 | |
| Formation | February 1970; 55 years ago (1970-02) |
|---|---|
| Founder | Wolfgang Schürer, Clemens Ernst Brenninkmeijer, Franz Karl Kriegler, Urs Schneider, Terje Wolner-Hanssen |
| Type | Non-profit organisation |
| Legal status | Club |
| Headquarters | Dufourstrasse 83,St. Gallen,Switzerland |
| Location |
|
| Origins | Student unrests of 1968 |
Region served | Worldwide |
| Membership | around 30 students (ISC) |
| Staff | 9 |
| Volunteers | approximately 450 |
| Website | www.symposium.org |
TheSt. Gallen Symposium, formerly known as theInternational Management Symposium and theInternational Students’ Committee (ISC) Symposium, is an annual conference held each May at theUniversity of St. Gallen inSt. Gallen,Switzerland. It brings together leaders from business, politics, and academia to discuss economic, political, social, and related global issues.[1]
The ISC Symposium was founded in 1970 by a group of students led by Wolfgang Schürer, Clemens Ernst Brenninkmejer, Franz Karl Kriegler, Urs Schneider, and Terje I. Wölner-Hanssen, in response to theinternational student protests of 1968. The first event conducted by the organisation, the International Management Dialogue, was held in 1970. The event attracted 100 students and 100 business leaders. Over time, the event received international speakers such asKofi Annan,Satya Nadella,Josef Ackermann, andChristine Lagarde.[2][3]
The St. Gallen Symposium debates current economic, political, and social developments.[1] This event presents as an inter-generational dialogue in a conducive and informal setting.[4]
The symposium's topic is chosen each year based on current events and issues. Topics vary from business-oriented to more holistic themes as embodied by the topicsGrowth – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (2016),The Dilemma of Disruption (2017),Beyond the End of Work (2018),Freedom Revisited (2020), andShifting Global Power (2025).[5][6][7]
The ISC organises the St. Gallen Symposium with the organising team alternating every year. In February 1970, Wolfgang Schürer (DE) founded the International Students' Committee (ISC) together with fellow academics from the University of St. Gallen, Clemens Ernst Brenninkmeyer (NL), Franz Karl Kriegler (AT), Urs Schneider (CH), and Terje I. Wölner-Hanssen (NO). They founded the ISC to replace the 1968 International Student Riots. The name,International Students' Committee, was chosen based on the different nationalities of the founders, namely Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland. On 30 June and 1 July 1970, the firstInternational Management Dialogue (from the original German:Internationales Management Gespräch) occurred at theUniversity of St. Gallen, with 100 students and many business leaders participating.[8][9][10]
After holding the firstInternational Management Dialogue, the founding presidents Wolfgang Schürer and Urs Schneider published a book with the presentations of the first meeting. After the first ISC event, Wolfgang Schürer institutionalised the ISC idea with the help of Urs Schneider.[1] Around 200 people participated in the first event, with about half of them coming from prominent positions in the economies of 20 countries. The other half of the participants came from 40 different universities acrossEurope.[2] After the secondInternational Management Dialogue in the following year, the symposium was recognized by the Rectorate of theUniversity of St. Gallen.[11]
TheClub of Rome that studiesThe Limits to Growth,[1] analysing the effect of exponential growth on a finite planet, was presented at the third symposium in 1972. Aurelio Peccei and the Minister of Science of Lower Saxony,Professor Eduard Pestel, participated in that event. It was the first great forum in the German-speaking world at that time.[2] The next symposium was not held in 1974, in theory, due to the global economic downturn caused by the1973 Oil Crisis, and problems with the continuity of the student initiative. After that, the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies emerged to continue the work of the International Students' Committee.[3] The members supported the ISC over several years. In 1977, the St. Gallen Symposium made the headlines with a round table discussion with German Employers' PresidentHanns Martin Schleyer andDGB ChairmanHeinz Oskar Vetter.[4] The St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies developed the St. Gallen Symposia in the coming decades.
A change was introduced in 1989 when the International Students' Committee founded theSt. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award, which today has grown in size and is now called theGlobal Essay Competition. The students were required to submit an essay. Only the 100 best students could participate in the St. Gallen Symposium. Moreover, authors of the best contributions were bestowed with the St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award, CHF 20,000.– in prize money, and the chance to present their essays at the St. Gallen Symposium (see below).[12]
Since the mid-1990's, the ISC has tried to raise the international profile of the symposium. In this restructuring, a new logo was introduced and the name "International Management Symposium" was changed toISC-Symposium. Moreover, the ISC gave financial support for the construction of the Executive Campus HSG at the University of St. Gallen during this period.
In 2002, theSwiss Federal Council commissioned the ISC to organise the International Conference on Federalism and maintain the structure of the symposium. The conference was attended by eight heads of state and government, sixteen ministers, three federal councillors, twenty government councillors, and their delegations.[13][14][15]
The current name,St. Gallen Symposium, was introduced in 2005. The following year,Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of theUnited Nations, received the Freedom Prize of the Max Schmidheiny Foundation, already awarded in 2003.[16][17]
From 2008 to 2010, due to an extensive reconstruction of the University's main building and its auditorium, the symposium took place in a temporary tent city behind the Library building of the University of St. Gallen.
The 40th St. Gallen Symposium in 2010 introduced a few changes. For example, the duration of the event ranged from half a day to two days. The Topic Leaders supplemented the group of speakers, organising single events. The Knowledge Pool extended the selection of students. The Knowledge Pool consists of 100 people specifically invited to the symposium by the ISC, providing a counterweight to the 100 winners of the academic St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award (now the Global Essay Competition).[1] Another innovation was the Global Perspectives Barometer (now the Voices Report), an annual survey of current and former student participants on current social issues in cooperation with theGfK Association (Credit Suisse until 2013).[18][19]
The St. Gallen Symposium got a new office inSingapore at the beginning of 2012.
The restructuring of the St. Gallen Symposium began in 2017 and was planned to be completed by 2020. During this period, a new group calledAspiring Leaders was introduced, the organisation of worldwideYear-Round Events was intensified, and the symposium's overall offerings were adjusted.
The Aspiring Leaders are a group of young decision-makers who have reached the early milestones of their careers, intended to bridge the gap between the Leaders of Tomorrow and the Senior Leaders. The Year-Round Events—around ten held annually in Europe and Asia—support the St. Gallen Symposium's goal of fostering inter-generational dialogue throughout the year. These include the Singapore Reception in November and the Zurich Reception in January.
Since 2019
In September 2019, the St. Gallen Symposium adopted a new logo to emphasise the progressiveness and student character of the initiative. The new branding was further underlined by the motto "Where aspirations get inspired." At the 49th St. Gallen Symposium, a workshop session format, "Interactive Session," was introduced. The "Interactive Sessions" take place in parallel with the "Insight Sessions".
Postponement of the 50th Anniversary Symposium
Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the 50th St. Gallen Symposium, scheduled for 10 March 2020, was officially postponed to 2021. It was the second time the St. Gallen Symposium could not be held at its planned time.
New formats
For the St. Gallen Symposium from 5 May to 7 May 2021, strategic further development of the physical dialogue with digital elements was realized, thus guaranteeing the security of the participants and more sustainability. Newly, the St. Gallen Symposium also took place through two hubs in New York and Singapore and worked with 8 Swiss embassies all over the world on new formats.
Managers, politicians, and scientists were invited to the 50th edition of the symposium in May 2021 (under the motto Trust Matters) to broaden the discussion. German climate activistLuisa Neubauer, the overall ski World Cup winnerAleksander Aamodt Kilde, and the German Jesuit Klaus Mertes, who helped to uncover the abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, took part in the symposium. The committee selected approximately 200 young talents ("Leaders of Tomorrow"). 40% of the invited speakers were women. It was a higher percentage than any previous symposium.[20]
The St. Gallen Symposium happens for two days at the beginning of May. The official program includes different types of sessions:[21][22]
Apart from Public Insight Sessions, the sessions are not open to the public. However, selected Plenary Sessions are live and broadcast on the St. Gallen Symposium's official YouTube channel.[23] Furthermore, with the support of the Ria & Arthur Dietschweiler Foundation, key findings of the annual symposium are presented and discussed at theSt. Gallen Symposium in Town Sessions.
The St. Gallen Symposium has three participant groups: the "Senior Leaders" (former Leaders of Today), the "Leaders of Tomorrow", and the "Aspiring Leaders".[24][25]
The "Senior Leaders" consist of 600 people from economic, political, social, and academic fields. They can be classified into the group's partners, participants, guests, speakers, and topic leaders, who moderate the discussions.[26]
The "Leaders of Tomorrow" are 200 participants below 30 years old. Their qualifications must be according to the criteria for the "Global Essay Competition" (former St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award) or the Knowledge Pool.[27][28] The latter group of selected participants must respect the criteria, such as topic relevance and past performance. The St. Gallen Symposium provides Leaders of Tomorrow with a platform where they can discuss with today's executives at eye level and challenge them so that new approaches to thinking and solutions can emerge.
The "Aspiring Leaders" are participants who have the potential to take on a leading role in an industry.[29]
Every year, the Winners of the Global Essay Competition (before the St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award) receive an award during the St. Gallen Symposium. The Global Essay Competition is an essay competition for students from all over the world.[1] In addition, from 1979 to 2003, the St. Gallen Symposium was the platform for the bestowal of the Max Schmidheiny Foundation's Freedom Prize.
The Global Essay Competition (former St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award) is an essay competition for students at the graduate or postgraduate level. The authors of the 100 best submissions can travel to St. Gallen for one week and participate in the St. Gallen Symposium. Since the essay's topic is always related to the symposium's main topic of discussion, the five best authors can present their essays in front of a global audience during the Conference. It has CHF 20'000. With more than 1000 contributions from over 60 different countries annually, the St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award is one of the biggest student essay competitions of its kind.[45][46] The evaluation process is anonymous and carried out by a preliminary and main jury. The first has PhD students from the University of St. Gallen and the ETH Zurich, whereas the main jury comprises professors, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and politicians. The current president of the preliminary jury is Heike Bruch, and the main jury is Georg F. von Krogh. Other members are Peter Day, Nigel Fretwell, Heike Bruch, Marcela Escobar, and Riz Khan.[47][48]
The Global Essay Competition was first launched in 1989 to select student participants for the symposium and was modified several times. An adjustment was made restricting the eligibility to graduate and postgraduate students in 2009, and a simultaneous reduction of the invitations based on the essay competition from 200 to 100 invitations. The other 100 students have since then been recruited by the ISC through the so-called Knowledge Pool.[49]
From 1979 until 2003, the Max Schmidheiny Foundation annually awarded its Freedom Prize during the symposium. The prestigious honourees includeKofi Annan,Nicolas Hayek,the International Committee of the Red Cross,Jorma Ollila, andMuhammad Yunus. In 2003, the Max Schmidheiny Foundation decided to focus on other activities and abandoned the Freedom Prize.
The St. Gallen Symposium, since its establishment in 1969, has been organized by the International Students' Committee, an independent non-profit organization and an accredited association of the University of St. Gallen. Every year, it consists of a team of about 30 students from the University of St. Gallen who pause their studies for one year. This team includes three (in former years, two) members of the previous ISC Team who form the Head of the Organising Committee.[12][50] During the symposium, the ISC has a crew of about 450 volunteers, all students from the University of St. Gallen.
Numerous old ISC members are now occupying leading positions. Some of the most well-known ISC alumni are:
The St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies acts as the supervisory body and ensures the continuity of the symposium, given the annually changing organizing team.[51] The foundation has about ten members, with Beat Ulrich being the current CEO. Former CEOs include Philip Erzinger (2008-2017), Andreas Kirchschläger (1997-2008), Eugen von Keller (1995-1997), Gerard &Ursula Stoudman and Wolfgang Schürer (1975-1993).
The Board of Trustees supervises the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies withPeter Voser (ChairmanABB) as its Chairman. Further members areManuel Ammann (PresidentUniversity of St. Gallen), Andreas Berger (CEOSwiss Re),Sabrina Soussan (former CEOSuez),Claudia Suessmuth Dyckerhoff (Board MemberRoche &Clariant), Philipp Navratil (ISC Alumni, CEONespresso), Steven Althaus (ISC Alumni, CEO Grenzebach Group), Clara Streit (ISC Alumni, ChairwomanDeutsche Börse Group &Vonovia) and Ulrike Landfester (ProfessorUniversity of St. Gallen).[52]Josef Ackermann (former CEODeutsche Bank) is the honorary chairman and a former member of the board.[53]
Conference Chairpersons areLord Griffiths of Fforestfach,Dominik Barton, andRoshni Nadar, and from 2026 onChristoph Heusgen.
The 1974-established Circle of Benefactors constitutes the key element in the non-profit organization's funding. Currently, it encompasses more than 400 companies, which commit themselves for three years at a time to support the St. Gallen Symposium with a financial contribution. The Establishment of this long-term relationship continues, and the eventual cancellation of the event, like in 1979, can be prevented. The participants were invited to the Dinner for the Circle of Benefactors on Wednesday of the symposium, despite the St. Gallen Symposium's participation.[54]
This Circle of Benefactors has seven partners, providing special support in their respective areas:ABB,Accenture,BCG,UBS,HCL Tech,Swiss Re,Omega, and the Max Schmidheiny Foundation.
The St. Gallen Symposium has partnered with the Max Schmidheiny Institution and the University of St. Gallen, making the symposium's infrastructure available every year. With the support of the St. Gallen-based Ria & Arthur Dietschweiler Foundation, the St. Gallen Symposium Public Forum is enabled.[55]
Moreover, there are numerous donors who contribute to the funding.[56]
