Creating a toxic-free tomorrow with the Environmental Defense Fund

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) wanted to identify how it could accelerate safer products in a complex and fragmented chemical data landscape. Workshop partnered with EDF to lead a collaborative research and strategy process that combined landscape analysis, stakeholder engagement, and iterative decision-making. Together, we identified strategic pathways for industry activation and developed a practical roadmap to help EDF focus its influence, partnerships, and efforts where they could drive the greatest impact.

• Multi-stakeholder research and discovery process engaging retailers, NGOs, scientists, regulators, and industry leaders across the chemical data ecosystem
• Systems-level landscape analysis that surfaced key barriers, opportunities, and leverage points shaping safer product adoption
• Agile sprint-based strategy process that enabled EDF to test ideas, refine priorities, and build alignment in real time
• Strategic pathways and decision-making frameworks that clarified where EDF could drive the greatest impact through collaboration and market activation

Access to reliable chemical hazard data remained a major barrier to advancing safer consumer products. Information was fragmented across proprietary systems, inconsistent across assessment methods, and difficult for businesses to act on. EDF needed clarity on where it could most effectively influence the system, align stakeholders, and mobilize practical action across retailers, NGOs, regulators, and industry partners to accelerate progress toward safer products.

Research & Landscape Analysis

• Conducted a landscape analysis of chemical data systems, industry initiatives, regulatory efforts, and emerging solutions related to safer products.
• Identified key barriers, opportunities, and leverage points shaping access to actionable chemical hazard data across the value chain.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Led a multi-stakeholder discovery process with retailers, NGOs, regulators, scientists, and industry leaders to gather insights and perspectives.
• Facilitated collaborative discussions to clarify where EDF could play the most strategic and influential role in advancing safer products.

Strategy Development

• Guided EDF through an iterative sprint-based strategy process to test ideas, refine priorities, and align on direction.
• Developed a strategic scorecard and evaluation framework to assess pathways based on impact potential, feasibility, and scalability.

Roadmap & Activation

• Co-developed a phased roadmap outlining partnership opportunities, pilot concepts, and implementation priorities.
• Helped EDF translate complex systems insights into a focused and actionable strategy for future collaboration and industry activation.

• EDF has a clear strategic framework for navigating the chemical data landscape, with defined priorities for where to focus engagement
• A credible, science-backed set of criteria for evaluating partnerships and solutions, grounded in both EDF's priorities and industry realities
• A phased roadmap that positions EDF to activate partnerships and pilot initiatives across the safer products value chain
• EDF established as a strategic convenor and trusted partner for advancing safer chemical practices across retailers, NGOs, and industry