Of late, but better than never, business organizations have realized that running a successful business is not just about profits but also about taking care of environmental, social, and governance matters. Stakeholders today agree that sustainability has to be an integral part of organizational strategy and guide its operations for better profits and business longevity.
As a Global Sustainability Expert, Lidia Aviles agrees that she would be worried if there is an organization somewhere that doesn’t have sustainability as part of the key strategies yet. But having said that, she also thinks an organization today needs sustainability as part of their core focus; for different reasons, including economic incentives and savings these provide in future projections. But more importantly, the conscious call to serve the planet. “We might think that we don’t have the money to save the planet because everyone is focused on how much it costs a paper straw vs a plastic one, but let’s be honest, what is there without a planet to live in? Conscious and compassionate actions can make a difference and help an organization integrate a sustainable strategy,” asserts Lidia.
Helping Organizations and Planet Earth
Lidia is a Sustainability & Innovation Expert, mentor, writer, educator, and entrepreneur; Discoverer of the Earthquake Pattern “The Rebound” following multi-disciplines. Studying international affairs and being a Philomath, Lidia encountered herself learning more and eventually walking towards Sustainability expertise without knowing it. She has a few specializations and academic papers like Space travel, seismology, Investment, Innovation, Economics, Law, etc. She loves learning and finds lots of joy when her brain is fully stimulated. Her various studies and interests compound all the different angles of a more sustainable world, and she loves it.
As a Global Sustainability Expert, Lidia provides global advisory in different ways to multiple organizations and institutions globally. Understanding very well the industries of Innovation, High Tech, and Energy (among others) allows her to help better in all realms of the different sectors.
Lidia is creative and a strategic thinker. When things seem blurred, she doesn’t know how, Then she practices foresight and lays down the path. Not always easy, but effective. She takes her time to meditate and also to detach from the problem, as she feels it is important to recharge one’s batteries constantly. “The busy professional life sometimes gets glorified by exhaustion, but I see that people that have a calm spirit usually get further in their steps than someone who is jumping around all the time. Independently of the energetic personality, meditation calms down the pace of action to give solid steps and achieve macro-opportunities,” says Lidia.
The Guiding Words
“Don’t forget about our creator”- Rev. Ulises Aviles (R.I.P). Lidia’s dad was a reverend and passed away a couple of years ago. When in dark moments and happy moments, these words of his bring her the feeling of home. Her work is guided by her desire to learn, provide solutions, and go to the core of the problems. “I don’t like spending time on the surface of any situation. I’m very conscious of the value of my energy and time. My question to the organization is “what do you need and how I can help?”- then I figure it out (if possible),” she explains.
However, this approach also poses some challenges. To start with, not everyone has the learning and training to be proactive. Even though perceiving challenges proactively is a boon to leaders and businesses, people tend to practice it less and panic when issues arise. Practicing foresight kind of puts Lidia in a futuristic mode, and it’s always a challenge to make people understand the pressure of some issues on the horizon. The interaction can be different depending on the professional maturity of the person. She has learned to be patient and sometimes she lets it go, to come back to it in the next few years when she will get the call asking her “…Remember that issue you mentioned a few years ago and asked us to be ready? We need to follow up…”.
Leveraging Technology
When Technology is used correctly, we can see wonders. Lidia reminds herself every day. As a millennial, she is used to using technology daily, but she also knows how to detach from it as she does from coffee every Saturday. “I’m usually an early adopter in all possible things of technology, from coding to AI and, currently, the Metaverse. I try to see them as extensions of myself and keep them for that purpose, but I also like to explore the different ways to leverage technology for business in general. I remember using the old version of a cloud back in 2006… I saw the benefit of it but the world wasn’t ready,” she says.
Metaverse and Sustainability
Taking about Metaverse, Lidia says that the best thing to remember from the word itself is to imagine a completely new universe within. It’s growing fast, and it’s already unstoppable in the sense of creative opportunities. The regular business strategies are constantly changing if these are being updated; we live in a constantly changing world, where adapting to new challenges is the new normal. Businesses should consider the Metaverse (if haven’t already) as part of the many different constellations of opportunities; it’s the next frontier of technology.
Metaverse is the ideal environment where all sustainability goals can be assessed beforehand and problems can be fixed before they happen. An example is the metaverse can be used to track and assess the environmental impact of building roads. Another benefit of the metaverse in terms of making citizens aware is that users’ avatars can help them learn how to live sustainably with other avatars that have different backgrounds and perspectives. This will allow users to explore possible solutions together. While metaverses offer many opportunities for positive environmental change, there are some limitations that we must consider; for instance, metaverse technology is not yet widespread and metaverses also require electricity and bandwidth. However, this technology has the potential to make metaversing more sustainable by using solar energy.
Going Forward
Lidia previously held positions as Digitalisation Manager and Sustainability Leader for an international aviation company with more than 84 locations worldwide for its Global Operations; at the same time, she is a Global Advisor at Guidepoint. Having different interests, including the arts, she has a list of achievements and positions that she serves as. However, the most relevant honor is that of being a European Climate Pact Ambassador. She concludes our interaction by saying, “Always learn and keep matching the right network with the different organizations accordingly. I find it satisfying to bring solutions to different institutions… it’s exciting. And knowledge is key.”