The World Student Environmental Network (WSEN) Summit 2016 kicked-off on Sunday June 24th. With the other 75 delegates from more than 20 countries, oikos, represented by Anita Negri, was also invited.

Upon arrival participants engaged in ice breakers, reflection sessions and even a singing lesson at the new Attenborough Centre at the University of Sussex. Dinner was then served by a start-up that produces meals from food that would otherwise have gone to waste. For dinner it was curry and rice. An informal gathering was then initiated but with most participants having travelled from far, most made it back to their rooms early.

On the first full day of the conference, a typical English breakfast dish was served: porridge accompanied by many fair-trade nuts and responsibly-sourced muesli bars. The first session was a keynote talk by Andrea Cornwall, professor at the University of Sussex. Ms. Cornwall considers herself an activist bureaucrat and gave an interesting talk to participants about methodologies of being activists and techniques for raising youth voices. This was by all found to be a challenge of a youth sector, often, under-represented. The rest of the morning was dedicated to presentation sessions where delegates presented their sustainability projects from around the world. Lunch followed.

Immediately after lunch it was time for the international organisations’ panel discussion. With four organisation: oikos, NUS UK, WSEN and Commonwealth Youth, the panel took off by noting participants’ expectations. Panellists then presented their organisations, their values and their sustainability practices. These brief inputs were followed by a lively discussion on youth engagement, the issue of communication and international cooperation. The audience was, finally, split into four groups with each discussing a challenge in sustainability organisations. The afternoon continued with 6 parallel workshops on sustainability careers and sustainability in the workplace.

On Tuesday 26^th July, the oikos representation left the conference despite the fact that the Summit would continue for 4 more days. Anita stated: “Having been part of the energy at the WSEN re-confirmed what I often observe in oikos: investing in bringing truly passionate people about sustainability physically together, can be very inspiring. I was amazed by the quality of contribution and engagement of the participants despite the long days that were planned. This makes it much more interesting for panellists to share experience and understand what areas to contribute to. My wish is, for all conference, that participants will have taken away important lessons to implement, directly, once back in their hometowns. Sustainability is not an easy mind-set but my participation to most international youth conferences on sustainability over the past years makes me want to remind all society that: youth is here, we are executing quality initiatives, even with small resources, we are raising our voices and we don’t intend to give up. Let’s keep walking the talk and great things will occur for the world as a whole, because sustainability is an collaborative matter”.

See what more went on at the WSEN Summit by following the hashtag #WSEN2016 on social media.

On a beautiful day in October 2015, in St Gallen, Switzerland, oikos LEAP officially debuted. With the motto that ‘great leaders set out to make a difference’, 40 participants from 20 countries gathered with excitement, ready to undertake their journey.

oikos LEAP is a non-formal sustainable leadership programme created by oikos, an international organisation for sustainability in economics and management. Its main purpose is to inspire young leaders to become more responsible in their decision-making and equip them with insights, knowledge and tools to do so. Three tracks are proposed by oikos LEAP: Advanced, Intermediate and Basic. The first is the most intensive track consisting of a series of online and offline modules that are based on the principles of experiential learning, supplemented by three guiding methodological concepts: exploring, sharing-practicing and reflecting.

With the participation of 17 people, out of the 40, between the ages of 20 and 29 from 9 countries, the first Advanced Track was a success. A French participant expressed that the programme “offered an international open space to share and listen, it helped have a better understanding of [oneself] and others’ behavior which is essential to act as a responsible leader”. The methodologies used attracted attention from various sources around the world. As an Azerbaijani participant shared “LEAP delivered constructive and very interesting webinars and teamwork. I was thrilled to be involved in such an unforgettable experience full of emotions and knowledge. It was beyond my expectations in terms of content and the way we were taught”. The innovative approach led to the team writing a paper for the Institute For Sustainable Leadership. The paper entitled, ‘The journey so far in oikos LEAP – A sustainable leadership programme for young leaders’, was then presented at the Symposium in Bangkok in May 2016.

On July 18^th, 2016, the application for the new cycle of oikos LEAP opened to all oikos members and a new class will meet in November 2016, in Speicher, Switzerland to kick-off their journey. An Indian participant stated: “I would recommend this program to anyone who is interested to develop self-awareness, challenge the traditional definition of leadership and stretch your own limits at each step”. Therefore, if you identify with this urge, apply and if you wish to partner with the programme or contribute to do not hesitate to contact oikos.
 

To apply for the new cycle and for more information visit: oikos-international.org/leap or contact us at info@oikos-international.org.

“In retrospect, one of the greatest things of my oikos days (2007-2011 St. Gallen) was the community of fellow oikees with similar values and dreams for changing society. I am sure that without this peer support, I would not have gone the journey to become (social) entrepreneur and co-found Impact Hub Zürich (with 2 fellow oikees ;)). Impact Hub is a global community of 80+ local incubators for social change.

I am still regularly in touch with oikos alumni and so many do not find a meaningful career and miss the community support to make such a path happen. Since I am convinced there are many people out there who are looking for a meaningful career but lack the means to get there, I am currently starting a new venture in the area of executive/post-graduate education (think MBA alternative).
 
With STRIDE – unSchool for Entrepreneurial Leadership, which I am starting with another oikos alumnus (Björn Müller), we have created a one year part-time learning program that enables people to reinvent their career. Instead of doing case studies, the class actually founds a real entrepreneurial venture that tackles a large societal challenge. The learning happens around the experience of actually creating something new, in a community of changemakers. In this short video (see below) I share our learning philosophy and tell my story, including a very prominent role for oikos :). In short, I sometimes feel I have come full circle. Taking the best I got from oikos and proving this path to others well.
 
Thanks oikos!”