IE Students learn about Sustainable Entrepreneurship

IE’s first ever Sustainability Week, hosted by IE Campus Life in collaboration with the Sustainability Office and Student Sustainability Committee ran from November 23 until November 27. The overarching theme was The Big Reset, with the purpose to address the 3 pillars of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Economic, Social, and Environmental progress.

“The whole idea of sustainability week was to bring the culmination of all of these new sustainability awareness initiatives and to make the students' voices reflect in that.”
Elsa Hicks, Associate Director of Student Affairs at IE Campus Life

IE Clubs packed the agenda with numerous events throughout the week. On Thursday, the IE Eco Club held the event Sustainable Entrepreneurship: Green Start-up Forum. The goal was to explain sustainable entrepreneurship by bringing in different entrepreneurs from the IE Business School community and beyond.

Speakers from different backgrounds shared their experience as sustainable entrepreneurs. Specifically, they explained how they use sustainable alternatives for their businesses. The lineup included: Carlota Mateos, Founder of PlenEat, Felipe Hernandez, CEO and Founder of Hexagro, Tom Fréreux-Sanchez, founder of Green Goals -a startup born at the IE Startup Lab-, and Nicholas Saye, Founder of Tumbao.

“The speakers that attended had innovated in ways and industries no one could have ever imagined. We wanted students to know that sustainability is not an ethereal boring concept they have to deal with, but something they can discover in design, finance or even food,” said Carlos Rafael Gonzalez, co-leader of Eco Club’s University Relations.

The panel-like discussion highlighted how sustainability can give businesses a competitive advantage and a source of differentiation. After each speaker presented about their business, audience members were given some time to ask questions.