IEF 12th Conference photographs

The conference this year was a unique partnership between the International Environment Forum and the European Baha'i Business Forum, combining memberships and exploring common concerns about the role of business in sustainability. It was held at the de Poort Conference Centre in the Netherlands where EBBF traditionally holds its annual conference. From the first day's registration to the final lunch, business people and ecologists, young and old, shared a very rich experience.

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The conference was opened by Wendi Momen for EBBF and Victoria Thoresen for IEF


EBBF Secretary General Daniel Truran helped to get things started, and IEF General Secretary Sylvia Karlsson provided an opening keynote on the conference theme "Growth or Sustainability? Defining, Measuring and Achieving Prosperity"
Daniel Truran  Sylvia Karlsson 

There were a variety of interactive formats to make it easier for all the participants to get to know each other and to share their experience and concerns
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Finnish television personality Aram Aflatuni interviewed some of the presenters, including Diana Cartwright from the Canadian Department of Environment, Lucy Symons from Australia, in charge of external affairs at AIESEC International, and Gordon Naylor, a Canadian educational entrepreneur.
Aflatuni & Cartwright   Lucy Symons

 Gordon Naylor
 
Three angles to sustainability were provided by Rebecca Mesbah, Shervin Setareh and Yves Garenne, followed by a panel moderated by Shoghi Emerson
Rebecca Mesbah   Shervin Setareh

Yves Garenne   Shoghi Emerson and the panel

Emily Firth organized a project room where projects requiring inputs or open to discussion with conference participants could be presented
Emily Firth  .

In the Sustainability Islands world café session, critical issues were discussed more informally
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Extended mealtimes provided the opportunity for individual exchanges and networking, always one of the most valuable parts of the conference
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Stephen Karnik of the Baha'i International Community provided a human perspective on true prosperity, and IT entrepreneur John Patterson provided a business perspective on favouring the future
Steve Karnik  John Patterson

An afternoon "Walk the Talk" exercise in the forest organized by Mika Korhonnen and Sylvia Karlsson challenged teams to show their environmental knowledge
Mika and Sylvia 

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Project presentations included some from Macedonia and Spain
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Friday evening concert by renowned pianist Nancy Lee Harper followed by the music and sounds from Finland to the Altai mountains offered by Janne Lemettinen and Aram Aflatuni
Nancy Lee Harper   Aram Aflatuni & Janne Lemettinen

Two sets of workshops provided time for detailed discussion of various themes of the conference such as indicators of sustainability, green construction projects, moral and ethical frameworks in business, gender balance, growth and profits, generative change leadership, renewable energy, fighting corruption, spreading values through the media, careers and sustainable consumption.



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Among the EBBF leaders present were President George Starcher, Mahmud Samandari and Daniel Truran, Secretary-General
George Starcher & Mahmud Samandari  Daniel Truran

The "World Talk" roundtable Saturday evening led by Wendi Momen provided a dynamic exchange with many of the presenters
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The Saturday Night Live session with Augusto Lopez Claros was one of the highlights of the conference