Human Nature
Grow
Human Nature's three founders - Jonathan Smales, Michael Manolson, and Joanna Yarrow - first came together at the Earth Centre, one of the UK's most ambitious millennium projects. Jonathan, a former Greenpeace director, created and led this groundbreaking transformation of a 162-hectare former colliery site into a demonstration of sustainable living. Michael brought his Greenpeace leadership experience (Canadian Executive Director, US Chairman) and systems thinking from his role as Deputy Secretary General of ICLEI. Joanna joined after completing her masters in Leadership for Sustainable Development and working at Friends of the Earth Europe.
Decades of collaborative innovation:
The Earth Centre revealed the power of places to shape how people live. This insight led us to co-found Beyond Green in 2001, spending >12 years working on sustainability strategies for over 100,000 new homes and major projects including the 2012 Olympics. After Beyond Green, Joanna joined IKEA, first as Head of Sustainability for UK and Ireland, then as Global Head of Sustainable and Healthy Living, gaining crucial insights into making sustainable living affordable, attractive, and accessible at global scale.
The need for exemplars:
After decades of consulting and corporate sustainability leadership, we recognized a critical gap in the UK market: the need for tangible, physical exemplars that demonstrate positive impact in action. While we had advised on countless projects, the existing system wasn't delivering the step-change needed to address the ecological and social challenges of the 21st century.
The power of demonstration:
Human Nature was born from our conviction that transformation happens through building solutions, not just advising on them. We felt that the UK needed visible proof that regenerative development could work - places people could visit, experience, and learn from. The power of physical demonstration creates the credibility needed to shift industry practices and public expectations.
Commercial success as a catalyst:
Demonstrating commercial success alongside environmental and social impact is central to our vision. Lasting change requires financial viability and scalability - impact without commercial success remains limited in scope. By proving that regenerative development can deliver strong returns, we aim to attract the capital and market confidence needed for the speed, scale, and replicability required to address the ecological and social crises of our time.
Human Nature represents the culmination of three pioneering careers united by a shared conviction: after 30+ years of campaigning, consulting, and corporate leadership, the most powerful action we could take was to build the future ourselves - creating exemplars that prove sustainable development is both transformational and profitable.