Kirsten Dunlop: CEO of Climate KIC

Feb 15

Kirsten Dunlop is the CEO of Climate KIC, an innovation initiative set up by the EU to tackle climate change.

In this conversation, Mark covers:

Kirsten’s global childhood
Why having such a broad range of interests has served her so well
And how we can become architects of the future, rather than victims of it.

Check it out.

Treasure Trove

How would you like to be introduced to our listeners?
Kirsten’s career spans academia, consulting, banking, insurance, strategy, design, innovation and leadership in Australia, Italy and the UK. She is the Chief Executive Officer at EIT Climate-KIC, Europe’s foremost climate innovation initiative. EIT Climate-KIC is a knowledge and innovation community mandated by the European Commission to address climate change through innovation.

Kirsten holds a Ph.D. in cultural history and is a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Research and Innovation. She loves to discover mind-changing places, books, wines and connections. She is partnered in life with Luca Gatti, founder of Chôra Foundation, and is continuously learning from her two children, Raphael and Xenia.

What's One Thing Most People Don't Know About You?
My sense of purpose and responsibility in life was forged early on by two sets of remarkable books written by a Scottish author called Dorothy Dunnett

What's Your Favourite Book?
Italo Calvino Invisible Cities

What's Your Favourite Quote?
Very very hard to choose only one...

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far it is possible to go." T.S. Eliot

“We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims.” Buckminster Fuller

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

Last but not least, is there anything you'd like us to promote?
The work of building hope... https://www.climate-kic.org/ It is hard. it is worth it. we are hiring and we are fund-raising....

and:

I have learned how to think and to see more in the world and in people above all from the man I married - and the work he and the remarkable team at Chôra are doing in countries like Malawi and Burundi is worth finding out more about