The second edition of the Audi Summit for Progress has brought together at the Palacio de Cibeles in Madrid some of the most brilliant minds in the world, personalities of international relevance who have presented their disruptive projects to improve the lives of citizens, a compendium of innovative ideas to achieve a sustainable planet and coexist with nature.
Once again, the German brand has once again brought together some of the most relevant professionals in various fields. And, for once, the spotlight has not fallen solely on the car. Nor in mobility. It is about devising the future and finding solutions to improve the world, to achieve a more sustainable, fair society and offer people a more promising future.
José Miguel Aparicio, director of Audi Spain, opened the day by highlighting the responsibility that companies have to solve the current problems that society faces, and the role of technology as a tool to find solutions. And he announced that Audi is going to launch 20 new electrified models between now and 2025, and by that same year all factories will already have a neutral balance of CO2 emissions.
Business leader Paul Polman, recognized worldwide for his role as a driver of change for climate and equality, defended the need to do more together to ensure a quality sustainable future. And that the future of leadership is cooperative, not competitive. Polman also stated that “this is not about saving the planet, but humanity. “The business sector is key here, since multilateralism is failing.”
For her part, Natalie Robyn, general director of the FIA and passionate about sustainable mobility, was fully convinced of the importance of finding innovative solutions to be more respectful of the environment.
“We are setting ourselves great challenges: in 2030 we will be carbon neutral in all world championships. The participation of big brands like Audi, which will enter F1 in 2026 with a more electrified and sustainable vehicle, is an example of this,” said Robyn.
Alicia Asín, a leader in AI and Big Data and co-founder of Libelium, is committed to returning control to the citizen and improving their lives through technology. The Zaragoza native stated that “the ecological transition is as essential and urgent as it is necessary for it to be inclusive. "If all the measures taken tax fuel or increase prices, they generate rejection." Asín proposes a “dataocracy”, a system based on the collection and publication of publicly accessible data that would generate a spirit of accountability to citizens.
A third block gave way to Ideas to Start the Future with projects that are difficult to imagine and disruptive ideas in the environment of sustainability, and already tangible today such as the “floating cities” and “sponge cities” of Kunlé Adeyemi and Kongjian Yu, respectively.
Adeyemi, architect, designer and inventor of the concept of “floating buildings” maintains that “humans have a great capacity for adaptation and our resilience will help us live on water, accepting it instead of repelling it.”
The Nigerian architect also declared that “the threat is above all towards humanity and we must understand biodiversity and the coexistence between planet and humanity.”
For his part, Kongjian Yu explained that humans are failing in their use of infrastructure and proposes an alternative: sponge cities and using nature to solve problems: “Many cities flood because we try to avoid water and dry out the land. . We must learn to live with it.”
Rodrigo García and Paula Ulargui, in an interesting dialogue, presented their projects, from the “edible bottle” created by the former to the “Fusion between nature and fashion” project by Ulargui.
Designer, architect and inventor, co-founder and co-CEO of Notpla, García's proposal focuses on the elimination of plastic packaging, having also created the Ooho! algae wrapper, an idea that will revolutionize the future.
For its part, Ulargui has shown its projects, in which it mixes natural plants with textile elements, thus creating a much more sustainable style of clothing. For the Navarrese designer “the biology behind the garments is a world to be exploited that should serve as a model. They are living organisms, ephemeral garments that we must take care of and that therefore make us pay attention to what we consume and our impact. The consumer has a lot of power.”
Maritime engineer Ties van der Hoeven, co-founder of The Weather Makers, a company dedicated to regenerating ecosystems and improving water availability, explained his reforestation project in the Sinai Desert.
For his part, Daniel König, director of the “Use of water” action at Audi AG, presented the company's project that uses water and innovation in favor of sustainable mobility. “We want to manage water with respect and translate this vision into our daily lives. “Through the application of closed cycles, the optimization of processes, the recovery of rainwater and minimizing wastewater, our goal is to reduce water consumption in the production of our cars by half by 2035.”
Finally, the Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado was in charge of giving the last presentation of the day warning of the moment we are experiencing. According to the prestigious photographer, “we are at the limit, but we still have a solution. “We can do an ecosystemic reconstruction of the planet.”
Salgado defended his reforestation pilot project as an example that land can be regenerated and recovered. He also highlighted the participation of companies such as Audi for their ability to react immediately and important collaboration.
