Recap – The Green Voices Conference 2022

The topic of sustainability is more relevant than ever. We cannot preserve our planet's ecosystems by business-as-usual, so we need to pay more attention to sustainable alternatives. Because a sustainable economy already exists. Greenhouse gases are increasing and whether the climate target of “1,5 degrees” can be achieved is controversial.

The Green Voices Conference 2022, which took place on June 02nd and 03rd in Berlin, started with the principle “The transformation begins now”. A gathering for everyone who is committed to sustainability. More than 30 speakers from outstanding companies from different industries were invited to discuss topics such as clean energy, fair finance, sustainable textiles, mental health and new work. From communication to finance to politics: Among the speakers were Mimi Sewalski from Avocado Store, Jaron Pazi from Treedom and UNESCO Award Winner Domitila Barros.

The initiator of the conference is the Council for Sustainable Economy - a network that was founded by Nike Wessel and Katharina Agena. Nike Wessel is the managing director of the value-oriented communications agency Studio36 for podcasts and films. Katharina Agena is a geographer. With her focus on human and natural sciences, she stands directly at the interface between man and nature. Their common goal is to create a network of like-minded people and to work for a working environment that is gentle on nature but also on people.

The topics of the Green Voices Conference 2022

The conference mainly discussed sustainability and social responsibility and, above all, how to proceed in times of constant crisis. The special thing about the Green Voices Conference is that the best practices of sustainable management in Germany present their very personal stories. Where is sustainability still not working? What are changes that want to be seen on the outside and what are internal, inner changes that the company needs? But how to communicate correctly and how to use new trends and tools correctly was also discussed. Creative and innovative solutions were presented for this.

So what needs to happen for us to turn things around? Mainly political regulations are decisive, but also a general change in behavior of everyone. This means that companies have to change their usual processes and ideally as transparently as possible. But what can a single individual achieve? After all, the little things matter too.

Here it says: Balance the Sustainable account with small changes, for example in heating, eating or mobility.

"Freedom, peace, climate protection: only with radical post-fossility" - Dr. Felix Ekardt 

Everyone sends, no one receives - why social media is dead

But what does communication have to do with sustainability?

1. Very specific: Environmental balance - digital technology such as video streaming was responsible for more than 2018 million tons of CO300 in 2

2. Very real: About the wasted lifetime - how often do you look at your smartphone every day and how often was it necessary?

3. Very Conscious: Why do we communicate and with how many?

So in order to communicate the many sustainable topics in such a way that the majority also takes them up, awareness must be created. With the right format, in the right place. Rapid growth is not a sustainable solution, but rather natural growth, for example as an impact-driven company, i.e. the purpose is at the beginning and is the guiding principle of daily business decisions and communication.

But outer and inner change were also discussed at the Green Voices Conference, including the topic of diversity. What is that? Diversity. It was about "Managing Diversity", i.e. avoiding or reducing disadvantages. But also "diversity management", the active shaping of differences to achieve concrete goals.

The Generation Forest also showed how ecology can be combined with economy to create real system change - starting in the country of reforestation, here Panama. The company has set itself the task of permanently restoring forests by giving them an economic benefit. For this purpose, the generation forest principle was developed. In concrete terms, this means: three generations of plants to create an ecosystem. The impact is enormous - many jobs have already been created, endangered species have been sighted again and a rethinking in the community has been initiated.

The top priority is to create awareness and demonstrate how sustainability can work and how resources can be used consciously.

“We don't need more sustainability, we need a paradigm shift” - Michael Braungart, Co-Founder Cradle to Cradle

Changing politics can only be achieved together

Where is the money going and how can you actively redistribute it? For this to happen, the framework conditions must be changed politically. We are currently living in a self-braking system and we hope that the Green New Deal will change everything. Rahul Schwenk, manager of FMLH - Laboratory for Politics and Communication, says critically: "Ecological, social and economic sustainability can only be achieved if all relevant actors from the different sectors work together and work together on solutions.

This means: Sharing knowledge and creating trust. But also form new hierarchies in which every vote counts equally. Matching this is Europe's largest impact hub in Berlin - a co-working space for social and sustainable innovations. The approach: Cooperation is the central way to solve problems and advance innovations.

In summary, it was two exciting days with a lot of exchange, interesting topics and people. The participating companies show how change is possible. Above all, however, founders and individual companies must create a network and support each other.