How Learning Organisations reduce GIS risk in the age of BNG
Introduction
GIS risk
While approaches vary, for most ecology consultancies GIS is now critical for delivering the vast majority of projects, and is embedded throughout project delivery. From pre-survey, to field data capture, through to resolving geometry issues and completing Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) analysis.
For owners and directors, GIS is no longer just a technical function. It is a delivery risk, a compliance risk, and increasingly a reputational risk. Errors often surface late in projects, when time is tight and margins are under pressure. How organisations recruit, onboard, and develop GIS capability therefore has direct commercial consequences.
Learning organisations
This is where the concept of a learning organisation becomes important. A learning organisation builds capability over time by embedding learning into everyday work, reducing reliance on individuals and improving resilience. In the context of GIS, this means being able to respond to regulatory changes, maintain consistent standards, and ensure staff can step into unfamiliar tasks with confidence.
I remember studying for a post-graduate Management certificate while working at GiGL. It nearly killed me. But my favourite module was about learning organisations. So in this article I’m going to use some of that knowledge, and explore long-term GIS capability development in ecology consultancies. I’ll do this through the lens of organisational learning and director-level decision-making. Sounds complex. But it’s not really.
The reality of Ecology-GIS teams
Induction
Ecology consultancies often recruit in the winter, outside of field season. This allows for efficient group training and team building. But, in reality, induction is often fragmented. People leave unexpectedly. Seasonal ecologists join for the summer rush. Illness or annual leave can mean someone else needs to pick up a GIS task and run with it, sometimes with little notice. Most universities still teach ArcGIS, and many graduates arrive at work unfamiliar with QGIS, so retraining is unavoidable, and often urgent.
Meanwhile, BNG has fundamentally changed the role of GIS for ecology consultancies. It is no longer just about creating maps for reports, it’s about spatial change analysis. And when issues (like geometry problems, or questionable outputs) emerge at later stages of a project they become time consuming and expensive to fix.
Staffing
Many consultancies rely heavily on one or two GIS-capable individuals. When those people leave, go part-time, or are promoted, capability can disappear overnight. At the same time, early-career ecologists are often expected to “just get on with it” when it comes to QGIS. Reluctance to ask questions, stress, and imposter syndrome around GIS, can contribute to staff turnover. Quality assurance adds further tension. Under delivery pressure, GIS QA is frequently rushed or skipped. Ecologists may not know what “good GIS” looks like, and errors creep in unnoticed until they surface externally. Plus, as teams grow, inconsistency increases. Different plugins, settings, and templates proliferate. Outputs vary in quality and structure, and troubleshooting becomes harder. What once worked for a small team no longer scales.
Taken together, these challenges point to a common issue. Consultancies that treat GIS learning as ad-hoc or individual-led absorb unnecessary risk. Those that invest in shared capability, consistent workflows, and structured learning behave more like learning organisations: they are more resilient, more adaptable, and better able to deliver under pressure, while meeting rising client and regulatory expectations.
Organisational GIS Learning
In a recent article I explored how using QGIS builds transferable, career-long skills. From a learning organisation perspective, this matters. When staff understand not just how to complete QGIS tasks, but why workflows work, they become more resilient problem-solvers. As Richard Branson famously said “train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to”.
Many consultancies rely on staff to learn reactively, searching forums, watching videos, or increasingly turning to AI. While this can work, it is rarely efficient and often stressful. Structured learning gives staff a shared foundation, reduces anxiety, and supports retention.
Learning organisations distribute skills, document workflows, and create shared understanding across teams. With flexible, on-demand learning and practical toolkits, it is possible to increase internal delivery without overloading individuals.
Conclusion
For many ecology consultancies, close to 100% of projects now rely on QGIS. While the software is freely available, using it effectively requires investment in people and processes.
From a director’s perspective, GIS capability is no longer just a technical concern. It affects delivery risk, compliance, staff retention, and organisational resilience. Learning organisations recognise this and embed GIS learning into recruitment, induction, and ongoing development, rather than relying on individuals to cope.
Spatialsesh supports this approach through practical, accessible, and cost-effective on-demand training, alongside a toolkit of QGIS projects, datasets, UKHab and species survey forms, and Python tools to resolve common geometry issues.