Showcase 2030 – Going beyond the event
25.08.2022
A little more than 2 months ago, E4S gathered over 500 participants at the Swisstech Convention Center for one of the biggest events in Switzerland dedicated to impact innovation. During two days, Showcase 2030 brought together impact-driven startups, researchers, corporates, international organizations, public sector representatives and civil society showcasing bold ideas to advance the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
This year, the event’s main focus was on the pressing topic of scaling solutions for a net positive planet. Indeed, while previous editions of Showcase 2030 already aimed at showcasing the immense potential of science and technology to build a more sustainable society, this edition aimed at highlighting and supporting high potential solutions to deploy their impact on a global scale.
Showcase welcomed over 30 keynote speakers, hosted 15 insightful masterclasses and presented 30 impact ventures in a startup exhibition – all organized around three key topics: enabling impactful collaborations with organizations; unlocking key resources with corporates; and deploying groundbreaking solutions with entrepreneurs.
The keynotes on the main stage addressed a wide array of subjects from how corporates can adapt to collaborate with fast paced startups, how blockchain can accelerate the SDGs, how to finance the decarbonization of large businesses, how systemic approaches can bring about change, how governments can foster impactful innovation… and many more.
One of the many highlights was the keynote by Professor Jorgen Randers, one of the co-authors of “Limits to Growth”, 50 years after the publication of his pioneering study, which has sold some 30 million copies in 30 languages across the world, and is considered to be a turning point in the environmental movement. In his talk, “The Limits to Growth and Technology in a 100-Year Perspective”, he insisted, among other things, on the need for democratic agreement for collective action to happen on a global scale.
After a summer which has shown us that climate change is already here and affecting our daily lives, people are increasingly losing faith in our capability to change the society and falling into despair. But all of these mission-driven entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, who make an incredibly vibrant innovation ecosystem, are here to remind us that some people are working effortlessly to make change happen. This is precisely what Showcase 2030 is all about.
Now, as we publish all of the keynotes, discussions and interviews from the event, we hope to inspire all social and environmental innovators out there who are aiming to take action. If you’ve enjoyed these discussions, you can already save the date for the next edition of Showcase on May 31st, 2023, and subscribe to our newsletter or social media to be among the first to register.