Aspen Seminar on “Sustainability and Future Generations”
Aspen Institute España held the second edition of the Aspen Seminar on “Sustainability and Future Generations” from November 16 to 18, 2023. The Seminar brought together participants from a wide range of sectors and ages with the aim of generating a highly enriching exchange of ideas and experiences through two-hour discussion sessions.
The Seminar, moderated through the Socratic method used in other Aspen España programs, does not aim to reach specific conclusions but rather to improve the quality of our questions and raise the level of the debate on the great challenges of today and the timeless matters surrounding human values. This new edition of the seminar was moderated by María Sicilia Salvadores, State Economist, Strategy Director of ENAGÁS , and Gonzalo Verdera, Senior Advisor for Alternative Assets and Impact Investing, both Aspen Spain Fellows.
The aim of this second edition of the Aspen Seminar on Sustainability is to create a space for reflection, dialogue, and learning that will allow us to put the spotlight on and debate the world we are going to leave to the next generations.
The Seminar parts from the urgent debate on climate change and energy transition that rises the double question of what social, economic and political changes are needed to create a fairer and more sustainable society and how we achieve them. Sustainability is understood from this perspective as an early warning system and also as a guide, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which allows governments to agree on reforms, businesses to adopt new practices and citizens to mobilize, always with the aim of keeping the interests of future generations in mind. In this way, the Seminar is structured around five key aspects: technological innovation, climate change, finance and economy, energy transition and geopolitics, and the future of democracy.
María Sicilia
She is Director of the Enagás Investment Office and Co-Chair of the European Hydrogen Backbone initiative. She is also an independent director at Soltec and Tubos Reunidos. Previously, she was Deputy Director General of Energy Planning for the Spanish Government, Head of Foresight at Iberdrola, Senior Analyst for Electricity Markets at the International Energy Agency at the OECD and Regulatory Economist at Ofgem, the regulatory authority for electricity and gas markets in the UK. In addition, within the Spanish Administration she was Advisor for energy issues to the Secretary of State for Economy and Energy Advisor at the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU. María is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Real Instituto Elcano, of the Editorial Committee of the journal Política Exterior and of the Spanish chapter of the European Council on International Relations.
European Council on International Relations. She holds a degree in Law with a specialisation in Business Law from the Universidad Complutense – C.E.U. San Pablo, an MPA in Economic Policy with a specialisation in Industrial Organisation from the London School of Economics, executive training from Harvard Business School and INSEAD, and is Aspen España Fellow.
Gonzalo Verdera
He has developed his career in the asset management and strategy consulting sectors. Chief Strategy Officer and Managing Partner of Altamar Capital Partners, one of Europe’s leading alternative asset managers, he left the group to devote time and effort to promoting a new asset management project in the sustainability and impact space. In the early 2000s he founded Bluequity, a company offering advisory and consultancy services to projects/start ups in the communication, media and technology sectors. Previously, he founded and managed a Securities Agency, Savia Capital, with the aim of covering the investment needs of institutional investors, providing them with Stock Exchange trading and Asset Management services. They were pioneers in identifying the Private Equity Fund of Funds scheme as the best entry point for institutional investors. He also worked at McKinsey & Company, as a consultant for different companies in Europe and the United States, mainly in the financial, retail and media sectors, helping to solve strategic, valuation and organisational issues, as well as implementation processes. He holds a degree in Business and Economics from CUNEF, an MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and is a Fulbright scholar.
