Panel Discussion: Value Change?! - Transformation & Cultural Change

Tuesday, March 14, 2023, 6:30-8 p.m., Sitterwerk Art Library/Material Archive.

Discussion with Maja Göpel (political economist, transformation expert and sustainability scientist), Martin Kolmar (economist & business ethicist) and Mathias Binswanger (economist & happiness researcher).

Introduction: Felix Lehner (Founder and Director Kunstgiesserei St.Gallen and Sitterwerk Foundation) & Philippe Narval (Intendant SQUARE)

The discussion about a transformation to climate neutrality and sustainability is usually very technical, both in the justification of its necessity and in the search for solutions. Everything is expected to remain as it is, only more efficient, more digital and powered by renewable energies. Yet the 21st century is about nothing less than a fundamental questioning of who we humans want to be on this planet. To answer this question democratically, we need a conscious approach to the worldviews, objectives, rationales and metrics that guide and legitimize the solutions, innovations and policies of transformation. This is where science has a responsibility. Maja Göpel, (political economist, transformation expert, sustainability scientist), Mathias Binswanger (economist and happiness researcher) and Martin Kolmar (economist and business ethicist) from the University of St.Gallen addressed these and other questions in a dialogue from different perspectives. The conversation entered topics such as reflective economic growth, the link between sustainability and a successful life, corporate responsibility, and the moral-ethical dichotomy of prices (in the sense of internalizing externalities) and rights in relation to our "fellow world."

The event, which took place in cooperation with the SQUARE of the HSG at the Sitterwerk, St.Gallen, attracted a broad and diverse audience and invited them to get to the bottom of the questions underlying a change in values. An evening that inspired to rethink sustainability transformation and culture change - both on the individual level of one's own actions and attitudes as well as from a national and global perspective.