PACE™ Sustainability Framework
A methodology for learning and taking action.
PACE™ is the learning and action methodology behind the Green Means Business Platform. It helps practices prepare, assess their current position, make practical changes and expand what works.
Why PACE™
Sustainability shouldn't feel overwhelming.
Organisations repeatedly tell us the same thing: they want to become more sustainable, but they're unsure where to start, don't have time for complicated programmes, or assume meaningful change will be expensive.
I don't know where to start.
I don't have the time.
I can't afford it.
That's why we created PACE™
A clear way to approach sustainability.
Rather than presenting sustainability as a collection of disconnected tasks, PACE™ gives every activity a clear learning structure — understand the context, assess what is happening, take action and build on progress.
The Four Stages
Prepare. Assess. Change. Expand.
Four connected stages. One structured learning approach — from understanding the context to taking action and building on progress.
PREPARE
Get your practice and team ready.
ASSESS
Understand where you are today.
CHANGE
Turn findings into practical action.
EXPAND
Embed progress and go further.
PREPARE
Get your practice and team ready.
ASSESS
Understand where you are today.
CHANGE
Turn findings into practical action.
EXPAND
Embed progress and go further.
CORE Module
CORE turns the methodology into practical action.
The CORE module is where organisations apply the PACE™ approach. It guides them through 12 connected sustainability areas, helping them prepare, assess, make changes and expand progress over time.
12 connected sustainability areas
CORE
The foundations of sustainable practice
Powered by the PACE™ Sustainability Framework
CORE is a structured, progressive system built around 12 connected sustainability areas. The same subjects develop at increasing depth as organisations move from Bronze through Silver to Gold.
BRONZE
GUIDED FOUNDATION
Assess your current position and make simple, practical improvements.
SILVER
GUIDED IMPLEMENTATION
Turn what you discovered at Bronze into meaningful, practical change.
GOLD
MINIMAL GUIDANCE
Build on what works, embed stronger practices and take your sustainability approach further.
PACE™ provides the learning and action methodology used throughout the platform. CORE applies that methodology across practical sustainability activities, while Bronze, Silver and Gold recognise increasing levels of progress.
PREPARE
Build the conditions for action.
Build the foundations for progress.
Sustainability works best when there is clear ownership and the whole team understands the journey. Prepare establishes responsibility, brings people into the process and creates the conditions needed for meaningful action.
Before changing anything, make sure the practice is ready to act.
ASSESS
Understand the current position before deciding what to change.
Understand what is happening now.
Before deciding what to change, understand how the practice currently operates. PACE™ guides practices through structured observation and assessment across the areas that influence environmental performance.
Know where you are before deciding where to go next.
CHANGE
Move from understanding to action.
Turn insight into practical action.
The Change stage uses what the practice learned during Prepare and Assess to make practical, relevant improvements. The emphasis is on changes that are realistic, operational and genuinely implemented.
Move from understanding the opportunity to doing something about it.
EXPAND
Turn individual improvements into sustained progress.
Embed progress and go further.
Expand builds on what is already working. Practices strengthen systems, develop more ambitious programmes and embed sustainability more deeply into how the organisation operates.
Turn individual improvements into sustained progress.
Certified Recognition
Turn your Gold achievement into Platinum recognition.
Once an organisation completes Gold, it can apply for the GMB Platinum Award — independent verification of that work by a ZeroBees verifier. Platinum is not a fifth PACE™ stage and introduces no new tasks; it verifies the Gold work already completed through self-assessment.
Start your journey today.
Start building your sustainability credentials at your own pace.