Eco-Age leads new summit aimed at rethinking sustainability

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Mar 16, 2018

London-based sustainability agency Eco-Age has revealed a celebrity line-up including Gisele Bündchen, Paul Hawken and Nina Garcia for a new sustainability summit that will take place in Costa Rica on 7-9 June.

Eco-Age has partnered with Costa Rican non-profit initiative Omina on the project, which aims to find a fresh and new approach to sustainability. Guests will be invited to immerse themselves in the topic as they hear from leading practitioners in global change over three days.

“Sustainability in fashion and associated sectors is dominated by old thinking,” explains Livia Firth, creative director of Eco-Age, “including the corporate led agenda on reform which has led to a stranglehold on progress. We need fresh ideas and brilliant communication. So many people tell me that the very language of sustainability is inadequate, so we’re inviting our delegates to start with a clean slate.”

American environmentalist Paul Hawken, author of the manifesto for climate optimism Drawdown, will set the tone for inspiration and disruption, alongside supermodel and global environmental campaigner Gisele Bündchen, fashion industry expert Nina Garcia and Latin American sustainability leader Oska Metsavaht.

Andrea Somma, chief executive and co-founder of Omina, says: “People from all over the continent, from Argentina to Mexico, are converging this June in San José not only to learn from global experts, but also to share what themselves are already doing to save the future for all of us. This kind of empowerment is what we celebrate and want to show to the rest of the world. This is a summit for the people from the people.”

The summit will also look at engaging a global online audience with a dedicated editorial team reporting directly from the conference. “Everyone we consulted said that they felt constrained by old fashioned language and ideas around sustainability. So we’re challenging our delegates, both in Costa Rica and anybody who wants to join as via social media, to work with us in creating some new language, expressions and definitions,” says Livia Firth.

The three-day conference will be the biggest fashion and lifestyle event in Latin America, taking place in Avenida Escazu in San Jose.