Villars Symposium 2025

Morning

The ability to communicate with impact, authenticity and human connection is a must-have-skill for Systems Leaders. It is the backbone of how to effectively reach into the hearts and minds of stakeholders. It is also the foundation of the craft of “Leadership Speaking”. Join this compelling talk with the founder of this groundbreaking method to learn what this craft entails and discover how you can use it to make your messages matter.

Laura Penn

Restoring nature and tackling climate change faces significant leadership challenges as it requires unprecedented collaboration across various sectors and stakeholders in order to address the complexity of ecosystem restoration at scale. Join this plenary discussion to explore how we can accelerate systems leadership and the choices, capabilities and pathways needed to restore planetary health.

Milly Bevan

Sage Lenier

Patrick Odier

Kirsten Schuijt

Dominic Waughray

Simon Zadek

Session in Parallel

 Systems leadership can’t be learned by theory alone – it needs to be practiced in real contexts. The school environment is the perfect place to start leading systems change. Join this session to learn how other Villars Fellows have brought their ideas to life in their schools and get inspired to lead projects of your own.

Silvia Bernal

Yalid Cabezas

Anais Javelle

Lélia Walter

The communities and ecosystems that surround us must be protected and nurtured so they can thrive within planetary boundaries. Systems leaders are able to identify key systemic challenges and to create sustainable solutions in their local contexts. Join this session to explore how to drive change in your community, inspired by projects led by Villars Fellows with meaningful local impact.

Milagros Soledad Espinoza Jimenez

Milly Bevan

Aislin McGarry

Maurits Wessels

Integrating  Systems leadership in educational curricula has the potential to transform how the next generations think, live, and relate to the world - cultivating empathy, a sense of agency, and an ecopreneurial mindset. Join this session to explore how partners of the Villars Institute are embedding Systems Leadership and sustainability into core curricula, and the role of teachers and students as powerful agents of change too.

Naheed Bardai

Daniel McCloy

Milica Rajčić

Shafa Nabila Rihhadatul Aisy

Zlata Shama

Key traits of a Systems Leader include the ability to freely share ideas and knowledge and collaborate with diverse stakeholders. In this intergenerational workshop, you will bring a real-world challenge or opportunity that you care about and explore how to move it from idea to action through collaboration. You will also learn how to create the conditions for shared leadership: identifying the right people, energy, and actions needed to move an idea forward.

Olivia Avalos Villar

Patrick Frick

Matteo Markel

This meal is prepared based on the recommendations of the EAT-Lancet Commission’s Planetary Health Diet, which provides scientific guidelines to ranges of different food groups that together constitute an optimal diet for human health and environmental sustainability.

Afternoon

An interactive plenary discussion reporting on project ideas, learning outcomes and commitments for the year ahead.

Lee Howell

Andy Karsner

Julia Marton-Lefèvre

Barnaby Swan

Robert Swan

This guided nature walk to Lac des Chavonnes, an alpine lake in Bretaye (@ 1,808 meters) is a wonderful opportunity to experience the natural beauty of the region.

Villars Symposium 2025