Our GreenBuzz member community is amazingly diverse – sustainability experts and enthusiasts from many sectors and walks of life form this group. We want to celebrate that! Scroll down and learn about the projects, the ideas and the sustainability journeys of the people who form this community. Meet our members!
Do you want to join our network of passionate sustainability professionals, too? Read more and sign up here.
Meet our Member: Aurelia Figueroa!
Job Title: Head of Sustainability
Company: Breitling SA
GreenBuzz Member since: 2016
Most interested in: Affordable and Clean Energy, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action
“Sustainability, like ethics, is deeply personal; integrating diverse stakeholder viewpoints brings it to life in a resilient and meaningful manner.”
Aurelia is Head of Sustainability at Breitling, a Catalyst of collaboratio helvetica and a long-time member of GreenBuzz. During her time as a Board Member of GreenBuzz, she created the membership model the organization thrives upon today. She describes GreenBuzz as the place to connect on the latest and greatest in sustainability and to challenge your professional and personal paradigms while enjoying tasty vegetarian bites and good conversation.
Her theory of change is a combination of radical innovation that creates paradigmatic shifts and incremental change that over time creates the baseline shifts that drive sustainability on a day-to-day basis. She sees resistance to change and fear of the unknown as some of the biggest challenges in implementing sustainability, and meaningful stakeholder engagement and creative visioning as the key lever to channel both of these into positive anticipation of what is waiting to break forth.
Meet our Member: Philipp Staudacher!
Job Title: SDG Evangelist
Company: radicant
GreenBuzz Member since: January 2022
Most interested in: Sustainable Finance & Impact Investing, Conservation & Biodiversity, Food & Agriculture, Plastics, Reporting, Technology & Digitalisation
Philipp is an SDG Evangelist at radicant and became a GreenBuzz member to “stay up to date with the latest buzz”. He works in sustainable finance towards achieving the SDGs. He believes the way our collective assets are invested, is at least as important as individual lifestyle changes are.
When asked what challenges he faced in pushing sustainability further, he answered that “many people are not aware that their savings are indirectly polluting the planet”.
However, a positive development that he welcomes is the Fridays for Future movement and its resulting media presence.
Meet our Member: Holger Sigmund!
Job Title: Owner
Company: Tourism Impact / Holger Sigmund Management & Projects
GreenBuzz Member since: February 2021
Most interested in: Communication & Marketing, Hospitality & Tourism
“I think tourism has an opportunity to become one global blueprint for sustainable change, but we have to think outside the box and connect to a network of like-minded changemakers. GreenBuzz is a strong, local network and offers a lot of good events with interesting topics and insights and a platform to exchange.”
Meet Holger, a tourism and hospitality expert and owner of Tourism Impact and Holger Sigmund Management & Projects. To advance sustainability in tourism, he provides training for the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and developed, together with a colleague, the German Sustainable Tourism Course based on the framework of GSTC’s global sustainable tourism criteria.
The biggest challenge he faced in pushing sustainability forward is the complexity of sustainable approaches as it takes some effort to understand them and get focused on where to start.
One last thing Holger wants to share with you is this: “When you travel, choose impactful options for the good. Go local, deep dive into cultures, watch out for authentic experiences and connect to other cultures. Support also small businesses and enjoy good, locally grown and authentic food. Look behind certifications and labels and inform yourself about the actions a supplier is taking.”
Meet our Member: Neringa Mannerheim!
Job Title: Founder & Sustainability Manager
Company: Sustainable Alignment
GreenBuzz Member since: December 2021
Most interested in: Circular Economy, Climate Change, Conservation & Biodiversity, Equality & Diversity, Food & Agriculture, Hospitality & Tourism, Mobility, Plastics, Renewable Energy, Reporting, Spatial & Urban Planning, Sustainable Finance & Impact Investing, Technology & Digitalisation
Meet Neringa, a sustainability manager and founder of the Sustainable Alignment association, who loves to talk and educate about sustainability.
For the last three years, she promoted sustainability education to school children in various countries. She says that it is a pleasure to see how eager they are to learn more about the climate and environment and how much they want to contribute to a positive impact.
The main challenge she faced in pushing sustainability forward is trying to change human nature: “More often it is all about “money, money, money…always sunny…in the rich man’s world” :)”.
Meet our Member: Maxime Darimont!
Job Title: Sustainability Manager
Company: medmix
GreenBuzz Member since: November 2021
Most interested in: Gender Equality, Clean Water & Sanitation, Climate Action
“GreenBuzz is a unique place where people meet who have sustainability anchored into their deepest values but also a place where debate and freedom of speech are important.”
Maxime works as a sustainability manager at medmix and has been passionate about sustainability since his youth. As a father, he now tries to pass on the knowledge he has gained about the complexity of the world to his sons.
The main challenge he faced in pushing sustainability forward is related to information dissemination. He says that because many people believe and trust what they read in the press without necessarily double-checking the corresponding sources, a big part of his job is to provide adequate information in a simple and understandable manner from credible sources such as IEA, IPCC, or FAO.
But there are also positive developments in the area of sustainability: “Being part of a company, I developed a sustainability strategy based on the 3 P approach and also considering the latest science, fact-based information like SBTI, CDP, IPCC.”
One last thing that Maxime wants to share with you is this: “There is still a lot to do to demystify what is important to work on and what is not a high priority.”
Job Title: Head of Responsible Investment / Sustainable Investments
Company: Swiss Life Asset Managers
GreenBuzz Member since: February 2021
Most interested in: Quality Education, Affordable and Clean Energy, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action
“GreenBuzz is a great place to get to know interesting people and learn about new sustainability topics long before they become a trending mainstream. GreenBuzz is a strong platform for connecting with sustainability people, online as well as offline.”
Dominik’s passion for sustainability is anchored in his personal DNA: “Already in the early 1990s, when studying international relations, I wrote a term paper on how global climate discussions influence on national politics. Not knowing then that sustainability – together with corporate responsibility – would become the core topic of all my professional career. I also fully integrate sustainability in my personal life: As a founding member of our local GLP (green liberal party), I continuously stand up for solutions that are sustainable and economically viable at the same time. And I constantly nag my children with doing proper recycling, saving energy and avoiding food waste … ;-).”
On his journey, he has already faced a number of challenges to push sustainability forward: “I remember the times well when I was just “the green crazy guy” when I told my colleagues that we must do sustainable investments, even more so as I was CFO of charitable foundations then. I even had to reply to arguments of being irresponsible…. But I never gave up and finally managed to implement ESG investing. It was a challenging task to communicate the benefit and create an understanding of ESG investing to people outside the sustainable bubble.”
Because nowadays everyone claims to be sustainable, he recognizes the challenge that experts have to carefully observe this development to distinguish between real sustainability and, for example, greenwashing or rainbow-washing. Nevertheless, he is proud that sustainability is becoming increasingly important and is convinced that it can also yield financial benefits.
But there are also positive developments in the area of sustainability: “I have seen sustainability developing from something like an esoteric niche to mainstream – with still a lot to do. I am proud to be part of this development and that I am able to further contribute to its advancement. It’s great that current discussions are now much more about how to do sustainability properly rather than to explain why we should do it at all.”
One last thing that Dominik wants to share with you is this: “Looking at the politics around us, especially in the EU, I perceive a trend of expecting the great and all-including sustainability solution from authorities. This brings along codifying sustainability in legal documents, attempting to fix any conceivable details. However, I rather plead for a smart regulation that allows for flexibility and recognizes the dynamics that are inherent in sustainable developments. At the same time, such an approach of really smart regulation requires businesses themselves to behave honestly and responsibly – not waiting until the regulator forces them to act. Therefore, I encourage businesses to implement and promote sustainability because it obviously makes economic sense. There are still many challenges to solve. One of these challenges is fair and transparent reporting that allows for true comparisons and relates sustainability considerations to financials. There will be many developments we not only shall passively observe but also help to positively shape with all our knowledge and experience.”
Meet our Member: Dominic Ziegler!
Job Title: Founder & CEO
Company: Arbofino AG
GreenBuzz Member since: July 2017
Field of Expertise: Impact Investing, Forestry, Intra-/Entrepreneurship, Natural Resources, Biodiversity
“GreenBuzz offers a great mix of exciting events, knowledge resources and fantastic networking with like-minded people.”
Dominic is a long-time GreenBuzz member and has been a part of our community since 2017. His passion for sustainability has developed from early on: “With my background in tourism, sustainability issues have always been close to my heart. With the founding of Arbofino, it finally became a central part of my life. Everything we do with Arbofino is based on sustainability. Be it our Teak Impact Investment concept, our reforestation and forest conservation concept to protect the climate and promote biodiversity, or our organic cocoa. This also includes the personal and familiar interaction with the team and the local community in Ecuador.”
Despite the challenge that many investors, even though wanting to invest sustainably, are deterred by the increased prices for this added value, Dominic also recognizes positive developments in his field: “It is exciting to see that long-time friends, from whom I would never have expected sustainability issues to be important to them, are suddenly making very conscious decisions, whether in terms of consumer behavior or political voting, for example. You can sense that the topic now has very broad support.”
Meet our Member: Gabriel Hansmann!
Job Title: Research Analyst
Company: Globalance Bank
GreenBuzz Member since: December 2020
Most interested in: Affordable & Clean Energy, Decent Work & Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
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“I joined GreenBuzz because I want to learn from other sustainability experts. Personally, I am interested in sustainable energy and mobility. I am fascinated to use new technologies, but also to understand their true impact. Data to measure impact is still missing. But there is one good thing: 90% of all scientists and researchers that ever lived are alive today. It’s the power of exponential growth. The 2020s will take us a big step forward.”⠀
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One last thing that Gabriel wants the sustainability community to remember is this: “Give wind and tide a chance to change!”
Meet our Member: Michelle van Waveren!
Job Title: Global Social Impact Fellow
Company: MovingWorlds Institute
GreenBuzz Member since: January 2021
Most interested in: Gender Equality, Affordable & Clean Energy, Decent Work & Economic Growth
“I’m new to the sustainability world. Joining GreenBuzz has been a great way to learn and build a new network!”
Driving positive environmental & ethical change in the clothing industry is Michelle’s passion. “It is very inspiring to see many organizations pushing for change. I just wished stakeholders would join forces for greater impact. I hope to help with that and propose establishing one universal label, see here.”
Michelle is also inspired by the B Corp movement. “As B Leader I help companies measure what matters and use business as a force for good.”
Make sure to check out Michelle’s amazing project and don’t hesitate to get in touch with her to learn more about her sustainability journey!
Meet our Member: Habiba El kasri!
Job Title: Founder & CEO
Company: asgunfa GMBH
GreenBuzz Member since: August 2020
Most interested in: No Poverty, Quality Education, Gender Equality
“On an individual level, I try as much as possible to make sustainable decisions in my life. But the fact that it’s not yet a standardized topic to everyone is a challenge I see when it comes to pushing sustainability forward in society.”
One way of overcoming that challenge which plays a big role at GreenBuzz, is connecting sustainability enthusiasts and amplifying their individual efforts by forming a network. That is why Habiba chose to become a GreenBuzz member: “I want to get in touch with the sustainability community in Zurich!”
Meet our Member: Tobias Meier!
Job Title: Senior Project Leader Sustainable Textiles
Company: ecos
GreenBuzz Member since: October 2017
Most interested in: Agenda 2030, Fair Trade, Textiles
“In my life, I have witnessed many, many positive developments with regards to sustainability. Currently I am working on building up an organic and fair-trade cotton coalition in West-Africa, building up a think-tank on sustainability on the Kerenzerberg and running the secretariat of the sustainable Textiles Switzerland 2030 program. I am president of Swiss Fair Trade, board-member of Gebana Fairtrade, project leader of Prozirkula, and representing the sustainability branch-association MaxTex in Switzerland.”
Tobias is looking to exchange ideas and knowledge with other people who are interested in sustainability: “I want to learn from other members!”
Meet our Member: Fidel Chiriboga!
Job Title: Project Manager & Doctoral Researcher
Company: ETH Zürich
GreenBuzz Member since: April 2021
Most interested in: Decent Work & Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure, Sustainable Cities & Communities
“Sustainability has been a subconscious key component of my whole life – from childhood deciding to become a biologist, to adulthood and my current aim to expand my professional fields of action in this area.”
Despite the challenge of translating sustainability topics from an academic towards a more pragmatic & real world approach, Fidel has experienced numerous positive sustainability-related developments in his life: Early support to youth engagement in environmental campaigns, considerable efforts into training future environmental academics and capacity development of engaged and enthusiastic environmental professionals to-be are just few of the many examples that come to Fidel’s mind.