An Invitation to Take One Small Step

Twenty years ago, a small group of people believed biochar could matter.

This year, IBI turns 20 — and the community they helped build is proof that it does.

It feels important to pause and reflect on what this moment represents. Not only for the organization, but for the broader biochar community that has taken shape over these two decades. What began as a committed group of pioneers has grown into a diverse and global ecosystem, with new ideas, new actors, and rising expectations shaping the way we all work.

The pace of change has accelerated. Biochar is now part of conversations around carbon markets, agricultural systems, industrial decarbonization, and public policy. This brings real opportunity, and a level of complexity that many of us are navigating in real time.

For IBI, this has meant staying grounded in our role while continuing to adapt. Everything we develop — from webinars and training programs to research libraries and technical resources — is built with one goal in mind: to be useful in practice and support implementation at scale.

We are also focused on something that matters just as much as having good resources: making them easy to find, navigate, and apply. In the coming months, you will see us put deliberate effort into that.

One thing has remained constant over these 20 years. The strength of IBI lives in the interactions between people who ask questions, share experiences, and work together to move projects forward.

Many of the most meaningful outcomes in this sector started simply: a conversation after a webinar, a connection made at a conference, or a follow-up message that turned into something more. That is why we continue to create spaces to meet, exchange ideas, and learn from each other — not as an end in itself, but as a way to support the work that each of you is doing.

This anniversary year, we will continue to advance several key initiatives — including the Biochar Operator Course, our webinar series, the Biochar Resilience Network and its Data Commons platform, and reciprocal membership programs with peer organizations.

We are also excited to host the Biochar Academy in Bangkok, developed in collaboration with IBAP, bringing hands-on training and knowledge exchange to the Asia-Pacific region. We will also gather at ICBRA-BWC 2026 in China, where we will take a moment to celebrate the people who have shaped this journey. You will find more detail on each of these in this issue.

If there is one simple invitation, it is this: take one small step to engage this month. Join an upcoming webinar. Reach out to someone in the network you have been meaning to connect with. Explore a resource you have not looked at before.

IBI will continue to evolve, and that evolution is shaped by the people who are part of it.

We would love to hear from you.

Thank you for being part of this community.

Luisa Marín
Executive Director