Talking table football, behaviour change and tiramisu with SmartCarbon’s latest recruit.
We’re delighted to welcome Giustina Diana to SmartCarbon as the latest addition to our consultancy team. Joining us from her previous role at Investors in the Environment (IIE), Giustina brings a wealth of experience in sustainability and environmental accreditation.
As part of her new role with us, Giustina will also become our business development lead, engaging with businesses from across a variety of industries to promote the benefits of carbon accounting via the SmartCarbon platform.
We sat down with Giustina to find out more about her career to date and the importance of hope in fighting the climate emergency.
Hi Giustina, and welcome to SmartCarbon! Can you tell us a little bit about your career background and your new role with SmartCarbon?
Yes, of course. I’ve worked in sustainability for over 15 years now. Earlier in my career I worked in training and development for Coca-Cola in a position that led me to work on the organisation’s CSR programme. This project paved the way for my move into sustainability and I’ve never looked back.
My remit as Recycling Campaigns Manager for GB within Coca-Cola’s CSR programme was to drive change in behaviours around recycling. It was a very exciting and interesting role that saw us take experiential campaigns to the likes of music festivals around the UK. We came up with all kinds of interesting experiences – like a table football game that required you to insert an empty plastic bottle to get the ball to play and a reaction time game that required players to feed plastic bottles into different holes when they lit up.
Research tells us that if you are enjoying an activity then you are more likely to repeat the associated behaviours, so this was the approach that we took to planning campaigns.
And where did your career take you next?
Since Coca-Cola, I’ve spent time self-employed as a consultant; as a project manager and more recently for Investors in the Environment (an environmental accreditation programme) as a sustainability consultant.
Can you share any of your learnings over the course of your time working in sustainability?
I think it’s important that we convey to organisations that environmental responsibility and a plan for sustainability is not only a duty but also an opportunity to gain an edge on the competition. As I state on my LinkedIn bio: sustainability = good business. That’s something we really shouldn’t shy away from.
Acting on the climate emergency and environmental issues is a huge opportunity across the business world right now. And forward-thinking organisations should be leading the way, rather than being dragged to follow.
For those of us working in the sustainability space, it is important for us to be passionate about the work we do from a moral position but it’s also important to put ourselves in the shoes of businesses and understand the drivers that will get organisations to be more proactive.
What does your role involve at SmartCarbon?
I’m joining the business as a consultant but I also have a clear remit to work on the business development side of the business. This means helping to manage the client base, looking at long-term planning and working on the company’s event programme.
What would you say to those who worry that it’s too little, too late for the environment?
If you look at the cold, hard facts we’re in a very sticky spot. But what are our options but to move as fast as we can in the right direction. I choose to believe that we will make the changes necessary to prevent temperatures from rising beyond the point of no return and I keep myself firmly focused on that goal.
Can you tell us any interesting facts about you that would break the ice if we saw you at an event.
I’m a big fan of Salsa dancing and I also sing in an a cappella group, so those would be two good topics of conversation. Oh, and probably most importantly, I would argue that I make the best tiramisu in the world!
Thanks Giustina.
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