What is the matter of changing structures one might ask when hearing about the changes within oikos. To share her perspective on it Hannah, former oikos chapter president, active LEAP coach and Working Group member, decided to write this article. Therefore, she first makes visible what her perspective on the world is. She will mainly reference theory u which describes how social transformations happen and set this in relation to oikos and what might emerge within oikos. Finally, Hannah will conclude by pointing out why we all are needed for this.

I want to start with my perspective on the world that is inspired by different people I met in many different ways. What we see is an incredibly complex world with developments that on one end of the spectrum appear to be catastrophic, like climate change and how we collectively ‘deal’ with it. On the other side of the spectrum, we see positive developments like a rising consciousness about the challenges we face on planet earth and with this a growing social movement regarding the need of an ecologic social transformation.

As developments in our complex world happen nonlinearly, we cannot know what exactly will happen and cannot predict the future. Nevertheless, what is recognized more and more is that the challenges or problems on earth did not just fall from the sky. The global problems we face – climate change, species extinction or human rights violations – are ‘just’ the symptoms of something that lies deeper. If we observe how our society operates on a large scale, we see that we do not work collectively on the root causes of these problems. In regard to climate change and species extinction, this is, why so many people all around the earth are joining the Fridays For Future Strikes or the Rebellion Wave from Extinction Rebellion. Their shared message: we need to change systems and root causes – not only superficial symptoms.

But what does this mean and how can we change something at all? I think, first, we need to understand that with our actions, including our thoughts and words, we create the reality we see – individually and collectively. And because it is easier and most of the time also helpful, we tend to follow existing, reactional patterns instead of changing our behavior every time.

We might call these patterns structures. They exist on the societal, organizational and individual levels and are created by us – from continuously acting this or that way, through navigating and choosing certain paths. From my perspective, most of us do not yet act in a way that fully respects the consequences of our actions, not even the ones that clearly can be foreseen in our complex, non-linear world. Here is our first blind spot: the disconnect between our created structures and the systemic reality of our earth and its needs.

To understand the origins of this ‘structural disconnect’ we need to dig deeper into the paradigms that are anchored in our society’s thinking on the societal, organizational and individual levels. One well-known example is the belief that enough economic growth will solve all our societal problems. Although quite questionable, given the fact that growth goes along with higher consumption of the limited resources of our only planet, the paradigm is still influencing, if not dominating, our reality.

If we dig deeper into the source of our activities and social reality creation, there is another blind spot next to the structures and paradigms: the inner place from which we operate. This is related to our intention and attention from and with that, we individually and collectively perceive and create. How open and present are we to what really is going on in every situation? Can we update our ideas or are we stuck in one belief – how are things? If we act, is our intention influenced by fear or courage? You might have already noticed differences in your behavior when you are open to what really happens in contrast to when you are more closed and stuck in old beliefs that do not match anymore with reality. I do not want to go deeper here but if you e.g. join the LEAP track you surely will get to know some practices that are related to our intention and attention.

But why do I talk about this at all? I do talk about it because what we produce, how we produce it and from which inner place we do it is not separable. As Scharmer/Kaufer (2013: 19) say: “We cannot transform the behavior of systems unless we transform the quality of attention that people apply to their actions within those systems, both individually and collectively.”

And so – from this perspective, we all are asked to practice and observe how we pay attention. We can practice our way of perceiving the world out there and within us and decide whether we get stuck or whether we open up to what wants to arise new within and between us and perceive a broader perspective that is non-judgemental and tries to see and understand the world from different angles.

Personally, my experiences convince me more and more that the exterior world is the mirror of our internal world. Following this, I see the necessity to understand better what happens within us and ‘out there’, how this is related and what wants to emerge through us. For this, practicing being present and listening deeply with an open mind, heart and will is essential.

To reconnect this rather theoretic discourse with oikos, its practices and the desired changes in the oikos structure, let us have a look where it started. oikos was founded in 1987 in St. Gallen and arose out of a committee of economic students that saw the need to integrate environmental concerns into economics. From a local initiative oikos begun to ‘go international’ from 1998 on and by now about 50 chapters exist around the world. While there are quite some international, national, regional and local activities in the last years, members of the local chapters and oikos international observed and reported that the local and international activities felt a bit loosely coupled and disconnected. That rose the question of how we can leverage the full potential of our network. This is why the Governance Working Group was established and proposed a new Governance model in 2018.

Following this, the Restructuring oikos Working Group started its job with the intention to shape a structure that allows and fosters a more interdependent way of interacting – between the board and the members, between the different chapters and where thematic and other synergies can be realized. The structure proposal was presented to and approved by the community in March. After this, the IT infrastructure was adapted and optimized to support simple and clear interactions between individuals, chapters and oikos International.

What happened till now, is from my perspective just the beginning of what might be an opening process for oikos, an opening process to the diverse needs within and beyond oikos – to the needs of our interdependent world.

“If we see leadership as the capacity of a system to co-sense and co-shape the future, then we realize that all leadership is distributed – it needs to include everyone.”*

And this is what I believe we at oikos can and need to practice further – how we can realize that everybody is included? With this I mean: how can we ensure that we act from a perspective as broad as possible so that we do not miss certain perspectives – as e.g. in economics our natural regeneration capacity is not enough respected or women and care workers that are still structural disadvantaged in our current social reality. From my experience, we do have quite a high sense of awareness of the diverse forms of structural discrimination within oikos.

I believe it is now up to all of us to practice patiently forms of relating that are less exclusive and more inclusive to the needs of ‘all’ – also within oikos. A question that might provide us some guidance in this process is: What is it that wants to become alive within us, within oikos and beyond in the face of the worldwide challenges?

To find collective answers to this, I want to invite all of us to practice listening when hearing an answer to this question – listening to what we hear, see and feel and then exploring what we get to know from this beyond our own current believes and perspectives.

This might lead to new questions that may feel provoking to our current belief, like for example “What is the role of management and executive board in an organization if we see leadership as something that is distributed and that needs to include everyone?”

I am excited and curious about what is coming while also acknowledging that we might ‘fail’. And that brings me to what I want to conclude with: Let us try out what we believe or sense is the right thing to do from moment to moment, let us learn from all those experiences we make and let us give our best. And last but not least, let us remember to be kind to ourselves – we cannot force change, what we can do is to open up to the changes that come naturally as we open our hearts, minds, and will.

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I want to give thanks and acknowledgment to Sophie, Mariam and Sebastian who with their comments helped me to write this article as it is now.

If you have some thoughts you want to discuss with me, feel free to contact me. I am very interested in your opinion.

*copied from http://book.ottoscharmer.com/

Below you can find some links and books I want to share with you.

Scharmer, O./Kaufer, K.: Leading from the Emerging Future. From Ego-System To Eco-System Economies. (Some chapters can be downloaded here: https://www.ottoscharmer.com/publications/books). Side fact: I got to know this book from a former oikos president of the Paderborn chapter which then became a lecturer at university.

u.lab – this is an online (to offline) course where you can practice the findings of the work of a interesting team as an introduction to leading profound social, environmental and personal transformation: https://www.edx.org/course/ulab-leading-from-the-emerging-future.

If you are interested in different forms of listening you can e.g. have a look here: https://www.presencing.org/resource/tools/listen-desc.

Rosling, H.: Die Welt wird immer besser (https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/die-welt-wird-immer-besser-32-gute-nachrichten-15524076.html) It’s an article in German. Sorry to the non-German speakers. He published a book called factfulness – haven’t read it but maybe you want to have a look on it.

Laloux, F.: Reinventing Organizations: https://www.reinventingorganizations.com/. Haven’t read it fully but it is still on my want to read list and from what I read till now quite inspiring.

A movie that inspired me some years ago: Tomorrow: https://www.tomorrow-documentary.com/.

A lot of inspiration I got also through this project / activities and finally the people involved there: Visionen für die Zukunft (in English it means ‘visions for the future’) and the LEAP programm.

Edutopia: Summer school in 2018 organized by oikos member, which will take place again in 2020.

And as the Curriculum Change Initiative is dealing with transforming old Economic paradigms in university courses, this might be something as well to have look at or get involved in if you are interested in it.

Crisis in economics, ecology, and society has become a defining feature of our times. These never-ending stream of emerging disasters captures our attention day in and day out. It also attests to our need for effective and transformative leadership. But what is leadership, anyway? And who should lead us?

At oikos, we answered these questions through our Leadership Program – LEAP. The program, in its 5th run currently, helps young people discover their true potential and instead of seeking leaders in others, inspires them to garner courage and take the lead in their local communities and universities. Every year, the oikos LEAP Meeting kicks-off the 9-month long leadership training, that urges participants to become responsible leaders at the forefront of sustainable development.

This year, over 65 oikos members, alumni, and partners traveled from 24 cities – as close as St.Gallen and as remote as Boston and Jamshedpur – to Leysin, Switzerland. The goal of the meeting was clear-cut – to share knowledge, exchange ideas, develop new partnerships and above all inspire each other to lead change. Over the course of the week, from 25th to 31st of October, these strangers bonded over the shared cause – sustainability, and developed friendships that are bound to last well beyond the days in the Swiss Alps.

Only the participants can authentically reconstruct the week with all their vivid memories.  Monika from oikos Vienna and Florian of oikos Witten/Herdecke took upon the challenge of becoming Memory Keepers of the LEAP Meeting 2019. Through this Memory Lane, you can follow and learn about their LEAP journey. 

The program was challenging – full of information and new insights. Session after session, our participants learned what the sustainability status-quo looks like in different countries and how our community at local and international levels works to disrupt it. They learned about oikos International, our partners and hundreds of projects their fellow members across the globe host every year. They organized workshop sessions to exchange on a concrete topic and hosted music and cultural nights to share part of their background. They visited UNHCR and walked the earth as refugees in an awareness game. 

Nicolas Vaudroz, an artist from Leysin, took our participants on a panoramic journey through the village. On the screen of a cramped conference room, he unraveled art installations dedicated to the climate crisis and explained how artists express their frustration over and hope for the environment. The very next day, our participants walked up the Leysin SDGs Hiking Trail with two brilliant students from Leysin American School. Antonio, 11, and Sean, 13, created the track for oikos with their teacher and two other classmates within a couple of weeks. They wanted to lead our group of international students to 17 landmarks of the village, each connected to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Unfortunately, the track was too long for the packed LEAP schedule and they had to halt the expedition halfway. Antonio and Sean, nevertheless, managed to show part of the landmarks, including a local public garden filled with edible flowers, ponds, baby carrots, and bees. “Gardening requires time and attention. It’s great, except when it rains” – said Antonio, just before he showed the hikers a baby carrot he kept in his breast pocket throughout the walk.

Leadership in many ways resembles gardening, it requires time and attention. And it’s great, except when it is not. When there is so much to do, that a person starts to falter, unsuspecting and unsuspected. To circle back to the original question, leadership here, at LEAP, is about being curious about yourself and being generous to yourself. Leadership is more than unrestrained drive and good management, it’s also about appreciation and affection. It’s about acknowledging that there are no leaders unless you are there to lead and to live a fulfilled life.

Fear, rush, bewilderment, stillness, despair, and relief – they felt it all. Our participants at the LEAP Meeting 2019 took part in the Refugee Awareness Game – “Passages” to confront the plight of refugees and reimagine their life. Janina Hoffmann, one of the participants, shares her feelings and thoughts in this blog. 

Imagine you need to leave everything behind – all your belongings, the place where you grew up, the culture you love, and above all, the people you love.

Where would you go? That’s not even up to you to choose – it is totally unpredictable…

…It is foggy, noisy, I barely hear my own voice. I search for my other family members, my brother Peter, my sister Melissa and her two lovely young children Daniel and Melinda. I feel so alone, disoriented and helpless. No matter how loud I scream I can’t find them. A glimpse of hope – all of a sudden, I hear Peter’s voice. I lose him again: “Peeeeeteeeeer, Peeeeteeer”, I scream will all my might, but nothing echoes back. I am so scared for them… it seems like hours when I finally find familiar hands, and I feel a flash of gratitude.

However, this is quickly over. We, Gandhi family, need to rush to a temporary shelter – but where shall we go? Will there be enough space? Nadja, another refugee approaches us, but she also doesn’t seem to have a clue what is going to happen. Where is she coming from anyway? When we finally reach the shelter supervisors don’t give us any information. How long can we stay here? We are ordered to sleep, but I don’t feel like sleeping. Peter calms me down. He keeps the watch nonetheless on what the supervisors are saying. The lack of transparency and information makes me suspicious, angry and frustrated.

The next day we already must leave. We have decided to leave our country – it is hard and unknown, but it’s the only path we can take. Bandits have taken over our farm – our home. So, we have nowhere to go back. The worst part is that we have nowhere to go to either.

We are sent off from the shelter by screams “head north” – but how are we supposed to know where that is exactly? After some seconds, my phone compass comes to my mind – this finally  makes me determined to lead my family and the other family in the right(?) direction. The other families are insecure as well but don’t seem to trust what I say. Why is everyone so isolated in their little family units? I think we will feel more powerful if we connect more, but it is hard enough to keep an eye on all your family members.

We leave the shelter relatively resolute, but our children want to go back home – how to tell them that there is no going back – that we will find a new home? 

“Booooomb – there is a Booooooomb, don’t go in this direction”, shouts the supervisor. She has just told us that we have to head north and the direction is north… where shall we go?  

In the end, indecisively, we follow the others towards the border. We line up as we reach the cluster of people. Then we are ordered to shut up, otherwise, we will get in trouble. No information, again. I am angry and worried at the same time. It takes ages to get to the border – what if we get separated? I tell the kids that we are playing a game and the first person who says something will lose the game. I meet Nadja again and she asks:

– ”Have you seen my mother – are there still more people coming?” 

-“No, we are the last ones.” – I say. 

I feel so sorry for her that she is all alone and lost her family. Last minute I ask her to join our group. She is so grateful. We organize an order for crossing the border – Peter is the first, then Daniel, my sister, little Melinda and I go last. I am afraid that we get separated. The worst feeling is crossing the border as the last person. My whole world is on the other side. The crossing takes so long because I don’t see a thing. But suddenly I feel the hands of my brother and I am relieved. We get ready to head-on, but we wait for Nadja to cross. Hopefully, nothing goes wrong now. We manage to leave together and after some confusion, arrive at the control station. The ticket inspector almost makes me lose my temper. How can she ask us to give away our last possessions that we have carried all the way here? After handing her over one of our belongings, she greedily demands, without any explanation, Melinda’s backpack as well. The most dreadful thing is the way she patronizes us. 

Then we are sent quickly to another room and somebody hands me over some papers and gives me a pen. I cannot read this language. How are we supposed to fill this out? I hope I won’t make a mistake. Numbers okay, I suppose we write our names here. Maybe there the date? The location? I don’t know. Anyway, how can they read whatever I am writing? This seems like a text field… “Here I need to write the reason why we had to leave our country” – I convince myself just in time before the other inspector takes the paper. He hands it over to his colleagues who have total control over our future. This is so frustrating. Maybe they won’t let us through because they don’t have information. But we just don’t know where we have to write it down. This paper decides our fate and we don’t have a fair chance to explain our circumstances. We have to leave…

But we are so lucky, we can go with Nadja, our newly adopted family member. Once more, the greedy inspector wants one more thing before she lets us pass. What ferocity! 

We pass and arrive exhausted in front of the UNCHR. I have hope – they seem like I can trust them. We will get help here. A woman comes out of the building saying that there is one spot free. “This can’t be happening, here are at least three more families“, I think in disbelief. Then she disappears again. We agree not to split. Then the woman comes back, again speaking a language I cannot understand.

Is she doing that on purpose? I hate being unwelcomed wherever we go. Then another supervisor comes and shouts, three more people. We are baffled and discuss if Melinda should go inside with the kids. They are exhausted and hungry… But we decide to stick together. Finally, there is someone else coming – the first person who seems to care for our wellbeing. She promises to help us. I have hope again that there is a tiny chance to meet people who care, people who see us as humans like we all are – just living and moving on different coordinates… 

Can you imagine what people go through when they leave their home behind? Do you realize that borders only exist in our heads? We are all humans scattered around this planet. You have the power to imagine a different world– “imagine there’s no countries, imagine no possessions, imagine all the people living life in peace, imagine all the people sharing all the world.” You might be a dreamer, but you are not the only one.

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A huge thanks goes to Adriana Troxler, Kathrin Zirn and the other eager helpers who made this an unforgettable learning experience for all LEAPers. Contact Adriana at adriana.troxler[@]oikos-international.org to replicate this emotional experience.

We are proud to announce the winners of the oikos Case Writing Competition. We would like to thank all the participants for their outstanding case submissions and congratulate the winners.

The winning cases are published online in our oikos free case collection and are available for faculty members and students interested in organizing a case competition at their local universities.

The first prize was awarded to Prof. Madeleine Pullman, Prof. Jacen Greene, Prof. Wanying Shi, and Stephen Kaplan of Portland State University, USA, for the case “B-Line Sustainable Urban Delivery: Can Last-Mile Bicycle Delivery Survive The E-Commerce Minefield?”.

The second prize went to Chiara De Bernardi, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart – Milano, Italy, and Prof. Daniel Arenas Vives, ESADE Business School, Spain, for their work on “Authenticitys: who said unicorns are legendary?”

The third prize was awarded to Indu Perepu, ICFAI Business School, India, for the case “Sistema Biobolsa: Addressing Challenges of Climate Change, Sustainable Agriculture and Waste Management in Mexico.”

We also would like to take the opportunity and thank our outstanding Case Faculty Jury: Gabriel Berger, Universidad de San Andrés, Argentina; Timo Busch, University of Hamburg, Germany; Angelo A. Camillo, Sonoma State University, United States; Alfred Vernis Domènech, ESADE, Spain; Jörg Hofstetter, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland; Ewald Kibler, Aalto University, Finland; Martin Kupp, ESCP Europe, France; Saurabh Lall, University of Oregon, United States; Moritz Loock, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland; Ioannis Oikonomou, University of Reading, United Kingdom; Carlos Romero Uscanga, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Mexico.

Our thank you also goes to the Case Students Jury, who revealed the winners amongst 10 finalists: Nurlan Jahangirli, oikos Baku alumnus, University of Hamburg; Hugo Leung, oikos Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology;  Amar Pandey, oikos Lille, EDHEC Business School; Stefano Ramelli, former oikos PhD fellow, University of Zurich; Magdalena Rusch, oikos Graz, University of Graz.

Finally, we would like to thank Dominika Czyż for running the competition.

Learn more about our winners: