André Correa d’Almeida
Featured Catalyst
By Kevin Rorick
Issue 6 Winter 2010
André Correa d’Almeida is a believer in the power of design to change the world.
André is currently an Assistant Visiting Professor at Pratt Institute’s Design Management Program where he co-teaches the programs International Environment of Business course. A recently matriculated PhD. candidate from the University of Colorado, where he focused on emerging economies, institutional development, public policy and developmental practices, he brings a breadth of information and an invaluable perspective that is necessary in building sustainable futures.
As a political economist, André develops research in order to design, implement, and assess projects that create value for communities. He accomplishes this by working with the private, public, academic and non-profit sectors; and utilizing his more than ten years of academic and project management level experience with projects carried out in the Unites States, Europe, Mozambique, and South-East Asia.
It is his belief that designers and economists can obtain synergy by jointly identifying and working on key variables underlying the Triple Bottom Line for each identified project. Through this approach multidisciplinary project teams, with strong leadership, are better prepared to develop research. André believes that industries are all in need of improved life-centered solutions and designs. Triple Bottom Line should not be viewed as a framework, technique, or tool. Rather, it should be viewed as an ethics system that touches all facets of projects and industries.
A citizen of Portugal and permanent resident of the United States, André has devoted the past 15 years of his life to the research into how to deliver sustainable results. His recent appointment as an Assistant Visiting Professor at the University of Saint Joseph in Macau, China, and his work with Pratt Institute, as well as Earth Institute at Columbia University, will certainly keep him focused in the coming years to deepen his research. This research includes in depth examinations of development in Angola and Mozambique, which André then uses to inform his students on designs role in the shaping of international economies.