A milestone validation of our actions and our commitment.
We can see the first green shoots of recovery on our regenerative path. At EcoCitizen, we don’t measure success in money, but rather, in tangible shifts towards a truly sustainable and regenerative future. A world of restored ecosystems, empowered communities, and with less inequality.
Today marks one such shift. By ministerial decree published in the Mémorial of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg EcoCitizen has received official accreditation (agrément) as a Social impact company (Société d’impact sociétal – SIS).
This recognition, upon rigorous review of our behaviours, actions, financial statements, legal statutes and future plans affirms what we’ve been building from the ground up: an organisation committed to people, planet, and purpose. Every difficult decision we make is directed towards having authentic social and ecological impact, and especially where it is most needed.
Our journey so far has been profoundly human. Late 2019, a handful of like-minded Costa Rican scientists and engineers based in Europe began some conversations to build something that would allow greater reach for us as professionals, and for other people like us. The European Green Deal gave us reason to hope. The pandemic gave us resolve and showed us how a remote-first organisation could work, in practice.
Moved also by the fierce conviction that women should not be penalised for becoming mothers (like me), EcoCitizen was born during the same period as I became a mother, with the aim to attract brilliant people including those who have decided to become parents without being harassed and left behind.
Come 2023 we bootstrapped without investors, grants, or subsidies, wholly dependent on early contracts in rigorous public-interest science and ethical advisory. We started building the platform.
We didn’t want to be yet another “consulting company”. Right from the start, we invested valuable time and effort into pursuing early government accreditation as a research organisation (granted as AgrRED/24-004 - ER).
We deliberately wanted to set ourselves apart from the greenwashing flooding the market with superficial branding and those who wish to profit from the climate emergency and collapse of natural systems. We truly believe that our work as engineers, scientists, researchers, project managers, but also as mothers, fathers and committed members of our communities should drive real transformation, not just excel sheets and reporting, but something different. A new system. Human activities that result in a net positive on the environment and the societies around us. Regeneration of what has been so badly damaged.
Convinced that we had to be able to provide services (consulting, advisory, workshops, training, technology development, and scientific research services) we decided to set up as a company and operate as a de facto not-for-profit, proving it over time through transparent publication of financial statements. Opting to set up as a company over a not-for-profit association meant an uphill struggle from the beginning, forgoing early tax exemption for example.
However we wanted to do the right thing, and do it in the right way.
We have operated lean: minimal salaries, months of survival, trying to make the most of every opportunity. Yet we’ve found hope despite hardship. People believe in our vision, mission, and values. People want to help us build this, and make it theirs too. We’ve happily invested in our own people, fairly, and resourcefully. Times have been hard, but we don’t feel bitterness, just quiet resolve: we are committed to reinvesting every penny to generate dignified and meaningful work for those aligned with our mission and values.
This SIS status aligns our structure with our ethos. Our 100% de facto not-for-profit has now been validated by ministerial decree! EcoCitizen is also tax-exempt now, and eligible to receive tax-exempted donations from organisations and individuals (you have now a great option to decide how your taxes could be used for positive impact and purpose) and philanthropy. This means we can attract and channel even more resources into impact for those who need it the most.
Based in Luxembourg, EcoCitizen has faced skepticism abroad, but also within the country. We can’t do much about the reputation of certain sectors. What we can do is do what we say we are going to do, and let our evidence and deeds speak for themselves. For us that means fairness, over finance.
In EcoCitizen we believe that Luxembourg has the potential to become an European hub for climate and nature action: we have the brains and the resources to make it happen! As ethical newcomers, only transparency can be our proof. Our motives are straightforward: dignified livelihoods, no exploitation, no planetary harm. We’re really building bridges between North and South.
For EcoCitizen, this is a real parteaguas. A decisive moment, a milestone. We have deep gratitude for teammates, mentors, trainees, and partners who have sustained us along the way. You have fueled our defiant hope.
Let’s hope that this new moment brings steadier contracts, lets us scale our transdisciplinary research that mends lives amid crises, even though we know we are mere minnows in the face of the scale of the emergency.
This feels like the sun breaking through the fog. It validates our purpose over profit and inspires us to regenerate, together. We are going to grow, healthily, with collaborators, partners, supporters and allies.
Adriana… feeling tenacious… and transformative!
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