Portrait d’étudiant EnvIM option Asia
Let’s discover Aurélie BRUNSTEIN, EnvIM student Asia option
“Change is not coming fast enough.”
1. Who are you Aurélie ?
With a passion for ecology from a very young age, I have been involved in local initiatives to raise awareness on climate related issues over the last few years. I am now at a point in my life where I want this personal engagement to influence and impact more widely and be taken to a professional level.
I developed my passion for ecology as a teenager after I read La Terre en heritage by the Jean-Marie Pelt. That added to my fascination for science and technology, drove me towards engineering studies, more precisely, at EPF engineering school in France because there was a curriculum dedicated to energies and environment. However, the three-years common curriculum convinced me to specialise in aeronautical and space, a field with complex technologies and environmental challenges.
Nine years ago, I started my journey at Safran, working on future engine performance, strategic studies and most lately, project management. Sadly, I came to the conclusion that there was no optimal solution to the aviation environmental footprint. In my view, the best solution is to travel less or slower. Hence, my professional position was not fulfilling my desire to take part into building a sustainable world. In addition, the 6th IPCC report issued in August 2021, followed by the COP26 in Glasgow was a trigger for me.
By calculating my carbon footprint, it became clear to me that individual action won’t be sufficient to reach the Paris Agreement of keeping global warming under 2°C. This is why I wish to dedicate my work to the environmental issues we face. I aim to capitalise on my scientifical background, my specialization in energy as well as my professional skills gained over the years at Safran, to help address challenges beyond my personal impact and through companies or institutions with significant influence.
With that in mind, I took part in a project at Safran looking to include eco-design into engine development process and more precisely consider the whole life cycle when designing a product.
2. To what extend are you involved in ?
Until being able to fully dedicate my professional work to the environment, I decided to volunteer in a number of local initiatives on my spare time.
Firstly, I am a facilitator for the “climate fresk”, a serious game helping to understand climate change drivers and encourage participants to take action. The game involves drawing a chronology of climate sensitive events as well as engaging with participants on how we can all act to foster change.
Secondly, I lead a project for “The shifters”, a French NGO. The project is aiming to create a tool to raise awareness on our goods and services consumption, which is way above our basic needs and highly harmful for the environment.
The personal enrichment I get from this volunteering work is far beyond expectations. Yet, whilst I see the importance of local initiatives, I am convinced it will take more to shift towards a more sustainable life on our planet. For that, I would like to gain credibility in the field, before taking it to the next level and joining a professional organisation working on climate challenges.
3. What are your professional goal and career project? How could EnvIM program help you to fulfill your goals?
My professional goal is to become a change agent at a private or public organization, or for policy makers. Namely, positions like sustainability consultant or manager. I am interested in assessing the environmental and social impacts of organizations to develop and implement sustainability programs. Likewise, a position as an environmental and climate advisor in a public institution, or NGO would highly interest me.
