In April 2026, Ichigo Bloom facilitated a Climate Fresk workshop for French circular economy startup Back Market, as part of the annual Activist Day of their team in Japan. This was also the first Climate Fresk Generation 2 session we have delivered for a corporate team.
Founded in France in 2014, Back Market operates one of the world’s largest marketplaces for professionally refurbished electronics. The concept is simple: instead of buying a new device, you buy one that has been professionally restored and quality-checked, at a lower price, and with a fraction of the environmental footprint. According to their own research, choosing a refurbished device over a new one reduces CO₂ emissions, raw material use, water consumption, and electronic waste by around 90%. The company has been present in Japan since 2020, and obtained B Corp certification in 2023.
They also know how to make that argument visible. Their “Let’s End Fast Tech” campaign, launched ahead of Earth Day 2025, repurposes the iconic “Shot on iPhone” format to show something else entirely: what has changed between phone generations. Glaciers in retreat. Dried-out riverbeds. Cities half-submerged. The photos are real, and the captions note the iPhone model used to take them.
What makes the campaign resonate, and what made this workshop feel like a natural fit, is how directly it connects to the science. The Climate Fresk (born in France like Back Market) includes cards on melting glaciers, droughts, and other visible consequences of climate change – directly represented in the advertisement campaign!
An annual day of action
Back Market’s core business extends the life of electronic devices by connecting buyers with professionally refurbished products. That is, in its own right, a meaningful contribution. But the Climate Fresk invites participants to zoom out: to see that contribution within the full system of causes, feedbacks, and consequences that the IPCC documents.
The session took place as part of Back Market Japan’s annual Activist Day, a program through which the company sets aside time for its teams to engage with causes aligned with their mission. The team organized this year’s edition around climate education. The workshop was facilitated by Ichigo Bloom’s members Stéfan and Minami, in English and Japanese, at Impact HUB Tokyo. We have been running open public workshops there for years, and it is one of our favorite spaces to work in.
Generation 2: a first for corporate sessions in Japan
This was also the first time we delivered the Generation 2 edition of the Climate Fresk for a company in Japan. The new version keeps the same scientific foundation based on IPCC reports, and the same collaborative card-based format. The key change is structural: a second phase called the Action Spiral, focused entirely on collective problem-solving. Small groups work through three successive rounds to address what can be implemented now, which levers are most promising in the short and medium term, and what obstacles need to be removed. Understanding climate change and thinking through responses to it, all in a single session.
For a team already working in the circular economy and already thinking about the lifecycle of technology, that second phase opened up particularly grounded conversations. A big thank you to the Back Market Japan team for organizing this session and for bringing genuine curiosity and energy to the room!
Bring sustainability workshops to your team in Japan
If your organization works in the circular economy or the tech sector, or if you are a European company with a presence in Japan, workshops like the Climate Fresk, Digital Collage, Planetary Boundaries Fresco, or Plastic Collage can be a strong foundation for employee education and team engagement. We facilitate in English and Japanese. Get in touch.
