KUNFUNADHOO ISLAND, MALDIVES—It has been announced that the 2014 Slow Life Symposium at Soneva Fushi will focus on the concept of Planetary Boundaries (as pioneered by the Stockholm Resilience Centre), exploring how we can accelerate and scale initiatives like “Natural Capital” and “Social Capital” to shape the ground rules for tomorrow’s capitalism.
Now in its fifth year, the conference brings together a group of 30 eminent representatives from the global world of business, science, travel and education for a four day symposium (November 13 to 16) and promises to, once again, provide an inspiring environment for collaboration with some of the world’s most influential minds.
Organized by the Slow Life Foundation and hosted by the Soneva Group, the symposium’s express aim is to forge new partnerships and collaborations for the year ahead. The event acts as a hub where business leaders, scientists, NGOs, academics and policy makers discuss key issues. This year these issues will include food, farming, fishing, the health of the oceans and the role of finance and philanthropy in scaling solutions globally.
Questions That Will Be Considered
During the event, attendees will look to explore the following important questions: How can financial and economic systems place our world on a more sustainable footing? How do we balance the often-competing needs of different stakeholders when it comes to land use? How can innovation in governance and investment improve and cement our oceans’ long-term health? How can we promote sustainable fisheries and reef restoration in the Maldives? How can we increase the proportion of philanthropic funds dedicated to environmental causes?
For the second time, the event will be chaired by Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director of Forum for the Future and an original pioneer of sustainable business, who said, “This unique event brings together an extraordinary group of people who believe in the necessity of action, and it’s an absolute privilege to have been asked to host again this year, particularly as last year was such an inspiration. The incredible investment by the Slow Life Foundation allows us maximum opportunity to have essential conversations that will, and have, lead directly to positive change.”
All the Symposium participants are known champions of environmental causes and each share an unshakeable belief that when we join forces, it is possible to make a big impact on environmental problems in a shorter period of time and bring about transformational change.
Whole World Water’s Beginnings
This change is tangible, proven through the successful initiatives established as a direct result of past symposiums, such as Whole World Water which takes the Soneva model of filtering and bottling drinking water on site and extends it to the whole of the hospitality industry. With members contributing 10 percent of water revenues, this initiative has the potential to raise $1 billion to provide safe drinking water and basic sanitation services globally.
The event will take place at the resort Soneva Fushi in the Maldives, a Biosphere UNESCO protected jewel of biodiversity with a vibrant reef, a colony of nesting turtles, and a world-class observatory.
Soneva Fushi has a 70KW solar photovoltaic system and is in the process of installing a further 700KW, champions the use of natural building materials, eschews the use of plastic, produces its own drinking water, and recycles 80 percent of solid waste in a nation with no such municipal facilities.
Click here for more details on the Slow Life Symposium.
