Eco-Design Strategist & Consultant

Designing Transformation.
Delivering Impact.

Business strategy, climate innovation and international partnerships. I help organisations turn complex challenges into structured projects and actionable solutions.

Explore my expertise →Let's connect

Claudia Laricchia, professional portrait

About

Experience, expertise and contributions.

I work at the intersection of business strategy, climate innovation, institutional relations and international partnerships. I help organisations structure projects, connect expertise and move complex ideas towards implementation.

I serve as Chief of Global Strategic Cooperation at the Indigenous Peoples’ Climate Justice Forum. I am the first woman and the first person from the Global North to hold this role. I am also President and Co-founder of SMILY Academy and have received awards and recognitions for my work in innovation and sustainability.

What I do

What can we transform together?

From strategic framing to partnership building, project design and implementation support.

Strategy & Positioning

Sustainability strategy, strategic narratives, institutional positioning and business opportunities.

Project Design & Delivery

Eco-design thinking, project structuring, stakeholder coordination and delivery roadmaps.

Innovation & Impact

Solution scouting, agrifoodtech and climate innovation, impact-oriented business models.

Global Partnerships

Cross-sector alliances, institutional relations and international cooperation ecosystems.

Education & Capacity Building

Executive learning, university teaching, workshops and challenge-based programmes.

Strategic Communication

Narratives, stakeholder engagement and visibility for complex initiatives and organisations.

How I work

Eco-design Thinking: a ten-stage framework.

Sense

Understand the context, people and emerging needs.

Map

Map systems, stakeholders, resources and interdependencies.

Frame

Define the challenge, priorities and desired outcomes.

Co-create

Engage stakeholders in collaborative solution development.

Imagine

Explore alternatives and future-oriented scenarios.

Design

Translate promising ideas into viable project and business models.

Assess

Evaluate feasibility, lifecycle impacts and value creation.

Redesign

Refine concepts using evidence, feedback and testing.

Implement

Build the partnerships and roadmap needed for execution.

Scale & regenerate

Measure results, iterate and plan for regenerative scaling.

Selected eco-business projects

Selected project track record.

A selection of eco-business concepts I have helped design and develop through SMILY Academy. These projects demonstrate my approach to strategy, technology integration and project development; they are presented as concepts or initiatives in development, not as completed implementations.

Participants in the Forest as a Classroom initiative

Featured concept

Hydroponic Forest

Forests · AI · Green jobs

Assam, India

A proposed 1,000-hectare forest restoration model integrating hydroponic nurseries, water-efficient systems, monitoring and community training.

Featured concept

One Health – Ancestral Medicinal Plants

Biodiversity · One Health · Regenerative cultivation

Assam, India

A proposed model for researching and cultivating medicinal plants, integrating regenerative agriculture, biodiversity protection and traceable value chains.

Featured concept

5 Million Trees

Afforestation · Climate finance

Multi-country concept

A proposed 5,000-hectare afforestation initiative with satellite monitoring, biodiversity restoration and a pathway to independently verified carbon outcomes.

Selected concept

Precision Agriculture

Agritech · Data intelligence

Cameroon

A proposed pilot combining satellite intelligence, predictive irrigation and precision farming for resilient food systems.

Selected concept

From Waste to Value

Circular economy · Food innovation

Ghana

Exploring circular technologies to valorise food by-products, reduce losses and support more resilient supply chains.

Selected concept

Women Empowerment & Circular Textiles

Entrepreneurship · Traceability

Assam, India

A proposed programme for women-led cooperatives, digital market access and the preservation of traditional textile know-how.

Project concepts and intended outcomes, not completed implementations. Figures and environmental benefits require feasibility assessment and independent verification.

SMILY Academy ↗

Global leadership & institutional roles

Connecting institutions, communities and innovation.

A selection of current and previous leadership, advisory and mentoring roles.

International cooperation visit in India

President & Co-founder

SMILY Academy

Non-profit organisation advancing community-centred eco-business solutions, education and regenerative innovation.

Official website ↗

Chief of Global Strategic Cooperation

Indigenous Peoples’ Climate Justice Forum

International cooperation and climate justice engagement with Indigenous communities. Indigenous Peoples globally number hundreds of millions; this is not a claim of direct personal representation.

Official website ↗

Italian National Country Chair

G100 – Indigenous Communities & Integration Wing

Country-level leadership within G100, a global network of women leaders; the organisation describes a mission to reach one million people.

Official website ↗

Director of Public Affairs

Women Economic Forum Italy

Institutional engagement and strategic relations within the Women Economic Forum ecosystem, whose published network figures include 500,000 women across 150 countries.

Official website ↗

Advisor on Gender Balance