One Young World future industry leaders gather to drive sustainability goals
One Young World's Swiss national board -(l-r) Pascal Jenny, Livia Altmann, Kate Robertson and Stefan Scheiber. Pic: Buhler
A total of 140 young leaders across industries including the food and drink sector assembled in Lausanne, Switzerland, focused on empowering organisations to drive key sustainability agendas at the One Young World Switzerland Caucus 2023, writes Neill Barston.
The organisation, which includes Bühler CEO Stefan Scheiber as chair of the Swiss national board of the global movement, has made notable gains in recent times – which includes ambassador projects last year that supported 1,631,044 people access clean water and hygiene resources, mitigated of 28,000 tonnes of C02 through clean energy and secured $1.17m in investment to create sustainable industries.
For its latest recent gathering, young leaders opened the event at The Olympic Museum, meeting at the Swiss Tech Convention Centre to discuss topics including climate action, mental health and promotion of cross-sector collaboration. The ambitious goal of the forum is to identify promote, and connects the world’s most impactful young leaders to lead on environmental and wider industry-based sustainability targets.
“Bringing together these top young leaders from so many different organisations across Switzerland is an incredible opportunity to support them in their efforts to drive positive sustainable impact,” said Jessica Jones, Managing Director of the One Young World Switzerland National Board.
As the organisation noted, One Young World Switzerland is the first National Board of the global organisation, that is acting to empower young leaders across Switzerland. Founded as an association last year, with its heart in Arosa, Grisons, One Young World Switzerland works to support talented young leaders across the country.
The event’s opening ceremony was at The Olympic Museum in Lausanne, where delegates were inspired by a powerful fireside chat. Kate Robertson, Co-founder of One Young World, Michael Moller, former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, Louise le Gat, Founder of the Purpose-Led School, and Mark Heasman, Head of Activism at the Z Zurich Foundation shared their personal journeys and what “Shaking up the Status Quo” means for them.
Inspiring inputs also came from new National Board member Livia Altmann, an Olympic Bronze medalist for the Swiss National hockey team who introduced the key topics of this year’s event – mental health, climate action, and cross-sector collaboration. Experienced executives, managers, and start-up founders driving sustainability in their industries and fields offered insights and ideas on how to act. Most importantly, the young leaders had opportunities to network and inspire each other.
Young leaders in academia also joined the event and shared an overview of their research in mental health, climate change, and cross-section collaboration. Yu Wang, ETH Postdoctoral Fellow, Nele Dael, Senior Behavioral Scientist at IMD, and Buse Aktaş, Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer at ETH Zürich, presented their insights and personal journeys as academics.
Next steps
“Shaking Up the Status Quo” is all about taking positive action. By engaging in interactive workshop sessions and roundtables the young leaders were able build skills and reflect on what they will do next. The workshops covered topics including corporate democratic responsibility, staying balanced as an entrepreneur, public affairs and lobbying, purpose and many more.
Sabrina Würsch, a delegate from Hilti, enthused about the event. She said: “The sessions were just excellent, very challenging, and thought provoking. The insights I have gained from this one conference far exceed any other conferences I have attended to date.”
Managing Director Jessica Jones spoke of the importance of making this network accessible to all organisations in Switzerland, no matter their size. Pascal Jenny, member of the One Young World Switzerland National Board, shared her enthusiasm: “Action must be seen on both large and small scales, in global companies and small- to medium-sized enterprises alike. Climate change is something that needs to impact daily behaviour in the working environment as well as privately. We need to take every opportunity to succeed in this topic.”
Stefan Scheiber, Chair of the One Young World Switzerland National Board, underscored the importance of cross collaboration: “Collaboration and cross-organisational borders and beliefs are vital to create the needed solutions to generate a better future.”
The theme of mental health resonated strongly with many speakers and participants. Livia Altmann, the newest and youngest board member said: “As a former athlete and Olympian, mental and physical health is crucial for high performance in business as well as in sports. It starts with each leader taking care of themselves to then be able to inspire and help others.”
At the event it was also emphasised that organisations need to talk more about mental health. A delegate said: “If it gets more talked about, I feel less alone, especially with the pressure that is often expected at work.”