Nature’s Playbook is a research-based learning and ideation tool for business and sustainability professionals who want to deepen their understanding of a circular economy inspired by nature and living systems. Designed to support new ways of thinking about products, services, and business models, the tool invites users on a reflective journey that challenges mainstream assumptions and opens up alternative possibilities for circular and regenerative practice.
Detailed Description
www.naturesplaybook.org
ISBN 9781036953706
What is Nature’s Playbook?
Nature’s Playbook is a tool for ecological design thinking for a circular economy. It emerged from the doctoral research of Dr Emma Fromberg and is being developed as a spin-out from the King’s College London Centre for Sustainable Business.
Nature’s Playbook can be used in two main ways. First, it supports individual reflection and ideation, allowing users to engage quietly and deeply with complex concepts at their own pace. Second, it can be used in facilitated workshops, courses, or teaching sessions, where it acts as a structured prompt for dialogue, collective sense-making, and idea generation.
Facilitators are encouraged to engage with the tool through an official Nature’s Playbook facilitator workshop before committing to independent facilitation.
Who is it for?
Nature’s Playbook is designed primarily for business and sustainability professionals working with real, tangible products and services. It is also well-suited to educators teaching undergraduate, postgraduate, and executive-level courses on the circular economy. The tool has been extensively developed and tested with these audiences, ensuring that it is both conceptually rigorous and practically relevant in real organisational and educational contexts.
What is inside the box?
The box contains 20 cards, including an explainer card that introduces the structure of the tool and guides users through how to engage with it. The cards are organised into three thematic groups, each focusing on a different dimension of ecological design thinking for a circular economy.
Each card explores a specific subdomain within its theme, inviting reflection and idea generation through ecological insights.
How do the cards work?
Each card focuses on a specific phenomenon from nature and follows a set structure. Engagement begins with a short ecological story that invites users to pause and attend closely to how a living system functions. This first step is intentionally slow, encouraging participants to activate the cognitive pathways used to make sense of natural systems before translating insights into a business context.
When users are ready, the card is unfolded in stages. The next section introduces a prompt that explicitly connects the ecological insight to business, inviting reflection on products, services, business models, value chains, and the wider economy. This is followed by a set of “think-of” prompts designed to stimulate ideation and support the generation of multiple ideas and directions. Each card also includes a real-world example, not as a blueprint or best practice, but as a tangible illustration that can provoke discussion, critique, or productive discomfort. Finally, a broader reflective question encourages synthesis and can be used for individual contemplation or plenary discussion in group settings.
Through this structure, Nature’s Playbook does not provide answers, checklists, or ready-made solutions. Instead, it creates the conditions for users to question assumptions, explore complexity, and develop ideas grounded in ecological thinking while remaining relevant to real organisational contexts.
Notice: customs and import charges
Orders are shipped from the UK. For deliveries outside the UK, customs duties, import taxes, or handling fees may be charged by the destination country. These charges are the responsibility of the recipient and are not included in the purchase price or shipping costs.
Refund Policy
If you are not satisfied with your order, you may return unused items within 14 days of delivery, provided they are in their original packaging and condition.
Before returning any item, you must contact Nature’s Playbook for return authorisation at sustainablebusiness@kcl.ac.uk.
Refunds cover the product price only. Original shipping costs are non-refundable, and return shipping costs are the responsibility of the customer.
If your order arrives damaged or incorrect, please contact us within 7 days of delivery. Photo evidence of both the product and the original packaging is required.
Once verified, we will arrange a replacement at no additional cost. Verified damaged items do not need to be returned. Refunds are not issued for damaged items; replacements are provided instead.
Contact Information
sustainablebusiness@kcl.ac.uk
