GS: Dear friends of Waldzell, I would now like to officially welcome you to the Waldzell Meeting 2008. The main theme for this year is "The Time is Now". It is obvious that today's global crisis affecting the environment, health, economics and social stability is threatening the survival of humanity. The media and governments continually focus our attention on the impending crisis, but there is also hope. Paradigm-shifting scientific insights are offering new ways of thinking; and innovative business models, especially from our Architects of the Future, are tackling the most urgent problems of our world.
At the core of the Waldzell meetings, as we have tried to show you, there is interdisciplinary dialogue, and the idea of this dialogue is to get new insights and new understandings of our world which you would not get if you only stayed with one discipline.
This year's programme looks at how discoveries in areas like fundamental physics, neurobiology, genomics and cognitive science are influencing our understanding of ourselves. This will lead us to ask how we can live up to our full potential as human beings and implement our capacities to solve the problems we have created.
There are roughly one billion people in the world who do not get enough food, have no clean drinking water, and have no access to health care and education. These people do not only miss out on the benefits of the global economy, they are also the ones who suffer most from the negative effects of economic growth. Climate change, for example, will have the greatest effect on those who have done the least to cause it.
To challenge this unstable global situation, maybe we have to find ways to make the economic system that serves wealthier people, serve poorer people as well. The advantage of capitalism lies in its ability to make self-interest serve the wider interest. It is responsible for the great innovations that have improved the lives of billions, but, in order to harness this power so that it benefits everyone, we have to refine the system.
Muhammad Yunus, the famous Nobel Peace laureate, who started the worldwide microfinance initiative, is now pioneering a new idea, that of social business, which seeks to make the creativity of business tackle social problems, from poverty and pollution to the lack of health care and education. Also, Bill Gates formed the notion of "creative capitalism" for a system in which market incentives, including profits and recognition, drive the change. This is an approach where governments and businesses work together to tackle social problems. The magazine "Fast Company", whose founder (and chairman of the Waldzell Meetings) Alan Webber will be with us shortly, gives awards for what they call "social capitalism". (Chairman of the Waldzell Meetings) Alan Webber will be with us shortly, gives awards for what they call "social capitalism".
These are not just a few isolated stories. They form a worldwide movement and we all have the ability and responsibility to accelerate it.
Waldzell therefore shares insights, information and innovative business practices that further promote a lifestyle which is beneficial to all beings, including animals, and for the future of our planet. We have therefore invited remarkable people from all over the world who have found ways to make sustainability and social engagement not only good for our planet but also good for business and profitability.
Waldzell also supports, worldwide, outstanding young social entrepreneurs who offer solutions in very different areas. This year we have once again invited sixteen young people from all over the world who courageously implement their vision of a more sustainable and just world.
Many thanks to all of you who have come here to participate in this Meeting. My wish would be that we jointly create a better world, and I guess the time has come - the time is now.
At the core of the Waldzell meetings, as we have tried to show you, there is interdisciplinary dialogue, and the idea of this dialogue is to get new insights and new understandings of our world which you would not get if you only stayed with one discipline.
This year's programme looks at how discoveries in areas like fundamental physics, neurobiology, genomics and cognitive science are influencing our understanding of ourselves. This will lead us to ask how we can live up to our full potential as human beings and implement our capacities to solve the problems we have created.
There are roughly one billion people in the world who do not get enough food, have no clean drinking water, and have no access to health care and education. These people do not only miss out on the benefits of the global economy, they are also the ones who suffer most from the negative effects of economic growth. Climate change, for example, will have the greatest effect on those who have done the least to cause it.
To challenge this unstable global situation, maybe we have to find ways to make the economic system that serves wealthier people, serve poorer people as well. The advantage of capitalism lies in its ability to make self-interest serve the wider interest. It is responsible for the great innovations that have improved the lives of billions, but, in order to harness this power so that it benefits everyone, we have to refine the system.
Muhammad Yunus, the famous Nobel Peace laureate, who started the worldwide microfinance initiative, is now pioneering a new idea, that of social business, which seeks to make the creativity of business tackle social problems, from poverty and pollution to the lack of health care and education. Also, Bill Gates formed the notion of "creative capitalism" for a system in which market incentives, including profits and recognition, drive the change. This is an approach where governments and businesses work together to tackle social problems. The magazine "Fast Company", whose founder (and chairman of the Waldzell Meetings) Alan Webber will be with us shortly, gives awards for what they call "social capitalism". (Chairman of the Waldzell Meetings) Alan Webber will be with us shortly, gives awards for what they call "social capitalism".
These are not just a few isolated stories. They form a worldwide movement and we all have the ability and responsibility to accelerate it.
Waldzell therefore shares insights, information and innovative business practices that further promote a lifestyle which is beneficial to all beings, including animals, and for the future of our planet. We have therefore invited remarkable people from all over the world who have found ways to make sustainability and social engagement not only good for our planet but also good for business and profitability.
Waldzell also supports, worldwide, outstanding young social entrepreneurs who offer solutions in very different areas. This year we have once again invited sixteen young people from all over the world who courageously implement their vision of a more sustainable and just world.
Many thanks to all of you who have come here to participate in this Meeting. My wish would be that we jointly create a better world, and I guess the time has come - the time is now.