10 Break-Out Sessions

  • Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

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A Demographic Revolution: Young India Takes Charge (with All India Management Association)
Speaker
Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, OYO Rooms
Pranjal Sharma (Topic Leader), Economic Analyst, Advisor and Author, India

India is undergoing its economic, technological and demographic transition simultaneously. An old country is becoming youthful and adventurous with the passage of time. Young Indians like OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal are quietly taking charge of Indian ethos by becoming icons of audacious aspirations and tangible proofs of its potential, spawning startups that are becoming most valuable and famous than many legacy companies. How can young revolutionaries find ways to carry the older generation of investors, regulators, workers and consumers with them and what can other economies and founders learn from India’s momentous transition?

Collaborative Advantage Across Generations: Reflecting on the SGS Experience (ISC Alumni)
Speaker
Former Members of the International Students' Comittee
Christoph Loos (Topic Leader), Chief ­Executive ­Offi­cer, Hilti AG
Vivian Bernet (Topic Leader), Head of the Organising Committe, International Students' Comittee
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For over 50 years teams of student have volunteered to organise the St. Gallen Symposium. They have written countless invitations, met thousands of partners, and welcomed some of the most important personalities of their time on stage. Together with former members of the ISC we will reflect on the St. Gallen Symposium experience of cross-generational dialogue and collaboration, the lessons they have learned for their lives and on how the symposium has evolved. This session is organised together with ISC Alumni.

Collective Genius? Cultivating Creativity in the Arts and Beyond
Speaker
Susan Goldsworthy, Affiliate Professor of Leadership, Communications and Organizational Change, IMD Business School
Gerry Hofstetter, Light Artist & Film Producer Hofstetter Marketing
Javiera Estrada, Artist
Tatjana Rupp (Topic Leader), Member of the International Students' Committee

As the need for innovation is growing, the routinisation of well-structured creative processes within organizations is key for concurrent value creation. Prof. Susan Goldsworthy of IMD, this year's St. Gallen Symposium artist Javiera Estrada and Light Artist Gerry Hofstetter will discuss the role of collaboration in the creative process. Together, and in conversation with the audience, they’ll explore the way collaboration can drive creativity in various organisational contexts, and, on the other hand, the role of introversion and lone contemplation in creating something new.

Connecting Business with Purpose: The Potential of Skills-Based Volunteering
Speaker
Curdin Duschletta, Head Community Impact Switzerland & Foundations, UBS
Christopher Jarvis, Executive Director, RWInstitute
Prof. Amanda Shantz (Topic Leader), MBA Director and Professor of Management, University of St.Gallen

Many employee volunteering and giving programs are presented as an employee perk, similar to casual Fridays or a team-building event. But treating workplace giving and volunteering this way fails to fully capitalise on the great potential of such programs: to foster employee personal growth, and address key societal challenges. The panel will particularly explore the potential of skills-based volunteering, its benefits, and the unique challenges that arise when moving from merely transactional volunteering to something far more transformative.

Financing the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs
Speaker
Patrick Zhong, Founding Managing Partner, M31 Capital
Makram Azar, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Full Circle Capital
Prof. Julia Binder (Topic Leader), Professor of Sustainable Innovation and Business Transformation, IMD Business School

The investment landscape over the next twenty years will be radically different from previous generations. While there appears to be greater access to capital, there also appears to be much more volatility and debt with no clear dominant financing mechanism. Entrepreneurs, VC, Private Equity, and banks will have to find new ways to work together to create growth and stimulate innovation. How can investors and entrepreneurs better collaborate and find mutually beneficial agreements that balance risk and return?

Hacking the Fashion & Luxury Watchmaking Industry towards more Sustainability (with Condé Nast College)
Speaker
Martina Bonnier, Editor-In-Chief, Vogue Scandinavia
Raynald Aeschlimann, President and CEO, Omega S.A
Carmen Jenny, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CLOTHESfriends AG
Johannes Reponen (Topic Leader), Director of Post-Graduate Programmes; Academic Affairs; Research & Knowledge Exchange, Condé Nast College

The fashion industry accounts for 10% of humanity’s annual carbon emissions – more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. For long, the fashion and luxury watchmaking industry drove, together with the fashion media industry, unsustainable dynamics in the sector: generating more and more demand through an artificial cycle of new collections and seasonal trends. Businesses’ marketing, media as well as influencers thereby create a constant longing and demand for their products. How can designers, fashion houses and publishers exit this vicious cycle and, collaboratively, drive the transition towards more sustainable and ethical fashion and luxury watchmaking?

M100 Sanssouci Colloquium@St. Gallen: Media’s New Power: More Impact Through Collaborative Journalism
Speaker
Mathias Müller von Blumencron, Journalist, Member of the Board, Tagesanzeiger and Advisory Board Member M100 Sanssouci Colloquium
Joanna Krawczyk, Chairwoman, Leading European Newspaper Alliance
Paul Radu, Investigative Journalist, Co-Founder OCCRP
Astrid Frohloff (Topic Leader), TV Presenter and Journalist, Advisory Board Member M100 Sanssouci Colloquium

Media diversity, freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Europe are currently under threat. Journalists and independent media companies are increasingly joining forces across borders to respond to such challenges as well as to be able to continue to offer independent quality journalism in the future. This session will identify learnings from new media partnerships such as the Leading European Newspaper Alliance (LENA) and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) to identify how media can most effectively work together.

Democratizing Access to the next Generation of Technology and Innovation: Communities and Radical Transformation
Speaker
Gina Loften, Member of the Board of Trustees, TIAA
Luzius Meisser, Chairman, Bitcoin Suisse
Tycho Onnasch, General Manager, Trust Machines
Shuo Chen (Topic Leader), General Partner, IOVC

Technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship are key drivers of the modern economy and social mobility. Given their importance, we should strive to improve accessibility to tech, education and entrepreneurship across all backgrounds. Creating open and inclusive communities, especially with tech is important to accomplishing this goal, but it is easier said that done. Simultaneously, a third iteration of the internet – Web3 – has the potential to radically transform the internet of things and reduce barriers to access. How can these forces be effectively harnessed and directed for the benefit of all people and move the world forward?

Varieties of Tech Capitalism: Europe's Approach to Innovation and Regulation in a Global Context
Speaker
Julian Teicke, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, wefox
Lisa-Marie Fassl, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Female Founders
Christoph Keese (Topic Leader), Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, hy

Over the past decades, the tech sector, especially the internet of things, has become a central component of modern economies. Trying to catch up with the exponential pace of technological development, the US, China, and Europe are crafting rules of the game on digital markets. What are the emerging characteristic differences between regulatory regimes of digital markets, in the US, Europe and beyond, and how do they balance innovation and regulation? In light of strategic competition over tech dominance between the US and China, what are the opportunities and challenges for Europe in particular?

Changed for Good? Engaging with the New World of Work
Speaker
Petra von Strombeck, Chief Executive Officer, New Work SE
Jean-Christophe Deslarzes, Chair of the Board, Adecco Group
Nat Ware, Founder & CEO Forte
Prof. Heike Bruch (Topic Leader), Director, Institute for Leadership and Human Resources Management, University of St. Gallen
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The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world of work forever. The fast and widespread adoption of remote work and an ever-increasing concern of employees with purpose and meaning on their job have intensified the war for talents. Reaching out to and concurrently engaging employees is key for businesses across sectors and regions. What learnings can be drawn from the pandemic as regards our approach to work? Has the world of work changed for the better? And what role does leadership culture and a new approach to hiring play going forward?

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Looking Back at the 51st St. Gallen Symposium on “Collaborative Advantage”

From 5-6 May 2022, three generations of leaders explored new, more impactful models of collective action to address interconnected challenges of global security, climate action, and intergenerational fairness. 

“This event is taking place at a moment when democracy is threatened around the world.” In his conference-opening, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear that the 51st St. Gallen Symposium convened its global, cross-generational platform at a crucial moment in history. He ended his remarks with a plea for global cooperation: “We need to do more than just talk; we need to do more than just listen. We need to work together.” 

Working together – but how, and under what conditions? This focal question was raised in light of this year’s theme “Collaborative Advantage” across 48 panel debates, roundtables and workshops, involving more than 120 speakers and about 1000 participants from three generations of leaders across business, policy, civil society and academia. For the first time in three years, the St. Gallen Symposium gathered its global community in person at the University – linking debates in St. Gallen with three hubs at Swiss Embassies in Beijing, Mexico City and Johannesburg. 

Collaboration and International Solidarity in Times of War

The implications of the Russian invasion and effective ways to support Ukraine took centre stage at this year’s symposium. Swiss President Ignazio Cassis and Austrian Minister for EU and the Constitution Karoline Edtstadler re-examined the role of Europe’s neutral states in times of war. “In times of crisis, we have to join forces and stand together”, President Cassis said. For this reason, Switzerland had adopted the sanctions against the Kremlin and Russia. However, joining NATO and active participation in the war were incompatible with Swiss neutrality. 

Whether the international community and NATO were doing enough to support Ukraine was challenged by Ukrainian Parliamentarian Lisa Yasko. In a discussion with Kolinda Grabar- Kitarović, 4th President of Croatia and Benedikt Franke, CEO of the Munich Security Conference, the young politician criticised “the timing of the support and the amount of the support” as too late but voiced gratitude and appreciation for the current level of assistance to Ukraine. She also called on Europe to not lose sight of larger issues at hand: “The future of Ukraine is very much linked to the situation in other countries”, she said, drawing attention to the fragile security of Poland, Moldova and Georgia, for instance. 

In this spirit of looking beyond immediate developments, discussions tried to make sense of the numerous ways the war on Ukraine will reconfigure our world in the coming years and for the next generation. Kühne Holding Executive Chair Karl Gernandt, African Economist Bogolo Kenewendo and Lufthansa Cargo CEO Dorothea von Boxberg explored ways to make global supply chains more resilient. Shell CEO Ben van Beurden and Vestas Wind Systems EVP Kerstin Knapp focused on the European energy infrastructure necessary to ensure energy security while accelerating the green energy transition across the continent. USAID Deputy Administrator Marcela Escobari and Fmr. UNWOMEN Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka called for a more collaborative response to global refugee movements and a looming food security crisis. Moreover, journalist Maria Ressa, laureate of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize and Reporters Without Borders head Christophe Deloire emphasised the role of free media in light of new authoritarianism. 

Focus on intergenerational fairness and the next generation 

In light of the St. Gallen Symposium’s mission of fostering leadership with the next generation in mind, intergenerational fairness was a key focus of this year’s dialogue. On Friday, 6 May, Friedrich Merz, Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of Germany, Mamphela Ramphele, Co-President of the Club of Rome, and Claudia Plakolm, Austrian State Secretary for Youth, outlined ways to rethink and remake the generational contract.  

In dialogue with Indian Member of Parliament and former UN Under-Secretary Shashi Tharoor, Ugandan climate advocate Vanessa Nakate drew attention to the losses and damages already incurred by climate change, particularly for young people in the Global South. Moreover, in the spirit of our most recent White Paper on cross-generational teams, selected sessions presented our NextGen Value Creation Barometer (partnering with EQx) and the Voices of the Leaders of Tomorrow Report 2022 (partnering with NIM). Panels also explored how organisations can harness age diversity and which new financing models best support the next generation of entrepreneurs. 

As a key innovation of this year’s symposium, a Cross-Generational Transformation Lab saw symposium participants move to the newly opened HSG SQUARE on 6 May to co-create and debate. A session with ZEIT ONLINE engaged participants in one-on-one dialogues on controversial questions, while five parallel workshops with Zukunft-Fabrik. 2050 developed tangible results for greater intergenerational fairness. The Transformation Lab launched a multi-year initiative to raise awareness, develop cross-generational ambitions and drive actions for a New Generational Contract, co-initiated with the Club of Rome.  

The culmination of a year-round exploration of “Collaborative Advantage” 

The 51st St. Gallen Symposium marked the highlight of an in-depth exploration of its annual theme “Collaborative Advantage”, which was launched in September 2021 in Berlin. Driven by a team of 33 students from the University of St.Gallen, year-round formats such as the Global Leadership Challenge, with the University of Oxford, as nd global receptions have gathered input and inspiration for the main symposium this May. Of course, the dialogue will not end with the 51st St. Gallen Symposium. Concrete initiatives and projects will be synthesised and followed up throughout the summer, all with a view to our mission: Lead with the next generation in mind. 

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