Andrea is the Director General of the European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability / Adjunct Professor / Entrepreneur / Keynote SpeakerIt's been years since I've worked on innovation for sustainability. I daily investigate how to drive innovation to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.Since January 2020, I have been the Director General of the European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability (EIIS) based in Rome. Innovation has always been at the core of my entrepreneurial activity. I was, in fact, CEO and founder of two successful startups that taught me such a great deal.In 2018 I attended the Harvard Business School Exec, studying how to drive innovation in large organizations.In 2016 I attended Singularity University at NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley, investigating the impacts of exponential technologies in our society.I am an adjunct professor at LUISS and LUMSA University, and I had the pleasure of being a guest lecturer at Harvard - Kennedy School and Science Po. I am Advisor and Angel Investor in several international startups and I have been writing for Harvard Business Review Italia since 2019 on new trends and future scenarios.
Being sustainable for a company is not an ethical choice. It is the only viable choice. Innovation is the means for a business to achieve sustainability. Being sustainable means nothing more than being able to last over time. You cannot be sustainable unless you constantly seek to innovate what you do, and you cannot think of tackling the long and arduous path of innovation except by being sustainable. This talk will focus to the different meanings of sustainability, but also and more importantly to the true nature of sustainability and its long-term implications for organizations around the world.
The word 'innovation' appears in every article, book, or interview as if it were a natural fit for all companies. The reality is, it is not a spontaneous mechanism at all. Businesses do not innovate by vocation. In fact, they would probably gladly do without innovating, if they could. Innovating implies costs. It requires the commitment of the organization at all levels, and it exposes you to the risk of economic losses. If we decide to innovate, we must be sure to overcome any obstacles to innovation. Be they internal or external.
At a time when change is as rapid and profound as never before, innovating requires an extraordinary capacity for vision. This specific aptitude is not innate in humankind. However, it can be trained by stimulating creativity. For this reason, Art, as an extreme form of creativity, plays a crucial role in the entire process. You cannot talk about sustainability if you do not talk about innovation and the future. The term 'foresight' is often used by futurists to describe the act of observing and thinking about the future.' In this workshop, we will train and develop the ability to imagine future scenarios based on weak signals.