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Viridiana Huitle: Paving Pathways To Shift From A Linear Economy To A Circular One. | |
| Staff Writer |
The UAE is home to a vast Hispanic community tied together with food, culture, and language influences but until a few years ago a sustainable lifestyle was not one of those influences.
But Conexion Circular, a podcast founded by a Mexican Viridiana Huitle and Argentine, Elga Velasquez has made a change.
Their podcasts help the Hispanic community navigate various topics on the transition towards a circular and sustainable lifestyle. It helps generate economic and business opportunities by providing social benefits and builds long-term resilience by reaching out to people through social networking platforms.
An expert in leadership, planning, and relationship management skills, co-founder Huitle said in her exclusive interview with T2NZ, “When we design the product, we have to think about what our impact on society and the environment is. We believe that everyone could be an agent of change.”
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Q: Please tell us what is the circular economy?
A: In the circular economy, everything is interconnected. For example, here in the UAE has an impact on another side of the world. So, the main point of a circular economy is that everything that we create affects natural resources and also society. Another point of the circular economy is that we can recycle, reuse and repair everything before we send it to the landfill. We have to design correctly before producing any service that we are providing to the consumer. And when we design the product, we have to think about what our impact on society and the environment is.
Q: How did Conexion Circular start and what led to your transition from a corporate world to something you were passionate about?
A: So our vision in the circular economy is that we believe that everyone could be an agent of change. Everyone can tackle climate change, and we want to spread that awareness about sustainability. Our main focus is to conduct interviews that spotlight how an economy and its people can become more. Furthermore, we promote some sustainable businesses but prior to that we evaluate how genuinely sustainable their products and services are. We are dedicated to the Hispanic community in the Middle East.
Q: Currently your audience is primarily based in the UAE, how are you looking to expand the readership to the rest of the region?
A: We hope that through the rotation of people in the UAE, the word will spread and more people will listen in from around the region. We also hope to be a single source of deep knowledge for this Hispanic community about sustainability within the region.
Our campaigns are in Spanish as well as English and Arabic to reach a wider audience.
Q: Over the pandemic, these topics such as sustainability, climate change, innovation, all these topics have become more easily accepted and more interesting for people. Are you seeing people showing a lot more interest than maybe they did two years ago?
A: With a pandemic, many situations came up like changes in behaviour. People have started to think, how could we help our planet if we improve our carbon footprint. And also most of the people changed their behaviour because they lost their job. I have noticed that many people ask about what is the impact of a company’s activity on the environment and society. People are eager to learn more. So, yes, I do see a push to change.
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Q: And how did you become so passionate about sustainability?
A: Well, my background is in chemical engineering, and I've worked for an oil and gas company for over a decade. During that time, I tried to implement new processes to reduce our environmental impact. But unfortunately, it was not much appreciated.
I realized that we need to create more awareness and become much more environment-friendly. So I quickly started to find my way into sustainability. I also did a certification in sustainability and a workshop with Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which leans towards the edits of the circular economy. So they helped me to increase my knowledge. I connected with people with the same mindset including Argentina-based Elga Velasquez that is my colleague and we were able to create Conexion Circular because we met in that workshop.
Q: What are the biggest changes or the biggest gaps that you see that could bring about the biggest change?
A: I have seen that overconsumption is a problem that we have in the Middle East. Currently, we have the highest co2 emissions footprint per person. So we need to stop consuming.
Q: What are your favorite city and why?
A: I like Abu Dhabi. Because it is multicultural and you can be yourself. In this city and all UAE, you find tolerance and inspiration to achieve your goals, which you cannot find in another place. You can find many stories about people who have achieved their dreams and how sustainability takes place around the country. And that is inspirational.