Nurturing ecosystems and developing talent: How Alvaro supports nature and people
Alvaro Fonseca combines his expertise in climate adaptation and nature-based solutions with his passion for nurturing early career professionals. By providing guidance to his colleagues, he helps them come up with innovative solutions that protect and restore ecosystems.
“We believe in working with nature, not against it.”
Alvaro Fonseca – resilience expert, senior chief project manager, deputy head of department, and nature enthusiast – shares what it is like to work at Ramboll and why he takes his role as a leader and mentor seriously.
“Aligning my personal ambitions and interests with the work I do means everything.”
Alvaro had worked as an engineer for many years when he began to realise that he wanted to see his work have greater impact on the world around him; he wanted to play a role in solving the most serious climate challenges affecting cities and communities today.
“I wanted to help protect the nature that I so deeply care about and to work on a more global scale, on projects that help communities that are really suffering the impacts of climate change. And I get to do that at Ramboll,” he continues. “For me, aligning my personal ambitions and interests with the work I do means everything.”
Alvaro has now worked at Ramboll for six years and feels that his work aligns with his drive to protect the natural world. And as a water expert, he sees water as a living stakeholder and strives to work with it, not against it.
Having started in Ramboll’s International Water & Climate Resilience department, Alvaro has made quick advances at the company. In his time at Ramboll he has gone from project manager to deputy head of department, driven by his passion for leading people and for mentoring the next generation of climate resilience professionals.
“It is so important that people feel empowered to be creative, to be innovative, and to challenge assumptions. Freedom with responsibility. That’s the key.”
Alvaro believes that being humble and really listening are two of the most important things you can do as a leader to build great teams.
“As a leader, I think it's important to set clear objectives without dictating the exact path that needs to be taken to achieve them. I bring my colleagues into the process of shaping that path, learning from each other, and fostering a culture of co-creation, group agency, and professional freedom. And I try to stay curious and understand that there isn’t one right way to achieve the results we’re after.”
“In our department we also try to hire people who are great at the things we’re not; people with other skillsets, perspectives, or experiences. I try to prioritise listening and trusting in their expertise.
“An important part of Ramboll’s culture is the idea that there is always something to learn from other disciplines.”
When working at a global scale and on international projects, having a mix of disciplines is essential.
“It’s not just about the engineers – you need biologists, sociologists, urban planners, geographers, climate scientists, and economists, too. The engineers need to hear what the sociologists and economists say and you need to make sure people feel comfortable questioning assumptions. This is the humble and curious approach that I encourage my teams to embrace. This is also what clients expect of us. There is always something to learn from other disciplines and this mindset is an integral part of Ramboll’s culture.”
“At Ramboll, you’re also surrounded by an extraordinary amount of expertise. You can always find someone that has the knowledge you need. We have great tools to enable collaboration across the company and combined with a general willingness to share knowledge and help each other the learning and development you can do in a short time is incredible.”
“Making sure that everyone is heard – especially colleagues early in their careers who sometimes hesitate to speak up – is essential to being able to challenging the status quo and coming up with better solutions for clients.”
Aside from building interdisciplinary teams, Alvaro is committed to helping his colleagues grow by providing a work environment that supports their development and aligns with their personal values.
“I co-lead the development of interns and students in our department. It’s so rewarding to see young people grow and develop their capabilities. And it’s so important to get their fresh perspectives. Encouraging early career professionals to work as peers with experienced colleagues is key to challenging norms and driving innovation.”
“And you know, the work must be personally rewarding. It must be fun,” he says, with a smile. “Don’t get me wrong – we are working to solve serious climate-related challenges. But it really needs to be work we enjoy. For our sake and for the sake of the project because we do better work when we’re engaged.”
Alvaro believes just as much in nature as he does in his colleagues. Because his work is not just about empowering people – it is about empowering nature, too.
“In a recent project we helped restore a natural wetland by removing man-made dikes and letting the sea water flow as it always had. By trying to just let water do what water wants, we built a more natural path for the river in the area and saw meadows and plants re-emerge. Yes, it required tons of calculations, modelling, planning, and approvals. But the actual changes were simple. And the changes we made facilitated a natural restoration that resulted in a more biodiverse environment.”
“It’s easy to be pessimistic sometimes when you think about the biodiversity crisis that we are facing,” Alvaro admits. “But we cannot forget nature’s inherent ability to regenerate itself if we create the right conditions. We often say that as if it’s a given but it’s not. Nature is so fascinating and powerful and you can create a lot of positive outcomes as an engineer.”
Want to know more?
Alvaro Fonseca
Senior Chief Consultant
+45 51 61 16 19