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
