oikos Newsletter - December

be informed - get involved - make a difference

Dear Johannes,

With the year 2012 just around the corner, this last edition of oikos 2011 newsletters effectively closes this very successful oikos year, offering a bird's eye view on the whole spectrum of the buzz oikees traditionally encounter around this time of the year. Big events like the oikos FutureLab, the oikos Winter School, the oikos Conference, or the upcoming oikos Asia Meeting bring people together on themes of common concern and stand testimony to the growing influence oikos has on people all over the globe. You will also get an outlook on major events in 2012 you should miss. In the Academic realm, we've published another issue of the oikos Case Quarterly and significantly advanced the oikos faculty network. oikos Alumni will find a great opportunity in this newsletter and finally we introduce the new oikos International President, Dawid Wroblewski. Enjoy!

oikos FutureLab

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We held the first ever oikos FutureLab last month in Switzerland, bringing together representatives from 22 oikos chapters as well as oikos fellows, friends and alumni from over 38 companies and 10 research institutes.  The unconventional format of the event, combining keynote speaker presentations, “fish bowl” discussions, workshops, “elevator pitch” project fairs and open spaces, helped to  create an amazing atmosphere of intense intellectual exchange, informal networking and just plain, great fun.

The sessions focussed on creating visions of best-case scenarios for the future and developing projects from the oikos community that aim to realise these visions. Listen to Harriet Jackson, outgoing oikos international President and one of the main organisers of the event, to get her impressions of what went on there and/or make sure to check out our website for a more detailed summary of the event and picures! 

oikos Students

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The oikos Winter School 2011 was held for the first time in the German capital (of entrepreneurship!) Berlin this year, gathering 25 young entrepreneurs from all over the globe. The one-week programme teemed with exciting activities designed to strengthen participants' committment and skills in fighting the social, economic and ecological challenges our world is facing. And indeed, sparking initiatives in areas ranging from socially responsible investing to aquaponics, the event was certainly a most productive one!

Later that week, oikos Presidents gathered in Zürich for the weekend, enjoying the hospitality of our friends at The Hub Zurich, while deliberating on their objectives for the coming term.

Our chapters were also hard at work around the world: oikos Chennai were instrumental in launching the 'Sustainable Chennai Forum' with partners, promoting the business case for sustainable developement of the Chennai Metropolitan area.


oikos St Gallen organised the 22nd annual oikos Conference: 'Profits without Hunger and Thirst?'. Traditionally an event that offers a very attractive programme to its international audience, this year again provided for high-profile guests, enabling participants to delve into the role of the private sector in development in all its complexity and depth. 


Moreover, the winner of the oikos cross-chapter photo competition has been announced! Organised by oikos Tbilisi, the competition involved four chapters submitting selections of photographs, which were judged by the broader oikos community. Read on to get to know the winners and their amazing photographs!

Last but not least, Student Reporter Laura Burger Chakraborty interviewed the CEO of Vestergaard Frandsen, a venture that distributes millions of mini water filters in rural Kenya. Listen to the CEO about this innovative pro-poor venture.

 

 

oikos Academic

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November was a buzzing month as well on our Academic front - At the FutureLab we held a great faculty workshop hosted by Kai Hockerts (CBS Copenhagen) and Claude Siegenthaler (Hosei University Tokyo) that gave a boost to further develop the oikos faculty network.  And as part of the oikos Case Teaching Initiative we published the first free case under the creative commons license: "Better Place - Shifting Paradigms in the Automotive Industries"  by Dror Etzion and Jeroen Struben (McGill University, Canada), who won the 2011 oikos Global Case Writing Competition (Social Entrepreneurship Track).

 

We also published Issue 4 of oikos Case Quarterly featuring six teaching cases from the oikos online case collection with a focus on water, and written by leading case writers from around the world. If you look for innovative teaching material, this is the source to use – case authors also share their experience on how to teach these cases.    

  

In the field of entrepreneurship research we have launched a call for papers for the 3^rd oikos Young Scholars Entrepreneurship Academy on the topic of  “Collaborative Entrepreneurship and Innovation" – join us in the Swiss Alps in August 2012 and meet Jill Kickul (NYU Stern School of Business), Wesley Sine (Cornell) and Holger Patzelt (TU Munich).   Have a look at the call and apply by March 16, 2012!

 

Finally, oikos PhD Fellow Tim Lehmann has published a new case for UNDP Growing Inclusive Markets, entitled "Afghan German Management College: Business Education via Distance Learning". The case study introduces the controversial issue of a private service provider in the higher education sector of a post-conflict country."

 

oikos Alumni

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We have an exclusive offer for oikos alumni: 2 Scholarships for DAS in Sustainable Business program run by HSG St Gallen and Business School Lausanne, Switzerland. Contact Kim Poldner for more info.

 

30 seconds with...

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Dawid Wroblewski, oikos International President 2012

Hi everyone!
Here I am now, after a two-months handover period during which former president Harriet Jackson endowed me with the necessary know-how to handle the intricacies of this position, beginning my unassisted term as the president of oikos International. 
A year ago, holding a Bachelor degree in Economics and having just started a Master in Law&Economics, I was involved with oikos on its local level, serving as the President of the oikos Warsaw Chapter, based at Warsaw School of Economics. Among others, during that time, I coordinated the Energysavers project, a competition between 23 student dormitories in Warsaw and I was in the organizing-team of the oikos Autumn Meeting 2010 that we all so fondly remember.
Gaining St Gallen-headquarter's perspective, I keep getting amazed of the potential embodied in our world-wide network and am really excited to have an opportunity to support its development over the upcoming year. I look very much forward to working with all of you and I know that we can aim high. I consider it my duty to build on the excellent work done by my predecessor and lift oikos International another step ahead!

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