Oliver Cann, Director, Public Engagement, Tel: +41 79 799 3405; Email: Oliver.Cann@weforum.org
Geneva, Switzerland, 17 September 2014 – A new term begins this week for the World Economic Forum’s Network of Global Agenda Councils, which mobilizes some 1,500 globally recognized leaders to volunteer their time and address worldwide, regional and industry challenges.
The Global Agenda Councils make up the world’s largest volunteer network of experts. Every two years the network brings together leaders, pioneers and experts from business, government, international organizations, academia and civil society to provide innovative thinking on critical global issues and incubate projects, events and campaigns for the public good. In the 2014-2016 term, experts will be grouped into 86 councils, each addressing a specific issue. A full list of councils can be found here.
Among those who will be volunteering their time this term are: Valerie Amos, José Manuel Barroso, Carl Bildt, Gordon Brown, Jan Egeland, Al Gore, Aleqa Hammond, Hina Rabbani Khar, Toomas Ilves, Pascal Lamy, Scott Minerd, Kumi Naidoo, Joseph Nye, Surin Pitsuwan, Salil Shetty, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Jonas Gahr Store, and Jaan Tallinn.
In an era marked by short-termism and silo-thinking, these leaders will foster long-range approaches to tackling the world’s prevailing challenges, said Martina Larkin, senior director and head of the Network of Global Agenda Councils. “While national governments and international institutions have struggled to come up with the necessary solutions, the world is not short of intelligent people. Governments, corporations, civil society, academia and international organizations are full of experts who can, when brought together, achieve a critical mass of insight,” she said. “In technology, sustainability and governance, the world is full of ideas – many of them excellent. Unfortunately, the capacity to build consensus and to roll out effective programmes is much rarer.”
Some of the issues that will be addressed this term include:
Members will gather at the annual Summit on the Global Agenda – the world’s largest brainstorming event – held in collaboration with the Government of the United Arab Emirates. This year’s summit will take place in Dubai on 9-11 November. The insights, ideas and recommendations generated by the councils will be integrated into the Forum’s other activities, such as the Annual Meeting in Davos and regional and industry events.
In the recently completed 2012-2014 term, the councils can count the following achievements:
Notes to editors
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