Newsletter March 2021

Welcome to the March edition of our newsletter!

This month we take a look back at the oikos Curriculum Academy and share with you a plethora of new opportunities awaiting in April. The 10th milestone edition of our flagship program FutureLab is coming soon, so you can both join as a participant or hosting a workshop. We also highlight the upcoming Community Hours which, for the first time, will be followed by a ‘Alumni Apero’.

If you wish to get involved in oikos Curriculum Change activities, there is an upcoming CC Squad Meeting but also an opportunity to get coached by LEAP Researchers’ Track participants. Based on last year’s NexGenLead, the Responsible Leadership Squad is also kicking off soon. Finally we share some exciting opportunities from our partners network.

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oikos International

posted March 30, 2021

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Democratized, Innovative and Sustainable Education for the Future – oikos Curriculum Academy 2021 in retrospect

The third oikos Curriculum Change Academy was jointly organized by oikos St. Gallen and the oikos international Curriculum Change Initiative team from February 26 to 28 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event, which was originally going to take place in St. Gallen, was held fully online. Despite this particular context, we were so grateful to have gathered more than 30 people from several countries in this inspiring Academy.

The main novelty of this year’s Academy was the involvement of LEAP’s researchers track participants. Under the motto: “Bringing together early career researchers and students for curriculum change” we hosted events to learn together and kicked off our Curriculum Change Coaching Program. For the latter, LEAP researchers underwent coaching training and they were paired with oikos chapter members to support them in their CC efforts.

Over the course of 3 days, we tried to grasp the breadth of economics and management subjects and relate them to current social and environmental challenges. 

The first day started with a panel on Democratization of Academic Research that counted with the inspiring presentations by Madeline Donald, Lorenzo Velotti, José Eustáquio Romão, and Marguerite Mendell. They covered several dimensions of the current undemocratic state of academic research from different perspectives, including pedagogy of the oppressed, Polanyian, and ecological and social sustainability. The panel was followed by breakout rooms where participants discussed how to take things into action. The first day was completed with sessions for LEAP early career researchers only, where they had time to learn about coaching.

The second day started with a workshop on Learning and Teaching Methods imparted by Simon Zysset from WWF Switzerland. He discussed what are the competencies that an education for sustainable development requires. Simon also introduced us to  holistic approaches and competence-supporting methods that could be best suited to get there, such as action-oriented learning, transdisciplinary learning, transformative learning, and others. It was followed by a nice discussion on what are the current ways of teaching, and how we should change them in a curriculum change process.

Then, we had a discussion on Doughnut Economics led by Flavia Moraes e Silva from the INET/YSI Sustainability Working Group. After her presentation introducing the concept we had an engaging discussion on the practical implementation of this concept.

The third day was all about the Curriculum Change Coaching Program. oikos chapter members were introduced to coaching and were assigned one early career research as their coach.hey had their first coaching session together. And all this was just a start! We are looking forward to the future sessions that will take place in the months to follow.The Academy was followed by the Open Evenings organized by oikos St. Gallen. You can read a report of the event in Prisma.

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oikos International

posted March 29, 2021

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Join the Responsible Leadership Thematic Squad

oikos International is opening a discussion group on Responsible Leadership (RL) from April to August 2021.

When: First meeting on Thursday 15th April, 6pm CEsT (Central European Summer Timer), for 1h30. Then once  a month.
Where: zoom, link to be sent on Tuesday 13th April

Please register here.

We are all facing highly uncertain times that challenge the status quo and require new ideas & alliances for a more just and sustainable tomorrow. As students, leading towards this future lies in our hands & we are invited to step together to explore what this future leadership looks like. The Responsible Leadership meetings will offer us the time and space to explore together different views on leadership and the competences that can help us to become better leaders.

This group will gather once a month for 1h30 and discuss the following topics:
1. Self-awareness
2. Ethics & Values
3. Systems Thinking
4. Stakeholders relations
5. Change & Innovation

During the meeting, you will have the floor to discuss with your peers about the aforementioned competencies and their link to Responsible Leadership, their definition, to exchange your experiences and perspectives, share questions and find a group to grow together as Responsible Leaders.

A fundamental underlying question will be how to integrate & foster Responsible Leadership in Education, particularly in universities.

Motivated participants can also take leadership in organizing a workshop or event to share some of the outcomes of this squad and to broaden the RL student community.

This squad is open for eveyone, both – members of the oikos community and students that are not oikos members can attend. We highly value the diversity of perspectives on this topic, particpants from different backgrounds, countries, cultures, and visions can bring.

The first session will take place on Thursday 15th April at 6pm CEsT (Central European Time, UTC+1), for 1h30. Punctuality is important for this session, participants more than 5 minutes late will not be able to join it. This session will be facilitated/led by Marcelo Veloso of oikos International who oversaw the NexGenLead program last year. Next sessions can be led by squad members.

Before each session, you will have access to readings and videos related to the topics. Here you can find those related to Self-Awareness, in order to further your reflection on the topic and develop ideas that might be discussed during the meeting.

Any questions? Please contact marcelo.veloso@oikos-international.org

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oikos International

posted March 28, 2021

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Call for workshops at the 2021 FutureLab

The oikos Curriculum Change Squad invites you to organize a workshop at 2021 FutureLab!

The 10th annual oikos FutureLab will take place online form April 23rd to 25th 2021. The event will be focused on the “Justice Shift – Building a passage for a just world”, with a series of speakers, workshops, open spaces and interactive activities. On the 25th, the Curriculum Research Squad will be hosting a workshop on “Justice in Education”. We want the workshop to highlight various topics related to sustainability in business and economics education. We already have a few teams ready to run workshops, but we’re looking for more!

The workshop will be 1.5 hours long and can be on any topic related to sustainability in economics and management education.
Oikos is the international organization of students for sustainability in economics and management education and the FutureLab is
our flagship annual event.

Want to develop recourses forcurriculum change?

The oikos Research Squad is a group of oikees who are working on creating the resources and materials needed to build a better business and economics education. This year, the research squad is organizing the first oikos Curriculum Camp, a week-long gathering for teams working on different topics to come together to make guides which can be used by the oikos community (see a previous example on Pluralist Economics here). Curriculum Camp is scheduled for late August 2021 in the mountains outside of Turin, Italy.

The FutureLab will be the starting place for Curriculum Camp. All the workshop leaders for the “Justice in Education” session will be invited to create squads which will continue to work on their topic after the FutureLab. Each team will be expected to have at least one call per month (May, June, July) in which they start to develop a project based on their topic. The most active squads will then be invited to further develop their projects in person at curriculum camp.

If you’re interested in organizing a workshop send a title, short paragraph description, and a few words about yourself to the Research Squad at j.christopher.proctor@oikos-international.org by April 10th. Everyone is welcome to propose a workshop, even if you haven’t been involved with oikos before. If you’re interested in joining Curriculum Camp but don’t want to lead a project team let us know by filling out this interest survey.

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oikos International

posted March 26, 2021

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Curriculum Change Squad Call

The April meeting of the Curriculum Change Squad will take place on Friday 30th of April at 5 pm CET.

During the first hour, Clara Dallaire-Fortier will introduce us to Degrowth and then we will have a nice discussion on the concept. On the second hour, we will have our curriculum change coaching sessions.

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oikos International

posted March 26, 2021

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Curriculum Change Coaching

Over the next 3 months (until June), you and your chapter have an opportunity to be coached in curriculum change!  

Our oikos LEAP Researchers’ Track participants, in a 30-60 min coaching session, will ask you questions to help you find the best strategy for curriculum change in your university.

You can schedule one session with them in the next months! Just fill out this form: https://forms.gle/1Mn1Psou1TKbChT9A

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oikos International

posted March 26, 2021

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8th International FMM Summer School: Keynesian Macroeconomics and European Economic Policies

Our partners from the Macroeconomic Policy Institute of Hans Böckler Foundation are calling for applications for their 8th Summer School on Keynesian Economics and European Economic Policies. The event is open for graduate students.

The summer school aims at providing an introduction to Keynesian macroeconomics and to the problems of European economic policies to interested graduate students (MA and PhD) and junior researchers. It will consist of overview lectures, a panel discussion, student study groups, an SFC lab, and a poster session. The summer school will feature leading international researchers like Robert Blecker (US), Yannis Dafermos (UK), Sebastian Dullien (Germany), Sebastian Gechert (Germany), Eckhard Hein (Germany), Heike Joebges (Germany), Annina Kaltenbrunner (UK), Marc Lavoie (France/Canada), Maria Nikolaidi (UK), Miriam Rehm (Austria) and Mark Setterfield (US), covering the following areas:

  • History and Fundamentals of Post-Keynesian Macroeconomics
  • Money and Macroeconomics
  • Financial Markets and Instabili
  • Distribution and Growth
  • Income and Wealth Inequality
  • International and Development Economics
  • Money and Development
  • Stock-Flow Consistent Modelling (SFC) (with emphasize on ecological macroeconomics)
  • Economic Policy

The summer school language is English. There is a fee of EUR 100 for each participant for accommodation and meals, payable after acceptance.

A selected number of students will receive a partial travel stipend from INET’s Young Scholar Initiative (YSI) based on their application and travel requirements. Interested students should fill the form available HERE, in order to state their motivation for funding. Please note that we will share your application information with YSI for the purpose of selection of travel grants. By sending your application, you agree to these conditions. Given international travel restrictions, grants can only be paid if students can provide the necessary documentation that they are allowed to travel to the event. More information is available on YSI’s application form.

Application:
Please apply through the web-form available on the summer school website.
Deadline for applications is 31 March, 2021.
The application form will ask for a short CV (as a list) and a short letter of motivation (max. 400 words) to participate, in particular on how the Summer School relates to your study and research interests, and the name and e-mail address of one academic adviser who may be contacted for reference.
Applicants will be informed by mid-May and participants will be provided with a reading package.

PROGRAMM (PDF)

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS (PDF)

Learn more and apply for FMM Summer School here.

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oikos International

posted March 22, 2021

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oikos Legislative Meeting March 2021

Dear oikos Community,

On behalf of the oikos International Board, we officially invite you to the next oikos Legislative Meeting on Sunday, March 28th 2021 at 2:00 pm CEST online on Zoom.

If you would like to attend the meeting please contact election@oikos-international.org.

What is this about?

The Legislative Assembly is the supreme authority of oikos International. It is composed of all oikos Chapters with full membership. The Legislative Assembly holds a Legislative Meeting twice each year in order to get informed about the well-being of oikos International and execute their legislative power – your vote directly influences the future of oikos by voting on several strategic matters. 

Who may attend?

The Legislative Meetings are open to all oikos members (in general all Full Chapters and Chapters in Accession). Any other person may be admitted to the Legislative Meeting only on the invitation of the chair of the meeting or by resolution of the oikos Full Chapters. Every person present is encouraged to actively participate, to ask questions and share their opinion. 

For more information about the Legislative Assembly, please read the Constitution of oikos International.

All the best,

Sophie Charrois 

oikos International President

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oikos International

posted March 15, 2021

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Leading from the Future as it emerges – Webinar with Otto Scharmer on the Theory U

There has been a time change for the webinar. The new time is Friday, March 19 at 17pm CET

Webinar with Otto Scharmer on the Theory U
Date: 19th of March 17:00 – 18:00 CET (new time)

Don’t miss the opportunity to listen to the inspirational Otto Scharmer, founder of the Presencing Institute, when he presents his famous Theory U. This theory shows how individuals, teams, organizations and large systems can build the essential leadership capacities needed to address the root causes of today’s social, environmental, and spiritual challenges. In essence, it shows how to update the operating code in our societal systems through a shift in consciousness from ego-system to eco-system awareness. The new structure of the LEAP Advanced Program is based on this Theory, so we highly recommend all LEAP Advanced Applicants to attend.

You can find more information here: https://www.presencing.org/aboutus/theory-u


Otto ScharmerOtto ScharmerBiography

Please make sure to tick the respective box in the registration for the Chapter Days.

Register here
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oikos International

posted March 10, 2021

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oikos DACH Regional Meeting on March 7

Dear Community,

We are glad to invite you to join our DACH regional meeting that takes place, next Sunday, 7 March, 5-7pm.

Members from oikos chapters from the DACH-region will take part. We will meet on Zoom and will exchange about our chapters before we will play some games and have time to chat with each other.

This is an opportunity to engage and exchange with other oikees. We look forward to this evening and hope to see many of you.

Join us at the oikos Virtual Office!

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oikos International

posted March 1, 2021

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