21 minutes
We are researchers, innovators and communicators, but most of all we are a band of musicians: each of us knows exactly which notes to play to make nature’s harmony!
Our board of directors consists of three professionals who are also close friends. They first met as students at the university, and their distinct yet complementary personalities led them to conceive an innovative approach to valuing nature: Etifor.
There are four cardinal points, but our shareholders are five! Just like a compass, they point us in the direction we will pursue, the paths we should try, and the new challenges we will face to put nature at the heart of decision-making.
Between reporting and invoices, the administration team meticulously and with just the right amount of creativity ensures daily support for partners. It is a point of reference for the entire company, not least because, without them, we couldn’t do anything at all.
What is our secret to working at our best? Thanks to our experts, we care for our well-being, ensure dialogue and promote participatory processes among colleagues and external partners. This is how, day after day, we build our corporate culture!
Do you know where the wood used in your company comes from? Our team of technicians can help you analyze the supply chain of woody and non-woody forest products and ensure they are deforestation-free. We also offer technical and legal advice to both public and private sectors.
Why not start with a forest to generate positive impacts on the environment and people? Thanks to our experts, we develop innovative forestry projects, support owners in achieving the best responsible management certifications, and facilitate access to funding internationally.
Every day, nature offers us services, and for us to make the most of them is a mission! That’s why we help natural area and resource managers institutionally, technically and economically. How? By involving stakeholders and supporting them in finding the most suitable funding sources.
There is only one way to multiply positive impacts on the environment and people: share and communicate them! We have brought together communications, marketing, graphic design, social media, and website experts to do it at our best and share good responsibility and sustainability practices with our community!
If your company wants to measure, reduce, and offset its climate and environmental impacts, we have the professionals you seek! Together we can build a nature positive future and help you mitigate impacts in a more integrated way.
We are putting knowledge into circulation, building partnerships, writing, and developing international projects that positively impact nature and people. To do all this, specialists with creative ideas and a willingness to get involved are needed —just like in our project development team!
Tourism that puts the territory at the centre: that’s what sustainable tourism is for us! With expertise and experience, we accompany tourism system actors in achieving the best sustainability standards and offer strategic consulting for regenerative and slow tourism.
Forests are good for us, and to leave the world better than we found it, we have decided to allow businesses and citizens to care for them. Through the wownature.eu platform, you can plant new trees and protect existing forests by supporting forest managers!
Few people manage to squeeze skincare, reels, human rights, and mindfulness all into the same conversation. Through her posts and articles, Susanna is able to come up with many different ways to reach her goal: looking after the planet and inspiring others to do the same. She’s like fire: immediately warms everyone up and lights them with enthusiasm!
During the day, she works enthusiastically on projects regarding the economic evaluation of ecosystem services and in the evening she becomes a perfect chorister. She is always ready to take on new challenges!
Her irony and elegant sense of humor immediately won everyone over. Cristina divides her time between general accounting and grants, with dedication, precision and a great deal of patience. She often seems to have her head in the clouds but nothing escapes her watchful eye. Padel, soccer, windsurfing and even scuba diving: she puts her heart into it, always, on and off the field.
He’s the right person if you need an experienced environmental consultant and if you want to know everything about the traceability and sustainability of wood products. Or, if you are just looking for someone to go to the football stadium with.
When we read in his resume that he has a degree in ‘communication for complex organisations’, the spark immediately flew! But how did it become true love? Discovering that Piero is capable of transforming a ride into a gastronomic tour, creative campaigns into measurable results and, above all, work into passion.
“If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed will go to the mountain”. Tired of seeing her beloved Brenta river undervalued, Linda started looking for someone who shared her passion for sustainability. One thesis and many surveys later, love blossomed. Are you looking for someone who can discuss natural resources’ economy while playing volleyball or making a macramé bracelet? You can stop looking!
Although she was born and raised in the city, her passion for nature has made her a landscape gardener. Francesca is a portrait in opposite but complementary colors: with 15 years of scouting behind her, she is a mountain and sailing lover, has a scientific soul and a more creative one, she likes to relax as much as to venture on backpacking trips. The ideal colleague if you need to tackle a path of environmental sustainability for your company.
Learning the Mapuche in Chile and what it means to live in harmony with nature is not for everyone. Don’t be enchanted by his smile and gold curls: when it comes to developing mathematical models for the circular economy and reducing environmental impacts, nothing is left to chance.
When she’s not dealing with ethical finance, environmental and social impact assessment you can find her walking surrounded by nature. Fascinated by the human mind, she’s the right person to talk about sustainability across the board, or to attend a music festival with!
Our indispensable administrative manager. Without her all this would not be possible. The person you always wanted as a friend, not just for the payroll.
Armed with excel sheets and notebooks, she has one goal: to reorganize the tourism sector from Aosta to Syracuse. And a dream: to enhance all the local products starting from her beloved radicchio. She is the colleague you would like to be next to during a sustainable tourism meeting or a gastronomic tour in her kitchen.
A bit Marco Polo, a bit Christopher McCandless, and a bit Professor Keating: Alessio is the forester everyone dreams of meeting along their journey! Equipped with paper maps, he can guide you on immersive nature excursions, teaching you how to connect with yourself and the world around you.
Despite holding a degree from the University of Padua and working for one of its spin-offs, he has never set foot on campus. Could it be that he’s using maps from before 1222?
Despite holding a degree from the University of Padua and working for one of its spin-offs, he has never set foot on campus. Could it be that he’s using maps from before 1222?
Co-founder of Etifor, he deals with sustainable investments, climate change and ecosystem services. From our community garden to the Congo forests, no project is too small, too big or too crazy for him.
With the smile of a monk and the tenacity of a samurai, our forester stops at nothing, especially when it comes to preventing wildfires. Chiara is the person you want next to you as you wander the streets of Lisbon, take a tour of the Apennines, patrol a forest or try to light a campfire cooker. For her, ‘burning with passion’ is much more than an expression.
Writer, journalist, and Italian diplomat assistant in Africa, Francesca explores the world and society with the determination of a reporter. Her grandmothers recognized early on that her passion would become her profession. The first clue? What started as harmless questions turned into a book featuring them as the main characters!
Today, all her energy is focused on studying nature’s ecosystem services… unless a herd of happy elephants happens to stroll by!
Today, all her energy is focused on studying nature’s ecosystem services… unless a herd of happy elephants happens to stroll by!
If it were an object it would be a pinwheel: the perfect combination of simplicity and magic. If she were an animal she would be a quokka: always moving and smiling. That is why she became part of our team and now spends her time vaulting, from one participatory process to the next.
A geologist, a videomaker, and an environmental storyteller walk into the same room. No, it’s not the start of a joke—it’s just Mattia arriving at the office. With a warm smile and endless patience, he has a knack for making everyone feel comfortable in front of his camera, from animal cubs to human ones. All this while never losing his composure, not even when faced with the team’s most eccentric creative ideas.
Passionate about forests and ecological printing, she decided long ago that the only way forward was to combine her passions. Trees have thus become her loyal friends. That is why, when she designs environmental projects or creates magnificent handmade papers, plants always play the starring role.
‘Nobody is an island’ and Martina, born in Sardinia, knows this! That’s why she loves travelling, discovering and letting others discover new places and people. Tourism is more than a passion for her. For years, she has been committed to promoting awareness about the impacts of the tourism system and bringing future professionals closer to sustainable tourism!
Don’t be fooled by her shy and reserved appearance: Giulia never backs down when there are new challenges to face. A tireless traveler, she has discovered exotic territories along with her inseparable jar of sourdough and her beloved instrument. Giulia is the right person when you need to discover all the secrets of cooking or international proposals and grants.
What combines customer care, wine and nature? These are the three key ingredients of our account manager! If you are planning a meeting with him, in between reforestation projects, convince him to show off his sommelier knowledge. We are sure you won’t regret it, even after signing the contract!
One of the team’s most meteoric minds has been juggling graphic design, communication campaigns, vegetable gardens and local recipes.
Dipped among paper inventory and proofs she emerges always ready for a new battle …armed with a graphics tablet!
Dipped among paper inventory and proofs she emerges always ready for a new battle …armed with a graphics tablet!
The study of forest fires has brought him from Sweden to us. He dreams of being in a cowboy film with an exciting soundtrack when he is not busy growing forests. Caught up in the excitement, he once tried to whisper to the horses… but they didn’t like it and took revenge on his camping mat.
Our Good Vibe Manager, expert in participatory approaches and data analysis for local development, he works on many projects dealing with governance and social innovation, but more than anything else, he’s a great facilitator and his good mood is contagious.
Her mission is to unearth sustainable solutions even for unexpected tourist destinations. Constantly searching for new places to be amazed by among wines, cheeses, spicy foods and almond milk, Serena always finds the right moment to take a breath and enjoy the view.
According to physics, the bumblebee could not fly, yet it does. According to people, those who have studied economics and marketing cannot be sincere, and yet Lorenzo is. When he is not with us, we imagine him repeating the lines of his next play in front of his ‘puppy’ (40 kg of fur and sweetness) or pondering the best way to launch a new service cycling in the Valbelluna. Watch the bends, Depa!
Some people think Excel sheets are dull, yet Alessia knows better: she can turn thousands of numbers into handy information with flair! Sweet and dashing, like the sea of her Sicily, she manages to hold together a love of organization and a creative spirit.
From forest bathing to forest kindergartens, there are no limits to her desire to explore new ways of combining well-being and nature. Thanks to her unique point of view, she manages to balance project management and scientific research.
Just as hard-working and lively as her bees, Martina is an expert in communication on the web and beyond! Have you already heard about the European projects we are involved in? If yes, know that it is also thanks to her. A lover of nature and animals (she has 6 cats!), she grows giant vegetables in her garden that occasionally land on our desks.
Do you like books where nothing happens? Elia does, but maybe because he never gets bored between a recipe, a podcast, and a new playlist in real life! Committed to the fight against the climate crisis, Elia is also a guitarist, philosopher and digital marketing wizard: the right colleague to ask for support to communicate what we do efficiently.
Whether it’s 16 hours to hunt for the northern lights or 6 months brushing horses in Switzerland, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is to find the time to realise your dreams. For Alessia, a good tourism plan includes also knowing how to make the most of what makes an area unique, allowing many people to live a daydream.
Director of the Local Development area. Guide of the natural environment and bicycle-lover. An atypical consultant specialized in ecotourism, territorial marketing, landscape and multifunctional agriculture: he speaks little and does much.
He has made kindness his status symbol: when he is not taking inaccessible mountain shortcuts or helping his co-workers reach very high shelves, he dedicates himself to the economic, political and environmental evaluation of the forest supply chains.
Anyone who thinks that “life giving you lemons” means having a challenging moment has never met Jihane! Raised in Lebanon and moved to Padua to study, she is convinced that a squeeze of lemon can improve almost anything. With degrees in landscape architecture and forestry, she is committed to making our cities more livable through urban forests and nature-based solutions
When he is not playing basketball or following his watery spirit that leads him to diving in the Brenta river, he spends time between companies and administrations stipulating conventions. He is the right colleague if you need to know the value of the water resources, or simply just take a dip in them.
Managing Director and co-founder of Etifor, he deals with business development, European project management and international cooperation. He’s the perfect person if you need to give a touch of style to your projects or discover innovative approaches to finance environmental conservation.
Finding solutions to protect forests and the people who live in them. This is the dream that brought Helena from Brazil to Italy and, then, to us. Whether it’s cleaning horse stables or memorising new European regulations, nothing is too hard or complex for her. And every challenge is seasoned with the right amount of sweetness and smiles.
Ever since she showed us pictures of her helping a baby manatee, our desire to care for nature has only increased. Specialized in biodiversity and ecosystems, she has a real passion for Latin American entheogens. Don’t know what they are? Don’t worry, you are not alone!
What will Francesco have done this week? Choose the right option: a) prepared his children for their next trip b) founded a cooperative c) helped a client to evolve the tourism system in its region d) had a beer with the German cyclist sleeping in his garden. Solution: all of the above.
Our Website Manager is anything but a typical developer. Back-end and front-end have no secrets for him, and he solves every problem in the blink of an eye. And when he wants to take a break from his digital wizardry? He draws, cooks, reads and farms. Proof of such creativity? You can find it in Mickey Mouse Magazine!
An avid forester by age 20, having studied growth stages of maples, bonsai trees, and the effects of forests on scouts! Today, he jumps between the parks of Lombardy and the green corridors of Etifor…providing advice to anyone interested in redevelopment of green areas and park management.
Chairman and co-founder of Etifor, he’s the right person if you need an expert in international trade of forest products and services, responsible forest management, or if you need to solve thorny diplomatic issues.
She is Roman by origin, but her spirit lives in the forests: Elena divides her time between zero deforestation projects, urban food forests and trips to the African continent. She is the right person to contact if you want to know everything about agroforestry, but also if you want to discover the forests on a mountain bike.
She lives on the other side of the world, but her passion knows no boundaries! As an expert of natural resources protection and a climate change fighter, she also loves to climb trees and to pick up fresh fruits. Her main task is to protect our forests in Vietnam, which, despite the geographical distance, are always on our mind.
An Irish forester of proven origins, his passion for innovation and entrepreneurship has made him fully qualified to join the Etifor team. Between one project and another, he sends pictures of the green Irish landscapes, and calls us out on our English level.
With a Master’s degree in GIScience and Remotely Piloted Systems, she navigates the world between remote sensing images and forests. An explorer who travels to discover new cultures and mountain ecosystems. A fan of extravagant habits: for her, happiness often lies in eccentricity.
With a master’s degree in marine biology and a professional course in accounting, Maura combines concepts and numbers with mastery. Passionate about nature, she finds joy in working for a cause she loves: environmental protection. Extremely precise in her work but a bit careless outside… she is the ideal colleague if you have an administrative problem or if you need a good dose of humour
As a child, she embraced trees. As a teenager, she discovered meditation as a university student in environmental engineering. Today she uses all these experiences by coordinating climate change mitigation projects. Because, for her, sustainable development is more than a job. It is a passion.
Co-founder and member of the Etifor Scientific Committee, he’s a full professor at the
Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (LEAF) Department of the University of Padua. He has kept the secrets of ubiquity for years which allows him to always be where he is needed.
Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (LEAF) Department of the University of Padua. He has kept the secrets of ubiquity for years which allows him to always be where he is needed.
1,2,3… 10000. Calculating the environmental benefits of our projects is not easy but for him the numbers have no mysteries. He joined the team to study ecosystem services but, in the blink of an eye, he has become irreplaceable!
Attend one of his speeches and he will lead you on a mystical journey made of ethics, marketing, possible futures, distant planets, near solutions. We have never had the chance to see him wearing the scout uniform, but the super dad and marketing expert clothes, already fit him well. If he had a motto it would be: Aim for the moon. Even if you make a mistake, you will land among the stars.
Alex tackles every project as it was a mountaineering expedition: meticulous preparation, attention to details, patience, and determination. He is the right person when talking about sustainable investments and if you need suggestions for your next mountain trek.
Taking care of others and oneself. If our Alexander had a motto, it would be just that. Whether he does it while playing football, during a reiki session or handling phone calls and emails, it makes little difference and that is why he is one of our favorite colleagues.
If you return from America to Italy and end up on the board of an environmental association, you are either crazy or very brave and we like to think we are a bit of both. That’s why Lorenzo has become an honorary member of our team! When he is not devoting himself to his beloved rivers, he is taking care of our partners and helping them realise a common dream: to leave the world better than we found it.
Juan is an incredible combination of peace, tenacity and competence, key elements for working with nature and people. He decided to take his backpack off to devote himself to an ambitious project: improving the relationship between citizens and natural resources. We’re betting on him, especially after knowing he went all the way to the North Pole (on his own) to see the northern lights!
Our rural development expert is passionate about qualitative and ethnographic research tools. We don’t need to add anything else, do we?!? Kissed by the sun (and by elephants), she has lived in a thousand places but always returns to her city. And to take care of it, she designs urban gardens and spaces dedicated to biodiversity.
She’s the right person if you want to grow a social community or promote an event. Her total lack of sense of direction does not stop her from trying new ways of doing things. Between a social post and a press release, she spends her time explaining what it means to be “graduated in Semiotics”.
Climate change is making life complicated for many farmers. And many food lovers are worried as a result. Alessandra knows something about this because when she is not cooking, she works on her PhD on nature-based solutions. Want to find out more about the connection between climate and agriculture? Have her cook her famous carbonara. Environmental economics will have no more secrets.
Associate Professor of the University of Padua and co-founder of Etifor, Laura is an international expert in social innovation, good governance in forestry and rural development. There is no cause for which she doesn’t fight; thanks to her, we never miss an opportunity to change things.
There are 18 natural ecosystems on Earth and we’re pretty sure that Wes has seen them all: from the United States he took the scenic route, passing through Oceania and Asia, to arrive here, in Italy. Always on the lookout for new solutions to fight the climate crisis, for him nature is one great symphony, and he hopes to help others hear the good tunes.
Is it possible for someone to love nature more than Chiara does? We believe that the answer is no! Whether she is boating among whales, lying in a hammock in the forests of Mexico, or sitting at her desk, the most essential thing for Chiara is to value nature and take care of it.
An expert in European planning, she loves working in a team to devise common solutions to protect biodiversity and traditional activities.
An expert in European planning, she loves working in a team to devise common solutions to protect biodiversity and traditional activities.
Symbols of female empowerment and knowledge of nature: this is why Kristina has felt like a witch since childhood. Her sociology degree, poetry books and grunge music extend the magical power of her spells, bringing well-being, equity and inclusion to Etifor. With a People & Culture Manager like that, how can you avoid joining the team?
If Luma participated in a quiz on environmental issues, she would undoubtedly win the top prize. She has explored every aspect of the subject, from economic and philosophical angles to physical, psychological, and even geological perspectives. She is the perfect person to consult if you want to learn about the benefits of nature-based solutions.
However, don’t picture her as someone who spends all her time locked away in a library! Quite the opposite: between dance lessons and krav maga classes, Luma always makes time to connect with nature, demonstrating that a brilliant mind can coexist beautifully with a free spirit.
What does Viet Vo Dao have to do with paying F24? Both “disciplines” require precision, perseverance, and dedication. These are Francesca’s characteristics: accountant by day, vientamese kung fu instructor by night. She is always on the run and loves to get things done—even though she managed to go to Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower!
Whether she is in Finland discovering moose or lost in some Canadian forest, her heart will always bring her among trees and people because it is there, at the meeting point between nature, indigenous people and forestry managers, that she can really change things (and have a great laugh).
