Contributing to the solution of our ecological problems with entrepreneurship

The great planetary problems of our own making threaten to overwhelm us:

Climate change and global warming
Overexploitation and waste of resources
Species extinction and environmental pollution
Even if mankind were finally to switch to a sustainable, mindful economy, the currently foreseeable pace of this change is far too slow to limit the damage to people and the environment. Politics alone will not make it, as recent years have shown around the world.

We have to act faster than politics allows. That is possible – with entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs don't have to wait for majorities, politicians do. Intelligent products and new, sustainable concepts can inspire customers, users and people. Successful entrepreneurs have always taken up the problems of their time and thus achieved a speed of change in their field that was previously not thought possible.

Both business entrepreneurship and citizen or social entrepreneurship are suitable for this approach: it is crucial that people do something that brings us back into harmony with nature. And when new solutions for life and business spread in this way, the old problem economy disappears much faster than if you first had to fight for a majority to change it.

Ever since it was founded, the Entrepreneurship Foundation has been committed to “responding to existing problems with economic, social, but also artistic imagination” (from the foundation charter). This year's Entrepreneurship Summit aims to serve this goal. From October 22nd to 24th, entrepreneurial solutions for planetary problems will be developed in the Henry Ford Building of the Free University of Berlin.

Use the unique selling proposition of entrepreneurship

This summit shouldn't be so much about making suggestions that save the world - there are already many of them. And it shouldn't be so much about founding companies - you don't need another event for that either. It should be about opening up new possibilities for action with entrepreneurial thinking and action in order to save the world. And that can trigger an unexpected dynamic. Because entrepreneurs don't have to wait for political majorities to put their idea of ​​saving the world into practice. You can start here and now.

Many solutions will be needed: for every industry, for every city, for every day. And we will develop many solutions for this - together with all Summit participants.

We see four fields as particularly promising in order to generate a variety of ideas that can be implemented quickly and independently using the means of entrepreneurship:

Produce more ecologically : in agriculture, in industry, with circular production and decentralized solutions for the workplace and logistics

Consume more ecologically : with transparent products, less packaging and less marketing

Better use of existing capacities : for rooms, for vehicles, for durable consumer goods

Make our environment more livable: with blooming landscapes and less waste

A number of examples for all four fields are already available.

Our entire economy, practically all industries and companies MUST look completely different in ten years. So let's get started NOW. The Great Transformation is a task for humanity – and an opportunity for entrepreneurs.

In the next few days we will set up a pre-summit page where you can make your ideas visible in the run-up to the summit.