Open letter: We all aim for the same: toward a thriving future

Looking back on 2021, it might sometimes feel as there is not much cause for optimism. Global challenges such as COVID-19, flooding or soil and water contamination dominated the news. Yet, underneath, there was also a strong undercurrent of positive, collective leadership. That is why, looking forward to 2022, as researchers and leaders in the field, we dare to say that a sustainable future is within reach and is, in fact, already being built. Even bolder, we dare to raise the bar and strive toward a positively thriving future. 

This article has appeared (in Dutch) in the Belgian newspaper De Tijd on Dec 29, 2021. View the article here >

While the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals provide a clear-cut framework, the term ‘sustainable’ comes with the inherent risk of settling for a minimum target. Whereas surely, as individuals and as society, we want more than ticking the boxes of ‘no poverty’ or ‘zero hunger’. Surely, we want people, society and the economy to positively grow and prosper instead.

This common goal that binds young people, policymakers, scientists, captains of industry, educators and activists alike seems to have got lost in the public debate somehow. Instead, groups of people are being put on opposite sides, with emotions running hot, or, perhaps even worse, the striving for a thriving future is taken over by doomsday scenarios, making people believe that all is futile. 

The challenges we are facing are indeed huge, both in scale, variety and complexity. They are, above all, interconnected. All the more reason to not settle for singular sustainability targets, but to be even more ambitious and bring about systemic transformation. That is why we at Antwerp Management School brought together a diverse group of leaders in business and academia to discuss, propose and engage toward impactful solutions for a thriving future. 

Our round tables confirm that captains of industry are demonstrating positive leadership, even though one-sided perception and emotion are taking over from facts, even though actions are costly and businesses are already under pressure, even though changes are not always appreciated by all stakeholders. Even so, companies are investing in improving diversity in the workplace, promoting women in STEM, reusing water and energy, switching to green fleet management or even moving their offices closer to public transport, to name but a few examples. 

In this way, the captains of industry are breaking down the long-term goals of, e.g., the Glasgow Climate Pact, into feasible actions and ‘small’ successes, fully realizing that we are far from a thriving future yet, while proving at the same time that it can be done. The results may be more invisible in public opinion, but they are definitely real, demonstrating there is no excuse for black-and-white thinking, nor for gloom-and-doom thinking. Instead, we should show collective leadership. Approaches may differ, but policymakers, captains of industries, academic researchers, students or activists don’t need to be on the exact same page to start making progress together. 

After all, we want to achieve the same goal: a thriving future for all. Moreover, we have a strong, trustworthy compass to get us there: science. Instead of polarization, driven by emotions and assumptions, we need to engage in a transparent, open debate with all actors and sectors, based on scientific facts. Only through carefully analyzing and weighing the facts, can we take effective actions, each in our own field, still working together instead of working against each other. 

With this open letter, we want to raise the stakes and strive for a thriving future instead of a mere sustainable one. Highly ambitious though this may seem, it can be done. In an open dialogue, based on science, we can make progress together, tipping the balance toward net positive instead of net zero.

Steven De Haes - Dean Antwerp Management School 

This open letter is co-signed by: 

•  Eddy Annys, Managing Director, Randstad Group Belgium
• Alain Beyens, Operating partner, Mid Europa Partners / Chairman of the Board of Directors AMS
• Sven Cauwelier, CEO, City of Antwerp & OCMW Antwerpen
• Françoise Chombar, Chair Board of Directors, Melexis
• Dirk Coorevits, CEO, Soudal
• Ilse Daelman, PhD, Managing Director AMS
• Wouter De Ploey, CEO, ZNA
• Pierre De Strycker, CEO, POM Antwerpen
• Mimi Lamote, CEO, Mayerline Brussels
• Veerle Limbos, Director of Partnerships, AMS
• Michael Peeters, CEO, LAMMP
• Jan Remeysen, CEO, BASF Antwerpen
• Kris Sterkens, Company Group Chairman, Janssen EMEA / CEO, Janssen Pharmaceutica Belgium
• Anja Tys, Corporate Branding Manager, AMS
• Prof. dr. Koen Vandenbempt, Dean Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Antwerp
• Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO, Port of Antwerp
• Kobe Verdonck, CEO, SD Worx
• Prof. dr. Wayne Visser, BASF Randstad Port of Antwerp Chair in Sustainable Transformation, AMS
• Chris Wuytens, Managing Director, Acerta