Marie Curie Actions: Inspiring Researchers - Imdea

eing green can become an asset for a company, rather thana burden. Marie Curie ‘enabled me to immerse myself inthe study of a subject without the hassle of having to lookfor money in the short term,’ he says. ‘Having these threeyears to refl ect and collect the case studies and do the wholeprocess was really helpful. In the end, I was able to dig deeperthan I would have been able to if I had had to teach to supportmyself and my research the entire time.’He was able to take his research much further than even he hadthought possible when he submitted the proposal. Althoughinitially his study’s scope had been limited to Europe andAustralia, his fellowship and contacts enabled him to collectvaluable data from companies in New Zealand as well as Brazil.to catalyse changes in the business community where, fromhis experience, sustainability issues are still rarely more thana note in the margin.But this, of course, is just one aspect of Dr Orsato’s personal bidto make a difference for the sake of environmental protection.‘I’m always preoccupied with the impact of what I do,’ he says.‘Maybe it’s because I’m Brazilian. I’m preoccupied with theAmazon or other parts of that country, its environment. I thinkthat was my departure point for this journey. My main concernis how you can really use knowledge to make a difference interms of creating a truly sustainable global society, reducingpoverty, and helping development in general. We are runningout of time here.’It’s all about making a differenceAfter his break from the classroom, he is keen to return tothe world of education. He hopes that the MBA course andteaching materials he is working on will ultimately help ‘bringsustainability issues to the mainstream of business schools’.This scientist, with mixed Italian and Brazilian heritage, wantsProject acronymSemeaiFull project titleStrategic environmental management at European andAustralian industries: ‘when does it pay to be green?’Type of grantOutgoing International FellowshipBudgetEUR 287 488Duration of project01-07-2004 - 30-06-2007Scientific disciplineEconomyHost institutionINSEADBoulevard de ConstanceFR-77305 Fontainebleau Cedex119