The GreenBiz Executive Network Europe (GBEN Europe) is a peer-driven membership group designed to support sustainability professionals in large companies tasked to drive transformation across their organizations. We do this by creating highly curated experiences that deepen exchanges and build capacity for our members as they embrace increasingly ambitious goals.

GBEN Europe’s combination of expertly facilitated in-person meetings, virtual learning capsules, and coordinated knowledge-sharing allows members, from a wide range of sectors, to leverage collective intelligence and resources.

The GBEN concept started some 15 years ago with a cohort of US sustainability leaders and now counts over 100 members. Visit the GBEN US site here.

Do I fit the GBEN member profile? 

If you are a corporate sustainability or social responsibility leader based in Europe that would like to be part of a community of peers to gain and/or share guidance and insight, then you’ve found your people. The GreenBiz Executive Network (GBEN) Europe designs opportunities to have meaningful exchanges that support sustainability professionals in their roles. GBEN members are decision-makers responsible for their company’s global or regional sustainability initiatives and performance.

What’s the criteria for membership? 

GBEN members are typically senior leaders in a corporate function who’s role scope covers the company’s sustainability, social responsibility and environmental programs at a global or regional level. Both in the US and in Europe, members represent corporations with annual revenues greater than €1bn. Membership is currently not available to service providers, universities, NGO’s, or the media.

What types of companies are members? How will my company benefit?

GBEN member companies include both learners and leaders coming from a wide range of business sectors (see our members section). Members include some of the world’s leading companies and brands as well as some that are not household names. Extending membership to a broad range of companies fosters innovation and creativity that provides a fresh lens on solutions to the challenges faced by sustainability professionals, their teams and organizations. Being part of this community gives companies the opportunity to create awareness for their initiatives and also learn from others’ paths.

What are the benefits of joining GBEN Europe? 

GBEN Europe is unique because our facilitated member meetings are designed to be participative, peer-led, and highly interactive - quite different from traditional sustainability gatherings (e.g. events, working groups or initiatives). GBEN meetings are intentionally curated to deliver the best current insights and actions on environmental and social sustainability in the corporate setting. The topics, research, and activities organized by the network are determined entirely by the members themselves, based on their questions, interests, and needs to support their work.

What do members find most useful? 

Our in-person meetings, held three times per year, consistently receive the highest ratings. Being together in a room allows for meaningful and creative exchanges amongst peers. That format is complemented with the virtual meeting lineup, which the members appreciate because it provides the opportunity to focus on a specific departmental theme (such as purchasing, supply chain, energy management, financial risk, HR, communications, marketing and other functions) and the ability to have an unlimited number of their colleagues participate, too. Member-led research, access to the member directory and other resources, as well as facilitated outreach to get immediate feedback to member questions are seen as a benefit because this “extension of the team” can help to save time and resources.

What kind of commitments are members expected to make?

Show up and participate! Come with your insights, experiences and questions to share. We also like to say that the concept of GBEN means that there’s no homework. Overall, GBEN meetings provide a forum for members to discuss strategies, progress, challenges, solutions, and leadership issues with their peers. 

To participate, members can choose to attend any of the in-person meetings held three times a year, each in a different European city. The virtual meetings also provide monthly opportunities for members and their colleagues to take a deep dive on a specific topic.

Members are encouraged to be active participants in all GBEN activities to get the most value from the network.