Pratik Chandwani, oikos International Executive Board 2016

Hello oikees,

My journey as an oikee started in 2013 when I co-founded oikos Pune Chapter. I have recently completed my 2-year term as executive board member at oikos International and am an active alumnus now. In this write-up I will try to share a couple of skills that I think are necessary for sustainability leadership and how I learnt them through oikos.

While founding and managing oikos Pune and being involved in amazing projects like i-Green, oikos Asia Meet 14, FutureLab 14, and the sustainability incubator, I enhanced the skill to perform  root-cause analyses on sustainability-related problems in this logical and interconnected world. This kind of analysis makes one think, if the solution will really address the problem or just suppress it. This not just gives a clear understanding of the problem but builds a stage for a high-impact sustainable solution. 

In the recent past, while working as an Executive Board member, I understood that, what the board members really expected from each other was collaborative, cross-domain thinking and problem solving. For instance, while I was working primarily on one area (IT), I also helped promoting a campaign for waste reduction while supporting other board members in their work. That really helped to push our creativity and critical thinking skills. And it prepared us to be better sustainability leaders, because as I had often seen, complicated sustainability problems do require creative solutions.

Finally, it goes without saying that oikos not only enlightens its members on sustainability, but also connects us with incredible people with similar values and beliefs. Being a part of this family-like community fuels our inspiration, and I strongly believe that one can be motivated to get informed and get involved but it takes inspiration for one to make a difference!
 
Thank you oikos!