Meet the Team: Izzy Hardern
This month's edition of Meet the Team features our Sustainability Consultant, Izzy Hardern. We explore Izzy's career to date, her role at Accelar and how she sees Accelar evolving in the near future.
Tell us about your career so far, how did it lead you to where you are today?
I have always aspired for my career to be in the sustainability space. Therefore, at The University of Warwick, I chose to study BASc Global Sustainable Development. Through this degree, I gained a broad understanding of structural and systemic sustainability issues, with my personal interests always centring around food systems, nature and resilience. During my studies, I was lucky enough to undertake a year abroad at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, which fostered in me a intercultural awareness and understanding that sparked an interest in how we can work across systems for sustainable development.
After my studies, I started my professional career as a Sustainability Intern for Siemens Mobility. In this role, I worked in the central sustainability team on carbon and social value strategy and reporting. Through this year-long experience, I was able to improve crucial skills including data analysis, production of written reports, and engagement with a wide variety of stakeholders. I was also able to actively contribute to corporate sustainability strategies, reporting requirements and carbon accounting which, whilst being an incredible learning experience, re-ignited in me my desire to work across a wider variety of sectors and support sustainable development at systems-level. Therefore, for my next role, I was looking for an organisation which was actively and innovatively bridging the sustainability pillars of infrastructure, resilience and nature, and Accelar was exactly that.
What does your role at Accelar involve and what do you find most rewarding about it?
As a Sustainability Consultant, my role at Accelar currently sits largely in our nature finance portfolio, which involves end-to-end business modelling and bespoke financial modelling for natural capital and Landscape Recovery projects across the country.
“Accelar goes further than just the corporate and financial considerations, we actively work with people on-the-ground to ensure nature finance and natural capital can and will work for their specific contexts.”
It is incredibly rewarding because I can see how great of an impact these projects have the potential to have on landscape restoration and resilience, biodiversity enhancement and carbon sequestration. Visiting the project sites and seeing how the landscape might change makes this incredibly exciting - especially when they are near to where I live!
I also work within our BNG Finder service line, where I engage directly with developers and suppliers of BNG units across the country. This opportunity has enabled me to learn extensively about the evolving BNG market, and work with the rest of the team to determine how BNG Finder could sit within it.
In particular, this role has given me the opportunity to engage directly with the people that the projects support. For example, I was able to visit a community centre in Shropshire twice to build relationships with farmers who are considering integrating natural capital into their farm businesses. I treasure the experience to build these direct relationships not only with clients but with the people that these projects will impact in reality. Days like that highlight to me the real-world impact that our work can have: Accelar goes further than just the corporate & financial considerations, we actively work with people on-the-ground to ensure nature finance and natural capital can and will work for their specific contexts.
What do you value most about being part of the Accelar team?
I learn a huge amount from my Accelar colleagues - they are experts in their respective fields. I love to see how everyone's different professional backgrounds can knit together. Despite our primarily hybrid working environment, we are a close knit team who make time to check in, support and encourage one another. When a project or colleague has had a success, I love that we take the time to celebrate, congratulate and reflect on the achievement. It creates a rewarding atmosphere to learn and grow in.
So far, which moments or achievements stand out as highlights of your time at Accelar?
A few moments stand out:
Completing my QGIS course, which has strengthened my ability to apply our work practically.
Leading the creation and presentation of research and reports for clients, enabling me to build my own relationships with our clients despite my being relatively new to the Accelar team.
Researching in detail about the potential and scope of biochar as a natural capital asset through carbon sequestration on agricultural land and as a carbon credit. I loved learning so much on such a niche topic, which I hope to apply.
Simultaneously working as Project Coordinator on multiple projects, very soon to my starting at Accelar - this level of trust was a great experience early in my career.
Attending a Steering Group meeting for a Landscape Recovery project in Norfolk, and hearing how this large-scale landscape restoration could work in practice.
Returning for the second time to meet landowners in Shropshire and having them recognise and engage in more detailed conversation with me about their farm businesses.
Where would you love to see Accelar heading in the future?
I'd love to support our Landscape Recovery projects into implementation, and see how our other, smaller, projects could learn from these large scale initiatives for their own success. I think Accelar can be an industry driver for making visible the necessity of investing in nature as an asset which can boost resilience and social value, as well as building and restoring the intrinsic value of nature within the UK.
I also think that Accelar is uniquely positioned to bridge the realms of nature, resilience and infrastructure, and I am excited to see how we expand into this systems-level space. Without working across all three areas, the ability for individuals, corporates, policy-makers and charities to make real, systemic difference will be stunted. We need to understand and make visible the full picture of climate action, and Accelar can be a driver of that shift.