29.01.2024

Festa's January conference was a success despite the power outage

The Festa 2024 January Conference was sold out. The conference was a success beyond expectations, despite the power outage at the end of the conference. See news in the issue.

“We are writing human history” was the title of the conference. What will be written in the history books of the future when the actions or inactions of our generations are discussed? We are hopeful, as we who move in the world of sustainability see courageous steps taken every single day for the benefit of the earth and society.

Við þurfum samt enn fleiri kjarkmikla leiðtoga til þess að taka þessi umbreytingarskref og taka erfiðar ákvarðanir sem gætu mætt mótstöðu, en það var eitt þema ráðstefnunnar. Eins og Halla Tómasdóttir sagði:

"People who can think holistically, connect the dots, and understand the roles of government, business, and citizens. These are the people who are becoming the force we need to drive these big changes, much more than experts who tend to get stuck in a narrow vision of this big transformational task ahead."

Human well-being and resilience was also a theme of the conference, or the social dimension of sustainability. We brought in international transformational leader Sandrine Dixson-Declève to share her visionary ideas on how we need to prioritize basic human needs and health, equality, well-being and social harmony over economic profit. These are the variables we need to consider when thinking about sustainability goals and outcomes.

We also delved into our personal resilience, which is closely linked to community resilience. Among the speakers were Katie Hodgetts, a leader supporting burnt-out young climate activists, and Andri Guðmundsson, co-founder of VAXA, who spoke about personal resilience in the sustainability journey and how we persevere through these big challenges.

Thank you to everyone who participated with us or supported us in one way or another; people in the program, Húsasmiðjan, Play, Íslandshótel, Harpa Concert Hall, Discover Truenorth, Langbrók, Einar Thoroddsen artist, DJ Sigrún Skafta, Ernir Eyjólfsson photographer and more! You know who you are.