10 Break-Out Sessions
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“The World Does Not Remain the Same”
As President of the Swiss Confederation, Ignazio Cassis is an expert in dialogue and collaboration. He talked to us about the importance of including younger generations in the political process, his definition of sustainability, and the need to rethink the generational contract. He let his approach to leadership be challenged by the next generation, and talked about a new generational contract with us.
«Leading with the next generation in mind» is the vision of the St.Gallen Symposium. We try to remind leaders to consider the impact of their decisions on future generations. What can today’s leaders learn through dialogue with the next generation?
The world does not remain the same. It is constantly evolving according to the evolution of its population. The younger generation plays a decisive role in this process. I know of no leading power that can afford the luxury of not taking all generations into account. This also means that one has to make an effort to address issues that might not have crossed one’s mind, or that might even make one uncomfortable. The younger generation has a different perspective – this diversity is the beauty, but also the challenge for leaders.
What’s a good example?
Take the issue of climate change: rightly one of our greatest and most diverse challenges of our time, and one with consequences that will affect the younger generation particularly severely. However, climate change is not the only problem we are facing today. A time in which pandemics, conflicts, and crises are increasingly overlapping. Depending on origin, gender, age – in short: depending on perspective, problems, and their solutions look different. It is thus of great importance that we always look at them from different perspectives. It is only in this way that we can find the best of all solutions.
For next year, the symposium is considering a new intergenerational contract as a topic, going one step further than dialogue. Is there a need for something like that?
Yes, absolutely! Dialogue is a good starting point, but we need to walk the talk. For my generation and the generation of my parents, the issue of sustainability was not yet particularly prominent. The concerns were more acute, the knowledge limited. Our parents lived through the war. For them, it was by no means a given to have a hot meal on the table every night. Moreover, they did not know very much about climate change and its consequences. Things are different today. Fortunately. Now, the war in Ukraine is bringing the issue of a sustainable food supply back into focus – a food crisis is looming again. Even though we have enough food for everyone in Europe. There is even an oversupply – or in two words: food waste. It is a good thing that, today, we are much more aware of the interactions between climate, peace, and stability. Many care about and understand the impact of our decision-making not only on the environment, but on social sustainability as well. Precisely these kinds of issues I can see being discussed at the St.Gallen Symposium and then laid down in an intergenerational contract.
Is there a concrete example of a decision or strategy that you have taken with the involvement of the next generation?
Yes, there is a very concrete example from our foreign policy: the Foreign Policy Strategy 2020-2023 was developed with the involvement of numerous stakeholders, including the younger generation. We deliberately involved young diplomats and asked them to contribute their ideas and priorities – together with experienced diplomats, consular staff, development workers and many more. This is another example of the change of perspective we mentioned earlier – it is central to our work. I am proud that Swiss foreign policy is so diversified.
Why?
Because politics concerns everyone; including the young.
