Global Collaboration through Working Groups Across Inogen Alliance

Global thinking with local delivery of Environment, Health & Safety and Sustainability (EHS&S) consulting services sets apart the Inogen Alliance.  For the past two decades, our strong partnerships have opened our global portfolio of expertise to our multinational clients through one single local point of contact. We just held our spring meeting in Tokyo, Japan, and like all our meetings, this one was somewhere between an innovative EHS&S conference and a big family reunion.  As a diverse group of independent businesses we each bring our own ideas, processes, innovations and tools to the Alliance, and each meeting helps us strengthen our collaborative approach to solving EHS&S challenges for our clients in ways that no one Associate could do alone. The diversity of thought sets us apart and accelerates our strategies with a consistent global approach but with local cultural nuances giving our clients the best of both worlds.

During this Spring Meeting we convened our global Working Groups. Our ten global working groups focus on either a service area or industry across Water Services, Energy Transition, Environmental Remediation, Mergers & Acquisitions, Digital Solutions, Health & Safety, Sustainability, Retail, Technology and Marketing. These working groups meet regularly, bringing together hundreds of EHS, Sustainability and ESG experts to collaborate on challenges, share new innovations or solutions, monitor and understand market trends, and create a peer-to-peer global network in service of our multinational clients. 

Global Water Services and Stewardship 

To show the scale of some of our global teams, the Water Working Group currently includes Associates in 21 countries. Water specifically needs to be understood at a local level but has global implications for many industries.  Having coverage and insights from 21 different countries adds an incredible depth of knowledge to our teams. During the regular Working Group meetings they have technical presentations for benchmarking and growth and roundtable discussions. Five Associates from this group are also co-sponsoring as Inogen Alliance at the Global Forum with Alliance for Water Stewardship 16-17 May, 2023. We are very proud that we have the largest global AWS certified consultants as an Alliance. 

“For most of our clients water has become a fundamental pillar in new sustainable business models which aim to achieve the ambitious net zero impact on the environment. We are seeing a significant shift in the way companies are managing their water resources, as on-site water management alone simply isn’t enough to tackle global water crises and long-term climate change effects. Water stewardship is taking water management to another level by integrating social and cultural interests of all stakeholders when developing a water protection plan. Our global water working group in Inogen Alliance works towards understanding, tracking, satisfying, and anticipating external needs with the aim of supporting our clients in achieving ambitious milestones, innovative solutions and resilient strategies for conserving our most precious resource on Earth: water,” Beatrice Bizzaro, HPC Italy, Water Working Group leader.

Global Energy Transition Trends

Nearly 50 members from 17 associate organizations participate in our global Energy Transition working group. Working Group meetings each have a theme, so far including Hydrogen, Off-Shore Wind, Solar, Batteries, and Green Ammonia, with each theme  including case studies and a discussion of emerging trends and challenges. The Spring Associate meeting provided a great opportunity to gather feedback regarding working group progress, and to discuss global market trends. Many associates are actively working for clients in support of the energy transition.  Across Asia, wind, solar and transmission projects are booming; in Europe, off-shore wind and ammonia project development markets are very active. Meanwhile, in Mexico there is still heavy investment in fossil fuels and a lack of commitment to green energy investments. In African countries there is an increasing demand for energy transition projects but also support needed to conduct feasibility studies and energy efficiency program development. In the US the inflation reduction act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are funding billions of dollars in US clean energy projects benefiting most sectors of the energy ecosystem. Investments that are gaining momentum include off-shore wind, hydrogen, carbon capture & sequestration, geothermal, and fleet decarbonization.

Bill MacDonald, Antea Group USA, Energy Transition Working Group leader states “The collective energy transition project experience of the Alliance membership rivals any global consulting firm. Our mission is to collaborate with each other to expand our consulting capabilities geographically, and to win multinational client opportunities."

A Focus on Remediation Services and Innovations

Many of our Associates started their EHS&S consulting in traditional remediation services.  Because of our history, Remediation Working Group has been one of the longest-standing groups, and has been active in creating both internal and external webinars and thought leadership on new innovations. Remediation is a very local business so the Alliance believes it is crucial to have local experts that bring knowledge of the local environment and regulations. There was also discussion on how ESG is also becoming a driver for remediation services with circular economy and reuse of building materials and carbon values.  These discussions and technical presentations help the Alliance to bring efficiencies and innovation to this  traditional service offering.

Progressing Global Sustainability and ESG Topics

The Alliance’s Sustainability Working Group includes our Steering Committee, ESG Subcommittee, Sustainability Stewards, and an ESG Board committee.  This group drives the Alliance’s internal ESG efforts, which include Inogen Alliance materiality assessment, stakeholder engagement, the implementation of our ESG strategy, and development of our annual ESG report. The Spring meeting included a facilitated discussion around the changing regulatory climate globally as it relates to ESG as well as the ethical obligations of consultants to ensure our work is not used for greenwashing.  We also discussed our ESG journey within the core Alliance operations, and our role in influencing the 75 independent Associate companies as their ESG programs take shape and evolve. The Inogen Alliance ESG report focuses on Alliance operations and meetings. However, progress updates are also available in the latest Environment Analyst report with our summary here. Beyond our internal initiatives, trends within ESG consulting services are also a critical priority to the ESG Working Group. The team has consistent dialogue around changes both in market demand and emerging ESG legislation. These discussions help the broader alliance both to anticipate needs within specific locales, and to provide unique insights to global clients navigating differing regional ESG expectations and requirements. 

Global Collaboration Across Inogen Alliance Working Groups

The rest of our global Working Groups presented on similar service updates, market trends and upcoming topics as we collaborate globally between our Associate companies on both knowledge sharing, insights and trends as well as on client opportunities and projects. Our biannual meetings remind us of the importance of this collaboration and always bring up new ideas and opportunities to refocus and reflect on as we continue to evolve and grow to best service our multinational clients but also to grow as individuals with careers in each of our Associate companies. Continue to watch for more updates from our ten global working groups with articles, webinars, social posts on LinkedIn and more. If you have a question related to one of our working group topics, please send us a message and we’ll integrate this into our working groups and knowledge sharing globally.

Inogen Alliance is a global network made up of dozens of independent local businesses and over 5,000 consultants around the world who can help make your project a success. Our Associates collaborate closely to serve multinational corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, and we share knowledge and industry experience to provide the highest quality service to our clients. If you want to learn more about how you can work with Inogen Alliance, you can explore our Associates or Contact Us. Watch for more News & Blog updates here and follow us on LinkedIn