LifeSystems is an innovative business dedicated to development issues
LifeSystems was created during the COVID-19 pandemic in search of new approaches to building and operating private sector companies in a world with increased inequality, misinformation, polarization, authoritarianism, deglobalization, and the urgent Triple Planetary Crisis of climate change, biodiversity collapse and pollution, among a host of other critical issues. Now add to this list the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East…
Yet in many ways, we are also in the best position ever to tackle these issues. There is vast wealth in the world, technology of all types is rapidly advancing, life expectancies are generally higher, and access to information has been democratized.
It is in this context, by taking a systems thinking approach, that we aim to facilitate the integration between the traditional silos of the private, public, academic and civil society sectors, with a focus on cooperation and multi-actor governance mechanisms.
We believe that a real and fair balance between economic success, social wellbeing and thriving nature not only is the right thing to do, but is the key to long-term harmony of all actors involved, starting with our clients.
Why Systems Thinking?
Development is a process where many different actors, factors and dynamics intertwine and affect one another, altering its course, often in ways we may not expect. So, at LifeSystems, we look at it through two distinct lenses: the “view of the condor”, from high above, and the “view of the partridge”, from the ground outwards. In both cases, we see complex systems at play, where our job is to help our clients stay on top of these dynamics and anticipate the potential impacts as they change over time.
Though systems thinking requires far broader expertise than specializing in a specific discipline, we believe that it is the best framework for achieving sustainable and inclusive development. To that end, we have assembled a highly-specialized and extensive network of partners to cover whatever technical requirements emerge in the territory, and activate them on a case by case basis.
In the figure below, we present two representations of what we mean “Life Systems”, i.e. a system that support the furtherance of life.
NB: It should be noted that we have loosely translated Life Systems to Parques de la Vida in Spanish.
Our MISSION IS TO DESIGN, DEVELOP AND PROMOTE LIFE SYSTEMS ACROSS PERU AND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
Our Principles
Founded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, at LifeSystems we believe that progress must be measured and based on a healthy balance between economic, social and environmental considerations. We must learn from what an over-stressed Earth is trying desperately to teach us.
That is why we have built a sustainable territorial development business focused on objectives like economic prosperity, poverty eradication, climate justice, conservation & regeneration.
Though a challenging, ambitious and unconventional business model, we are attempting to demonstrate that such new and innovative models – in this case based on systems thinking and taking a case-by-case bottom-up approach – not only have a place in today’s world, but are indeed necessary given the major interconnected challenges that we face.
In that context, our core principles are:
systems thinking for sustainable territorial development
Territories are dynamic systems, as are the populations that live within them. Only through the lens of systems thinking can we fully appreciate their uniqueness and complexities, and develop suitable solutions to ensure a sustainable future.
We Take a bottom-up, participatory Aproach
In development, one size does not fit all. Each territory comes with its unique populations, heritage, characteristics and aspirations for the future. As such, we start at the bottom, hand-in-hand with the local populations for whom the effectiveness of the proposed development is most at stake.
We seek cooperation rather than competition
The urgency of the issues that we and the world face are such that we need all hands on deck. In that sense, we always seek to partner with others to ensure the best and fastest solutions to our clients' needs and those of the populations that they impact.
There is no conservation without sustainable development, and vice versa
Conservation must be accompanied by sustainable economic activities, as ecosystem depletion in Peru (and most other places) is driven primarily by people trying to escape poverty. On the flip side, we cannot develop sustainably without conserving the ecosystem services upon which we all rely.
Our Two Founders & Multidisciplinary Network of Partners
Carlos and Stefan decided to join forces at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, in search for answers to the many vital social, environmental, economic and political issues that it so strikingly laid bare, both in Peru as in the rest of the world.
Carlos Loret De Mola De Lavalle
Nationally recognized expert on Peru, its territory and people
A mining geologist by training, Carlos is a former mining executive with decades of experience in the sector.
He then presided the National Environmental Council (CONAM) for five years before it became the Ministry of the Environment, and later served as Vice-Minister of Territorial Governance.
He has deep experience in addressing critical issues such as climate change, watershed management, extractive, productive and industrial sectors, social conflicts, biodiversity and natural resources management, circular economy, remediation, among others.
Carlos’ passionate love of his country is made evident by his profound knowledge of its uniqueness, its complexities, history, peoples and territory, as well as his vast multidisciplinary network of national and global contacts.
Stefan Lees
Multilingual international business development professional
Stefan holds a Masters degree in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, has lived in 13 countries across the Americas, Europe and the Middle East and speaks five languages.
For most of his career he has worked in business development for global professional services firms and managing multinational strategic accounts with senior and C-suite clients.
In 2019, he made the decision to pursue a long-term dream to go to one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth to put his skills and experience to work in the fields of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, seeking solutions to improving people’s living conditions around the world in harmony with the conservation and restoration of nature.
Extensive Network of Partners
Our business model is to hand select the best experts for each client requirement
LifeSystems is in many ways synonymous with our subject-matter expert and institutional partners.
A systems approach to development requires expertise across all related areas, which are many! At a time when the world needs urgent new approaches to tackling its systemic and structural challenges, we believe that collaboration is the key.
As such, we have established numerous alliances and are continuously working with a large number of multisectoral and multidisciplinary organizations, including private, public, NGOs and civil society, academia and community-led.
In this way, we are able to rapidly build the specific teams with the experience and expertise that our customers need.
Get In Touch To See How We Can Help
Whatever your challenge or objective may be in this complex and fascinating part of the world, we will always have recommendations and experts to point you in the right direction.