Barcelona, a city committed to the impact economy

Barcelona has made impact its purpose. It is a city where capital, ideas and organizations converge around a shared conviction: the economy can, and must, work differently so that people and the planet can thrive together.

For eight days, Esade brought together entrepreneurs, investors, public institutions, innovation centers and startups at Barcelona4Impact, an initiative driven by the university, Ship2B and Norrsken, with the support of Barcelona City Council. Created with the aim of becoming a landmark annual event, it drew the participation of more than 30 organizations and established itself as an open platform to celebrate impact and innovation.

Daniel Traça, Director General of Esade, described a complex but widely shared reality: “For the ones who believe in hope, it’s hard to find the way nowadays.” But he stressed the importance of initiatives like Barcelona4Impact, not only to drive new partnerships, investments and opportunities, but also to generate a positive, measurable impact on people and the planet: “Impact has to be the future of prosperity.”

We spoke with Lisa Hehenberger, Dean of Esade Business School, Rocío Alcocer, Managing Director of Norrsken Barcelona, and Xavier Pont, co-founder and chairman of the Ship2B Foundation, about the success of this initiative, the impact economy, and why Barcelona is the main stage where the conversation about change becomes reality.