The Great Transformation in Davos: New models to address old challenges

Sitting in the offices of the World Economic Forum in picturesque Davos high in the snowy mountains, there are a number of major issues on the top of my mind: rising volatility and uncertainty in the global economy, gridlocked political systems and slow progress on major reforms – all issues highlighted in the Forum’s Outlook on the Global Agenda 2012.

The underlying systems are broken and a major rethink needs to take place to move in the right direction to realize a global vision for a more sustainable and inclusive growth model for the world and future generations. And while the mood in Davos is that of excited anticipation for the next few days to come, not enough emphasis is given to the fact that this meeting is a result of a lot of preparation at the regional and global levels through discussions, virtual interactions and projects.

One specific community which has been working over the last few months to rethink the existing parameters and challenge the world with new models is the Global Agenda Councils, a network of more than 1,300 experts convened by the Forum to collectively find solutions to the most pressing global issues. Members of the Network meet throughout the year in working groups to prepare the intellectual dimensions of the discussion in Davos. More than 300 Global Agenda Council Members – from New Zealand to Argentina – will be at Davos to discuss their recommendations with decision-makers from politics, civil society and business, and share their ideas, insights and new models with the entire world via social media.

Starting today and throughout the Annual Meeting, we will launch a blog series live from Davos. Blogs will be written each day by select Members of the Network on new models, insights and Council projects. Some example of the upcoming posts will include new models for the development agenda and the Millennium Development Goals, the rebalancing of the geopolitical landscape, the future of North Korea, and how digital governance is reshaping the online space.

The most interesting posts, session insights, tweets and Facebook entries will be reposted on the digital interactive platform, TopLink, to generate exchange of opinions on the most important issues on the Annual Meeting agenda.

Davos is only a starting point for interactions and actions. Follow Members of the Global Agenda Councils on the Forum blog and join them in a lively discussion on the issues that matter for each of us and can be resolved only if everyone is a truly engaged global citizen.

Martina Gmür, Senior Director, Head of the Network of Global Agenda Councils

Pictured above: Davos mountains, photo by Martin Nägele