Empowering sustainability in the DIY sector

Sustenuto developed a sustainability roadmap for HIMA Benelux, a federation for DIY chains. In follow-up, HIMA Benelux launched a series of webinars to empower its members to implement sustainability practices on these topics. The sessions, featuring a mix of theory and hands-on insights, served as a learning opportunity for participants. These webinars are designed not only to inform but also to encourage action, fostering a peer-to-peer learning network among members. While the initiative has been successful in creating engagement and clarity, it also highlights the importance of continuous interaction and practical application of sustainability strategies.

HIMA Benelux’s Sustainability Roadmap: A Federation-Led Approach

HIMA Benelux (Home Improvement Manufacturing Association), the federation representing DIY chains in the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), is taking proactive steps to engage its members on sustainability. Through a series of webinars, HIMA Benelux aims to provide its members with the tools and knowledge to implement sustainability practices within their organisations. The HIMA Benelux Duurzaamheid Roadmap 2025 covers four key themes:

Climate Action Plans
Employee and Consumer Engagement
Product Certifications
Supply Chain Due Diligence

This roadmap serves as the foundation for a series of webinars designed to translate strategy into action across the DIY sector.

The webinars offer a mix of theory and practical case studies, helping companies see how they can turn strategy into action. One such case study is Intergamma, which demonstrated how coherence between strategy and implementation can lead to tangible results. These sessions not only provide information but also serve as a catalyst for members to take action, encouraging them to reflect on their own practices and integrate sustainability into their operations.

Addressing Sector-Specific Challenges

HIMA Benelux's webinars are designed to address the specific challenges that its members face in adopting sustainability practices. The DIY sector is diverse, and aligning sustainability efforts across various products and supply chains is a complex task. Each company must navigate its own unique set of challenges, from climate action to product certifications and supply chain management.

HIMA Benelux’s webinars tackle these issues:

Providing clarity and coherence across sessions, helping members connect themes like consumer engagement and product certification.
Encouraging active participation, though engagement levels varied across sessions—possibly due to the effectiveness of earlier content.
Offering recorded access via HIMA Benelux’s intranet, ensuring continued availability for members unable to attend live.

Our 4-step approach for effective webinars

Sustenuto partnered with HIMA Benelux to ensure the webinars were structured to offer both strategic insights and practical solutions. Our approach included:

1. Bring Strategic Clarity to Drive Engagement

The roadmap provided the foundation for each webinar, leading the sessions to explore topics such as climate action, consumer engagement, and product certifications. Each webinar was designed to address a specific area while maintaining coherence across the four sessions.

2. Practical cases to Accelerate Implementation

Each session incorporated practical case studies to bridge the gap between theory and practice. The Intergamma case study, for example, highlighted how a coherent strategy can lead to successful implementation, providing participants with a real-world example to emulate.

3. Foster a peer-to-peer learning network

HIMA Benelux’s webinars foster a peer-to-peer learning environment, with larger companies sharing their experiences and lessons learned with smaller members. This dynamic has proven to be particularly valuable, as it allows companies to learn from one another and apply those insights to their own sustainability journeys.

4. Initiate ownership to encourage action

While the webinars provide valuable information, they also serve as a prompt for members to take action. Rather than simply offering solutions, the webinars aim to inspire members to take responsibility for their own sustainability efforts, with HIMA Benelux providing the support and guidance needed.

The results

The webinar series successfully fostered an engaged, learning-focused network within HIMA Benelux’s membership.
Participants valued the peer-to-peer dynamic, with larger companies sharing experiences that helped smaller members understand how to implement sustainability practices effectively.
The coherence between sessions—especially between employee/consumer engagement and product certification—was seen as a key strength, helping members grasp the interconnections between strategic themes.
Practical case studies, such as Intergamma’s implementation journey, provided tangible examples of how to move from strategy to action.
While the online format limited interaction, the webinars still sparked valuable discussions and laid the groundwork for future initiatives.
By encouraging members to take ownership of their sustainability journey, HIMA Benelux empowered its network to not only engage with sustainability but also embed it into their operations.