Pioneers into Practice in Berlin

This year’s next generation of climate innovators has just finished their 4-6 week placement, gaining international work experience in transitions thinking and systems innovation, and exchanging knowledge with other Green Professionals.

The city of Berlin was home to 9 Pioneers who were placed in different organisations. Among them were Annalisa Moro, Andjela Bogdan and Theophilus Aryee. Annalisa and Andjela were placed with Circular Berlin, a non-profit organisation developing Berlin’s circular economy agenda and its implementation, through research, community-building and practical programmes. Theophilus worked with Green Delta, a full-scale sustainability consultant focused on environmental Life Cycle Assessment with its own LCA software.

All three applied to the programme to act and learn about the circular economy transition approach in order to be able to apply it to their home countries. While Andjela has a background in Civil Engineering and is interested in how cities plan for climate change, Annalisa is pursuing a career in the sustainable food industry and strives to make it more sustainable and transparent.

“As citizens, as people, as workers, we can do something! […] To be here means to understand what we can do and how, and possibly to scale up in other cities and countries. […] I will look for opportunities in the circular economy and I’d like to create some related projects in Italy. I’m contacting organisations in the sustainable food industry to work on the food chain and make it more transparent and sustainable”. – Annalisa Moro

Meanwhile Theophilus has a degree in environmental engineering and is interested in understanding the environmental impacts during a mining lifecycle as it is key to improve and develop technologies on wastewater recycling, the valorisation of tailings and minimisation of environmental footprints. During his placement he was trained on the LCA software to develop products environmental Life Cycle Assessment. He also had the opportunity to work with experts on the ITERAMS projects which seeks to develop a new paradigm proof of concept at mine site to enable a future sustainable raw material supply in Europe.

“I am looking forward to applying the knowledge and network I have gained during my placement on different projects with various industries and support startups. Currently, I am also working with startups in Ghana on conducting environmental Life Cycle Impact Assessments of their products.” – Theophilus Aryee

During their placement the three Pioneers experienced a new form of interaction amongst professionals working with environmental innovation. Together with their team, Annalisa and Andjela explored new low carbon scenarios and opportunities to innovate within these. While Annalisa accompanied the creation of a communications strategy and analysed target groups, Andjela was tasked with finding and designing a circular economy approach for the city of Berlin. Through their participation, our three Pioneers are seeking to understand how to connect organisations, businesses, and other relevant stakeholders and help build more sustainable societies by starting a green transition in their hometowns.

‘’Our society is facing a plethora of challenges. Meeting young professionals from all over the world with different backgrounds that are full of passion and dedication was an amazing experience. I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn what led to these problems, how they affect our lives and societies, and about possible solutions. I would recommend the programme to all young and ambitious professionals. All together we go further!” – Andjela Bogdan

For more information about the programme and the placement or involved organisations please visit our webpage.