Advancing Environmental Conservation in Brazil
As Brazil’s leading environmental conservation agency, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) plays a critical role in protecting the environment. However, by 2022, the agency had suffered a 20% workforce reduction and declining coordination across departments. Meanwhile, deforestation in the Amazon surged by 70% between 2018 and 2021.
With a new federal administration in place and renewed political will, IBAMA sought to rebuild institutional capacity, streamline internal processes, and foster a results-oriented culture aligned with national targets.
DA worked closely with IBAMA to generate a clear and practical 4-year definition of success and a short-term action plan for implementation through three key phases:
- Organizational Diagnosis & Capacity Review: Conducted interviews, workshops, and surveys with over 40 hours of active listening across all staff levels.
- Strategic Vision and 4-Year Plan: Co-developed a delivery pyramid with measurable targets, levers of change, and a shared vision of success.
- Immediate 90-Day Action Plan: Outlined concrete next steps to embed new practices and sustain momentum across priorities that aligned with national goals.
Throughout the engagement, DA prioritized inclusive methods, co-creation, and consensus-building to foster dialogue and commitment across teams.
DA tailored its approach according to IBAMA’s feedback on its top challenges for delivery. Key activities included:
- Over 40 hours of staff engagement that identified institutional gaps and opportunities and informed strategic recommendations to strengthen organizational culture.
- Goal-setting exercises to enhance skills in setting indicators and targets.
- Meetings and workshops with leadership to define priorities that aligned with national goals.
- Setting measurable 4-year goals around reducing deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and environmental accidents.
- Deepening IBAMA’s understanding of its organizational culture created a shared sense of urgency for reform and results.
- There was increased dialogue among departments and integration between headquarters and regional offices, which strengthened internal collaboration and broke silos across key departments.
- Top leadership and employees engaged in the process, empowering them to jointly define priorities and shape the strategy.
- Delivered a strategic plan that aligned with Brazil’s national climate goals, which was endorsed by IBAMA’s president and Brazil’s Minister for the Environment and Climate Change.
- The 90-day action plan established clear priority activities and responsibilities to facilitate strategy implementation.
This work enabled cross-departmental alignment, promoted a results-oriented culture, and fostered a refreshed sense of ownership and accountability to deliver on Brazil’s environment goals.
