“It is incredible how fast time flies when the event you and your team members have been planning for half a year eventually takes place. This year we were proud to welcome more than 160 participants at our annual University conference “Heldentag – Bist du bereit für Fairänderung?” to promote sustainability among students of all faculties.

 
When I joined oikos in 2014 I would have never imagined our association to become that popular in summer 2016, especially through our annual sustainability conference „Heldentag“. This year it was my responsibility to find seven speakers working in the field of sustainability and economics who would show that it is absolutely possible to combine both – profitability and sustainability. In six different workshops and one keynote talk, students had the possibility to learn from inspiring speakers who gave practical tips. From zero waste lifestyle t0 a business life running a package-free supermarket and many more. Thanks to the great work of our oikos Paderborn team, it was possible to not only organize the conference but also host our very first oikos Germany Meeting. At first it seemed to be a tough challenge to organize the two biggest events of the oikos year at the same time. However, our oikos team members supported each other and were very motivated to prove that one of the smallest chapters in Germany is able to successfully host a nationwide meeting.

 
I personally experienced how amazing it is to see your team members supporting the ideas you came up with and how students who are not part of oikos become aware of sustainability and the positive impact they can have on society. It was a challenging time as the vice-president of oikos Paderborn but I am still convinced that it was one of the most influencing years in my life. I truly hope that many of the students who participated in our conference or one of our other projects (Zero Waste Challenge, Documentary evenings, discussions, Veggie Dinner…) were inspired by our values and realized that there are other people supporting the same ideas as them.”

Written by Maria Pinsker, Vice-President, oikos Paderborn 

In the end of May, Anita Negri travelled to Thailand to attend the ISL’s 11th International Symposium on Sustainable Leadership. The Symposium started with a field trip (External Development Day) to the Khao Hin Sorn Royal Development Learning Center, where participants experienced sustainability in agriculture in action following Thailand’s Sufficiency Economy Thinking’s principles. After having observed the achievements obtained by the centre, participants travelled back to the conference venue where an opening cocktail was held. Gayle Avery and Harald Bergsteiner, Directors of ISL, introduced the topics of the Symposium and an innovative tool, named Windtunneling, that would be utilized throughout the conference to share feedback, opinions and engage in discussions online.

The second day, May 31st was entirely dedicated to the Thai Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) with the participation of 300 guests and the launch of a book edited by ISL entitled Sufficiency Thinking. The launch was a successful and exciting event with a welcome speech from Dr. Chirayu Na Ayuthaya, Chairman of  the Thailand Sustainable Development Foundation followed by keynote speeches from His Excellency Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, and Mr. Harald Link, Chairman of the B.Grimm group whose engaging talk covered how the B. Grimm group manage business with compassion. The afternoon featured panel sessions and workshops involving authors and practitioners on four broad topics related to the SEP – health, education, agriculture and community, and business.

 
On the third day, more than 10 papers were presented by ISL participants from around the world, ranging from sustainability in marketing, to agriculture and, of course, oikos’ paper on oikos LEAP. Fresh research was shared and participants engaged in interesting discussions. The Symposium was concluded with a panel discussion, hosted by Gayle Avery and Harald Bergsteiner, on the final day, with representatives from various sectors. Gayle Avery and Harald Bergsteiner addressed ‘honey-bee leadership’ and shared their findings and experience with the integration of SEP across sectors and its importance for the business as a whole. Some soon-to-be-published research was also presented on indicators for sustainability leadership and the path for companies and leaders to internalise sustainability thinking.

oikos is grateful to the Institute of Sustainable Leadership for having sponsored the trip to the Symposium and for the opportunity to share our efforts towards integrating sustainability thinking in economics and management.

All photos: Copyright Olga Mirkina, foto_om@mail.ru