Diego Horcajada, April 2019 I recently assisted to a 3 days workshop to learn about hosting and participatory techniques that can help surface the collective intelligence of small and large groups of people. I've been reflecting on the many learnings of these 3 days. With like-minded people, we practiced different techniques such as "Appreciative Inquiry", … Continue reading The power of stories →

Diego Horcajada, December 2018. 2 min read. Ever since I was a kid, I was always attracted to nature (thanks, Dad). My mother laughs when she recollects the time when I was 4 and she found one of the drawers in my room full of insects and snail trails. Another time, when I was a … Continue reading Little losses… or big losses? →

Diego Horcajada, November 2018. 5 min read. "Higher temperatures are worsening natural disasters such as storms, heat waves, floods, and droughts. A warmer atmosphere collects, retains, and drops more water, changing weather patterns in such a way that wet areas become wetter and dry areas drier." (Melissa Denchak from the Natural Resources Defence Council) The latest … Continue reading All for One, One for All →

Diego Horcajada, September 2018 The future is coming faster than expected, and I am not referring to climate change and its cataclysmic consequences. I am alluding to a technological development that promises a redefinition of the way business and society operate, and will eventually help us tackle the sustainability challenges we are facing today: the blockchain … Continue reading The future is here: Provenance →

Diego Horcajada, August 2018. August 28th was a significant day in the farce of politics dealing with the biggest threat to humanity: climate change. Nicolas Hulot, today former French Minister of the Ecological and Solidarity Transition (Ministère de la transition écologique et solidaire) resigned of his duties during an interview at France Inter. The reason: he … Continue reading Goliath won one more round. How many Davids do we need? →

Diego Horcajada, July 2018 Following the post fashion industry unbundled, this will be the first post of a serie of short posts aiming to present examples of innovative companies, business models, and technologies that can help to address the sustainability challenges of the apparel industry. Reading Quantis report on apparel and footwear value chain (download the … Continue reading Fabrics through waterless technology? →

Diego Horcajada, July 2018 In a previous post from the World Economic Forum we were presented with the big picture of environmental impacts of the fashion industry (toxic and hazardous chemicals, plastic micro fibres, fresh water intensity and waste of natural resources). Last February Quantis performed a study looking at the entire value chain of apparel and footwear … Continue reading Fashion industry unbundled →

Diego Horcajada, July 2018 Corporate Sustainability reports have become a must. The number of S&P 500 companies issuing sustainability reports has grown from just 20% in 2011 to 82% in 2016. And I wonder how many of these sustainability reports can honestly be considered best in class in terms of transparency, and how many are actually just another greenwashing … Continue reading Sustainability reporting: a new gold standard? →

Diego Horcajada, June 2018 There are no simple, nor single, answers to the challenges of sustainability. Acknowledging that just because we live, we have impacts in our environment and society, is for me the first step for a personal transition towards more sustainable ways of living. The next steps might require a little bit of … Continue reading Thank you class of 2017/2018 →

Diego Horcajada, June 2018 The plastic crisis is finally receiving the attention it deserves. To help us understand the size fo the problem, lets put things into perpective: considering the projected consumption growth, it is expected that by 2050 oceans will contain more plastics than fish (by weight). Can you picture this out? Honestly I … Continue reading The plastic nightmare →

Diego Horcajada, May 2018 Dear friends, My colleagues from the University of Saint Gallen are about to launch their FaceBook page related the 2000 Watt society vision and they would like to invite you to join them! From 13 to 18 of May  they will post one video every day, providing us with ideas to achieve the 2000 Watt … Continue reading 2000 Watt Challenge – Join the FaceBook page! →

Diego Horcajada, May 2018 Next week will mark one year since the death of Jacque Fresco (March 13, 1916 – May 18, 2017), a self-taught and passionate industrial designer who spent a great deal of his life thinking and designing solutions for a flourishing, inclusive, and peaceful human society. A firm believer in the power … Continue reading Tribute to Jacque Fresco →

Diego Horcajada, April 2018 Nowadays it is no secret that contribution to climate change is significantly higher in animal-based diets than in plant-based diets. But how much? How would a comparison based on relative units such as grams of protein or kilocalories look? The image below sheds light on the question. From looking at this, … Continue reading Food choices →

Diego Horcajada, April 2018 In my post "I don't give up" I explained how greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions related to livestock actually exceed the emissions of the global transportation system. Part of the information  presented in this post will be used in the frame of my consulting project for the company Eaternity, whose ambition is “to create … Continue reading Toastmasters Speech: The key in our plates →

Diego Horcajada, March 2018 In this speech for TED India in 2009, Pranav Mistry, currently Vice President of Research at Samsung Electronics, introduced the potential of wearable devices to enable new interactions between the real world and the world of data. The development trends in the IT industry are shifting the user value from the … Continue reading The SixthSense technology →

Diego Horcajada, February 2018 Last week I had the opportunity to participate in the official launch conference of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Switzerland, a network of world-class scientists, universities, research centres, innovative businesses and civil society organizations working together to implement transformative solutions to achieve the Agenda 2030 and Paris Agreement in Switzerland. … Continue reading In the front line of a transformation journey →

Diego Horcajada, February 2018 In his 2016 talk at TED Residency, Jeff Kirschner bring us on a transformation journey from idea to  actions: an idea he had walking with his kids in the forest of Northern California, and the  actions of thousands around the world to make their cities cleaner. Jeff gives us examples of how the crowdsourced information … Continue reading Speech: crowdsource-cleaning →

María Hernández Paredes under her normal appearance, normal life and normal routines, cherishes a great ambition: preserve the planet for the future generations. María is convinced we all can reach our aspirations without harming the environment and others, if only we would reconsider the definition of success. In Gandhi's words: "Earth provides enough to satisfy … Continue reading A litter free world →

"Climate change is the single greatest threat to a sustainable future but, at the same time, addressing the climate challenge presents a golden opportunity to promote prosperity, security and a brighter future for all" - BAN KI-MOON Secretary General, United Nations “This is our last chance at combatting climate change as we can no longer reverse the … Continue reading Documentary: before the flood →

Diego Horcajada, February 2018 My post about Consumption and the culture of gifts was very well received by Value Based Jumping readers. I have therefore decided to use it to build this Toastmaster speech: culture gift. Diego Horcajada

Diego Horcajada, January 2018 Five months in the program, half way in: lots of reading, writing, self-reflections and learning. The picture of the challenge for sustainable development is becoming clearer to me, it is overwhelming to realize the amount and the size of the sustainability challenges we face. I acknowledge that some times I am … Continue reading I do not give up →

Diego Horcajada, January 2018 Christina Dean is founder and CEO of Redress Limited a non-profit organization working to reduce environmental impact of the fashion industry. Redress Limited is partner of 1% for the Planet, a group of businesses and individuals contributing at least 1% of their annual sales to environmental projects. In this direct, respectful … Continue reading Speech: You are what you wear →

Diego Horcajada, January 2018 The text reproduced here is an exact transcription of the article published by the World Economic Forum on January the 3rd 2018 "It’s tough to love our clothes and keep wearing them for longer when we are faced with a tempting array of newness on offer in the shops. But before you head … Continue reading These are the environmental costs of fast fashion →

Diego Horcajada, December 2017 I would like to project us 10 to 15 years in the future, thinking about a short list of the latest social, economic and technology trends: (1) interconnectedness, (2) feedback culture, (3) standard methods and metrics, (4) product traceability and (5) the block chain. I will use these five trends and … Continue reading A business case for sustainability in the Fast Moving Consumer Good industries →

Diego Horcajada, December 2017 Leyla Acaroglu describes herself as a “Sustainability Provocateur, Designer, Sociologist, Experimental Educator and Social Change Maker” In this amazing TED talk she presents us the complexity behind the question; “what is best for environment?” when making a consumption decision, as usual the answer is “it depends”. I hope you enjoy her … Continue reading Speech: Consumption is the problem, design is the solution. →

Diego Horcajada, December 2017 Paul Gilding is an independent writer and advisor on sustainability, in his speech in March 2012 at the TED conference held in Long Beach California, he alerts us on the global economical, social and ecological crisis: the world economy has reached and surpassed the limits to growth. Despite the scary topic … Continue reading Speech: The most important talk of the 21st century →

Diego Horcajada, December 2017 I would like to dedicate this post to a topic occupying lately a great deal of my thoughts: consumption and the culture of gifts. We are approaching the year-end holidays, a period of festivities when friends and families get together to celebrate. In the western cultures, heavily rooted in Judaeo-Christian traditions, … Continue reading Consumption and the culture of gifts →

Diego Horcajada, November 2017 In this speech at the 2017 Sustainable Brands Conference in Istanbul,  Mac Macartney shares with us some anecdotes in his career as an international speaker when talking to corporate leaders. He invites us to imagine a society where “no decision, no law, no actions will be permitted if it harms the future of our children … Continue reading Speech: business purpose →

Diego Horcajada, November 2017 Prosperity is a breakthrough film shedding positive light on a typical doomsday story. It is energising, upbeat, and will leave you with a strong dose of inspiration and the drive to make a positive change. It offers clear examples of businesses caring for the common good, while still being economically successful. It … Continue reading Documentary: Prosperity →

Diego Horcajada, November 2017 The True Cost is a must watch documentary to understand social and environmental impacts of the clothing industry. I remember with nostalgia the time (not long ago, I’m only 44) when the clothing industry had two seasons, summer and winter. We have seen those two seasons grow first to align with … Continue reading Documentary: The True Cost →

Diego Horcajada, November 2017 Demain is one of those rare documentaries that leaves you with a smile on your face and the hope there are still solutions. A group of young adults in their thirties refuse the idea of telling their kids they will inherit a world doomed by environmental and social destruction. Instead, Cyril, … Continue reading Documentary: Demain →

Cowspiracy is without a doubt the documentary that has had the greatest impact on my consumer behaviour. Before watching this documentary, I always said I could never become vegetarian; I am a meat lover. My wife and I watched this documentary in January 2017, and since then we removed meat and fish from our grocery list. … Continue reading Documentary: Cowspiracy →

Diego Horcajada, November 2017 Building on my previous post "The Paris summit 2015 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)", I strongly believe we need to elevate the thinking process above the business level, where today success is defined by the market share and the speed of profit generation, fostering competition instead of collaboration. We … Continue reading What does it all mean for business? →

Diego Horcajada, November 2017 The 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) established in the year 2000 following the United Nations Millennium Summit for the horizon 2015, had a strong focus to improve quality of life, specifically in undeveloped and developing regions. As such, the first 6 goals aimed to: reduce hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote … Continue reading The Paris summit 2015 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) →

Diego Horcajada, November 2017 I’m sure you have heard about global warming, climate change and sustainable development. Perhaps you have not heard that much about the planetary boundaries or resource overshooting. I have to acknowledge that before the introductory module (The Big Picture of Sustainability Challenges) of the  Sustainable Business Program with the University of St Gallen, I … Continue reading We have a problem here →

Diego Horcajada, November 2017 In his book “A new Psychology for Sustainability Leadership” Steve Schein guides the reader through his exploration of the motivations of sustainability leaders. He shows how deep psychological motivations relate to the effectiveness and capacity to lead transformational change. It is a very interesting and very readable book I highly recommend … Continue reading My worldview →

Diego Horcajada, November 2017 It is now over one month since I embarked on the Sustainable Business Program with the University of St Gallen. When I first had the idea of this blog, I had in mind a platform to share my learning on the world of sustainability in my journey to find a sustainable balance between … Continue reading Emotions →

Diego Horcajada, November 2017 Without me knowing it, this journey actually started five years ago. At the time I was not aware that my curiosity and non-conformism would bring me to where I am today, leaving what many might consider a successful career and a safe job in a respectful company. Five years ago my … Continue reading No fear →