Rohrbeck Heger GmbH

Foresight and Sustainability - Perspectives on a Sustainable Future

The Foresight & Sustainability Summit

“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.

Below we gather interviews with speakers at the event and Foresight experts at Rohrbeck Heger.


 

Thomas Boermans - Head of Foresight at E.ON

In this interview, Thomas Boermans highlights

  • the complexity of many stakeholders involved and infrastructure challenges
  • the needed urgency and speed of a transition
  • the challenges facing the energy industry
  • how shifts in his industry have already happened
  • the question/challenge is not recognizing “we have to change” but rather “how do we execute to get to this change”

 

Stephan Hankammer - Assistant Professor at Alanus University

In this interview, Stephan Hankammer highlights

  • we talk about sustainability since decades, but in reality have seen rather unsustainable development
  • the need to envision a post-growth world
  • business need to consider imagining “another way of life.”
  • all actors should be contributing to a social ecological transformation

 

Sebastian Knab - Manager at Rohrbeck Heger

In this interview, Sebastian Knab highlights

  • that sustainability has become center stage for many companies nowadays and people become more open to new ideas
  • that the financial sector, customers and employees are putting pressure on companies
  • our own behavior and traditional contradicts our knowledge that we need to act more sustainably
  • with foresight, we build scenarios and visualizations of the future that people can unite behind in order to shape together a sustainable future

 

Alejandro Berbesi and Chris de la Cerda - Consultants at Rohrbeck Heger

In this interview, Alejandro Berbesi and Chris de la Cerda discuss how

  • in the future, green consumerism will become a general lifestyle, not a niche subject
  • sustainability topics impact our society's future
  • managing the actual transition is oftentimes the greatest challenge of businesses
  •  scenario-driven decision-making helps businesses manage transitions successfully, becoming both sustainable and profitable
  • to benefit from new business opportunities in post-growth times