The Club of Rome and the St. Gallen Symposium are collaborating on a joint initiative for “A New Generational Contract”. Convening partners from the public and private sectors, science and youth, the initiative seeks to promote intergenerational fairness and more long-term approaches to decision-making. The 52nd St. Gallen Symposium from 4-5 May will serve as the global sounding board of our emerging vision for what generations owe each other.
Learn more about the New Generational Contract
Panel DISCUSSION: Long-Termism, Now!
4 May, 11:00-12:30 CEST
Mamphela Ramphele, co-president of The Club of Rome will join a panel discussion focusing on short versus long termism in business and society. The session will explore whether and why we need more long-term outlooks, what is different this time from previous eras, and how organisations and societies can strategise on multiple time scales. By bringing together different sectors and outlooks on this overarching theme, the panel will highlight multiple dimensions and complexities.
Moderator: Julia Binder, Professor of Sustainable Innovation and Business Transformation at IMD Business School
Speakers: Mamphela Ramphele, Co-President of The Club of Rome, Lin Yue, Executive Director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Gyri Reiersen, Co-Founder & CPO of Tanso Technologies GmbH and Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute
WORKSHOPS: Cross-Generational Transformation Lab
5 May, 11:00-12:30 CEST
Accelerating Transformational Leadership by the Global Majority.
Moderator: John Gilmour, member of The Club of Rome.
Speaker: Mamphela Ramphele, co-president of The Club of Rome
Countries across the world are dealing with an ever-mounting collapse of socio-political, economic, and ecological systems that threatens their right to safety, clean water, food security, fair and dignified work and general well-being. For most of the world, these are not future crises but current issues that have been happening for decades, and the future outlooks aren’t promising. 52% of all people are under 30, and approximately 80% of them live in the global majority. There is a significant opportunity to model transformational leadership in these regions to thrive despite the present and overwhelming circumstances. The workshop will look at how can we use this as an opportunity to bring a new generational understanding that bridges the generational chasm in politics, business and society that is often a characteristic of these regions. Through the New Generational Contract, can we initiate a process of solidarity and empowerment – building pathways to the regeneration of the Global Majority?
Future Learning is Mutual Learning
Moderators: Anne Snick, member of The Club of Rome & Raad Sharar, program coordinator at The Club of Rome
Learning to thrive – how do we adapt our education system to meet the unpredictable challenges of the future? Learning happens on many levels, whether through schools or organic life-long processes. Humanity has historically learned through two processes – the first being maintenance learning that is meant for the mass acquisition of fixed outlooks and agendas, the second being innovative learning that shapes the agenda and transitions humanity out of the crisis. Historically, these crises have been periodical and regionalised. Recently in this interconnected and interdependent world, our challenges are ever-present, giving little time to learn how to mitigate or deal with the far-reaching consequences. What are the opportunities for new types of learning processes that can create change in a world of ever-growing, unprecedented crises? What opportunities can be unlocked through an intergenerational process to redesign education to better suit the 21st century – beyond agenda 2030?
Leading with future generations in mind: setting the pillars for a new sustainability paradigm.
Speaker: Carlos Álvarez Pereira, vice-president of The Club of Rome
The workshop will focus on the core priority to enact the ‘New Generational Contract’, delving into why thinking about future generations/intergenerational dialogue is key for long-term sustainability. It will look at how the UN integrates future generations’ perspectives in its processes and why moral values are important to trigger a paradigm shift towards “new sustainability” that is more aligned with safeguarding the needs of current as well as future generations. The elements emerging from the workshop will be integrated with the work of the UN SDG Lab to feed into intergovernmental processes and outcomes to be presented at the SDG Summit and the Summit of the Future.
Panel discussion: Putting a spotlight on the New Generational Contract
5 May, 14:00-14:30 CEST
Moderator: Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, Senior Advisor, Bertelsmann Foundation, SGS Conference Host
Speaker: Mamphela Ramphele, co-president of The Club of Rome
The discussion will delve into the goals and motivations of the New Generational Contract collaboration, what has been done so far, and the future directions of the initiative, including ways that the community can engage.
