oikos Newsletter
July '15

be informed - get involved - make a difference

Dear Reader,

Thomas Edison said our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. Had he given up the first time he had a failure, we would have still lived a lot like cavemen; the light bulb would have ceased to exist.
June has been a victorious month for people all over. A movement that started in 1924 finally saw the light of triumphness on June 26th when US ruled in favour of the same sex marriages. Then there was first of it's kind history, when nearly 900 Dutch citizens filed a lawsuit against their government for failing to effectively cut greenhouse gas emissions and curb climate change. Women scientist came together to show Tim Hunt, that having them in the lab was just pure science and not #distractinglysexy, the trend that took over social media. June has been about bringing about the change. That would make July the take an action month!
So, don't hold back. Be a part of change in our own very oikos ways. In this newsletter, don't forget to sign up for the oikos Summer School in Georgia, the COMMIT Symposium, the CEE Meeting in Vienna and the most awaited event of the year: the FutureLab 2015! There's also a sneak peak of Ona Akemu's interview on winning the first prize in the Social Entrepreneurship track of the 12th annual oikos Case Writing Competition.

Let's bond over some change, shall we? 

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oikos at the GRLI and PRME Conferences in NYC!  
On June 21st, 2015, three oikos members traveled to New York City with a bag full of aspirations and enthousiasm. Anita Negri, Julia Weber and Nikolay Ivanov attended two major international events that intend to change education. Read more and share their adventures!

Re-defining Sustainability at the oikos Germany meeting
In a discussion round among oikos Leipzig fellows, it was found that the notion of sustainability is vastly used but, often, stays abstract. Thus, a whole oikos meeting was conveyed to discuss the definition of sustainability. Read more to learn about how it was done.

 

Register for FutureLab 2015 - #MakeEducationMatter

Registrations for the oikos FutureLab 2015 have finally been opened and you may find the registration link, all the Learning Circles information and further details here. Moreover, for those who will not be able to attend, you will, for the first time, be able to participate virtually!

Join and Share an oikos Learning Circle!
  

Interested in finance, management education, economics, entrepreneurship, supply chain/fashion or energy? Then join the Learning Circle on topic of your interest. Make most of the opportunity!

 

Starting an oikos Chapter?
Interested in our mission and vision, want to empower your fellow young leaders and faculty to achieve the change? Join the oikos journey! 'Read more' to learn about our culture and your benefits.

 

oikos Alumni

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oikos Alumni Debates in Zurich: the Future of Food!

The global population is predicted to reach almost 10 billion by 2050. How can all of these people be fed, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting biodiversity and developing rural economies? Join us for the oikos Alumni Debates where we begin to untangle the challenge and taste (literally) the food of the future. Mark your calendars: 12 October 2015 at 18.00 in Zurich, Switzerland!

oikos Dinner in Paris!

Once again our active alumni network in Paris met for a fantastic dinner! Interested in covening an alumni event? Do not hesitate to contact us and meet like-minded people, generate new ideas and continue to bring about the oikos change!

 

Get involved!

Being actively part of the oikos alumni network offers plenty of opportunities! Check the oikos Alumni Kit  for learning how to get involved. We are looking forward to hearing from you! Moreover, your ideas, remarks and questions are very important to us, so please take a few minutes to answer our questions. Click on the following link to start the survey.


 LinkedIn for Alumni
Are you an alumna/alumnus? Keep in touch via Linkedin.
 


 

oikos Academic

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The oikos Case Competition 2015 has come to a close and the winners have been announced!

Whether you are a lecturer teaching courses in management, entrepreneurship or finance, or a student wanting to explore current sustainability challenges in your studies - these cases will provide fresh input to your classroom experience! This year, out of 11 finalists, a record of 6 cases are now available for free as part of our oikos Free Case Collection. 'Read more' to download them!

 

Will You Buy my Sustainable Finance Research? - A Summary of the oikos Finance Academy 2015
In the first week of June, 15 PhD and Post-doctoral students from around the world got together at the University of Reading to discuss a wide range of topics on responsible investing during the oikos PRI Young Scholars Finance Academy. 'Read more' to discover the details.

 Money out of Nothing

Mathias Binswanger is a Professor of Economics at the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz in Olten. Mathias has been an oikos Trustee for many years and just published a new book to add to his collection. "Money out of Nothing" sheds light on the often invisible banking system and its creation of money through lending. Professor Binswanger, further, highlights that most of the money created by banks today results in the purchase of securities, or other assets, which consequently generates speculative bubbles and financial crises.
 

 

30 seconds with...

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Onajomo Akemu, First Prize Winner of the Social Entrepreneurhsip track of the 12th Annual Case Writing Competition, Rotterdam School of Management - Erasmus.

How does it feel winning the first prize in the social entrepreneurship track of the 12th annual oikos Case Writing Competition?
 

It feels good that oikos recognized my work. I am grateful for the award and to the reviewers. The teaching was the result of a 15-month long case study; hence, it involved a lot of work.


Why fairphones? How did you land up writing a paper on Fairphones?

Like an effectual entrepreneur, my appearance at Fairphone was serendipitous. I had been trying to gain access to another research site for a multiple case study on CSR in the mobile phone industry in Africa. I had been calling the companies for about a year (in 2013), but had had no luck securing access. They made one failed promise after the other. You can imagine I was beginning started to get frustrated. One Monday morning in October 2013, my supervisor, Professor Gail Whiteman, comes into my office excitedly. She tells me about a social enterprise start-up that she had heard of during the past weekend. She had met the CEO of the company and she thought it would be a great case to research.
She quickly introduced me to the CEO, Bas van Abel. Professor Saras Sarasvathy, the founder of effectuation theory, would say that Professor Whiteman was “acting on her means.” I did not know what to expect at Fairphone. I just turned up at Fairphone’s offices in Amsterdam and the rest, as they say, is history. Van Abel and the Fairphone staff of about eight people welcomed me graciously into their company. (I remember that at the time they occupied a small desk in an office in Amsterdam. Now they had a large open office.) They gave me front-stage access to their rapidly-growing social enterprise. I could scarcely believe my eyes.

There's more to this interview.