Mental Health First Aid training.

Chiltern Hills

The UK team headed out on a taster expedition in the Chiltern Hills to connect with our purpose.

Wilson’s Prom

The Australia team headed to Wilson’s Prom for their taster expedition.

Master in International Relations

Pippa, our Senior Ops Coordinator, completed her Masters in International Relations.

Counselling skills

Head of Customer Experience, Vicky, took a weekend course to understand how to apply counselling skills in an outdoor environment.

Leadership Training

Our Sales Team Leaders, Oli and Dan both completed Leadership Training.

Mountain Leader Training

Our Product Team Manager, Liz completed her Mountain Leader Training.

As we move into 2024, we will continue to make sustainability a priority throughout our operations

Our key goals include

Reviewing where we may be able to reduce emissions, particularly within the itineraries we run, and the way that we operate our offices.

Continue to build our global network of community and conservation partners to grow our impact around the world.

Continue to consider where we may have opportunities to opt for lower-emission flight routes where appropriate.

Identify the best opportunities to implement nature regeneration programmes to mitigate the negative impact of our carbon footprint.

Provide further opportunities for our staff to grow and develop through travel and training opportunities.