Building Resilience in the Age of Uncertainty
Purpose of the Event
Bridging Swiss economic tradition with global foresight, this gathering invites senior scientists, executives, investors, and policy makers to reflect on and reshape the strategies that will define opportunity-driven leadership in an age of disruption. With keynotes by global thought leaders and a site visit to world-class companies in the Zurich Greater Area, the overall objective to the event is to equip its participants with the ability to better grasp not just the risks but also the opportunities associated with the current highly volatile political and economic environment. In this context, science-based innovations as the main drivers - not just for economic growth - but also sustainable change will be discussed in different economic sectors.
The geographical focus will be on Europe, Asia and the Middle East with special attention on how to build bridges to potentially rivalrous neighboring countries through cooperation and innovation.
Event Chairs
Director, Center for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CCRS) and
Professor at the School of Management Fribourg (HSW-FR)
Stiftung Zentrum Nachhaltigkeit Zürich
Technoparkstrasse 1
8005 Zürich
E-mail: philipp.aerni@ccrs.ch
Mobile: +41 79 786 57 25
Philipp Aerni is Director of the Center for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CCRS) and also Professor for Sustainability and Impact Entrepreneurship at the School of Management Fribourg (HEG-FR). He received his Masters Degree in Geography (with Minors in Environmental Science and Economics) from the University of Zurich and his PhD in Agricultural Economics from ETH Zürich. Prior to his position at CCRS, Dr. Aerni worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Institute for Environmental Decisions at ETH Zurich, the World Trade Institute at the University of Berne as well as the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). Philipp Aerni is also a senior lecturer at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich. Among numerous other engagements, he is a member of the Jury of the Swiss Family Business Award, the Forum Genetic Research (SCNAT), and Liberethica (a Platform on ethics, business and religion). As an interdisciplinary social scientist he is interested in the role entrepreneurship and innovation as potential driving forces for inclusive and sustainable change.
Panel Chair
Markus Schaefer
President of Switzerland Innovation Park Central, Zug
markus@hosoyaschaefer.com
Prof. Dr. Beat Keller
Professor of Plant Science at the University of Zurich
bkeller@botinst.uzh.ch
Prof. Dr. Rajib Shaw
Professor at Keio University, Japan
shaw@sfc.keio.ac.jp
Shan Jiang
Humboldt Fellow
jstreecool@gmail.com
Keynote Speakers
Member of the Swiss State Council
Head of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) at Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research.
Professor at London School of Economics and Author of Bestselling book ‘The China Playbook’
Professor at Michigan State University and Founder and CEO of CIBO Technologies
Award Winning Canadian Journalist, Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy and Author of Bestselling Book ‘Arrival City’
Vice-President of ETH Board, Founder and Chairwoman of Swiss Stablecoin AG
Founding CEO Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, Executive in Residence at Georgetown University, USA
Invited Speakers
CTO Bühler Group
Partner, Holinger AG
Professor at ETH Zurich
Founder and CEO of IBX
Professor of Bioeconomy and Circular Economy, Germany
Professor and former President of University of Wageningen
Embassy of India in Switzerland
Seed Stars
CEO of ABB Switzerland
Professor of Sociology, University of Basel
Baden 4.0
Professor at INCAE, Costa Rica and Founding partner at Aequitas Consulting Group
Founder and CEO of Alpha Talents
Head of Zurich Resilience Solutions
Global Compact Network Switzerland and Lichtenstein
Founder and CEO of Cyverse, Zurich
Detailed Program
| Thursday 15 January 2026 | ||
| Time | Session | Speaker |
| 08:15 | Registration, Coffee | |
| 08:30 | Welcome Address | Rico Baldegger, Swiss Sustainability Foundation |
| 08:40 | Opening Keynotes | Marianne Binder, Member of the Swiss State Council Martina Hirayama, Head of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) at Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research. |
| 09:00 | Panel 1: Building up resilience through infrastructure development | Chaired by Markus Schaefer, President of Switzerland Innovation Park Central, Zug • The future of resilient water and waste management systems (Reto von Schulthess, Partner, Holinger AG) • Advanced systems of clean and safe energy production (Annalisa Manera, Professor at ETH Zurich) • Aerospace, disruptive technologies, and strategic business leadership (Kam Ghaffarian (tbc), founder and CEO of IBX,) • The importance of cybersecurity in the provision of public services (Shira Kaplan, Founder and CEO of Cyverse, Zurich) |
| 11:00 | Break | |
| 11:15 | Keynote | Keyu Jin, Professor at London School of Economics and Author of Bestselling book ‘The China Playbook’ |
| 11:45 | Plenum Discussion | |
| 12:00 | Lunch | |
| 13:30 | Panel 2: Rural-urban linkages and their contribution to an inclusive bioeconomy | Chair : Beat Keller (tbc), Professor of Plant Science at the University of Zurich • The contribution of Buhler Group to resilient economic ecosystems in Switzerland and abroad (Ian Roberts, CTO Bühler Group) • The bioeconomy as a driver of sustainable rural-urban economic linkages (Jan Grossarth, Professor of Bioeconomy and Circular Economy, Germany) • Innovation in food and agriculture for stronger urban-rural bonds (Louise Fresco, Professor and former President of University of Wageningen) • Viksit Bharat@2047 and its contribution to sustainable bioeconomy (Shri Piyush Goyal (tbc), Embassy of India in Switzerland). |
| 15:30 | Keynote | Bruno Basso, Professor at Michigan State University and Founder and CEO of CIBO Technologies |
| 16:00 | Break | |
| 16:30 | Panel 3: Migration-Induced Urban Growth: how to convert outsiders into productive agents of change |
Chaired by Rajib Shaw, Professor at Keio University, Japan • Building Resilience in international value chains (Nora Teuwsen (tbc), CEO of ABB Switzerland) |
| 18:30 | Keynote | Doug Saunders, Award Winning Canadian Journalist, Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy and Author of Bestselling Book ‘Arrival City’ |
| 19:00 | Discussion and Wrap-Up | |
| 19:30 | Conference Dinner | |
| Friday 16 January 2026 | ||
| Location: Trafo Baden. Auditorium | ||
| 08:15 | Registration, Coffee | |
| 08:30 | Welcome Remarks | Philipp Aerni (CCRS) and Christoph Lütolf (Baden 4.0) |
| 08:40 | MDPI OA and Sustainability | Stefan Tochev, CEO of MDPI AG |
| 09:10 | Opening Keynote | Pascale Bruderer, Vice-President of ETH Board, Founder and Chairwoman of Swiss Stablecoin AG |
| 09:30 | Panel 4: Investment in Sustainable and Inclusive Technological Change | Chaired by Shan Jiang, Humboldt Fellow • Trade and Investment Policies that enable inclusive growth and sustainable economic change in Latin America and the Caribbean (Victor Umaña, Professor at INCAE, Costa Rica and Founding partner at Aequitas Consulting Group) • Why private equity rather than classic development assistance will create inclusive growth in Africa (Roland Decorvet, Founder and CEO of Alpha Talents) • Why Building up an Insurance Industry matters for development (Risto Schmid, Head of Zurich Resilience Solutions) |
| 11:15 | Break | |
| 11:45 | Keynote | Eleni Gabre Madhin, Founding CEO Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, Executive in Residence at Georgetown University, USA |
| 12:15 | Discussion and Wrap-Up | Antonio Hautle (Global Compact Network Switzerland and Lichtenstein) |
| 12:30 | Lunch | |
| 14:00 | Site visit - Introduction to the history of the high-tech ecosystem of Baden by ABB | |
| 16:00 | End of Program | |
Sponsors and Partners
Organizers
