"Growing inclusive markets"

30 November 2009. Together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the oikos Foundation for Economy and Ecology at the University of St.Gallen (HSG) will stage the first oikos UNDP Young Scholars Development Academy from 6-11 December 2009. Selected young academics from all over the world will be discussing “Growing inclusive markets”.

Poverty-fighting strategies
 Together, they will be working on poverty-fighting strategies that will be sustainable in the long term. The Academy is the starting point for the oikos Academic Network, which is supported by the Mercator Foundation Switzerland and will serve to provide a network, as well as training and further education for young faculty in the field of sustainable business.

The oikos UNDP Young Scholars Development Academy aims to provide a critical analysis and development of entrepreneurial approaches to fighting poverty against the background of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Link academic participants with the economy
The Academy links its academic participants with the economy: with ResponsAbility Social Investments AG, they analyze innovative business models and develop concrete steps for their implementation.

To ensure that the results take effect above and beyond participants, oikos cooperates with NextBillion.net as its media partner. As a global online medium, NextBillion.net links up entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, non-government organizations and politicians who work on entrepreneurial approaches to fighting poverty.

Media representatives are invited to a background disucssion at Tigerbergstr. 2, 9000 St.Gallen on 8 December, 7.00-8.30 p.m. Please register by e-mail to jost.hamschmidt@oikosinternational.org.