05.11.2023 – This year’s highly ambitious Inspiration Day focused on the transformative and innovative strategies required — on a global, business, and individual level — to meet the imminent Shift to a carbon neutral world.
Through inspirational seminars, live interviews and lively panel discussions, some 550 attendees from almost 50 countries soaked up the knowledge and insights of international keynote speakers on strategies for addressing fundamental global shifts in sustainability through innovation and collaboration.
The moderator for the day was the internationally awarded speaker and broadcast journalist Sabinije von Gaffke. Sabinije put her extensive experience in guiding leadership workshops to good use as she facilitated the attendees through the day’s events.
The first presenter was Professor Johan Rockström Ph.D., a Swedish scientist and international authority on global sustainability issues. Johan is a pioneer in the field of planetary boundaries, creating a framework — in areas from climate to biodiversity — to maintain a “safe operating space for humanity.” Johan spoke convincingly about the need for global partnerships and cooperation in order to succeed in building a sustainable, common future for our planet.
The next presenter was SSAB’s CEO Martin Lindqvist who spoke on transforming the future of steel. This was the ideal set-up for the subsequent panel discussion, featuring SSAB Partners discussing the fossil-free value chain and the importance of partnerships and collaboration.
Next up was Laila Pawlak, the founder and CEO of Rehumanize Institute, where she is a strong voice for the Responsible Business Transformation and impact leadership as it affects the future of work. Laila spoke about what it takes to lead with courage, through partnerships, to thrive in times of massive global shifts.
Then speaker Tobias Degsell, a scholar on creativity and Nobel laureates, spoke about how he coaches and inspires co-working teams to solve problems through innovation — and the obvious connection between Nobel laureates and Steel Prize winners: collaboration.
The final presenter for Inspiration Day was Nils van der Poel, the reigning men’s World and Olympic speed skater. After his 2022 Olympic gold performances, Nils published his free training manifesto, centered around developing a massive aerobic base. Surprisingly, Nils has suffered from a self-described “lack of motivation.” His Steel Prize talk focused on how he came to terms with his driving forces, mastered them, and reached his goals — and how you can too.