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Dear Reader
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As most of you know by now, we celebrated the oikos 30th Anniversary in St. Gallen, Switzerland! We were extremely delighted and excited to share this happy ocassion with the many of you who traveled from different corners of the world to attend the LEAP Meeting, FutureLab, oikos St. Gallen Conference, and Alumni Day.
This is a double issue of the Newsletter since we are including the news of the past two months, and there was a lot happening in that time! In this Newsletter you can read about the 30th Anniversary events as well as the University of St.Gallen's President Statement to congratulate us for three decades of commitment to sustainability in economics and management education. You can also find out about the new Knowledge Exchange Expedition in India, and read about the annual Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Meeting that was organized and hosted by the oikos chapter in Baku, Azerbaijan. Read about the truly international oikos LEAP Meeting which took took place from October 7th to the 11th in scenic Kreuzlingen, Switzerland. Learn more about the oikos Finance Academy at the University of Zurich, which was held from September 4th to the 6th. There is also a call for new cases for the oikos Case Writing Competition 2018. In our “30 seconds with” section, meet J.Christopher Proctor, the new oikos Associate in Pluralist Economics.
Lastly, we want to bring your attention to the call to become a part of the FutureLab 2018 Organizing Team! Are you looking to make a difference in the oikos community? Do you like interactive learning experiences? You just might be the person we are looking for to help organize the next FutureLab! Apply Now
Enjoy this double edition of our Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and Facebook to stay updated.
Happy Reading!
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oikos 30th Anniversary (12th to 14th October, 2017)
A full program was set to celebrate oikos’ 30th Anniversary - including stimulating speakers, interesting debate and insightful exchanges for the Legislative Meeting, FutureLab, oikos St. Gallen Conference on Sustainable Investment, Celebration Party, and Alumni Day. We were delighted that many of you made the trip to Switzerland and joined us in person to share in the festivities for this very special occasion.
The FutureLab took place on October 12th. Inspiring keynote speakers included Ambassador Michael Gerber (Swiss Special Envoy for Global Sustainable Development), Peter Lacy (Managing Director for Growth, Strategy, and Sustainability, Accenture), and Sophia Tickell (Founder and Director, Meteos). They addressed questions of how business can and should be a force for good.
In the afternoon panel, three experts from education, social entrepreneurship and economics/academia tackled the topic of “What reforms are needed to transform economics and management education, and what role can oikos play in this reform?" Panelists included Giselle Weybrecht (advisor, author, thought leader), Shannon Music (Executive Director, VIVA Idea), and J. Christopher Proctor (oikos Associate on Pluralist Economics).
Participants attended 1 of 6 workshops: Human Rights and the Supply Chain, Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability, Food Security in a Changing World, Past and Future of Economics, Achieving Sustainability in the Face of Rapid Urbanization and Diversifying the Economic Toolkit: Pluralist Economics for the 21st Century.
We had a very special treat at the FutureLab: Christian Eggenberger from the innovation-factory.ch was in St. Gallen with us to document the FutureLab’s lessons in pictures. Find the great graphic recordings and a short Interview with him here.
The oikos St. Gallen Conference took place on October 13, 2017 at the University of St.Gallen. The aim of the conference was to sensibilize students on the different perspectives of Sustainable Investment, its development, and its challenges. The goal was also to give students the opportuntiy to discuss this topic with experts and practitioners.
Alumni got together on October 14, 2017 to meet up with friends and to hone in on some of the most relevant topics for them. Alumni, together with newly elected Executive Board Members, got a chance to discuss the "oikos Strategy 2020".
Overall, it was a stimulating, fruitful, and inspiring 3-days of celebration and exchange!
University of St.Gallen President Statement for oikos' 30th Anniversary
 Today, sustainability is an established principle in business, politics and society. Thirty years ago, when oikos was founded here at our university, this could not be taken for granted. In the 1970s and 1980s, business and ecology were seen as antagonistic. In St. Gallen, various initiatives have quietly but steadily managed to come to an integrated understanding.
In 1972, Aurelio Peccei presented the «Limits of Growth» here at our university. It resonated widely among faculty and students. Over time, many valuable initiatives have resulted from this impulse, among them the establishment of SCO, the predecessor of oikos. Once again, our students have created a lasting impact. Professors such as Hans-Christoph Binswanger, Emil Brauchlin, Rolf Dubs, Ernst Mohr and Thomas Dyllick deserve credits as pioneers, mentors and champions of such an integrated approach. Generations of students have received inspiration, among them the founders of oikos in 1987.
From a local initiative, an international dynamic has emerged, creating impact all over the world. One friend of our university, Stephan Schmidheiny contributed largely to two milestones in the quest for sustainability: the Earth Summit in Rio and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, which he founded. He was persuaded to join this project at the occasion of a conference in Norway, a country to which our university is being linked in a strong, might I say sustainable, way. In 2006 the state visit of King Harald in Switzerland was highlighted by a conference dedicated to «Sustainability Challenges for Business», right here at our university. Bruno Hensler, one of the student organisers of this conference, serves now as our Director of Administration. Another student initiative has come full circle. From a local initiative to an international network: oikos itself has developed in a very sustainable way. Our alumnus Alex Barkawi has been instrumental in this process. He deserves our gratitude and appreciation just as everybody involved in oikos, past, present and future. Today I want to congratulate you on what you have achieved in thirty years dedicated to sustainability in economics and management. Ad multos annos.
oikos Students
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oikos Legislative Meeting Elected New Executive Board Members
The second oikos Legislative Meeting of 2017 transpired on October 11, 2017. The Executive Board (EB) elections had an interesting outcome. Out of eight dynamic candidates, six of them got elected: Katrin Bruls, Nurlan Jahangirli, Abhishek Kankani, Erikk Opinio, Benoît Pitsaer, Tiphaine Rouault. The six new EB members took on the mantle, applauded the contributions of and bid farewell to the outgoing EB members Sanober Shaikh and Vusal Abasov. Click 'read more' to find out more about the new oikos Executive Board.
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LEAP 2017 Kick-off - Getting Comfortable to Get Uncomfortable
From Saturday, the 7th of October to Wednesday, the 11th of October 2017, a group of around 60 participants from 25 nationalities got together in Kreuzlingen to kick-off this year’s LEAP program. Over these four days they talked about their values and the strategy of the oikos network, shared what they do in their local chapters, facilitated workshops in various topics as well as practiced their active listening skills, and engaged in a panel discussion about the role of youth organisations in society.
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Knowledge Exchange Expedition in India
The knowledge exchange expedition (October 2017 - July 2018) aims to bring emerging countries' perspective to the oikos worldwide community and to strengthen the oikos Indian network. To do so, oikos has employed Clémentine Robert as the Outreach Manager. Working at first from India, to get field experience, she will integrate the learnings into processes from oikos headquarters in Switzerland at the end of her mandate. This expedition was made possible thanks to the Mercator Foundation funds and to the close partnership with swissnex India: a nexus for knowledge exchange between India and Switzerland in science, education, art and innovation.
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The Annual Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Meeting
The annual CEE Meeting was organized and hosted by the oikos chapter in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was held from September 7-10, under the topic of “Leadership in Sustainable Urbanization”, and was visited by members of other regions (i.e., Northern Europe, Germany, and Iraq). The Meeting started in the afternoon of September 7th with a tour of Baku and a vegetarian dinner. September 8th and 9th consisted of keynote speeches, workshops and a panel discussion. On September 10th, the grand finale of the 2017 CEE meeting was an excursion to the paper recycling facility of Azersun Holding in Azerbaijan.
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oikos Alumni
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Alumni Day in St. Gallen
Alumni got together on October 14, 2017 to meet up with friends and to hone in on some of the most relevant topics for them. One of the questions that was the focus during Alumni Day was “What role should oikos play in a fast-changing world?” Alumni, together with the newly elected Executive Board Members, got a chance to discuss the "oikos Strategy 2020". In order to delve deep into the oikos strategy, 4 break-out sessions were held on the following important and interesting topics: strategy, programs, fundraising, and alumni.
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Get Involved!
The oikos alumni network offers plenty of opportunities for former oikos members! Reconnect with friends and meet new people who share common values. Attend the Alumni Day on October 14th for a networking brunch and participate in workshops and breakout sessions to share your knowledge and help design the oikos strategy! To get to know who the oikos alumni representative is for your region click 'read more'. If you want to become a representative in your city, check the call here. To stay up to date, join the Alumni LinkedIn group here.
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oikos Academic
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Call Case Writing Competition 2018
The call for cases for the oikos Case Writing Competition 2018 is on! Please send your cases by December 1st. Launched in 2003, the oikos Case Writing Competition promotes the writing of high quality teaching cases on three tracks: Corporate Sustainability, Social Entrepreneurship, and Sustainable Finance. Case studies should be suitable for use in management, entrepreneurship and finance education, and should relate to issues faced by real organizations and individuals. The 1st place winner of each track receives a prize of 3,000 CHF (2nd place: 2,000 CHF, 3rd place: 1,000 CHF). Accepted submissions are subject to a two-step double blind review process, and all authors of accepted cases receive feedback by two experienced reviewers.
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oikos Finance Academy
From September 4th to the 6th, fifteen young scholars from some of the best European universities got together in Zurich to present their research on finance and sustainability, and to exchange ideas on this exciting and fast-evolving field. The 7th oikos Finance Academy was organized in collaboration with the Department of Banking and Finance (DBF) at the University of Zurich, and saw the participation of an outstanding Faculty composed by Prof. Timo Busch (University of Hamburg), Prof. Fabrizio Ferraro (IESE Business School), and Prof. Sébastian Pouget (Toulouse School of Economics). We thank all of the participants, faculty, and DBF for having contributed to the success of this event.
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30 Seconds with...
 oikos Associate in Pluralist Economics
J.Christopher Proctor is oikos' new Associate in Pluralist Economics and an organizer with Rethinking Economics. He recently graduated from the Economic Policies in the Age of Globalization joint Masters program at Kingston University London and the University of Paris 13. He is one of the editors of Rethinking Economics' new textbook: "Rethinking Economics: An introduction to pluralist economics".
"All around the world, students of economics have come to the conclusion that something is deeply wrong with the discipline of economics. 30 years ago, students in St. Gallen correctly identified the lack of sustainability in economics education as a major problem. In the past five years, more students have joined in, criticizing economics education for being detached from reality and void of critical thought about different theories or economic ideas.
I'm excited to have the opportunity to serve as a bridge between oikos and some of these newer groups such as Rethinking Economics and the International Student Initiative for Pluralism in Economics (ISIPE). oikos has a long history of working to fix what's wrong with economics and management education. With the new wave of energy for this cause – generated in large part by the financial crisis of 2008 and the subsequent economic turmoil – it feels like we may be closer than ever to achieving a fundamental rethink of what it means to study economics.
There are exciting things going on in the world of economics education, and I'm honored that oikos is giving me the platform and resources to spend six months working exclusively on the topic of pluralist economics. At last month's Futurelab I was able to put together an interactive crash course that quickly introduced participants to what it looks like to 'do' pluralist economics (read more). With the rest of the time in my associateship I plan to take this workshop on tour so that I can bring pluralist economics to as much of the oikos family as possible.
I hope that in the coming weeks and months I'll get the chance to meet many of you, hear your stories, and think together about how we can make economics education the critical, practical, and inspiring training we will need to face the mounting challenges of the 21st century.
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Outlook
17 - 19 November: oikos Francophone Meeting 2017. Reims, France
1 - 7 March: oikos Winter School 2018.
Witten, Germany
8 - 11 March: oikos Spring Meeting 2018
Barcelona, Spain
For more events check our website here
Meet oikos
15 - 16 November: Levan Pangani, ABIS Annual Colloquium 2017
Contribute
Let everyone know what you are up to and submit your news for the next newsletter to:
newsteam@oikos-international.org
For more oikos news keep an eye on our news articles here.
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