Graduate Business Conference 2016 Teaser
Channel: Graduate Business Conference 2016 St. Gallen
Date: 2016-01-03

For the Graduate Business Conference 2016 at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

We are at a point in human history nobody has ever been before. We were able to enforce fundamental changes in society, ecology and economy throughout the last 200 years, which led to achieving a standard of living no one could have dreamed of. However, living longer and healthier came at a price we are only slowly starting to understand.
Due to the pace of global development, our trial-and-error mentality and short-term horizon we forgot to think about a lot of influencing variables which could have saved us a lot of trouble we are facing today. Proliferation of nuclear weapons, armed conflicts, spread of infectious diseases, population growth, availability of energy, economic instability, climate change, poverty, mass extinction and food security are only a couple of key problems we are confronted with today.
Most of us went through school without learning a single lesson on
- how wealth inequality influences our society: "The richest 10% 
        of adults now own 85% of the worlds assets, while half of the 
        world’s adult population own just 1% of global wealth."
- how progress is affected by the influence of corporations: "Of 
        the top 150 wealthiest economic entities in the world in 2009 – 
        including nations – over half were corporations."
- or how the workings of capitalism can dictate human behavior 
        and health: "Those countries that have adopted the form of 
        capitalism advocated in the 1980’s by Margaret Thatcher and 
        Ronald Regan – the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and 
        Canada – have double the rates of mental health problems 
        found in mainland European countries."

“Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate the integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it, or it becomes the practice of freedom – the means by which men and women discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.” – Paulo Freire

Society has established set paths for us to follow. 
Change depends on not only questioning the paths, but creating alternatives. 
We can not reproduce the thinking that shaped our past. We have to challenge the forces that have shaped who we are and what we do.
If enough of us choose to use our intelligence and creativity to serve the values of democracy, equality and sustainability, together we can give back and create something of great and lasting beauty.

We are the future. And the future begins now.

Giving Back: The Responsibility of Future Leaders at the Graduate Business Conference at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
5th – 8th of April, 2016