Blog by Beatrice Goddard-Watts
This Earth Day, which was celebrated on Tuesday, April 22, we join a global call to action under the theme “Our Power, Our Planet.” It’s a powerful reminder that we all have a role to play in shaping a healthier, more just, and more sustainable future. At OneNature, we know that lasting environmental solutions begin with people.
That’s why we’re proud to introduce our expanded Wild Happiness Approach—a proven, community-centered framework that puts well-being at the heart of conservation, climate resilience, and sustainability efforts. This Earth Day week, we invite you to explore how empowering communities through well-being is key to unlocking a thriving planet for all.
At OneNature, we’ve always believed that sustainability can’t succeed without people. When communities thrive, nature thrives.
That’s why we’re excited to introduce the new, expanded Wild Happiness Approach—a refined, field-tested framework that helps organizations and companies design, implement, and measure sustainability strategies grounded in community wellbeing. Based on our experience with partners on the ground and new research in partnership with the Columbia University Capstone master’s program, we have innovated our approach to provide a flexible, evidence-based method for embedding wellbeing-centered design and metrics into your work—whether in conservation, land use, ESG, or climate resilience.
Already applied in Rwanda, Laos, Kenya, and soon expanding to Nepal, the Wild Happiness Approach is scalable across geographies and sectors—empowering organizations to create solutions that communities trust and support.
And it’s more important now than ever.
Around the world, well-intentioned projects fall short—not due to lack of resources, but because they don’t meaningfully involve the people most affected. Too often, communities are positioned as passive recipients, rather than active partners in shaping solutions. The Wild Happiness Approach exists to fix that—by helping partners build trust, uncover what communities truly value, co-create practical strategies, and measure impact over time.
When people feel heard, supported, and empowered, they become powerful stewards of their environment. That’s the transformation we’re here to deliver.
The Wild Happiness Approach: A Four-Step Process
Built on global fieldwork and peer-reviewed research, our method turns local insight into long-term outcomes through four clear steps:
1. 360° Community Wellbeing Assessment™
We begin by measuring what matters. Using our exclusive Wild Happiness Index, we assess community wellbeing across social, cultural, environmental, psychological, and economic domains to build a holistic baseline.
2. Insight & Alignment Workshops
We bring together community members, organizations, and decision-makers to reflect on behaviors, power dynamics, and shared goals—building the foundation for trust and co-creation.
3. Co-Creation & Solution Design
With that alignment in place, we help design practical, scalable solutions grounded in community priorities and behavioral science—tested, adapted, and built to last.
4. Ongoing Impact Monitoring
We support partners to track wellbeing and environmental outcomes over time, using community-led tools and early-warning indicators to measure results and course-correct as needed.
Who We Work With—and How We Help
Our approach supports changemakers across sectors to move from assumptions to evidence—and from short-term outputs to lasting outcomes.
Communities: We work side-by-side with communities to elevate their voice and leadership.
We help communities to:
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Define wellbeing on their own terms
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Co-create solutions rooted in culture, context, and priorities
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Monitor progress and shape decisions
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Build resilience and agency for the future
Companies & ESG Teams: We help businesses transform social risk into long-term value.
We help companies to:
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Quantify social impact with peer-reviewed metrics
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Reduce reputational and operational risk
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Align with ESG frameworks (SDGs, GRI, CSRD)
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Co-design community-driven, regenerative strategies
NGOs & Donors: We support implementers and funders to strengthen outcomes and reduce project failure.
We help NGOs and donors to:
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Understand what’s working—and where to improve
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Increase equity, ownership, and sustainability
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Report on social impact with data and clarity
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Design more inclusive and adaptable programs
Policymakers & Researchers: We provide decision-makers with tools to plan with people, not just data points.
We help the public sector to:
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Embed wellbeing metrics into local and national strategies
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Align policy with lived community realities
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Track progress beyond GDP
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Build trust and legitimacy through inclusive design
Targeted Solutions to Meet You Where You Are
Whether you’re starting fresh or refining an existing initiative, the Wild Happiness Approach is fully modular. We offer:
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Standalone 360° Wellbeing Assessment™
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Training & Certification for staff and teams
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Peer Learning Networks to exchange best practices
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Project Certification to validate ESG and community alignment
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Research & Policy Collaboration for insights and scale-up
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Individualized Consulting based on your needs.
Our flexible structure makes this approach accessible to organizations of any size, sector, or stage.
A New Standard for Sustainability
The Wild Happiness Approach is more than a method. It’s a mindset—and a new standard for sustainability rooted in trust, equity, and measurable wellbeing.
Let’s build a future where people and the planet thrive—together.
Let’s Work Together
📄 Download our Two-Pager OneNature April 2025 final.pdf
📞 Book a free discovery call with our Founder & Executive Director, Beth Allgood.
