Interview published on SIC Europe 17th March 2017

Next month, the ECOLISE New Economy & Social Innovation global forum will take place on the 19 – 22 APRIL in Spain. SIC speaks with Diego Isabel La Moneda, Director of New Economy & Social Innovation Global Forum (NESI), about how we can work together to create the new economy. 


Why is it important to create a new economy? 

After 200 or so years of the current system, we can see many good things, but its still not the right system. If we want to achieve our goals such as climate change and gender equality, we need to change the way we do things. Because we work through an economy, its the economy that needs to change.

How can we work together to achieve our common goals and a new economy?

Currently, there are different models that are being put into practice such as the circular economy, collaborative economies etc; a variety of different alternatives. I envisage a new economy where the best part of each model is taken as a contribution to form the new economy. We all need to understand what we share, and work together to co-create a better model.

Social innovation is people having ideas to help people and planet, simple. Once people work together on a level that respects and champions human and personal relations, you can begin transform organisations, which will lead to transforming the governments and systems, and even the rules and laws that manage the system. Thats how I see the process of social innovation. Its about having the ideas, collaborating through personal relationship, then bringing those tools and that culture to the organisational level.

What is your hope in relation to social innovation and the new economy in the future? Where do you see the field in the next 5 years? 

Everything is changing too fast. In the next 5 years I think more and more people will become conscious and aware of the impact they could have, and they change they could aid. We will get more people changing the way they consume and behave which is good, as it means companies are also then forced to adapt to what people want. This is when they will see the need for the new economy. Hopefully then we will get the first small governments, local governments and eventually national governments starting to apply the rules of the new economy. We won’t get global systemic change, but as everything is collapsing we will get more companies, individuals and governments applying this new economy.

How will your work contribute to this hope? 

We are working on two levels:

Firstly, our mission is to connect people and organisations. NESI is creating the space for networks to work together and see what else they can achieve.

Secondly, we are defining specific proposals, from forums and meetings, that we hope will direct public policy and government policy which can contribute to proper systemic change. We want to see a transformation in global trade, in energy use, in the way we produce, distribute and consume and also in the way in terms of government we support those who are contributing to the common good (e.g tax).

Follow the ECOLISE New Economy & Social Innovation global forum on the 19 – 22 APRIL on Twitter.

By |2017-03-17T13:04:01+00:00March 17th, 2017|Blog|0 Comments

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