Rohrbeck Heger GmbH

“For a long time, sustainability was not taken seriously. Thankfully this has changed,” stated Dr. Tobias Heger in his opening remarks at our Foresight & Sustainability Summit 2021 on September 23rd. Hosted together with innovation software company Itonics and EDHEC Business School, the virtual event was a unique opportunity for cross-industry sustainability, strategic foresight, innovation, ESG and CSR professionals to gather and discuss one of the most pressing issues of our era: the climate crisis and businesses’ role in mitigating it.

“Humankind must change its way of living in order to continue to live a good life on this planet. Companies must change. But how?” Dr. Heger continued. That’s precisely what our summit speakers discussed during nearly four hours of expert sessions, tackling questions such as: How can companies rise to current (and future) challenges that face us all? What’s being done so far? What else is possible? With representatives from energy, mobility, finance, food, construction, and academia, the Summit proved to be a welcome forum for lively exchange, learning from one another, and facing some challenging questions head-on.

With over 700 registrants from 40 countries across 5 continents, the interest generated by the Foresight & Sustainability Summit underscored the clear and present need to address these topics of global concern. Session foci included: addressing the rising demands of “green” consumers and regulatory authorities; exploring different economic models for the future, specifically the green economy vs. post-growth debate; and the role financial institutions play in putting on the pressure to realize green transformations.

At the conclusion of the Summit, one thing was very clear: “business as usual” is no longer an option. The future will look very different than the present, and the clock is ticking for us to get this right. But what new form(s) companies and economies will take remains to be seen; change is necessary but it’s still unclear what this change will look like. And once the goals do become clearer, a big challenge awaits: how will we get there? Only through continued collaboration and communication across industries and sectors will an era of successful sustainability transformations be possible. We were happy to host such an event on an important topic, and that the forum it provided was one step towards a more sustainable future.

To get some deeper insights into the conversations happening at the summit,  have a look at our interviews with speakers at the event and Foresight experts at Rohrbeck Heger. We've also published 7 Key Insights on The Future of Corporate Sustainability here.