SUSTAINABILITY FROM A TREND AND INNOVATION PERSPECTIVE

Sustainability as an opportunity for innovation and leadership

Every lecture by Stefaan Vandist is experienced as a briefing on the latest trends in sustainability (what's new?) and an exploration of future innovation perspectives. Together, we explore a wide spectrum of innovation paths for your industry, with special attention to fertile creative intersections.

New legal standards and measures such as CSRD, ESG, and SDGs seem to be steering the entire economy towards a sustainable turnaround, and this is just the beginning. Sustainability brings not only new challenges but also new opportunities for businesses and governments. Furthermore, new technologies such as A.I. and innovation paths such as regenerative design, biodesign, and circular economy are the driving forces of change that can make your organization future-proof.

·     What does precision fermentation mean for the pharmaceutical industry and the foodsector? How can the construction sector and agriculture assist each other in the nitrogen crisis?

·     And why do the transitions to renewable energy, the shift to sustainable mobility, and the circular economy form strategic levers for each other?

·     And what are Nature Based Solutions and how can the Lowlands become leaders in this?

Stefaan Vandist serves as a guide on a pilgrimage to various creative breeding grounds where you can find answers. His lectures are passionate, energetic, and provide practical tools to craft your own future narrative and claim the leading rolein it.

WORKSHOP:PROVOTYPING

From the old normal to the new sublime

Provotyping stands for 'provocative prototyping'. By gently challenging people's future vision, room is created for new perspectives. Provotyping sessions are active, guided work sessions in groups provided with creative oxygen through inspiring examples.

Provotyping is both a call to action and a methodology to not settle for a supporting role but to claim the leading role in a future-inspired narrative for your organization. In four steps, we make that new story tangible and visible.

#1.What if

The essence of everything lies in unfolding an attractive and connecting future vision. A provocative look at the future is more powerful than figures and statistics. It tensions our motivations correctly and offers a beacon on the horizon. With a guiding vision of the future, the narrative of your organization or initiative can take shape step by step.

‍#2.Coalition of the willing

Youwill quickly need that future vision to cultivate a 'coalition of the willing'.Collaborate with people and organizations within and outside your sector who have an interest in realizing that same future vision. Regardless of the sizeof your organization, you don't change the world alone. With a 'coalition of the willing', you create your own force of change to rewrite the rules of the game.

‍#3.Provotyping

Liberate that beautiful future vision from the meeting room as soon as possible. So that people can truly experience it, we translate it into a visible and tangible 'provocative prototype': We gently disrupt the existing and hold up the mirror to something new. Add some wonder to the experience, and magic happens: you open minds to innovation and ignite the creative light.

#4.Celebration

Ina communication universe where the future often gets trapped in doomsday scenarios, dry reports, and technical terms, I advocate for a radically different approach: celebration. Celebrating new insights and breakthroughs through Provotyping shines a bright light on the path forward. As soon as there's something to celebrate, everyone gladly steps into the spotlight.Celebration resonates deeply in our hearts, so make sure to applaud everyone. Provotyping is a workshop that can be moderated in both small and large groups and typically spans a full day. The methodology and substantive guidance are extensively documented in the book 'Provotyping' (Lannoo Campus 2024).

PERFORMANCE LECTURE: OS NATURE

Collaborating more with nature, for nature, and like nature.

During a captivating theater lecture with impressive visuals, Stefaan introduces us to the pioneers of what is known as 'Nature Based Solutions.' With examples from the United States, Asia, but also surprisingly close in the LowLands, we discover their possibilities, application areas, and workings. As a price is put on carbon, and soon on nitrogen as well, and companies are required to measure their ecological impact, we also learn about the first full-fledged business models with Nature Based Solution

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What connects swaying meadows of seagrass, mangrove forests, coral reefs, dunes, insects, peatlands, and city forests? Besides their enchanting beauty, they provide us with invaluable ecosystem services. According to estimates from the scientific magazine Nature, nature provides us with $33 trillion worth of services annually, without ever sending a bill. While we have organized climate summits, invested in clean technology, and made political efforts to reduce our carbon footprint over the past decades, nature still does the majority of the work. Of the 38 gigatons of CO₂ we emit annually, the ocean manages to absorb at least half each time.

"How do we solve this in collaboration withnature? That is the crucial question we should ask ourselves with every contemporary challenge."

Coastal protection, preserving fish stocks, protecting cities from climate change, creating biological building materials... increasingly, we are working with nature, for nature, and like nature to address the challenges of our time.

MASTERCLASS:THE POWER OF STORYTELLING

Craft your own future narrative and refuse to accept a supporting role.

Undoubtedly, our capacity to tell stories is our most potent tool. Stories can ignite people's imaginations, make the unimaginable tangible, simplify complexity, inspire people about what is desirable and possible, ignite inner fires, engage and motivate people around new ideas, start a movement, and encourage people to persevere.

Stories seem to be the ultimate toolkit for moving people forward into the future.However, when you look at communication about sustainability, climate, and biodiversity today, the future appears to be trapped in doomsday scenarios, dry reports, and technical jargon.

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Fortunately, our narrative about the future is becoming increasingly less dull, formal, and polite. In the battle against sustainability fatigue, storytelling goes beyond charity marketing or vague future visions. There is exuberant and creative experimentation with ruthless honesty, humor, and ironic scrutiny of traditional, outdated practices.

"To cool the climate, we must first warm people's hearts."

During the Masterclass 'The Power of Storytelling,' Stefaan demonstrates how to shape your future narrative by writing ahead and assuming the most enchanting role together with your clients and audience. He does this through practical narrative techniques that you can discover in the work of Pixar, Disney, TEDTalks, renowned talk show hosts, and major brands.

Asa brand or organization, you can demonstrate leadership by liberating the future from fear, uncertainty, and doubt and bringing it where it belongs:amidst emotions of hope and wonder.

After the Masterclass 'The Power of Storytelling,' you will know how to make new ideas resonate with people's minds like mental post-it notes using stories. You will also learn to work with the Storytelling Canvas, a tool that makes your story clear and insightful, so that everyone in your organization can express it powerfully.