On March 23 oikos Spring Meeting 2017 opened in Hamburg, Germany. More than 130 participants from many different parts of the world were gathered together under the title USE YOUR POWER – Empowering Young Leaders for Sustainable Decisions. This year oikos Spring meeting focused on sustainable consumption to highlight the effects of unrestrained consumption and put emphasis on the importance of conscious decision making. The significance of the topic further stems from the fact that the United Nations explicitly incorporated this aspect in their Sustainable Development Goals.

The participants were encouraged to think about sustainable consumption on the individual and company level. To make matters easier for them public lectures were organized with keynote speakers from imug e.V (Dr. Annika Schudak), die VERBRAUCHER INITIATIVE e.V. (Christoph-Daniel Teusch) and Unilever (Carolin Hoyer). Moreover, students were introduced to successful projects and companies that promote sustainable development and set the most positive, unparalleled examples to follow. To make practical use of the knowledge and information gained on the meeting the participants who divided up in small groups, ardently discussed one specific area of consumption (food, beverages, clothing, mobility, energy, finances) and brought forward their own project ideas to promote sustainable consumption.

The activities shared one common goal of empowerment, in that it aimed to build confidence among the participants so that they are willing to take responsibility for a sustainable future and lead the change in their own community.

Moreover Alumni met at the Spring Meeting in Hamburg. Alumni from different generations and regions connected, worked on some international alumni projects and had fun together during three full days!

Beyond the official meeting, participants were able to enjoy the city of Hamburg, get together and bond in the informal environment and visit world-renowned concert hall Elbphilharmonie.

From 22 to 23 March 2017 oikos LEAP Intermediate took place in Hamburg, Germany. The event welcomed 32 oikos chapter presidents and international executive board (EB) members in order to discuss chapter development and strengthen presidents’ leadership skills.

oikos International is a member-led organization and the presidents along with EBs play key role in the organization’s decision making process and represent a crucial force behind its success, both at an international and chapter level. For this reason LEAP Intermediate devoted special attention to the development of the presidents’ leadership skills and spared no effort to make them comprehend the importance of their position and work. The presidents were briefed on the organization’s history, mission and strategy and were encouraged to contribute to oikos governance discussions.

oikos LEAP Intermediate presented an opportunity for the presidents and EBs to identify and map project action areas, share project ideas and facilitate cross-chapter initiatives for the year ahead. Moreover, the presidents participated in parallel workshops that covered multiple important areas: marketing, IT/intranet, impact measurements, chapter strategy sessions, alumni management.

At the end of the event the participants gathered for Legislative Meeting. The meeting voted in favor of Edmonton Chapter and New York Chapter to be elected as full chapters and confirmed Levan Pangani’s second year presidency.

oikos LEAP Intermediate proved one of the most important events for oikos, since it brought together the organization’s fervent members, facilitated exchange of major ideas and was marked with the enlargement of the organization.

“You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.” –Naguib Mahfouz (Nobel Prize Winner)

Better leadership is praised as a solution to many problems: dysfunctional teams, weak performance on key indicators, motivational valleys. But after two days with the LEAP Advanced cohort, which started their 9-months journey in November last year, we were reminded of this simple truth: no effective leadership without self-leadership. During the intense two days meeting the group of young leaders, many of them board members of their oikos Chapters, got to know each other – and themselves – much better. The first afternoon, despite being surrounded by nature, everyone spent bent over their phones. Not as a distraction, however, but to use the online application developed by SelfLeaders, which allows users to choose from an array of values to form a “value tree”. Values are arranged in three different categories: foundational values – the roots – are topped with the stem values of self-fulfillment, and finally those for the greater good. When everyone had chosen, the group set out to explain their choices. This was a simple but powerful exercise to practice story-telling and playfully explore the origin of one’s own attitudes. In the following days, the participants reflected on societal norms and how different kinds of listening will trigger different kinds of reactions from those you’re talking to. Most useful was the exercise on asking “powerful questions”, which provoke thought processes that may lead one’s opposite to reconsider positions – and even let them find answers to long held problems.

What made this meeting a pleasure to everyone – despite cold and rainy weather in Hoisdorf outside Hamburg – were the extended cooking sessions. The participants, who over the year organize in peer-to-peer reflection groups, cooked beautifully for each other and experiences leadership in practice: there are few things as challenging as settling on a recipe on empty stomach.