#MeetTheTeam – Ana Oliveira

Meet the Team Zero Waste Europe - general

It’s time to discover and learn more about the people behind Zero Waste Europe’s work and magic! In addition to the ZWE Changemakers series, where you can learn more about our member organisations, we invite you to get a closer look at our staff, what they do, and what inspires them to work for a zero waste future.

This time, we sat down with Ana Oliveira, our Head of Communications, who has been at Zero Waste Europe since October 2020.

How did you come to join Zero Waste Europe?

Ah, an opportunity to tell my “origin story”! And it features an anti-hero: COVID-19.

The first lockdown was a huge wake-up call about the amount of waste we produce, or at least the amount I produce. Pre-pandemic, I don’t think most people were aware of how much waste they generated per day: the main waste you’d see and acknowledge was the waste from your breakfast and dinner, which are meals normally taken at home. All the other waste (lunch, morning and afternoon snacks) would end up in the office bin, or at a restaurant, or in a street bin. But during the lockdown, there was nowhere to be but home, and the same applied to your waste. So I started getting overwhelmed by the amount of waste two people and a cat generated during a single day at my flat. I then started extrapolating numbers in my mind: if this is what we generate, what about a family of four? Or six? Or ten?

With all this going on in my mind and getting annoyed by so many disposable masks polluting the sidewalks of Brussels, I saw ZWE’s vacancy and knew I had to apply for this job. So while COVID-19 was, by all accounts, a terrible time for everyone, it also gave me the extra push I needed to work on environmental communications. Ironically, we went into a second lockdown just one week after I started at ZWE. There were colleagues I only met in person one year later.

What motivated you to work for a zero waste Europe?

Making good use of our resources has always interested me. Even in other parts of our lives, I believe we can do great things with what we already have rather than immediately needing to get something new.

Avoiding food waste, in particular, is a big thing in my family. My mother (no doubt influenced by my grandparents) always made a point of being mindful about what we had on our plates: don’t take more than what you can really eat, don’t throw away anything that can be eaten later, and similar approaches to food.

Combine all these childhood experiences with the COVID-19 ‘’lightbulb’’ moment, and here I am, leading the communication of zero waste models and solutions since 2020.

What would you say is the most interesting part of your job?

Communications is my passion and my calling, and that will never change, but there’s something special about using your ‘superpower’ for a really good cause. I love that I’m in a position to learn new things, directly or indirectly, and to meet people with very different experiences from mine. And then I get to envision and develop meaningful communications around that. I’m also extremely competitive (mostly with myself), so the challenge of making something super technical and complex become understandable and even appealing for non-experts always motivates me.

What would you say is your greatest professional achievement?

Internally, the development and growth of my communications teams (both at ZWE and in previous workplaces). Besides being Head of Communications, I love being a Line Manager. This has nothing to do with bossing people around! It’s all about the opportunity to mentor my team as they develop their skills and find their own way as communications professionals. It’s also a way to guarantee you don’t stop learning: they always end up teaching me something I didn’t know before.

Externally, the impact of our decision to restructure our digital presence in 2023. Twitter/X was no longer the right place to achieve our social media objectives for many reasons, nor a platform that aligned with our organisational (and personal) values. At the same time, LinkedIn was becoming less of a purely job-hunting platform and more of a place for community-building, sharing views, and starting meaningful conversations.

We’d had an organisation page there for years, but in 2023, we made the strategic decision to decrease our Twitter presence, and then stopped it for good in 2024. At the same time, we made LinkedIn our priority social media platform, and coached everyone in the team on basic LinkedIn-specific thought leadership and organisational ambassadorship. Our colleagues are now much more active in amplifying ZWE’s work through their own profiles and perspectives. Our LinkedIn network grew by 64% (and counting) since 2023, and I’ve been asked to give workshops on LinkedIn thought leadership and social media presence for other NGOs, universities, and national environmental agencies.

What has been the biggest challenge that you’ve faced in your work?

The media space – both traditional and social – is currently so crowded that it sometimes feels like everyone is both just shouting into a void and competing to be the loudest. It can be very frustrating, and vanity metrics don’t help you with that. I need to remind myself that good communication is not about shouting the loudest or being everywhere, but about making the message reach and resonate with the ones who need to hear it the most, even when you whisper.

What is an aspect of your work that you find fun?

Finding ways to communicate about our topics using everyday pop culture references! It’s not always possible, but when I do, it’s both challenging and fun.

I also love that most events organised by ZWE are both professional and fun. We acknowledge that we have people in front of us, not machines, and that people need breaks, a mix of lighter and heavier sessions, different formats for learning and absorbing content, and sometimes silly moments to unwind. We still present and discuss everything we need to, but we don’t make our participants suffer endless hours of back-to-back PPT presentations with technical jargon. I love that we respect our own humanity and ”flaws”.

In your view, how can communications, in particular narratives and storytelling, help us bring sufficiency, resilience, and wellbeing to Europe?

We’re working towards sufficiency, resilience, and wellbeing because we believe in a society that benefits people and the planet. People connect with people, so narratives and storytelling are the best aces up a Communications person’s sleeve for bringing humanity to the facts and data. This has always been the case, but it’s truer than ever in today’s world, where experts and ‘’just’’ science are being increasingly discredited and distrusted.

As humans, we act faster when we see that a specific solution worked for someone we know or someone in a similar situation to ours. Relating to something or someone triggers emotions in you, such as solidarity and kinship. That’s true for communities, businesses, and politicians. That’s why ZWE publications like the State of Zero Waste Municipalities report or our video showing local communities’ efforts to fight waste incineration are impactful: people’s own stories help evidence shine brighter.

Looking ahead, which developments or priorities will you be focusing on in your work?

We’ve been working very hard to make our content and work more human by including local voices and perspectives, even in the most technical of topics. We’ll also continue to explore new ways of communicating, and I’m still doing my best to secure funding for communications-centric activities and to increase individual donations to ZWE.

Are there any other resources or topics that you want to highlight?

I want to put forward the Mission Zero Academy’s Mission Makers video series, as well as our football-themed infographic on chemical recycling and mass balance, as more examples of connecting to people through human stories and cultural references. To anyone reading: give yourself the opportunity to try new things and formats, and don’t be afraid to own your unique voice in your communications.