PhD in Engineering
Current position: Assistant Professor at the University of Durham and Researcher at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Research focus: sustainability hacking and system change for socioenvironmental impact
As an entrepreneur, Paulo co-founded an award-winning start-up, which received funds from a Brazilian innovation grant to develop an LED solution for public lighting. As a consultant, he worked on multiple projects, including for an intergovernmental organisation (i.e. OECD), several large companies of different sectors in Latin America, non-profits, and government agencies. He has taught several courses at Fundação Dom Cabral, the best business school in Latin America, where he is now a Visiting Lecturer; tutored at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge; and has been committed and actively engaged with social entrepreneurship in Latin America and Africa.
He has been granted the IBM Business of Government Award and the Oldham Award from the University of Sussex, and has received multiple scholarships for his studies, such as from the Gates Trust, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom, and the Brazilian Council for Science and Technology.
CV as submitted for the Green Talents award (2013):
Innovare Pesquisa de Mercado e Opinião, Fundacao Dom Cabral (FDC), now Consultoria, Brazil
Research focus: sustainable development, eco-innovation, and product development using local biodiversity
Paulo Savaget Nascimento understands that in order to achieve greater harmony between economic development and nature there needs to be a sea change, so the young scientist is using his research in sustainable innovation to change the impact businesses have on the environment.
Despite the importance of eco-innovation in the contemporary world, little is known about the subject, especially in countries with an emerging economy, such as Paulo Savaget Nascimento’s home country, Brazil.
Savaget is, therefore, working to bring eco-innovations – new processes, products, services and business models that can limit man-induced environmental damage and restore the environment – to the forefront of business and policymaking.
“I am keen on becoming a green entrepreneur, founding a pioneer NGO to articulate agents towards innovative and greener pathways,” Savaget says.
After concluding his Bachelor in Economics, Savaget realised he needed to supplement these studies in order to offer a more significant contribution to scientific research. He, then, focused on the roles played by science, technology and innovation in a transition towards sustainable pathways, and has completed a Master in Science and Technology Policy and a Master of Philosophy in Public Policies.
His recommendations based on investigative work on the main determinants, processes and results of eco-innovation in the Brazilian landscape, contrasted with benchmarking foreign experiences, have stimulated discussion between various agents, including the academia, enterprises of different sizes, NGOs and the government.
The jury was impressed by Savaget’s research approach, and honoured his analysis of the impact political conditions have on the use of natural resources through private companies. Being awarded as a Green Talent shall encourage Savaget to pursue his research path and continue campaigning professionally and privately for a sustainable future.
