Meet the New Director of Digital for Planet
Leading with Purpose: An Exclusive Interview with Dr Cristina Pereira
As digital technologies continue to reshape our world, Digital for Planet (D4P)’s commitment to harnessing innovation for sustainability aims to grow even stronger. Dr Cristina Pereira, the newly appointed Director of D4P, will lead this new phase in close collaboration with its Founder and President, Dr Monique Calisti, and the Co-founder and Vice-President Dr Giovanni Rimassa.
About Dr Cristina Pereira:
Cristina joins D4P with an impressive background and achievements leading impactful European cooperation initiatives in education, research, and innovation. She is uniquely positioned to move D4P vision forward to achieve its ambitious goals. In a career span of over 20 years, she worked for prestigious organizations like ETH Zurich, Nestlé, Informatics Europe, and the Paul Scherrer Institute, initially doing cutting–edge research and later leading international cooperation initiatives and research programs at the European level. Besides her professional occupation, Cristina has her most fulfilling, fun, and demanding job: raising two multicultural kids in this fast-paced, ever–changing, complex world.
What inspired you to join Digital for Planet, and what excites you most about its mission?
Joining D4P was a step forward in my work journey and an opportunity I knew I should not miss. I felt a strong sense of belonging even before officially joining the organization, and the discussions with the D4P team solidified my decision. I admired their journeys and could sense the motivation and the passion for their craft in our conversations. The challenge of steering a rapidly growing organisation that is still searching for its soul and aiming at maximising its positive impact in the world felt very appealing to me. I have always desired to do more through my work to make the world a better place. D4P opened for me the possibility of a journey where I can connect my work to a greater purpose.
I firmly believe the best shot we have as humanity to mitigate and solve the planetary crisis we are facing is in the work of our scientists, engineers, inventors, and innovators. As in most crises we have already overcome, the solution depended on multiple critical enabling factors, with innovation and human ingenuity playing a key role in association with the socio-economic and regulatory contexts. We need to accelerate change and foster international and interdisciplinary research and innovation projects. Enabling European funded Coordination and Support Actions that build bridges between science/innovation and our society are also fundamentally important. Governments need to facilitate the integration of innovative solutions into national policies and development strategies. An organisation like D4P is in a strategic position in this complex landscape. I believe that with maturity and excellence in our activities, D4P can play an important impactful role in how Europe will transition to a sustainable digital and resource-efficient economy and society, creating value for all, while protecting our planet’s limited resources.
How has your background prepared you for the challenges and opportunities at D4P?
I have been immersed in the scientific world since I was 17 years old and started my undergraduate studies in Chemistry. My academic journey through the depts of Natural Sciences, particularly Physical Chemistry, has shaped my perspective and understanding of our complex world. It has also been an exciting intercontinental adventure that brought me from Brazil to Switzerland with a bag full of dreams and a head full of ideas when I was only 25 years old. My PhD and postdoctoral years at ETH Zurich opened the doors to the world of scientific international cooperation. Addressing our most pressing local and global challenges requires well-funded diverse groups from various disciplines. My journey brought me later to work directly with initiatives that reinforced cooperation across Europe and the key role that Switzerland can play in them. I was for eleven years the Executive Director of Informatics Europe (IE) a nonprofit organisation networking Informatics academic departments and IT industry research labs with the goal of strengthening this community and contributing to Europe to play a leading role in a world increasingly shaped by digital systems and technology. I have been a member of several working groups in topics like ethics and the social responsibility on Informatics; gender balance and diversity, unconscious biases and how this affects the technologies that are being produced and the way we live as a society. IE has also been working directly with the European Commission and national governments advising and informing the policies that have been put into effect in recent years regarding the teaching of Informatics and digital skills in schools. Rounding up my profile I had two years directly managing a range of European projects and programs at the Paul Scherrer Institute. Among them high-risk-high-funding ERC Synergy projects in Quantum Physics and Structural Biology, a MSCA Postdoctoral Network Cofund and Horizon Europe projects involving research in Energy and Environmental Sciences and Material Sciences for the Circular Economy. I have also been actively involved in LEAPS, the network of all Synchrotron Radiation and Free Electron Laser user facilities in Europe, which is also a nonprofit organization aiming at harnessing the power of European science for the benefit of society. Overall, I think my journey has equipped me with a unique set of skills and allowed me to build strong ties with the Swiss and European academic community in various fields. I believe all these elements will be of great value for my role in steering D4P in this new stage of the organization.
What does success look like for you in this role?
Seeing D4P becoming a successful, impactful, and influential organisation within the context of digital sustainability, helping grow the engagement of our organisation as trusted partners in new and diverse fields. That this journey of success is shared by a cohesive, highly collaborative team where everyone contributes to the organisation’s success and impact. A team where not only our synergies but also our differences will be leveraged. Where individual strengths and potential are harnessed and contribute to the organization’s mission and vision. I see so many strengths and interesting journeys in the current D4P team. It would make me proud if everyone (and all the future team members) felt that their work made a difference in D4P’s successful journey. That their contribution has been valued and made D4P a better organisation, and ultimately this collective work made a positive difference in our society.
Beyond your technical expertise, how does your personal journey align with D4P’s mission and its commitment to sustainability?
I have two young kids, and the escalation of the climate crisis makes me deeply worried for their future. We all know that the biggest carbon footprint and impact on the planet come from big corporations and that individual measures have comparatively lower impact. Nevertheless, it always felt natural to us to choose a lifestyle that is more in harmony with the health of our only precious planet, so we decided to raise our kids in a more sustainable lifestyle. We are a bike family who never owned a car. Living in the Zurich urban area (in a Minergie apartment!) allowed us to be completely mobile with our bikes (using carriers and bike seats when the kids were small). We buy our food mostly from local producers and rarely eat meat. We have a garden and in summer we grow our vegetables. Although we live in a culture of excess, we strive to shop consciously and own less stuff, recycle all that we can, and reduce our waste. We never had TV at home, and the kids had screen-free childhoods. This was one of our best decisions! Being shielded from commercials and targeted marketing made them quite indifferent to shopping for toys and gadgets. We love the Pestalozzi’s libraries and borrow, instead of buying, books, CDs, and board games. It is reassuring to see that our attitudes and discussions at home have had a clear influence on them. Our daughter, who is now 11, takes part in a program of the Zurich school system for talented children called Forschungszentrum. The kids carry on research projects of their own interest. She chose the topic of global warming, with a focus on solutions for reducing CO2 emissions. Her project has been supported by a research group at ETH Zurich at the forefront of the research on techniques for CO2 capture and storage, involving technical lectures and visits to their labs. Knowing more about how concrete solutions are being researched and applied to tackle such a complex problem motivated her even more for her project. I do not know if she will eventually follow a career around environmental sciences, but I am sure she and her generation will have a completely different mindset and relationship with the planet. I really hope that our generation will make the necessary changes to allow for this new bright future!
Under Dr Cristina Pereira’s leadership, Digital for Planet is ready to navigate an exciting and transformative era, staying true to its mission of making a meaningful impact on our society. Cristina joins a fast-growing organization: D4P is a key partner in 8 ongoing EU projects and will kick off another 4 in January, including Research and Innovation, Innovation, and Coordination and Support Actions. The team will be involved hands-on and supporting exciting projects like 6G4Society, INPACE, 6G-NTN, COROB, SPIRIT and many others contributing to topics like citizen science, environmental and social responsibility, climate monitoring and more. Learn all about our projects here.