To keep the planet livable for future generations, we must learn to become good ancestors, argues British philosopher Roman Krznaric. In other words, to wrest from the tyranny of the short term and become mindful of the long term. Why is that so important? How do you do that? And can young people help with that ambition? These questions were the focus of an inspiration session of the Business Community from training institute LUNAR Institute.
Why is it so hard for us to think about the future? That's what Krznaric wonders in his book 'The good ancestor'. Our understanding of time often does not extend beyond our own lifespan and, moreover, people are often so preoccupied with the here and now that reflection falls by the wayside. This applies to the individual and to organizations. Politicians are fixated on opinion polls and the next elections, and short-term goals prevail at many companies. To actually find answers to the great challenges of the future - such as climate change, biodiversity loss - we need to develop our long-term thinking.
Urgency
How do young people look at this question? Young people, who are on the eve or the beginning of their careers and are very concerned about that future. Especially for the inspiration session, Youngworks organized a meeting between generations. Joining the community participants - a network of strategists, marketers and innovators from the Dutch business world - were three young twenty-somethings, still studying or just finishing their studies and each fully active in initiatives around sustainability and justice.
Wondering what insights this meeting between generations yielded?
For MarketingTribune, Yvonne van Sark, Advisor & Partner at Youngworks, and Niels Hansen, Futurise Maestro at LUNAR Institute, wrote there this item about. The article also appeared in MarketingTribune 06, 2022.
