Ecuadorian promotes sustainability in Europe

Ecuadornews:

England, Germany and now Ecuador are some of the countries where Michael Valdivieso is focusing his efforts to promote sustainable development and environmental awareness. This 27-year-old Ecuadorian settled in Europe two years ago to study his master’s degree. There he founded a company to fulfill his goal and has managed to organize events with world experts to convey his message.

From the age of 13, Valdivieso began to be involved in activities related to the responsible development of the countries, until in October 2017, he was able to create his enterprise. Together with a German and a friend from the Czech Republic, they came up with the idea of ​​starting a project that promotes the sustainable development of companies.

This is how Momentum Novum emerged, which focuses on consulting with companies around the world, education for their clients and information through different campaigns and podcasts on topics related to sustainability. What began as a three-person project, has now managed to bring together more than 20 members working from different continents.

Upon hearing about this initiative, the environment center of the University of Heidelberg, in Germany, became interested in working with this group and together they were able to hold a conference that brought together more than 100 participants in Heidelberg.

Valdivieso explains that, through this activity, it was possible to promote “a network of enthusiasts for sustainable development” from different professions and ages. During this event the use of plastics was not allowed. The food was served on reusable tableware, only vegetarian foods were offered and everything was prepared with local products, which were made by refugees.

The participants received a reusable bottle, a cloth bag and a bicycle for their mobilization. “We saved more than 1 000 kilograms of CO2 in emissions due to small changes,” says Valdivieso. The idea was to show that with small changes, a significant impact can be achieved.

The objective is to hold the conference annually and each time increase the number of attendees. In this 2019 the event will take place in November and so far have two options where the meeting could be held: Ecuador or the United States.

For this young person, it would be a great opportunity to transfer the conference to this country in order to gather all the experts and achieve the objectives of sustainable development in national companies. “In Europe we can learn and there are more people willing to gamble for something that can fail,” says Valdivieso, who this year seeks to bring all the knowledge he has acquired abroad during his stay in London, Germany and the three months he lived in Belgrade, in Serbia.

Currently, he continues studying at The London School of Economics, where he won an entrepreneurship visa for 12 months to be able to establish himself in other countries and continue spreading his message. (I)

Source: https://www.elcomercio.com/tendencias/ecuatoriano-promueve-consciencia-sostenibilidad-europa.html