Dates: Oct 15, 29, Nov 12, 26, Dec 10 & 17, 1-2:30 PM ET
Cost: $299 (Live, virtual sessions)
Maximum 15 participants
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how we work, communicate, and solve problems, but for mission-driven organizations, the path to responsible adoption is often unclear. Developed by Sustainability Network and Aicology as part of the Vision2030 Program, this specialized program helps Canadian environmental NGOs build the knowledge, judgement, and practical skills needed to navigate that change.
Participants will explore what AI can and cannot do, examine the risks and organizational conditions required for responsible adoption, identify practical opportunities within their own work, and gain hands-on experience with emerging tools.
Across the program, each participant will also develop a culminating AI project based on a real workflow or organizational challenge. Short, structured exercises between sessions will build toward that project step by step, allowing participants to leave with something practical they can continue using or developing inside their organization.
PROGRAM AUDIENCE
This program is designed for professionals from Canadian environmental NGOs who can help their organizations make thoughtful decisions about AI and put those decisions into practice.
It is well suited to:
Participants do not need to be AI experts. The program is designed to accommodate different levels of experience. Participants who are entirely new to common generative AI tools will also be invited to an optional 30-minute AI Basics orientation following Session 1.
Session 1 — Introduction to AI for Environmental Organizations
Oct 15, 1-2:30 PM ET
An accessible introduction to how generative AI works, how the technology is evolving, and why it matters to environmental organizations.
Key topics: AI fundamentals, the evolution of generative AI, current and emerging capabilities, societal implications, and implications for Canadian ENGOs.
Optional: 30-minute AI Basics orientation immediately following the session for participants who are completely new to tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot, or Gemini.
Session 2 — Risks, Myths & Mistakes: What’s Going Wrong in AI Adoption
Oct 29, 1-2:30 PM ET
A practical look at the risks that emerge when organizations adopt AI without sufficient understanding, governance, or planning.
Key topics: Hallucinations and accuracy, bias, privacy and data security, environmental impacts, regulation, governance, shadow AI, workplace culture, accountability, and the organizational conditions needed for responsible adoption.
Session 3 — AI Tools and How They Can Change Our Approach to Work
Nov 12, 1-2:30 PM ET
Participants begin connecting AI to their own work by learning how to identify tasks and workflows where AI may create meaningful value.
Key topics: Common AI models and tools, prompt design, workflow analysis, identifying appropriate AI use cases, AI Net Impact, and distinguishing between work that should be automated or streamlined and work where human judgment, creativity, or relationships remain essential.
Session 4 — AI in Action Part I: Demos and Experiments with Generative AI Tools
Nov 26, 1-2:30 PM ET
A hands-on session focused on seeing practical AI workflows in action and experimenting with tools relevant to environmental and nonprofit organizations.
Key topics: Tool demonstrations, practical nonprofit workflows, working across AI platforms, structured prompting, workflow-based use cases, and developing reliable AI-supported processes.
Session 5 — AI in Action Part II: More Advanced Use Cases
Dec 10, 1-2:30 PM ET
Participants build on the foundations established earlier in the program and explore how multiple AI capabilities, tools, and workflows can work together.
Key topics: Advanced use cases, reusable AI workflows, automation, tool integrations, testing and refining outputs, and moving from individual experimentation toward practical AI micro-applications.
Session 6 — Good Work with AI: Integrating Purpose, Values & Impact
Oct Dec 17, 1-2:30 PM ET
The concluding session connects the technical and organizational lessons of the program back to the environmental sector’s purpose.
Participants will share the results of their culminating project, including lessons and challenges, and identify practical next steps for their organizations.
Optional Office Hours & 1:1 Coaching
Date / Scheduling: Week of November 30 - December 4 | Custom
Participants can meet directly with Aicology for troubleshooting, discussion, and individualized support as they develop their culminating project.
Office hours and individual appointments are designed to meet participants where they are — whether they need help choosing a use case, working through organizational barriers, improving a prompt, selecting a tool, or moving an idea from experimentation toward practical implementation.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Small Cohort, Individual Support
Participation is limited to 15 people so instructors can respond to the very different technical, organizational, and cultural challenges participants encounter.
Culminating AI Project
Each participant selects a real workflow, problem, or opportunity from their organization and develops it throughout the program. Short assignments between sessions turn the project into manageable steps rather than a large final assignment.
1:1 Coaching & Office Hours
Participants have access to personalized support to troubleshoot challenges, refine use cases, and translate the program into their own organizational context.
Sector-Specific Discussion & Examples
Examples, discussions, and demonstrations are grounded in the realities of environmental and nonprofit organizations rather than generic corporate AI use cases.
Ongoing ENGO Community of Practice
Program graduates will be invited to periodic Aicology community-of-practice calls for ENGO professionals. These informal sessions will create opportunities to discuss timely AI issues, tools, and tactics with peers, Aicology instructors, and occasional guest experts after the formal program concludes.
TESTIMONIALS
“Aicology has been a steady, thoughtful partner as generative AI continues to reshape the communication landscape, helping Nature United understand and respond to these changes with confidence. Their people-centred approach — focused on using AI to elevate rather than replace human creativity — aligns well with our values. Aicology sessions are practical and intentional, and their team has helped us build a shared understanding of how generative AI fits into our strategy, values and day-to-day work, along with a clear path for using it responsibly.”
— Jacqueline Nunes, Director of Marketing and Communications, Nature United
I am very glad that I took this program. It forced me to relate to the complex and worrying topic of AI in a systematic way. It was a relief to do that in a space that encouraged discussion of the ethical and environmental implications. And I'm very impressed with the facilitator's care and expertise.
– Maggy Burns, Executive Director, Ecology Action Centre
The AIcology program was highly valuable -- providing organizational leaders with the context, insights and tools to navigate the complexity of AI for non-profit organizations and to find the pathway to harnessing AI to enable organizations to increase their impact. Nick Buccheri is an excellent facilitator and communicator.
– Matthew Lynch, ED, Green Economy Canada
About AIcology
Aicology is a social enterprise that helps nonprofit, education, and community leaders do good work with AI. Its programs combine AI literacy, organizational strategy, practical experimentation, responsible adoption, and implementation support.
Aicology has worked with nonprofit organizations in Canada and the United States, partnered with Sustainability Network on sector-wide AI programming, and supported AI coaching through Google.org-funded programming. Its approach is designed specifically for mission-driven organizations where efficiency alone is not the goal: AI adoption should strengthen organizational capacity, staff well-being, and social or environmental impact.
Nicholas Buccheri is an interdisciplinary nonprofit professional and impact entrepreneur with extensive experience across operations, marketing, technology, sustainability, professional development, and management. He co-founded Aicology to help mission-driven organizations respond thoughtfully to rapidly evolving technologies and workplace cultures. Nicholas’ work focuses on the connections between AI, organizational culture, work design, implementation, human behaviour, and impact. In previous roles, he led national sustainability programs, communications initiatives, partnerships, events, and organizational operations.
Jason Buccheri is a co-founder and instructor with Aicology who supports organizations navigating technology adoption, organizational learning, and emerging AI tools. He brings a complementary perspective to the program focused on helping people understand new technologies and translate them into practical applications. Jason supports selected sessions and discussions alongside Nicholas, giving participants access to multiple perspectives as they work through the opportunities, limitations, and organizational implications of adopting generative AI.
The DEFNP workshop series will offer tailored programming designed to match ENGOs on their decolonial (un)learning journeys. In Spring 2026 members of the ENGO sector will be able to choose one of three workshop tracks: Introduction to Decolonization in the ENGO Sector, Advanced Decolonial Theory and Application or For Indigenous Ears Only - A Space for Reflection and Action. Each series consists of four three-hour sessions.
Collectively, Decolonizing ENGO-First Nation Partnerships fosters:
Awareness of settler colonialism and the ways it potentially harnesses civil society;
Understanding about how Canadian law such as the Indian Act and the Income Tax Act has suppressed Indigenous governance systems;
Awareness that Indigenous peoples have unique inherent political and legal systems, with which ENGOs may want to form partnerships;
A better understanding about how to navigate partnerships with Indigenous communities that promote decolonial environmentalism;
A stronger sense about how to identify and explain individual and organization social locations (i.e. positionalities) as part of ethical partnership development;
Promoting the resurgence of Indigenous self-determination in the Canadian ENGO sector.
Cost: $100 (Register 2 spots, get the 3rd free)
70 participants max.
All registrants will be provided with a link to access the recordings and presentation slides for 60 days following each session.
Session 1: Settler Colonialism 101
Introduce ENGO representatives to the fact that colonization is a structure and not an event. Identifies key ways that colonialism moves through individuals and organizations.
Session 2: Positionality
ENGO representatives learn how to articulate their social location within a settler colonial state, and in relation to potential Indigenous partners.
Session 3: Inherent Indigenous Governance 101
Introduce the fact that Indigenous nations have their own sources of political authority that they can (and do) draw on when addressing environmental issues. Examples provided.
Session 4: Building Better Relations
ENGO representatives will road test ways they can implement previous workshop key points to re-imagine partnerships with Indigenous nations.
Cost: $100 (Register 2 spots, get the 3rd free)
All registrants will be provided with a link to access the recordings and presentation slides for 60 days following each session.
Session 1: Diagnosing Settler Colonialism in the Enviro Sector
Participants will be asked to share ways in which they have diagnosed and traced power in social justice movements and/or in the ENGO sector. This workshop will make space for discomfort as part of promoting decolonization.
Session 2: Inherent Indigenous Governance
A mix of advanced and introductory theory, this workshop delves into legal and political pluralism, naming the fact that Indigenous nations have their own sources of political authority that they can (and do) draw on when addressing environmental issues.
Session 3: The Nonprofit Industrial Complex
ENGO participants are introduced to theories and examples describing the Nonprofit Industrial Complex and the “Shadow State.” Purpose is to show how settler colonialism structures civil society.
Session 4: Decolonizing ENGO-First Nation Partnerships
This workshop delves deep into how ENGOs can partner with Indigenous nations beyond the Nonprofit Industrial Complex while promoting deference to inherent Indigenous political leaders.
Cost: Free
The Indigenous only space will be collaborative in nature but critical in approach. This track is a space for Indigenous folks within the ENGO sector to come together to discuss their experiences and work, with an eye to taking a position on what the sector might need to do in order to promote decolonization. Participants will use the first session to define our goals for the remaining three meetings. Therefore, session topics named here are proposals only.
Session 1: Naming the Cannibal: Settler Colonialism in the ENGO Sector
Session 2: Proposed topic: Reflections on working in the ENGO Sector
Session 3: Proposed topic: Centering Indigenous Thought in the ENGO Sector
Session 4: Proposed topic: Visioning a Decolonial Environmental Sector
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