Paula Miquelis (E16): “We are connecting people back to the planet”

Paula Miquelis (E16), co-founder of Green Is The New Black, is launching the 1^st Virtual Conscious Festival on June 12-14^th to help you embrace a more sustainable lifestyle and reconnect with yourself, others, and the planet. Register now!

ESSEC Alumni: What are Green Is The New Black and the Conscious Festival?

Paula Miquelis: We are a media platform promoting conscious living. Our vision is to connect people back to the planet and to create systemic change through pop-culture. We are making inspiring, sexy and thought-provoking content both online and offline, and organising large scale events called the Conscious Festivals in Asia and Europe, which gathered more than 30,000 attendees. We have been working with 160 partners across 13 countries, including big brands such as Lush, Holland & Barrett, HSBC, Shangri-La, etc. as well as smaller brands, SMEs and social enterprises. 

EA: Due to COVID, the Conscious Festival is going full on digital. How does that work?

P. Miquelis: We decided to use Hopin, which will provide us an online platform recreating the live stage, workshops, and marketplace we usually have in our physical events. This will allow us to offer you an interactive escape with impact that will see you pinging across continents, countries, and borders to observe and learn first-hand about the challenges and solutions relating to climate change. Expect corporates, NGOs, citizens and social entrepreneurs, all here to define what should be the new normal. 

EA: What is the program of this edition?

P. Miquelis: The festival will include a live stage featuring panel discussions and keynotes, some workshops sessions, a virtual expo of brands coming from Asia, Europe and the USA, and a networking feature to interact live with all participants of the festival. Speakers include Brune Poirson, French Minister of Ecology; Christina Goulay, Head of Innovations at Kering; Leyla Acaroglu, Designer, UNEP Champion of the Earth and TED speaker; Malin Pettersson-Beckeman, Head of Sustainability in IKEA; LUSH, WWF, Extinction Rebellion, and others.

EA: What are the highlights of this edition?

P. Miquelis: Too hard to pick! I am especially looking forward to the fireside chat between Brune Poirson and Arizona Muse, who is a model activist. This will be on Friday June 12th. I’ll also make sure to attend our debate called “Capitalism vs. Climate”, and our show on Saturday afternoon with live music streams from Hong Kong, London, Paris and London at the same time. It will be a way to remind us that we are all connected.

EA: Will you address the COVID-19 situation during the festival?

P. Miquelis: Definitely! We are defining what should be the new normal and COVID-19 is directly connected to climate change, deforestation, and our so-called supremacy over animals. More than 3 out of 4 pandemics are zoomotics, meaning they stem from animals! We need to rethink our footprint on our planet Earth if we want to avoid huge catastrophes such as other pandemics in the future. 

There will be some speakers addressing the topic including Aja Barber during our Wellness Track on COVID-19 and Being Human on Saturday June 13th, and Chad, Director of Project Drawdown, one of the most ambitious and well established programs to fight against climate change. We will also have a workshop on Friday June 12th about digital marketing strategies and insights to overcome this tricky period. 

EA: How can your fellow alumni support and/or take part in the festival?

P. Miquelis: Register on our Hopin platform and mark yourself as an attendee on Facebook! And if you feel creative, you can post a story on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn to share the #littlegreensteps you make to change the game. You can also pledge for those #littlegreensteps on our website. Our goal is to collect 10,000 pledges by the end of the year! 

Interview by Louis Armengaud Wurmser (E10), Content Manager at ESSEC Alumni

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