Zoom Live Link for Saturday and Sunday:
World Human Forum
22-24 May 2020
World Human Forum
The Echo of Delphi
in Ludwigsburg
22 23 24 May 2020
In ancient times, the famous oracle of Delphi in Greece was consulted to foresee the future. The spirit of Delphi still remains amidst its ruins and is revived by the World Human Forum which was founded in 2017 at this highly symbolic site. For the year 2020, the Forum was planned in partnership with the Ludwigsburg Festival which is held in the Southwest of Germany as a Festival for the Arts, Sustainability, and Democracy.
This spring, as we are unable to meet face to face, we open up a space for a unique online forum from 22nd to 24th of May 2020. Wherever in the world, you are - you are welcome to join this transdisciplinary journey in search of answers to the biggest question of our time: Where are we going?
Building on the four pillars of consciousness, change, connection, and creation, we are composing a four-movement symphony - all together. The methodology of the World Human Forum, based on the convergence of sustainability, democracy, education, inner transformation, technology, and the arts, will help us re-invent a new human narrative at this historical moment.
1st Movement Consciousness
“Γνῶθι σαὐτόν”/ ‘Know thyself’ Delphic Maxim
Our starting point is Delphi. Through a virtual tour, we will experience this unique site and why Delphi can be a crucial resource for meaning-making today. Why was it considered the navel of the world? What can ancestral intelligence teach us for the future? In this first movement of our journey, our speakers will invite us to travel a path of inner transformation, from getting to ‘know thyself’, our personal motivations, inspirations, and values, to the need of creating a new universal consciousness.
2nd Movement Change
“Τὰ πάντα ῥεῖ” / ‘The only constant in life is change’ Heraclitus
Today, we are facing extremely polarised worldviews. There are two predominant and opposite stories of change: The dystopian scenario of the end of humanity, and the utopian scenario of a technology-driven abundance. While the second one seems more appealing, it also comes with huge challenges and terrible risks. In times of the Corona pandemic, ecological crisis, and exponential technological and scientific development, the only remaining certainty is that we are in the midst of a historic transformation. How can we steer it in the right direction? What about Plan C? How can every one of us become an agent of change? The second movement invites us to search for answers to these questions. Together with thought leaders and activists from all fields, we will explore the transformational possibilities of this rapidly changing world around us.
3rd Movement Connection
‘All humans will become brothers and sisters’ Friedrich Schiller
Connection at all levels is a prerequisite. Connectedness to ourselves, to other human beings, to nature and to the cosmos lies at the heart of creating a new, humane world. The ancient knowledge from many spiritual traditions that we are all one is now being confirmed by modern science. It can provide a new, urgently needed meaning to our existence by helping us realise that we are all part of a shared humanity. In this context, our speakers will shed new light on our understanding of democracy and allow us to imagine a new approach to education necessary for the creation of a new, ecological civilization. They will show us how building on the approach of resonance can empower us to take response-ability for the whole.
4th Movement Creation
‘Art demands of us that we shall not stand still.’ Ludwig van Beethoven
The arts are reminding us that creation is always an active process. We are more than our rational intelligence. We must be complemented by our emotional, relational, and spiritual ones. Our fears and joy, the sufferings, and the experience of the beauty of life are all part of it. It is only as complete human beings that we will succeed to play an active role in the new sustainable and regenerated world we aim to create. Inspired by the arts, what does the world we want to create look like? In several different workshops, we will engage with change agents from Ludwigsburg and around the world. The fourth and last movement aims to inspire concrete action. If we succeed, the end of our online journey will initiate a new beginning.
Architecture of Movements
As part of the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, we are designing a unique architecture for this online event. The gathering includes speakers, dialogues, and workshops as well as meditation, dance, body movement, artistic elements, and small group interactions. Artists such as the soprano Marlis Petersen and the choreographer Sasha Waltz have already agreed to participate and to help us lead the way towards new embodied online formats. Our aim is to incorporate transformative elements of art throughout the whole process. Experiential learning, as well as the integration of head, heart, and hand, will be key ingredients of our journey. As one team, half of us will hold a space in Ludwigsburg while the other half of the team will be live from Delphi.
To be continued...
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Please find the constantly updated program and schedule here:
Please find the zoom link for the sessions on Saturday and Sunday:
Speakers
Nora Bateson
Nora Bateson is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and educator, as well as President of the International Bateson Institute, based in Sweden. Her work asks the question “How we can improve our perception of the complexity we live within, so we may improve our interaction with the world?”. An international lecturer, researcher and writer, Nora wrote, directed and produced the award-winning documentary, An Ecology of Mind, a portrait of her father, Gregory Bateson. Her work brings the fields of biology, cognition, art, anthropology, psychology, and information technology together into a study of the patterns in ecology of living systems. Her book, Small Arcs of Larger Circles, released by Triarchy Press, UK, 2016 is a revolutionary personal approach to the study of systems and complexity. The IBI integrates the sciences, arts and professional knowledge to
create a qualitative inquiry of the integration of life. As President, Nora directs research projects at the IBI that require multiple contexts of research and interdependent processes. Asking, “How can we create a context in which to study the contexts?”, an impressive team of international thinkers, scientists and artists have been brought together by the IBI to generate an innovative form of inquiry, which Nora coined “Transcontextual Research”. As an educator she has developed curricula for schools in Northern California and produced and directed award winning multimedia projects on intercultural and ecological understanding. Her work, which has been presented at the world’s top universities, is described as “offering audiences a lens through which to see the world that effects not only the way we see, but also the way we think”. Nora’s work in facilitating cross-disciplinary discussions is part of her research into what she calls “the ecology of the conversation”. Her speaking engagements include keynote addresses and lectures at international conferences and universities on a wide range of topics that span the fields of anti-fascism, ecology, education, the arts, family therapy, leadership, and many more aspects of advocacy for living systems — she travels between conversations in different fields bringing multiple perspectives into view to reveal larger patterns. Memberships and awards: Chairman International Bateson Institute, Associate of The Taos Institute, Board Member: Human Systems Journal of Systemic Practice, Tallberg Foundation, Fellow of Lindsifarne Foundation, Bateson Idea Group (BIG), Club of Rome, Great Transition Foundation, Human Potential Foundation, Awards: Sustainable Thompkins Ecology Award, Winner Spokane Film Festival, Winner Santa Cruz Film Festival, Media Ecology Award.
Alondra de la ParraOrchestra Conductor
Alondra de la Parra has gained widespread attention for her spellbinding and vibrant performances and her commitment to Latin American composers. She frequently works with some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras including Orchestre de Paris, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, Swedish Radio Orchestra, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. In 2017 she began her term as Music Director of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, making her the first ever Music Director of an Australian orchestra. She holds the distinction of being the first Mexican woman to conduct in New York City and is an official Cultural Ambassador of Mexico.
Achilles TsaltasPresident, Athens Democracy Forum
With almost 30 years of experience in media, Achilles Tsaltas is currently president of the Athens Democracy Forum, organized by the Democracy & Culture Foundation, an independent, nonprofit entity, in association with The New York Times. Mr. Tsaltas has been responsible for creating and managing strategic partnerships with some of the world’s most important media corporations. Born in Australia of Greek origin, Mr. Tsaltas started his media career in 1989 when he joined News Corporation in the advertising department at The Australian newspaper. During his tenure, he launched the business magazine, Business Asia, and relaunched the newspaper’s The Australian Magazine, managing the commercial side of the operation. In 1999 he moved to Hong Kong to join the International Herald Tribune (IHT) as deputy managing director, successfully launching print sites in the Philippines and Taiwan as well as four publishing partnerships in Korea, Japan, Thailand and India, effectively doubling the paper’s circulation in Asia. In 2004, after being seconded to the integration committee for The Times’s full ownership of the IHT, he moved to Paris to serve as worldwide circulation director. Two years later he was appointed vice president, circulation and development, and became a member of the paper’s Executive Committee. In 2012 he was promoted to senior vice president in charge of conferences, innovation, development and partnerships, adding four new conferences to the paper’s portfolio. In 2014 he moved to London as vice president, international conferences for The New York Times. In 2019, Mr. Tsaltas founded the Democracy & Culture Foundation, taking on the organization and development of the two conferences he conceived at The Times – the Athens Democracy Forum and Art for Tomorrow. Mr. Tsaltas has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Sydney and a master’s degree in sociology from the University of New South Wales. He has served as a board member of Distripress, the association of print and digital distribution. He has also completed leadership and management training, including the executive leadership program at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Kiran Bir Sethi Designer, Changemaker
Kiran Bir Sethi is the Founder-Director of the Riverside School in Ahmedabad, India. She has a design background, having received her diploma in visual communication from the National Institute of Design (NID). She is also the Founder of “aProCh” – which stands for “A Protagonist in Every Child” – an initiative that is attempting to make Ahmedabad more child-friendly, for which she was made an Ashoka Fellow in 2008. In 2009, she was also presented with the “Call to Conscience” award from the King Centre at Stanford for the citizenship/liberation curriculum that Riverside School implements. In 2009, she conceptualised and promoted India’s largest Design for Giving contest for school children which got over 100,000 children to design solutions for some of India’s most challenging problems. Currently, she is promoting the world’s largest “Design for Change” contest, which has over 22 countries participating. She was also invited recently to be a speaker at TEDIndia. She was a symposium member at the Rockefeller Centre, Bellagio, looking at Design for Social Change.
Autumn GuptaCritical Thinker
The adverse effects of an increased rate of climate change are happening now and will continue to increase in severity and frequency going forward. While this fact has been misrepresented in the media as a “doomsday” forecast yet to come true and instead of focusing on the fearful negativity, I see a future full of opportunities across all sectors of the economy. Specifically, I am interested in capitalizing on innovative solutions to the world's "wicked" problems that utilize my skills in spatial studies (GIS), entrepreneurship, environmental science, and policy.Integrity, justice, and love are my core values which inform all aspects of my life and upcoming career. My passions revolve around areas of injustice that I experience and see everyday- things that I cannot forget or become desensitized to, because they are essential to my personal humanity. The nexus between mitigating climate change and addressing said injustices has continually placed Global South on my heart and mind. I am looking for exposure and experience in the international field using my technical skills to spur data-driven, GOOD policy that ultimately helps people. My next pursuits are focused on AI and data science to address national security concerns with the future goal of positively impacting peoples’ lives around the world. I'm always looking for new ideas and thought processes, so please feel free to get in touch with me- I look forward to our future conversations (and debates)!
Lex PaulsonAttorney, Professor, Writer
Lex Paulson is an attorney, professor, writer, and consultant in international governance, most recently for UNICEF, the National Democratic Institute, and the Corporation for International Private Enterprise. Trained in political theory at Yale, Cambridge, and the Sorbonne, he served as legislative counsel in the 111th U.S. Congress, organized on four U.S. presidential campaigns, and has additionally worked as a volunteer attorney for Lawyers for Children America. His work as a facilitator and trainer in the international arena include work with NGOs and governments in India, Egypt, Uganda, Burundi, Niger, Ghana, Congo-Brazzaville, Benin, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire, on issues related to democratic engagement and accountable government.Lex studied political science and the humanities at Yale, where he also served as National Vice President of the College Democrats of America and youth outreach consultant to the Democratic National Committee. After receiving a masters degree in political theory at the University of Edinburgh, he studied classics at Pembroke College, Cambridge during a law degree earned with honors from the University of Connecticut, and is currently pursuing his doctorate in political philosophy at the Sorbonne. He is also professor of rhetoric and political culture at Sciences Po - Paris, leads the "Citizen's Book Club" discussion group on democracy at Paris's Shakespeare & Company bookshop, and writes the Applied Classics" series for the Huffington Post. He is an accomplished pianist with a great love of American blues and soul.
Gina Belafonte Activist and Executive Director of SANKOFA
Born and raised in New York City, Gina Belafonte has spent her life in the arenas of entertainment and activism where her professional work thrives today. As the youngest child of Julie and Harry Belafonte, whose impact in these fields is among the most influential and progressive in the world, Gina’s passions come as no surprise. Gina was the lead producer on the internationally acclaimed documentary film, SING YOUR SONG, exploring the extraordinary life and legacy of Harry Belafonte that was selected as the opening film for the Sundance Film Festival in 2011.After many years working as actress in NYC, with several off broadway and touring companies like The National Shakespeare Company and The Mirror Reparatory Company in NYC, under the Artistic Direction of John Strasberg, alongside greats such as Geraldine Page, F. Murray Abraham, Anne Jackson and Elisabeth Franz, a series of opportunities to work in film and television moved her to Hollywood, where she appeared in several guest-starring roles, and landed a television series called THE COMMISH. After two formative years on screen with the series, her lifelong passion for stage production ultimately led her to produce theater in Los Angeles. Gina’s technical expertise and insight into the world of film and television production were developed while working with Paula Weinstein and Barry Levinson at Baltimore Spring Creek/Warner Brothers.After becoming a mother, Gina followed her early childhood environment by immersing herself in activism. Collaborating with leading gang interventionist, Bo Taylor, Gina developed a deeper understanding of gang culture by working in the California prison system, and co-founded a non-profit organization called The Gathering For Justice. This multi-cultural, multi-generational organization focuses on youth incarceration and the criminalization of poverty. She currently sits on the Board of 2nd Call a community based organization designed to save lives, by reducing violence and assisting in the personal development of high risk individuals, proven offenders, ex-felons, parolees and others who society disregards and the internationally acclaimed Actors Gang Theatre founded by Tim Robbins.After dedicating over a decade to addressing gang intervention and incarceration, Gina traveled around the world with her father to bring together two inspiring generations of art and activism with the critically acclaimed HBO film SING YOUR SONG.Today, Gina lives in LA and New York, and is working with diverse artists, activists and organizations worldwide to promote cultural and civic engagement in the 21st century. Ms. Belafonte is currently involved in many artistic ventures, such as producing a documentary film titled Another Night In The Free World that explores the lives of three young women activists, their struggles and challenges and the difference they are making in the world, developing along side her father with Martin Scorsese on a television mini series about the colonization of the Congo by King Leopold the 2nd, and the staged version of the Grammy nominated 6 CD box set anthology of black music The Long Road To Freedom. She and her father are the executive producers of Lyrics from Lockdown - a hip-hop theater, multimedia production addressing the impact of wrongful imprisonment and mass incarceration. Driven by her passion for the arts and activism, Gina reflects: "After we finished Sing Your Song, I knew then as long as my dad had an idea, I would do whatever I could to help bring those ideas to fruition, continue the best of my elders’ traditions, and preserve our family’s legacy."
Michael Scott Author, Professor of classics and ancient history at the University of Warwick
Michael Scott is a Professor in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick; National Teaching Fellow and Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (hear Michael talking about his Fellowship here); Fellow of the Royal Historical Society; Honorary Citizen of Delphi, Greece; President of the Lytham Saint Annes Classical Association; Trustee and Director of Classics for All; author of several books on the ancient Mediterranean world as well as ancient Global History; and has written and presented a range of TV and Radio documentaries for National Geographic, History Channel, ITV, and the BBC.
Marlis Petersen Soprano
Born in Germany, Marlis Petersen had already trained in the piano and traverse flute before she decided to dedicate herself to the instrument which today inspires her audience. At the conservatoire, in Stuttgart, she studied to become a high school music teacher whilst being instructed in classical singing by Sylvia Geszty. Yet her ever-restless spirit urged her towards another passion. She trained in jazz-dance and tap-dancing at the New York City Dance School in Stuttgart, shortly after earning engagements in show business. Despite this she stayed connected to the classical repertoire as she continued further studies in Opera and Contemporary Music and three years after being a prize winner in the operatic category at the VDMK competition in Berlin in 1990, she also won an award in the category of Musical-Chanson-Song. As a concert singer Petersen has appeared on Germany’s most famous stages. Engagements in Europe and the USA brought about collaborations with conductors like Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Kirill Petrenko, James
Levine, Antonio Pappano, Marcello Viotti, Fabio Luisi, Sir Andrew Davis,Jeffrey Tate, Michel Plasson, Daniel Harding, Ingo Metzmacher, Thomas Hengelbrock, Armin Jordan, Peter Schneider, Louis Langrée, Michel Corboz, Michael Boder, Christoph Eschenbach, Hans-Christoph Rademann and many more. Her passion for early music brought her in contact with specialists of the genre like René Jacobs, Ton Koopman, Trevor Pinnock
and Helmut Rilling.Marlis Petersen has worked with ensembles like the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the RAI Orchestra of Torino, the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester, the Radio Orchestra of Berlin as well as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra , the Freiburger Barockorchester, the Akademie für Alte Musik and the Ensemble Modern Frankfurt.
Khalil OsirisFounder, Reflecting Freedom Network Advisor & Board Member, Nelson Mandela Family Foundation
Khalil Osiris is an international speaker whose inspiring talks teach people to break free from their self-imposed limitations. He spent 20 years in prison and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Boston University during his incarceration. Khalil transformed his life and emerged from prison with a deep understanding of how to use personal crisis and challenges as opportunities for self- improvement. He is the founder of Reflecting Freedom Network, an education and employment web-based solution for incarcerated and returning citizens and their families. His mission is to build a network of people impacted by mass incarceration who are committed to social change through education and personal transformation. Through Reflecting Freedom Network, 1 million citizens will engage in training designed to help them build new skills and develop a reintegration plan to improve their lives.A passion for restorative justice has inspired Khalil’s 30 years of experience developing programs used in prisons and communities in America and South Africa. Khalil’s reentry program, Psychology of Incarceration, is taught in over 60 prisons across America. In 2011 he moved to South Africa, and for the next 7 years worked as a consultant in schools and prisons. Khalil hosted a popular TV show Each One, Teach One, which was winner of the 2016 South African Film and Television Award (SAFTA) for Best Factual Educational Program. In October 2019, Khalil launched a groundbreaking on-demand class with Singularity University, “Surpassing Limitations for an Exponential Mindset”. In this class, he shares a conversation with Dr. Makaziwe Mandela, eldest daughter of Nelson Mandela, about overcoming adversity and the power of personal choice. Khalil and Dr. Mandela were pen pals during his incarceration and he now serves as her Senior Advisor for the House of Mandela Family Foundation. He is also on the Advisory Board of Athens Democracy Forum, an annual event convened by the Democracy & Culture Foundation in association with The New York Times. Khalil regularly conducts talks on topics ranging from Mass Incarceration and Overcoming Self-imposed Limitations to Exponential Thinking and 100 is the New 60; Longevity and Fulfilling Your Life’s Purpose.
Jeremy Lent Author and Integrator
Jeremy Lent is an author whose writings investigate the patterns of thought that have led our civilization to its current crisis of sustainability. He is the founder of the nonprofit Liology Institute, dedicated to fostering an integrated worldview, both scientifically rigorous and intrinsically meaningful, that could enable humanity to thrive sustainably on the earth. Born in London, England, Lent received a BA in English Literature from Cambridge University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He pursued a career in business, eventually founding an internet startup and taking it public. Beginning around 2005, Lent began an inquiry into the various constructions of meaning formed by cultures around the world and throughout history. His award-winning novel, Requiem of the Human Soul, was published in 2009. His most recent work, The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning, traces the deep historical foundations of our modern worldview. Lent is currently working on his next book provisionally entitled The Web of Meaning: An Integration of Modern Science with Traditional Wisdom, which combines findings in cognitive science, systems theory, and traditional Chinese and Buddhist thought, offering a framework that integrates both science and meaning in a coherent whole. He holds regular community workshops to explore these topics through contemplative and embodied practices in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Bénédicte ManierJournalist
Bénédicte Manier is a French journalist, specializing in social and development issues. She has carried out several hundred field reports in France and in several countries: Burkina Faso, Ireland, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, United States, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and especially India. She is indeed one of the specialists of this country, which she has been exploring for more than 20 years.
She has published "A million quiet revolutions": This book is a trip around the world of citizens initiatives and was one of the sources of inspiration for the film "Demain (Tomorrow)". It shows how, from Argentina to Japan, from the USA to Spain, from France to India, millions of citizens take charge of crucial issues impacting them in sectors such as environment, health, habitat, agriculture or work. They invent a greener, more united world, and provide lasting solutions to global challenges.https://www.franceculture.fr/p...
Stavros YiannoukaCEO, 'World Innovation Summit for Education' (WISE)
Stavros N. Yiannouka is the CEO of the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), a global think tank of the Qatar Foundation. WISE is dedicated to enabling the future of education through innovation. Its activities encompass research, capacity-building programs, and advocacy. WISE flagship initiatives include an annual series of research publications, a biennial global summit dubbbed the ‘Davos of education’, the WISE edTech Accelerator, the WISE Innovation Awards, and the WISE Words podcast. Prior to joining WISE in August 2012, Stavros was the Executive Vice-Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) at the National University of Singapore. He joined the LKY School in June 2005 to spearhead the implementation of an ambitious growth strategy, which he had helped develop as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. Today, the LKY School is widely recognized as the leading global policy school in Asia. Together with Kishore Mahbubani et al. Stavros is the co-author of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy: Building a Global Policy School in Asia, World Scientific (2012). For more visit www.lkyspp.nus.edu.sg. Before joining the LKY School, Stavros spent five years with McKinsey & Company from 2000-2005 serving private and public sector clients in Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea and Canada, predominantly in finance, healthcare and education. Prior to joining McKinsey, Stavros practiced corporate law in the City of London from 1995-1998 with the firms Gouldens and Mayer, Brown & Platt. Stavros holds an MBA (with Distinction) from the London Business School and an LLB (with Honours) from the University of Bristol. He is a member of the Law Society of England and Wales, a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA); a Member of the Board of Trustees of Nazarbayev University in Astana Kazakhstan; and a non-executive Director of Blue Diagonal Capital Limited.
Burcin Becerik-GerberProf. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southern California
Dr. Burcin Becerik-Gerber is a Professor and Director of Graduate Programs at the Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of University of Southern California. She is the founding director of the Innovation in Integrated Informatics LAB: http://i-lab.usc.edu/ and the Center for Intelligent Environments, Technology and Society (CENTIENTS): https://www.intelligentenvironments.usc.edu. Her research falls at the intersection of built environment, machine intelligence and systems thinking. Specifically, her work focuses on the acquisition, modeling, and analysis of the data needed for user-centered built environments, and the development of novel frameworks and visualization techniques to improve built-environment efficiency, while increasing user satisfaction. Dr. Becerik-Gerber graduated from Istanbul Technical University with a Bachelor of Architecture (1999) and an M.S. in Architecture (2001). She attended the University of California at Berkeley, where she received an M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering (2002). She earned her Doctor of Design (2006) degree from Harvard University in the field of Project Management and Information Systems. After graduating from Harvard University, she worked as a consultant and taught in the area of information automation and management for three years. To date, she has published more than 120 peer-reviewed papers and her work has received support worth more than $6 million from a variety of sources. In 2012, Burcin been appointed as the inaugural holder of the Stephen Schrank Early Career Chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering. She is the recipient of MIT Technology Review’s TR35 Recognition (2012), NSF CAREER Award (2014), Viterbi Junior Research Award (2016), Mellon Mentoring Award (2017), Celebration of Engineering & Technology Innovation Award (CETI) in the Outstanding Early Career Researcher category from FIATECH (2018) and the Rutherford Visiting Fellowship at the Alan Turing Institute (2018). She serves as an Associate Editor for ASCE’s Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering since 2011.
Josiah OberMitsotakis Professor of Classics and Political Science, Stanford University
Josiah Ober, Constantine Mitsotakis Professor in the School of Humanities and Science -Stanford University, works on historical institutionalism and political theory, focusing on democratic theory and the contemporary relevance of the political thought and practice of the ancient Greek world. He is the author of Demopolis: Democracy before Liberalism (2017),The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece (2015) and other books, mostly published by Princeton University Press, including a trilogy on Athenian democracy: Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens (1989), Political Dissent in Democratic Athens (2008), and Democracy and Knowledge (2008). He has also published about 100 articles and chapters, including recent articles in American Political Science Review, Philosophical Studies, Polis, Public Choice, Critical Review, and Transactions of the American Philological Association. Work in progress includes books on instrumental rationality in classical Greek thought and the role of civic bargains in the emergence and persistence of democratic government.
Paul CartledgeProf. of Greek Culture, Cambridge University
Paul Cartledge is A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Clare College. He has published extensively on Greek history over several decades, including The Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece (Cambridge 1997, new edition 2002), Alexander the Great: The Hunt for a New Past (2004, revised edition 2005), and most recently Ancient Greek Political Thought in Practice (Cambridge, 2009).
Maja Göpel Secretary-General The German Advisory Council on Global Change
The German Advisory Council on Global Change works on the science-policy-society interface. As Secretary General Maja Göpel divides her time between management, public speaking, pioneer engagement and networking as well as continued research on system transformations for sustainable development. Her personal focus are new prosperity models with an emphasis on the role of paradigm shifts as strategic leverage points, summarized in her book The Great Mindshift (Springer 2016). Maja Göpel is a scientivist that combines theory with practice and formerly headed the Berlin Office of the Wuppertal Institut and spent 6 years starting up the World Future Council, its Future Policy Award and the “Future Justice” programme with EU and UN campaigns. She holds a PhD in political economy, a diploma in media/communication and is professor at Leuphana University, member of the Club or Rome, the World Future Council and the Balaton Group and Fellow of the Progressive Zentrum in Berlin. She serves on several Advisory Councils and as the mother of 2 fantastic daughters.
John Fullerton Founder and president of Capital Institute
John Fullerton is the founder and president of Capital Institute, a collaborative working to illuminate how our economy and financial system can operate to promote a more just, regenerative, and thus sustainable way of living on this earth. He is the author of “Regenerative Capitalism: How Universal Principles and Patterns Will Shape the New Economy.” Through the work of Capital Institute, regular public speaking engagements, and university lectures, John has become a recognized thought leader, exploring the future of Capitalism. John is also a recognized “impact investment” practitioner as the principal of Level 3 Capital Advisors, LLC. Level 3’s direct investments are primarily focused on regenerative land use, food, and water issues. Through both Capital Institute and Level 3, John brings an integrated theory and practice approach to economic system transformation. Previously, John was a managing director of JPMorgan where he worked for over 18 years. At JPMorgan, John managed various capital markets and derivatives business around the globe, then shifted focus to private investments and was subsequently the Chief Investment Officer of LabMorgan through the merger with Chase Manhattan before retiring from the bank in 2001. Following JPMorgan, and after experiencing 9-11 first hand, John spent years embarked on more entrepreneurial ventures and as an impact investor while engaging in deep study of our multiple interconnected systemic crises that led to the founding of Capital Institute in 2010. John was a member of the Long Term Capital Oversight Committee that managed the $3.6 Billion rescue of the distressed hedge fund in 1998. He is a co-founder and director of holistic ranch management company Grasslands, LLC, and director of New Day Farms, Inc., and the Savory Institute, and an advisor to the UNEP Finance Inquiry, and Richard Branson’s Business Leader’s initiative (“B Team”). In spring 2014, John was humbled to receive a nomination to the Club of Rome; he is now a full member. John writes the "Future of Finance" blog, which is widely syndicated on platforms such as The Guardian, Huffington Post, CSRWire, EcoWatch’s blog, and the New York Society of Security Analysts’ Finance Professionals’ Post. He has appeared on Frontline and been interviewed by theNew York Times, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Barrons, WOR radio, Real News Network, INET, Think Progress, The Laura Flanders Show on GRITtv, Thom Hartmann, and The Free Forum Show with Terrence McNally. John received a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the Stern School of Business at NYU.
Sasha Waltz Choreographer, Dancer, Director
Sasha Waltz was born in Karlsruhe, Germany and studied dance and choreography in Amsterdam and New York. In 1993 she founded her company Sasha Waltz & Guests, together with Jochen Sandig in Berlin. In 1996 they both opened their own theatre Sophiensæle. From 2000 – 2005, Waltz was named one of the artistic directors of Berlin’s Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz where she created legendary pieces like »Körper«-trilogy (2000-2002). During the following years she created a new genre - the choreographic opera with productions like »Dido & Aeneas« (2005), »Medea« (2007), »Roméo et Juliette« (2007) and »Passion« (2010). Furthermore she implemented various »Dialogues”: »Dialoge 09 – Neues Museum” for the inauguration of Neues Museum Berlin and »Dialoge 09 – MAXXI« at MAXXI Museum Rome.
In 2013 Sasha Waltz created a choreography on Strawinsky’s »Le Sacre du Printemps« for the centennial celebration of the creation, with Mariinsky Ballet and Valery Gergiev, which premiered at Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in May 2013.
Together with Peter Weibel she curated the exhibition »Sasha Waltz. Installationen. Objekte. Performances«, which presented her work for the first time in the context of visual arts.
In 2014 Sasha Waltz staged Wagner’s »Tannhäuser« under the musical direction of Daniel Barenboim at the Staatsoper im Schiller Theater Berlin and choreographed Claudio Monteverdi’s »Orfeo« with Freiburger Barockorchester directed by Pablo Heras-Casado.
In 2016 Sasha Waltz developed the new format »ZUHÖREN« opening up a »third space« for the arts and politics. Together with musicians and dancers from her company, she inaugurated Elbphilharmonie Hamburg with her choreographic installation »Figure humaine«. Her work »Kreatur«, a collaboration with artist and fashion designer Iris van Herpen, was premiered in 2017 followed by »EXODOS«in 2018 at Radialsystem Berlin and Rauschen« in 2019 at Volksbühne Berlin.
Sasha Waltz was awarded several prizes, among them the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2011. Since June 2013, Sasha Waltz is also a member of the Academy of Arts, Berlin.
Tomas BjörkmanApplied Philosopher and Social Entrepreneur
I am by no means the only person trying to become more conscious about the problems in the world. Many are also actively doing something about it. My main contribution is to bring change-makers together by creating arenas and initiatives with the goal of stimulating the right kind of development at both an individual and a societal level. The overall goal is to co-create a future at a higher level of individual, cultural, societal consciousness. In 2008, I started my personal journey by founding Stiftelsen Ekskäret (Ekskäret Foundation) together with a number of future-oriented thinkers, social entrepreneurs and change-makers who became members of the board or creative partners. The Foundation's strategic vision is to "support a sustainable world where people are creating more well-being for themselves, each other and the planet". I strongly believe that personal development is a prerequisite for societal change. Under the umbrella of the Ekskäret Foundation, we have created primarily two venues for events, Learning Labs and exploratory meetings etc.: the workshop facility at the island of Ekskäret (literally: the island where the oak-trees grow), located in the Stockholm archipelago, and the co-working space Ekskäret Klustret in central Stockholm. The workshop facility on the island of Ekskäret welcomed its first curious and creative visitors in 2011. The facility provides a breath-taking venue and is a perfect arena for exploring existential questions and personal development - for teenager as well as adults. All activities on the island are carried out according to the principles of the Foundation. Ekskäret Klustret, a creative, activity-based co-working space located in the very heart of Stockholm city centre, opened its doors in 2016. I believe that providing physical and digital meeting venues will create fertile soil for change. Gathering change-makers under one roof will stimulate sharing of ideas and creativity and lead to the co-creation of new initiatives and projects. It will also expand the networks of all participating entrepreneur and generate greater momentum for their important work. I like to think of these two arenas as important incubators for co-creating positive changes. They are physical manifestations of the idea that a more conscious and sustainable society is possible, and we do watch and guide the ripple effects that result. More recently I have taken the initiative to create K9 Co-living, Stockholm; Perspectiva Institute, London; the Co-creation loft, Berlin and the digital initiatives 29k.org and 'Emerge': www.whatisemerging.com. &... a member of the Club of Rome, a fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Science and a fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Science. I call myself a philosopher in the original sense of the word: someone who loves knowledge and tries to see the big picture. I try to bridge many academic fields without, of course, being an expert in any of them; I search for the connections that form the evolving whole. You find an example of my thinking in the article here or in my books The Market Myth, The Nordic Secret, or The World We Create. From an historical and material perspective, the majority of humanity is doing better than ever, but at what cost? And can it go on? Urgent climate issues, economic instability and a widespread lack of security and meaning is spreading across the globe. Society is fostering loneliness, anxiety, depression, and terrorism while distracting us from finding deeper forms of value and purpose. My philosophical take on the world is that it is not enough to simply try to ‘solve problems’. Given the complexity of inter-related problems that all have elements relating to human thought and emotion, we need to evolve and adapt – that’s the challenge within the challenge. I believe we need to cultivate human capacities – for instance, mental complexity, systems thinking, empathy - through which we can honor ecological constraints while also creating societies that enable us to thrive and live a meaningful and prosperous lives. These are the reasons that I have launched the various initiatives that help people grow, such as the Ekskäret Foundation, and the youth organisation Protus among many others. I challenge myself every day in my effort to help promote these changes faster. I am a co-founders of the Fri Tanke Förlag, a publishing house dedicated to promoting challenging and ground-breaking literature which crosses the borders between science, politics, philosophy and existential issues.
John Hagel
John Hagel has more than 40 years of experience as a management consultant, author, speaker and entrepreneur, and has helped companies improve their performance by effectively applying new generations of technology to reshape business strategies. John currently serves as co-chairman of the Silicon Valley-based Deloitte Center for the Edge, which conducts original research into emerging business opportunities that should be on the CEO’s agenda, but are not yet on their agenda. In recent years, the Center for the Edge has established branches in Melbourne, Australia and in Amsterdam, Netherlands and in Singapore.
Before joining Deloitte, John was an independent consultant and author. Prior to that, he held significant positions at leading consulting firms and companies. From 1984 to 2000, he was a principal at McKinsey & Co., where he was a leader of the Strategy Practice. In addition, he founded and led McKinsey’s Electronic Commerce Practice from 1993 to 2000. John has also served as senior vice president of strategic planning at Atari, Inc., and earlier in his career, worked at Boston Consulting Group. He is the founder of two Silicon Valley startups and has spent over 40 years in Silicon Valley.
John is the author of a series of best-selling business books, including his most recent book, The Power of Pull and, earlier, The Only Sustainable Edge, Out of the Box, Net Worth and Net Gain. He has won two awards from Harvard Business Review for best articles in that publication and has been recognized as an industry thought leader by a variety of publications and professional service firms.
John serves on the Board of Trustees of the Santa Fe Institute, exploring complex adaptive systems, and on the Board of Trustees of the Independent Institute. He is also on the faculty of Singularity University in the Corporate Innovation department.
John has his own website at www.johnhagel.com , a joint website with John Seely Brown at www.edgeperspectives.com
, a personal blog at www.edgeperspectives.typepad.c...
as well as joint blogs with John Seely Brown at Harvard Business Review, Fortune and Techonomy. He is active in social media and can be followed on Twitter at @jhagel
John holds a BA from Wesleyan University, a B.Phil. from Oxford University, and a JD and MBA from Harvard University.
James Ehrlich
James Ehrlich is Founder of ReGen Villages a Stanford University spin-off company realizing the future of living in regenerative and resilient communities, with critical life support of organic food, clean water, renewable energy and circular nutritional flows at the neighborhood scale. James is also an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Stanford University School of Medicine Flourishing Project, Faculty at Singularity University, Senior Fellow at NASA Ames Research Center and (Obama) White House Appointee for Regenerative Infrastructure. Ehrlich founded ReGen Villages as a Dutch (EU) impact-profit company in 2016, with its patented VillageOS™ operating system software to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to define, design and autonomously manage regenerative neighborhoods that promote healthy long-term outcomes for residents and wider communities. ReGen Villages are planned for global replication and scale in collaboration with established industrial partners, universities, governments and sovereign wealth and pension funds, enabling an optimistic post-COVID green transition.
