Myllium opens the door to Swedish-British knowledge sharing on birds and bats

Demand for experienced ecologists is high in the UK, driven largely by Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) legislation and by tightening requirements around bats. Alexander Zackrisson, a consultant ecologist at Ecogain who specialises in birds and general ecology, is moving to Sussex to strengthen the team at Ecogain’s UK sister company, The Ecology Co-op.

Knowledge sharing across several areas

Collaboration within Myllium is growing steadily across several areas, from AI and technology to shared client offerings. Alexander’s secondment to The Ecology Co-op is a clear example of how expertise can move to where it is needed within the group.

“Demand for experienced ecologists in the UK has never been higher, and being part of Myllium means we can bring in the right expertise exactly when we need it. Having Alexander join us is a real boost, for our team and for our clients,” says Paul Whitby, founder of The Ecology Co-op.

For Alexander, it is a chance to deepen his skills in a country he already knows well. He earned his master’s at the University of Oxford last year and is at home with both the way ecologists work there and the language.

“Working in another country, and seeing what is done the same way and what is different, is a way to both broaden and deepen what I know. I am also keen to see how Biodiversity Net Gain works in practice, not just as a political talking point,” says Alexander Zackrisson.

A collaboration that benefits clients

The UK has particularly strong bat expertise and sits a step ahead of Sweden and the EU, in both legislation and practice, with BNG having driven much of that progress. Ecogain, for its part, is known for its highly developed GIS tools and for a bird team whose methods are widely regarded as a benchmark.

“There is a lot to learn from our different strengths and ways of working, with real potential to find gains and improvements on both sides,” he says.

The biggest value for clients lies in the knowledge exchange itself, and in what the companies can take on together: projects of a different scale and complexity. With access to international and complementary expertise, the group can handle work that would be hard for any single company to manage alone.

“For our international clients, it is a real plus that we now have people in several countries, and the quality is consistent across them. If you trust Ecogain, you can trust The Ecology Co-op, and vice versa. It is the same group, and the same promise to clients,” says Alexander.