Should you be queried on the identity of the first man to circumnavigate the globe, names like Sebastian Elcano and Ferdinand Magellan, hailing from five centuries past, likely spring to mind. What about the inaugural woman to achieve this feat? It's a lesser-known fact that a French explorer, Jeanne Baret, undertook this journey in 1769. She braved hurricanes, currents, storms, and reefs, mirroring the challenges faced by Elcano and Magellan, yet she bore an additional burden—masquerading as a man, given the prohibition against female participation in such voyages at that time. Today, Baret could be seen as the spiritual forebear of an annual female-led expedition to Antarctica known as Homeward Bound. This trip is not just a physical journey but an inner voyage of discovery and learning for a group of women destined to lead change.

For years, ACCIONA has proudly partnered with the Homeward Bound project on a global scale, having previously covered this adventure and detailed its mission—an endeavor that elevates women's leadership amid the climate crisis.

This occasion, however, offers a chance to delve into its significance through the documentary "An Infinite Journey," an audiovisual piece that captures the experience of the 188 women from 25 countries who traveled to Antarctica in 2023 with the aim of generating collaborative and interdisciplinary networks to address the most pressing challenges of the climate emergency. You can see it bellow.

Hilde Perez watches sixteen-foot waves through the porthole of her cabin, while next door in the engine room, the turbines' steady hum fills the air. The Ushuaia, spanning 138 feet stem to stern, plies the icy Antarctic waters in search of a safe harbor.

She, along with 92 other expedition members, had been looking forward to this moment for more than two years. 

The group comprises engineers like Hilde, as well as ecologists, biochemists, astrophysicists, and biologists, all united by a desire to make a positive impact on the world, to be part of something larger than themselves. This desire has been nurtured over many months of preparation.

Typically, Homeward Bound expeditions involve an eleven-month period of training and brainstorming, culminating in the expedition itself. This time they had to wait a little longer than usual because of the pandemic. So the eagerness to set sail was palpable.

The three-week expedition offers a chance to finally meet in person, to share experiences, and to gain insights from the trainers who join them annually, covering topics like coaching, leadership, gender issues, and climate change.

For Hilde, who submitted her application via a two-minute video in 2019, the goal was to further her efforts in mentoring women, a role she had embraced at the University of León as head of the Department of Engineering, Mechanical, Computer Science, and Aerospace. 

"When I'm teaching, I look at the students I have in the classroom [...] and you never reach 20% women. And the truth is that this percentage decreases as we go up the ladder," she observes.

Despite her proven capabilities as a professor, Hilde felt that the Antarctic adventure helped bridge certain gaps: "You acquire a series of skills in communication, in visibility, which is what was most difficult for me [...]. It is not the same to communicate to fifty or a hundred students in the classroom as it is to address an audience through the lens of four cameras," she remarks, concluding, "That visibility that exposes your vulnerabilities is a challenge for us [as women], so we receive specific preparation to navigate it."

In the latest edition, which took place in the spring of 2023, Homeward Bound participants had the chance to make seventeen landings on the snowy terrain of the sixth continent, despite planning for as many as one hundred.

The discrepancy between planned and actual landings is attributed to the unpredictable weather conditions and the shifting of gigantic ice shelves, making previously feasible routes impossible.

"It's Antarctica, nature at its purest; you realize how tiny we are," reflects Hilde.

Moreover, each outing was meticulously planned, from disinfecting equipment to prevent pathogen spread to collecting any waste, ensuring no human footprints were left in the Antarctic sanctuary, a "natural reserve dedicated to peace and science" as per the 1991 Antarctic Treaty on Environmental Protection. Yet, Antarctica undoubtedly left its mark on the expedition members: "If the expedition takes place there, it is because it is the place where human action is most visible on the planet. We are ambassadors for Antarctica," Hilde shares.

When Homeward Bound began its journey in 2016, it aimed to build a network of 1,000 women in leadership roles to drive meaningful change. As demonstrated by the Antarctic Protection Initiative, these women are actively pursuing tangible objectives. Moreover, the ambition has expanded to include a total of ten thousand women in future editions. "We already have women from the academic world, people who are in private enterprise, in public institutions, in decision-making bodies such as the United Nations, in the European Union; we have women ministers of the environment or deputy ministers of the environment," Hilde summarizes.

These courageous female explorers, following in Jeanne Baret's footsteps, share a bond with the women in leadership roles at ACCIONA. These are women engaged daily in technology, energy, and infrastructure sectors, advancing their careers on equal terms while also contributing to global change. We remain committed to supporting them, standing by their side, and learning from their experiences.