Becoming a Partner of UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man

We invite organisations across the Isle of Man to take our Biosphere Pledge and become Biosphere Partners.

Partners range from Government Departments and local authorities to businesses, charities and cultural and community groups. All 38 Isle of Man schools are UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man Partners.

Partners pledge to protect natural resources, make a positive environmental impact, develop the economy in a sustainable way, support and promote our culture and heritage, engage with the community and promote the Island’s land and seascapes.

All these actions contribute to a more sustainable Isle of Man.

Our governing Stakeholder Partnership Group opted for a Partnership scheme that is cost-free and simple to apply for, to encourage organisations to take part.

We would rather have many organisations striving to ‘do their bit’ than have only an elite few Partners capable of achieving all the pledge points.

So there are no inspections; nobody with clipboards coming round.

The process of applying for Partnership encourages organisations to evaluate what they are already contributing to the Biosphere.

A director of a well-established, medium-sized, Manx company recently told us that when it applied for Partnership it was the first time the entire workforce had sat down together to work out what they ‘stood for’ as a company. She said great ideas emerged, too.

But the process does not end once Partnership is awarded.

We have many heartening conversations with Partners about changes they are encouraged to effect within their organisations simply because they are involved. You might say they have got the Biosphere bug.

We even have Biosphere Partners forming networks and at least one that purchases goods and services it needs only from other Biosphere Partners, where it possibly can. 

Businesses, in particular, can have a huge positive impact on sustainability. They produce, they package, they consume, they transport items, they light and heat premises.

The decisions they make and actions they take can not only help our Biosphere and our planet but can also influence their employees and customers, too.

Our business Partners range in size from local branches of big multi-national, companies with their own, extensive, corporate social responsibility commitments to one-person start-ups looking to ‘do the right thing’.

We are fortunate enough to have a University College Isle of Man Masters intern working with us each year, in line with one of three global aims of Biospheres: encouraging learning.

Our business Partners were supported with a series of webinars on sustainable practice as part of our 2020 intern’s project. Our current intern is surveying businesses to ask what help they need to adopt sustainable practices and will create a toolkit based on her findings.

We also have a private Facebook group where business Partners can exchange information.

Events have suffered during Covid but, as we recover, we aspire to hold more events at which Partners can meet to exchange ideas.

We have almost 300 proud Partners, displaying the distinctive ‘sandcastle’ certificate, featuring on our website and in our newsletters and using our logo.

If you are interested in demonstrating your commitment to a more sustainable Isle of Man and in joining them, go to the ‘Get Involved’ section of this website and fill in the form.