STEP into a Better World: A call to action

December 9, 2020
Online event

EU Business School, through ONResearch, together with Impact17 and other event partners hosted a refreshing impact-oriented event: “STEP into a Better World: A call to action”. For this initiative, the 17 SDGs have been collated into four accessible themes:

– Sustainable society

– Technology & innovation

– Environment & Nature

– Partnering for a better world

ONResearch hosted sessions to deliberate on the topic of Sustainable Society on December 9, 2020.

A society is defined by its key components, some of which include the choices people make; the infrastructure and its relationship with the environment; commerce and trade. Sustainable societies are the ones where citizens make informed decisions for today and into the future. These are societies where human habitation is symbiotic with the environment; where resources work for as many people as possible; and where there is enough financial inclusion to allow for socio-economic stability and continuity.

As action architects for Sustainable Society, the EU Business School through its research arm ONResearch, joined Impact17 to deliver four sessions to deliberate on sustainable societies around the key questions:

How should behavioural theory evolve to ensure better decision making for sustainable living? Or how can behavioural theory be leveraged to encourage better decision making for sustainable living?

How can we design smart, interconnected and sustainable habitats that work for humanity today and into the future?

How can we take advantage of advancements in technology to improve financial inclusion and empower communities for more sustainable resource management?

STEP into a Better World presented the platform for a timely discussion on sustainable societies and offered the opportunity to analyse this concept through its core elements.

RECORDED SESSIONS

PROGRAM

11:00 – 12:00

Panel 1.

#thehumanexperience: model Behaviour for Sustainable Living

Borrowing from human behaviour can guide day to day decision making towards sustainable living. In addition to understanding human behaviour, there is an opportunity to influence how businesses design products and services, and to integrate sustainable thinking along all levels of the value chain.

Speakers

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Sille Krukow
Founder and Behavioral Expert, Krukow Behavioral Design
Sille Krukow
Founder and Behavioral Expert, Krukow Behavioral Design

More than 15 years’ experience in conducting behavioral design studies, measurably nudging consumers towards better, greener and safer decision-making in global markets. Sille is the developer of the Krukow methodology for piloting and developing nudge solutions – a methodology that generates substantial business results on top of enabling great decision-making. She has extensive knowledge within the field of applied behavioral science, nudging, impact on and effective communication towards consumers and has been executing projects across sectors and industries on a global scale. She acts as a spokesperson and trusted advisor on CSR and sustainability related and global agendas.

David Lais
Speaker/Climate Activist/ Social Entrepreneur/Troublemaker
David Lais
Speaker/Climate Activist/ Social Entrepreneur/Troublemaker

David is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of several innovative start-ups in the payment area. He started his first venture at the age of 16 and by coincidence moved into the payment industry. After a life changing event in 2015 he decided to change his focus and use his knowledge for good to start fighting climate change. A few months later he started his latest venture, the German Non-Profit Organisation for Sustainable Consumption (Organisation fuer nachhaltigen Konsum – OfnK) and the ecolytiq GmbH. David is focused on consumer education and uses modern technologies such as machine learning to help consumers understand their global impact based on their purchases by analyzing the underlying payment transaction. David is a real tech lover and software developer by heart and profession and likes to play with pretty much everything that requires electricity and, ideally, runs code.

Svetlana Elinova
Managing Editor, ONResearch/Moderator
Svetlana Elinova
Managing Editor, ONResearch/Moderator

Svetlana Elinova is Lecturer at EU Business School and Managing Editor of ONResearch. She has over 12 years of experience in education management and holds a PhD in Social Psychology. Svetlana is a communications and marketing lecturer, and her research interest focuses on the inter-linkages between education and psychology.

12:00 – 13:00

Panel 2.

Petabyte Cities: Design an Inter-Connected Future

In the 4th Industrial Revolution, we can build smarter cities that re-imagine human habitation for us and the environment. Designing sustainable habitats will be possible when there is a greater understanding of the shared value to be had from these investments.

Speakers

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Illia Gorodishchanov
Chief specialist of the Digital Infrastructure Department, Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine
Illia Gorodishchanov
Chief specialist of the Digital Infrastructure Department, Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine

Illia is Chief Specialist of Digital Infrastructure Department in the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine (MDTU). He is responsible for legislative work on telecommunications and represents MDTU as a legal counsel and analyst in Parliamentary working groups. Illia started his professional career in the European integration support projects funded by the EU. Illia has two master’s degrees in law, studied in Lithuania, the Netherlands and Ukraine.

Silvia Dusa
Employee Experience and Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator, Bosch Power Tools
Silvia Dusa
Employee Experience and Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator, Bosch Power Tools

Silvia Dusa has a background in International Business and Economics with a focus on competitiveness, and innovation. She is currently a PhD candidate in Marketing and her research is about how to create a sustainable smart city model using design thinking and the power of community. Her goal is to make the human resource department ready for the business of tomorrow and to build the future of work one-step at a time. Silvia loves people, ideas and the mixture between the two, this is why she co-founded several NGOs that support creativity, entrepreneurship and development especially in developing countries.

Daiyoung Jung
Smart City Development Consultant, Executive Director, DELI-i
Daiyoung Jung
Smart City Development Consultant, Executive Director, DELI-i

Mr. Jung has been in charge of smart city projects marketing at a city government of South Korea for 4 years. Jung joined the ICT Convergence division to facilitate the export of busan smart City business and IoT-based smart City technologies and cooperation with other smart cities over the world. He is interested in improving urban quality of life and solving challenges arising from overpopulation.

Jung graduate from Pukyong university of Busan in 1993 and received his MbA from Hawaii Pacific University in 2007. He is also the Project Award Winner (Mobility Category) at Smart City Expo World Congress 2018 in Barcelona.

Marten Kaevats
National Digital Advisor, The Government Office of Estonia
Marten Kaevats
National Digital Advisor, The Government Office of Estonia

Marten Kaevats, is the National Digital Advisor in the Government Office of Estonia or unofficially the Chief Innovation Officer of Estonia. He studies the impact of various scalable technologies on the spatial behaviour of individual people and communities, as he believes that the industrial revolution and the hyperlocal model of life will create reformatory changes to the spatial and social behaviour of people. Marten has graduated from govermental talent managment programme in 2017. He is educated as architect and city planner and has been the chief of TAB 2015 “Self Driven City” curatorial team.

Margaryta Pugach
Research & Design Associate, ONResearch/Moderator
Margaryta Pugach
Research & Design Associate, ONResearch/Moderator

Margaryta is Doctoral Candidate at EU Business School, Switzerland, and Research and Design Associate at ONResearch. She is responsible for visual representation of all ONResearch activities. Margaryta has several years of work experience in web development, graphic design, and content management, and speaks five languages. Margaryta received her Master of Science degree in International Management from the University of Roehampton in London as well as an MBA in Design Management at EU Business School, Montreux, where she learned the importance of being a focal point between the two worlds – Business and Design.

13:00 – 14:00

Panel 3.

Paying for Lunch Tomorrow: Maximise the Fintech Revolution

Fintech solutions are evolving! Sustainability is in how we maximise these solutions for better resource management and financial inclusion. From digital currencies to mobile money, these solutions present us with the best opportunity yet to sustainably propel societies out of poverty and into the next phase of socio-economic development.

Speakers

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Obong Idiong
CEO, Africa Prudential Plc
Obong Idiong
CEO, Africa Prudential Plc

Obong is the Chief Executive Officer of Africa Prudential Plc, charged in the past two years with driving the Company’s digital transformation agenda, which has seen the Company evolve its current business and expanded into several digital offerings including the development and implementation of business solutions in the financial, capital market, cooperative and e-commerce space. 

With over 18 years of post-call legal working experience in corporate, commercial legal practice, banking, and financial advisory services, Obong holds several qualifications in the legal, finance, and technology fields. Obong is also a member of the Nigeria FinTech Fund Advisory Board.

Abbas Ahmed Al-Basha
Fomer Vice Governor, former Vice Chairman of the board, Yemen Central Bank
Abbas Ahmed Al-Basha
Fomer Vice Governor, former Vice Chairman of the board, Yemen Central Bank

Albasha is currently a DBA candidate at the EU Business School in Geneva where his dissertation is researching the technical requirements of Central Banks issuing their own digital currencies or cryptocurrencies.

He was the Vice Governor, Vice Chairman of the board of the Central Bank of Yemen and simultaneously an Executive Director at the board of the Arab Monetary Fund in Abu Dhabi, Emirates. Before that he served as the Vice Minister of Finance where he was also a board member of the Central Bank of Yemen. He was formerly the CEO and board member of a microfinance institution in Yemen. His first professional title was the Head of the Securities Market Project Unit at the Ministry of Finance aiming at establishing the first regulated stock market in Yemen.

He graduated with BA in Economics from the American University of Beirut and with MBA in Global Banking & Finance from the EU Business School in Geneva. He also lectured at several universities in Switzerland and Yemen.

Thomas Hohne-Sparborth
Senior Sustainability Analyst, Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM)
Thomas Hohne-Sparborth
Senior Sustainability Analyst, Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM)

Thomas Hohne-Sparborth is a Senior Sustainability Analyst at Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM) and heads up a team of analysts focused on the research around the transition to a Circular, Lean, Inclusive and Clean (CLIC™) economy. He joined LOIM in 2019 as one of the first members of Lombard Odier’s newly-established Sustainability Investment Research & Strategy (SIRS) team. He leads the thematic research into sustainability challenges, ranging from climate change, to nature-related risks, the circular economy and social inequality.

He holds a Master of Arts degree from the School of Advanced Internatonal Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C., and in 2018 completed his doctoral degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), specializing in international development.

Ugo Ikpeazu
Partnerships Coordinator and Research Associate, ONResearch/Moderator
Ugo Ikpeazu
Partnerships Coordinator and Research Associate, ONResearch/Moderator

Ugo is Doctoral Candidate at EU Business School, Switzerland, and Research Associate at ONResearch, where he is the content editor of the school’s peer-reviewed journal ONRESEARCH. Ugo also supports EU Business School in the development and coordination of partnerships. Ugo is an International Development Consultant, he holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the EU Business School in Geneva as well as a Master of Science in International Management from the University of Roehampton in London.

14:00 – 15:00 

Fireside Chat.

Transformational Thinking: Take the Geneva Model

A look at Geneva and how we can evolve the leadership model of sustainability, as well as the city as a facilitator for key discussions.

Speakers

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Vincent Subilia
Director General, CCIG
Vincent Subilia
Director General, CCIG

 As Director General of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce (CCIG), Vincent Subilia strives for a lively and diversified business community in Geneva. In so doing, he promotes the approx. 2’500 corporate Members which make the CCIG community. He also represents the CCIG within numerous regional, national and international institutions, including the General Council of the World Chamber’s Federation, as elected Swiss representative. Vincent has also acted as President of the Swiss Chambers’ Arbitration Institution. 

Vincent Subilia joined the CCIG in 2015, in line with his previous assignment as Economic Development Officer of the State of Geneva. A qualified lawyer with robust expertise gained in Switzerland and abroad (including Brussels, London, New York and Beijing), Vincent worked within a large international bank in Geneva as Vice President for numerous years, as well as for a major law firm specialised in WTO issues. 

Suddha Chakravartti
Editor-in-Chief, ONResearchU/Moderator
Suddha Chakravartti
Editor-in-Chief, ONResearchU/Moderator

Suddha Chakravartti is Head of Research at EU Business School and the Editor-in-Chief of ONResearch. A lawyer by training, he holds a Doctorate in International Relations. He has held several teaching, research, and consulting positions in the last 12 years. At EU Business School, he lectures in International Relations and Law. His research interests include international development, political philosophy, and public policy.