MB SUMMITS OF MINDS TAKE-AWAY2021-09-28T11:07:30+02:00
GEOPOLITICAL ALPHA – AN INVESTMENT FRAMEWORK FOR PREDICTING THE FUTURE
Friday 17 September • 11.50-12.10 • Majestic Congress Centre – Paul Payot
With:
THE LIFE CHANGING POWER OF SOPHROLOGY
Friday 17 September • 11.50-12.10 • Majestic Congress Centre – Joseph Vallot
With:
Short preparatory reading:
COURAGE – CAN WE CONJURE IT UP WHEN WE NEED IT MOST? (live-streamed)
Friday 17 September • 12.15-13.30 • Majestic Congress Centre – Michel Payot
Courage has been celebrated throughout history and across cultures but is hard to define. It comes in many different guises: everyday courage, the courage to say no, courage in the face of danger, and so on. Perhaps there is no such thing as a courageous person, but rather just opportunities in which to display courage.
Led by:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
WHAT NEXT? (live-streamed)
Sunday 19 September • 11.15-12.15 • Majestic Congress Centre – Michel Payot
This year’s closing takes the form of a town hall meeting during which the Summit’s guests will be encouraged to engage and brainstorm on the theme of “What next?”. Some guests will distil the outcome of this year’s Summit and will nurture the conversation by offering their thoughts about what’s likely to happen in the years to come.
Led by:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
ENTREPRENEURSHIP & FAMILIES – HOW TO KEEP THE FLAME ALIVE? (live-streamed)
Sunday 19 September • 09.15-10.30 • Majestic Congress Centre – Michel Payot
The idea that family firms are overly conservative and thus hobbled in their efforts at entrepreneurship is often wrong. In reality, most startups around the world are family businesses in which members of the family support the entrepreneur as co-managers or co-owners.
Led by:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
GOOD4NATURE PRIZE GIVING & GALA DINNER (live-streamed)
Saturday 18 September • 19.00-21.30 • Majestic Congress Centre – Michel Payot
The good4nature prize (an international prize for a nature-positive economy) is being awarded at this year’s summit for the first time to a start-up at the confluence of technology and nature-based solutions. The six finalists will briefly pitch their respective projects before the overall winner is announced.
Led by:
Jury:
Finalists: AI for Climate, Dendra Systems, Ichthion, Mayane Labs, SafetyNet technologies
GEOPOLITICS – WHERE ON EARTH IS OUR WORLD GOING? (live-streamed)
Saturday 18 September • 10.45-12.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Michel Payot
The chaotic end of multilateralism, the vacuum of global governance and the rise of various forms of nationalism and populism do not augur well for the geopolitical outlook. In the 21st century, power and influence will most likely be redistributed chaotically and often grudgingly.
Led by:
Special address:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
THE BELT & ROAD INITIATIVE – WHAT ARE ITS GEO-ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS? (live-streamed)
Saturday 18 September • 09.15-10.30 • Majestic Congress Centre – Michel Payot
China’s Belt & Road Initiative aims to connect many countries across Asia, Africa and Europe via a “New Silk Road” of massive infrastructure projects. The Chinese government sees it as a “bid to enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future” while many Western governments perceive it as a front for a Sino-centric trade and capital network and a vehicle for political and economic influence.
Led by:
Special address:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
ENERGY TRANSITION (2) – HOW TO INVEST IN IT? (live-streamed)
Friday 17 September • 17.45-19.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Michel Payot
Transitioning towards net zero is revolutionising the world of investment – unleashing a wave of new opportunities while forcing many prominent businesses to change their ways.
Led by:
Special address:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
ENERGY TRANSITION (1) – BILL GATES OR GRETA THUNBERG? (live-streamed)
Friday 17 September • 17.00-17.45 • Majestic Congress Centre – Michel Payot
The collapse in the cost of renewable energy is happening, making experts and policy-makers increasingly confident that delivering a world of net zero emissions by 2050 is plausible. The major challenge is the tight time-scale: zero-carbon solutions have to be deployed before 2030 to put mid-century targets within reach.
Led by:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
FUTURE OF FOOD – WHAT’S ON THE MENU? (live-streamed)
Friday 17 September • 15.15-16.30 • Majestic Congress Centre – Michel Payot
The food system is undergoing a radical transformation, with agriculture and food production on the cusp of deep, rapid and highly consequential changes. What we eat and how it is sourced and produced will be subject to ever-more disruption with manifold consequences.
Led by:
Special address:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
WHAT NOW? (live-streamed)
Friday 17 September • 13.45-15.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Michel Payot
This opening session takes the form of a town hall meeting during which the Summit’s guests are encouraged to engage and brainstorm on the theme of “What now?” Renowned policy-, opinion- and decision-makers nurture the conversation and help make sense of today’s world.
Led by:
Special address:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
ICE-BREAKING DINNERS
Friday 17 September • 19.45-22.00 • Restaurants La Télécabine or PlanB
Our participants come from all over the world (perhaps a little less so this year) and all walks of life and yet at the Summit of Minds a special alchemy and mutual trust unites them. The purpose of this dinner is to kick start the process of our guests getting to know each other better. Everyone will be invited to sit at a table with a good spattering of people they don’t yet know.A Summit of Minds alumni will facilitate the discussion by asking two questions:
ICE-BREAKING NOCTURNAL PICNIC
Friday 17 September • 19.45-22.00 • Meeting point outside hotel Mont-Blanc
This is for those of you keen to get to know each other while dining outside and on the move (helped with a head light). Despite her generosity, nature is not always on our side: it may be damp and cold, even raining! Our nocturnal picnic will go ahead even so! Some of the best bonds are forged in adversity, and to calm any doubts, Tania – our mountain guide for that evening – will give a short presentation explaining the role of resilience and adaptability in conditions much tougher than these (like crossing inhospitable places on skis in winter).
CRYPTO – WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT AND WHERE IS IT GOING?
Friday 17 September • 22.15-23.00 • PlanB Hotel – Salon
Crypto is everywhere and all the rage. Join a young Finnish Entrepreneur for an enlightening conversation about crypto currencies and other digital assets. Crypto sceptics welcome!
With:
Short preparatory reading:
INFLATION – HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW OR HERE TO STAY?
Saturday 18 September • 09.15-10.30 • Majestic Congress Centre – Paul Payot
With the release of pent-up demand and the global recovery gaining traction, inflation is increasing. But a clear view of the underlying inflation trend is harder to grasp: the powerful structural deflationary forces like demographics and technology are now stacked against a combination of expansive monetary and fiscal policies.
Led by:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
NATURAL CAPITAL – WHY MUST WE CONSIDER NATURE AS AN ASSET?
Saturday 18 September • 09.15-10.30 • Majestic Congress Centre – Théodore Bourrit
Nature gives for ‘free’ and yet it is priceless. We almost always overlook its fundamental input into economic activity, and by so doing underestimate the risks from environmental damage to growth and human welfare. This is why we are starting to recognize nature as an asset, reconsidering in the process our measures of economic prosperity.
Led by:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
ARMENIAN BRANDY – A TASTE OF HISTORY FOLLOWED BY A JOURNEY INTO THE FUTURE
Saturday 18 September • 21.45-23.00 • Mont-Blanc Hotel – Library
With:
Short preparatory reading:
A PHOTOGRAPHIC WALKSHOP – THROUGH DIFFERENT LENSES (limited to 25 participants)
Saturday 18 September • 12.00-18.00 • Outdoor
Although looking at the same thing, our own individuality means that we all see something different. This is a potential strength worth exploring. Armed only with your telephone, an open mind and wide-open eyes, come and meander through the streets of Chamonix for this photographic “Walkshop” while benefitting from the mentorship of a remarkable couple, who combine both business and creative accomplishments, and for whom their own individual photographic observations have evolved into a joint life project. In a closing conversation participants will express their intentions behind the photographs taken during the “Walkshop”.
With:
Get ready for the activity:
Effort level: 2 hours gentle walking, no height gain
Where: In and around the streets of Chamonix, mostly pavements, some gravel paths
Who with: Accompanied by accredited Chamonix cultural guides
What you need to bring:
No previous photographic experience but plenty of curiosity and creativity.
We will provide the technology to display your photographs.
THE BUSINESS OF THEATRE & THE THEATRE OF BUSINESS
Saturday 18 September • 21.45-23.00 • Mont-Blanc Hotel – Bar
Join a conversation with an artistic director and story teller who also happens to be the CEO of a large family business. Come and find out the ways in which the two worlds intersect and what they have to learn from each other.
With:
RECIPE FOR SUCCESS – WHAT ARE THE VITAL INGREDIENTS?
Friday 17 September • 22.15-23.00 • PlanB Hotel – Lobby & Bar
Enjoy a conversation with an extreme athlete (sky runner + ultra trail + ski mountaineering) champion. Hillary will share both her personal insights on how she prepares mentally and physically for each challenge and her thoughts on the importance of team work in the pursuit of individual success.
With:
Short preparatory reading:
HUSTLE AND FLOAT
Saturday 18 September • 22.15-23.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Joseph Vallot
With:
Short preparatory reading:
JAPAN’S FAR MORE FEMALE FUTURE
Sunday 19 September • 10.30-11.15 • Majestic Congress Centre – Paul Payot
With:
CONSPIRACY THEORIES – WHAT DO THEY TELL US ABOUT OURSELVES AND THE COLLECTIVE PSYCHE?
Friday 17 September • 12.15-13.30 • Majestic Congress Centre – Isabella Straton
Conspiracy theories are as old as politics and as current as the latest headlines, but at the moment they are particularly virulent all over the world. In our so-called “post-truth” age, spreading them is big business, and so is searching for the antidote.
Led by:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
LEADING WELL – WHAT DOES IT TAKE?
Friday 17 September • 10.15-11.30 • Majestic Congress Centre – Isabella Straton
Survey after survey as well as anecdotal evidence show that all too often leaders are ill-equipped for optimal decision-making. The elephant in the room: issues of physical, mental and cognitive health among senior decision makers abound, but they are often taboo and are not meaningfully addressed.
Introduced by and led by:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
LOW LEVEL HIKE (no height gain, c.4 hours) – LEADERSHIP AND DECISION MAKING IN THE FACE OF UNCERTAINTY AND DURESS (limited to 30 participants)
Saturday 18 September • 12.00-18.00 • Outdoor
Test your reactions to the compelling need to decide, lead and act in unexpected and unpredictable circumstances. Accompanied by a team of High Mountain Rescue Guides, find out how crisis management skills can be tested, acquired and re-applied in our everyday professional and personal lives.
Get ready for the activity:
Effort level: 1 hour (4 km) approach walk very little height gain, sustained pace, good physical fitness needed to make the most of this collective exercise
Terrain: Earth and gravel paths in the valley
Who with: High mountain rescue guides will guide and supervise the exercise which will involve the use of harnesses and ropes across a river
What you need to bring:
All mountaineering equipment will be provided.
IMMERSIVE FOREST ART WALKSHOP (limited to 25 participants)
Saturday 18 September • 12.00-18.00 • Outdoor
Like the rings within a tree, we are both at the centre and the periphery of myriad circles of lives, energies, and experiences. This slow and gentle walkshop will offer us a moment to rediscover and explore our presence with the help of the beautiful trees of Chamonix. We will wrap up the session with a fun and simple creative activity.
With:
Get ready for the activity:
Effort level: 2 hours or so walk, very little height gain, gentle pace
Terrain: Earth and gravel paths amidst the trees (beware the roots!) in the valley
Who with: Accompanied by a mid -mountain Chamonix guide
What you need to bring:
No previous artistic experience but plenty of curiosity and creativity.
All artistic materials will be provided.
MID LEVEL HIKE (200 m height gain, c.3 hours) – WALKSHOP WITH MICRO-SESSIONS (limited to 60 participants)
Saturday 18 September • 12.00-18.00 • Outdoor
Enjoy a walkshop peppered with micro-sessions.
Including:
Get ready for the activity:
Effort level: 3 hours hike with height gain options (100m to 300m)
Terrain: Gravel and earth paths in the valley and narrow mountain paths
Who with: Accompanied by Chamonix mid-level mountain guides
What you need to bring:
HIGH LEVEL HIKE (600 m height gain, c.5 hours) – UP CLOSE AND INTIMATE WITH A GLACIER (limited to 30 participants)
Saturday 18 September • 12.00-18.00 • Outdoor
Experience at first hand the feel and effects of climate change on the Alpine landscape. What’s disappearing, what’s emerging and what does it mean in a broader environmental context. This demanding hike will be accompanied both by mountain guides and climate specialists to help us make sense of what we see.
Get ready for the activity:
Effort level: 4 – 5 hour demanding hike with c. 600m height gain, very good physical fitness and some experience of hiking in the mountains required, not suitable for anyone with a fear of heights
Terrain: steep mountain paths (earth and gravel) and sections on rocks
Who with: Accompanied by Chamonix mountain guides
What you need to bring:
TOURISM – WHAT FUTURE FOR THE MOUNTAINS? IS IT UPHILL OR DOWNHILL?
Saturday 18 September • 08.00-09.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Isabella Straton
Most mountain destinations that rely on tourism for growth face an array of challenges that are exacerbated by climate change. They must change and adapt to new consumer trends and market conditions while embracing sustainability
Led by:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE – CAN CONSERVING THE SOIL SAVE THE EARTH?
Saturday 18 September • 08.00-09.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Paul Payot
The soil is at the heart of our existence, but intensive farming, pollution, deforestation, and global heating have damaged it. Increasingly, scientists are warning that to conserve the Earth protecting the soil is vital and that its degradation is as important as the climate crisis and destruction of the natural world above ground.
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With:
Short preparatory reading:
AI & DEMOCRACY – DO WE HAVE ANYTHING TO FEAR?
Saturday 18 September • 08.00-09.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Théodore Bourrit
Although current AI research is progressing fast in many domains, we are paying insufficient attention to its deep and widespread disruptive effects on the very fabric of society. With big tech and social media vacuuming up data from everything we use and do, surveillance capitalism is on the increase.
Led by:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
SCENARIOS – WHAT WILL THE WORLD LOOK LIKE IN 2030?
Sunday 19 September • 09.15-10.30 • Majestic Congress Centre – Théodore Bourrit
In a world characterized by radical uncertainty and ever-increasing complexity, agenda-setting foresight has more value than data, information or knowledge. For investors and other decision-makers who take the long view, it is therefore the most appropriate strategy.
Led by:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
FUTURE OF EDUCATION – HOW AND WHAT WILL WE BE LEARNING?
Sunday 19 September • 09.15-10-30 • Majestic Congress Centre – Isabella Straton
Like many other activities and industries, education has been upended by the pandemic. Educators and policy-makers are now focusing on how best to ‘recover’ the existing system but also on the opportunity to ‘build it back better’ by preparing children and students for life rather than just exams.
Led by:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
SLEEP – WHAT ARE THE TREASURES OF A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP?
Sunday 19 September • 08.15-09.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Paul Payot
The quality and quantity of the sleep we get is vital to every aspect of our physical and mental health. Particularly relevant today – sleep is critical for boosting our immune system. Come and find out what else real rest has to offer and how best to ensure we get enough of it.
With:
Short preparatory reading:
NUTRITION – ARE WE REALLY WHAT WE EAT?
Sunday 19 September • 08.15-09.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Isabella Straton
To quote Molière ‘we should eat to live’ – but with the plethora of choice and polemic surrounding food it’s not quite so simple. Come and get some greater clarity.
With:
Short preparatory reading:
MOVEMENT – WHY DOES HOW WE MOVE MATTER?
Sunday 19 September • 08.15-09.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Michel Payot
We can’t think if we don’t move. One neurophysiologist put it this way: “what we call thinking is the evolutionary internalization of movement”. How we move matters, but so does the why that motivates us to do so. Come and discover the virtuous circle that connects the two.
With:
Short preparatory reading:
ALIGNMENT – HOW TO CONNECT TO OUR HIGH ENERGY, AUTHENTIC SELVES IN 2 MINUTES EVERY MORNING
Sunday 19 September • 08.15-09.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Théodore Bourrit
Living in a place of alignment is not easy. Those who succeed enjoy high levels of performance and fulfilment while those that don’t often suffer from imbalance leading to stress. Discover how your core values, greatest talents and deepest aspirations can help you identify your “central alignment line” and be your most authentic, high performing self – every day.
With:
Short preparatory reading:
YOUTH ACTIVISM – WHAT DOES IT CHANGE?
Saturday 18 September • 09.15-10.30 • Majestic Congress Centre – Isabella Straton
A significant disconnect exists between what the ‘ruling’ generation thinks it knows about the younger generation and what the younger generation is really thinking – in terms of beliefs, aspirations, convictions and how it intends to change the world.
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With:
Short preparatory reading:
FOOD INSECURITY – HOW BEST TO DEAL WITH IT?
Friday 17 September • 10.15-11.30 • Majestic Congress Centre – Théodore Bourrit
The pandemic and food price inflation have led to a dramatic increase in global food insecurity (defined as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life). The problem can be catastrophic for some of the world’s poorest countries, but the broader challenge of food insecurity is a rising issue in high-income countries as well.
Led by:
With:
Short preparatory reading:
NUTRITION – CAN WHAT WE EAT OPTIMIZE OUR CAPACITY TO PERFORM?
Friday 17 September • 09.15-10.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Théodore Bourrit
To quote Molière ‘we should eat to live’, but can what we eat also help us to live better? Come and discover how nutrition can improve our performance, both in life generally (in terms of concentration, energy levels and so on) and more specifically in terms of sporting and physical activities.
With:
Short preparatory reading:
MOVEMENT – WHY DOES HOW WE MOVE MATTER?
Friday 17 September • 09.15-10.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Michel Payot
We can’t think if we don’t move. One neurophysiologist put it this way: “what we call thinking is the evolutionary internalization of movement”. How we move matters, but so does the why that motivates us to do so. Come and discover the virtuous circle that connects the two.
With:
Short preparatory reading:
MEDITATION – WHAT ARE SOME OF ITS LESSER-KNOWN BENEFITS?
Friday 17 September • 09.15-10.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Paul Payot
The practice of meditation is no longer regarded as fringe. More and more decision makers are waking up to its benefits while also realising the contribution it can make to their leadership skills.
With:
Short preparatory reading:
BREATHING – WHY IS SOMETHING SO SIMPLE SO IMPORTANT?
Friday 17 September • 09.15-10.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Isabella Straton
Of course, clean air is indispensable, but that’s not the whole story. How we actually breathe it is also fundamental for our mental and physical wellbeing. We can learn how to do this in a more efficacious way – come and try.
With:
Short preparatory reading:
INDIA AUTOMATED
Friday 17 September • 16.40-17.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Paul Payot
With:
BEEXELS – SLOW ART 4.0
Friday 17 September • 16.40-17.00 • Majestic Congress Centre – Joseph Vallot
With:
WHY A WALKSHOP?
Sunday 19 September • 14.00-17.00
A robust body of research now underpins our long held conviction that physical movement and being outside enhances cognitive capacity. For this reason, there is no better way to digest and develop the diverse and rich take-away from the opening days of the Summit, than to collectively take to an awe-inspiring mountain path and continue the conversation and quest for answers. These concluding ‘walkshops’ will be peppered with micro-presentations and led by mountain guides and different specialists.