My name is Hugo. I’m here to help you reimagine the present - and build the better future that could be waiting for us.
Services
Let’s talk if you want to:
1. Bring out latent demand for circularity in your brand and your customers
2. Work on bold, resilient ventures, with built-in protection from the bureaucratic immune response
3. Start building ecological restoration ventures for creating more habitable versions of the future.
My clients and collaborators are looking for something that regular strategy thinking tends to leave out. They need a general-purpose operator who can focus on hard detail and high stakes questions, all the while preparing them for what is waiting just over the horizon.
This is why I created Flourishing.
If what I’m describing connects some dots for you, let’s get started.
My mission
David Attenborough talks about the ‘wonderful recovery’ that we could - and should - witness this century.
I’m playing my part to make it a reality.
It’s an idea that goes broader than the natural world. For me, this is about stabilising and increasing resilience across all systems. We’ve done a lot of dismantling of things, in a very short space of time, without better stuff falling into place.
So how about imagining and building the new, life-centric economy?
My mission at Flourishing has two parts:
Part 1: Building the circular and regenerative economy
The only way we're going to create a viable industrial civilisation.
Part 2: Scaling planetary life support systems
To create the wonder and abundance we need now — and tomorrow.
Both involve shift that’s as big as moving from the agricultural to the industrial revolution. And, if that weren’t hard enough, it’s one that asks for an artificially fast transition.
But that is what motivates me to help make the regenerative version of tomorrow something we all get to do - not something we might have to suffer.
You might think that’s quixotic. But for me quixotic is believing the recent past is our best possible guide for the future.
About me
I have been lucky to spend two decades designing, delivering and measuring ambitious, first-of-a-kind programmes. From building police stations in Congo, to opium licensing in Afghanistan, to helping C-suites harness applied foresight, my experience gives me a different skill- and mindset.
My work brings rigour and old-world competencies in service of a new world mentality, thanks to a decade and a half of working on complex transformations with PwC and Strategy&.
Read what people say about me or see LinkedIn for the detailed stuff: writing, speaking and other credentials.
Ventures
Bioma
I’m CEO and co-founder of Bioma, my core venture.
Our mission? To regenerate 50,000 hectares of degraded land across Portugal by 2035. The ultimate goal is to restore landscapes, help plants and animals thrive, and revive the country’s rural economies.
Starting with carbon removal, we are building a nature-based portfolio that will remove 9 million tonnes of CO₂e.
We make this a reality by helping businesses and the guardians of landscapes invest in the living infrastructure of one of Europe’s highest-potential carbon sinks.
If you are an investor, landowner, or potential collaborator, you can talk to me, or to the team, to find out more.
Board work
I am lucky to support two organisations, each with a mission that is tightly interwoven with my own.
The Salonga Conservation Initiative
I’m president of the board of the Salonga Conservation Initiative (SCI).
SCI’s mission is to preserve the astonishing biodiversity of the Salonga National Park in Democratic Republic of Congo, stronghold of the endangered bonobo. We carry out critical field research that assesses wildlife populations, habitats and threats to guide impactful conservation strategies.
I once heard the remark that “to work in conservation is to witness our own demise”. I can’t imagine a stronger call to action.
Urbem afforestation, Lisbon
I am also a member of Urbem’s board of directors.
Urbem’s mission is to connect people to nature, to each other, and to themselves. We do this by creating and sustaining Miyawaki forests across the city I call home, Lisbon. In this way we make the city happier and more liveable, and boost its resilience to the climate stuff that is coming down the track.
Imagine, for a moment, what it would be like if we were to transform a beautiful cityscape into a flourishing archipelago of dense, native forests?
Alliances
These are the companions who have let me travel with them in this chapter of my journey.
Clients
Partners
Feedback
What my clients and collaborators say:
“Hugo combined high level thinking with down to earth feedback for us.
This supported our goal to deliver a white paper that was incredibly useful and understandable in practice, while ensuring it took the bigger circularity picture into account.”
Joost de Kluiver, CEO, Closing The Loop
“Despite its significance for conservation, the Congo is not what one could call user-friendly. Bugs, snakes, humidity, diseases, and impossible remoteness deter most people unaccustomed to tropical fieldwork.
However, there was this one guy who, through his own initiative, kept popping up at our remote field site and who, over many years, became a treasure to our organization.
As president of the board of directors, Hugo not only brings the Salonga Conservation Initiative his specialty in solution modelling. He also brings to any international organization invaluable experience shared by few. His enterprises are rooted in an avid love of nature. He has shown that he will risk life and limb for it.”
Dr Gay Reinartz, Director, Salonga Conservation Initiative
“Hugo joined Footprints Africa to develop our thought leadership capability.
He has a remarkable ability to synthesise current facts, future visions and powerful stories to create clear and ambitious narratives of what is possible.
His work with us has positioned Footprints as a leading voice on circularity on the continent.”
Joanna Bingham, CEO, Footprints Africa, and circular economy strategist
“I've collaborated with Hugo on two projects: at Urbem Forests, where we invited him to join the Board of Directors because we were very impressed with his strong sustainability background and vision but also his very practical approach and hands-on persistence to making the city of Lisbon a greener place. He made tremendous efforts to grow our grassroots citizen efforts as well as network with key city hall decision makers. I've also started working with Hugo on a separate carbon credits venture.
His structured approach and immense knowledge, as well as ability to network with potential partners, has been an incredible strength.”
Sasi Kandasamy, CEO, Urbem Miyawaki, Lisbon
“I feel grateful to have Hugo leading Bioma and helping us build not only a project, but a living movement rooted in regeneration, hope, and responsibility.
Working alongside Hugo to build the vision for Bioma has been deeply inspiring. From the very beginning, I was impressed by his open-mindedness and his ability to think in ecosystems. What moves me most today is his strategic thinking, unwavering commitment, and profound love for nature. Our shared mission to regenerate 50,000 hectares of degraded land in Portugal by 2035 goes far beyond business — it is rooted in a deep concern for life on Earth and for the future we leave to the next generations.”
Cristina Silva Bastos, CEO, EarthWise Alliance and co-founder, Bioma
Let’s talk
I’m excited to know what you are excited about.
Whether it’s an exploratory chat, a more concrete challenge, or if you simply have a different vision, let’s connect.
