The Klosters Forum creates a continuously growing community of leading thinkers and doers who share our passion for collaborative impact as well as our mission for positive environmental change.
Every year in June, 100 members of the community gather in the Swiss Alps to join forces in tackling one specific environmental challenge at the time: 2018-19 Plastic Pollution; 2020-21 Biodiversity Regeneration through Food System Transformation; 2022-23 The Future of the Built Environment.
The Klosters Forum community further includes our podcast and TKF Talks speakers, our advisors as well as the TKF Patrons, Friends and Ambassadors.
Because of its relatively small scale, The Klosters Forum community enjoys a powerful sense of kinship amongst its members, which in turn triggers a strong willingness to connect and provide mutual support in finding and developing solutions for our most urgent environmental challenges.
TKF TALKS are open to the public, taking place throughout the year and in many European cities and online.
TKF Talks are curated to encourage learning, provoke conversation and inspire attendees to open their minds.
Previous TKF Talks took place in London, Istanbul, Gstaad, Davos and online.
To keep updated about our upcoming events, follow us on Instagram.
When possible we will share recordings of the talks online. Videos can be found here.
What Can We Learn From Plants & Fungi in these Tumultuous Times?
In cooperation with Christie’s.
Speakers:
Dr. Merlin Sheldrake- Ecologist and Best-selling Author
Sir Tim Smit – Co-Founder and Executive Vice-Chair at Eden Project
Moderated by Hannah MacInnes
Can Dirt Save the Earth? The Power of Soil & the Future of Food
In cooperation with the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO)
Speakers:
Finian Makepeace – Co-founder of Kiss the Ground
Jeremy Coller- Managing Partner of Coller Capital
James Arbib – Founder of Tellus Mater
Moderated by Dr. Susanne von der Becke, Founder of VDB Insights
Reimagining Finance to be in Service to Life
In which ways can capital flow nurture the transformation of food systems?
Speakers:
John Fullerton, Founder and president of Capital Institute
Dr. Susanne von der Becke, Founder of VDB Insights
Indy Johar, Co-founder Project 00 & Dark Matter Labs
Gillian Diesen, Client Portfolio Manager, Pictet Group
Online workshop on Regenerative Leadership with Laura Storm.
Online workshop on The Food Industry’s Biodiversity Challenge with Heiko Specking and Erik Bruun Bindslev.
The Charms and Challenges of the Ocean. Looking at the deep sea through the lens of art and science. In collaboration with Gstaad Yacht Club.
Speakers:
Dr. Arturo Castillo Castillo – Specialist in energy policy and techno-economic analysis of waste to energy and materials technology, Imperial University
Clare Brook- CEO Blue Marine Foundation
Markus Reymann – Co-founder of TBA21 Academy
William Winram – Ocean explorer
Elgiz Museum, Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul Biennial: The power and responsibility of art to shift the seventh continent:
Speakers:
Professor Alex David Rogers – Science Director REV Ocean
Hakan Bulgurlu – CEO of Arçelik
Markus Reymann – Director TBA21 Academy
Charles Avery – Artist
Ergem Senyuva Tohumcu – Panel Discussion Moderator
The Conduit, Beyond Plastic: Biomaterials Workshop, London, GB
Speakers:
Zoë Powell, Materiom
Caroline Till, Franklin Till
Camilla ter Haar, CEO TKF
Beyond the Plasticene, co-hosted with Think Beyond Plastic, sponsored by ConsenSys, Davos, Switzerland
Panel Discussion around the future of plastics.
Speakers:
Joseph Lubin – Founder, ConsenSys; Co-Founder, Ethereum
Michael Goltzman – Vice President, Global Public Policy, Environmental Sustainability & Social Impact, The Coca-Cola Company
Saskia Bruysten – CEO, YUNUS Social Fund
Satya S. Tripathi – Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations
Moderated by Daniella Russo – Co-Founder and CEO, Think Beyond Plastic
Ocean SOS Plastic Pollution, At Spring, London: The Salon Series, London GB
Speakers:
Sian Sutherland – Founder of A Plastic Planet
Skye Gyngell – Founder of Spring
Celia Pool – Founder of DAME
Clare Brooks – CEO of Blue Marine Foundation
Jo Royle – Founder of Common Seas
James le Mesurier OBE – Founder of White Helmets
Julia Leeb – War photojournalist and filmmaker
Jon Hutton – Director of the Luc Hoffmann Institute
Dr. Arturo Castillo Castillo – Imperial College London
Tom Dillon – Vice President at The Pew Charitable Trusts
George Duffield – Co-founder of Blue Marine Foundation
etc.
The Klosters Forum, our annual gathering, takes place over 2.5 days in the Swiss Alps and is by invitation only. We replace monologues with dialogues, card swaps with workshops and the corporate flair with mountain air.
The Annual Forum consists of 100 carefully selected international thought-leaders and decision-makers from different backgrounds, brought together to tackle one specific environmental issue at the time.
Acknowledging the complexity of systemic change, we aim to bring diverse stakeholders to the table in order to highlight the interdependence of the issues at stake and to encourage cross-pollination of information, ideas and projects.
Our objective is to provide a private and unique environment where our expert community can learn from each other, engage in much needed difficult conversations, but also get the chance to brainstorm new, exciting ideas, projects and ways of working together.
TKF creates a space in which time is set aside for participants with relevant backgrounds to focus on a single issue. We have heard too often, from NGOs, investors, entrepreneurs, that their schedules do not usually allow for this deep thinking. Our focus is on creating viable solutions, which we do by creating networks, brokering collaborations and incubating thought leadership.
The agenda includes workshops on the mountain, panel discussions on a farm, alpine hikes and privately hosted dinners.
The Klosters Forum, in partnership with Think Beyond Plastic, was running the TKF Plastics Innovation Challenge (sponsored by suscap advisors ag) to engage innovators around the world in a solutions-oriented effort to stem the flow of plastics into our ocean.
The TKF Plastics Innovation Challenge focused on three tracks:
1. New materials and green chemistry to replace current fossil-fuel based plastics
2. Waste reduction, avoidance and recycling
3. Innovative product delivery system
Three winners (one per track) each received an award valued at USD40,000 comprised of non-repayable USD25,000 funding and a place in the 2019 Think Beyond Plastic accelerator class valued at CHF15,000. The winners were invited to present at TKF19 and at Think Beyond Plastic’s 5th annual Investor Forum.
The winners were:
New materials and green chemistry: Biolive from Turkey
Waste reduction, avoidance and recycling: AC BIODE from Japan
Innovative product delivery systems: ReCIRLCE from Germany
The Klosters Forum has collaboration at the heart of its mission, both in terms of encouraging partnerships between members, and in providing support and a platform to organisations and companies that share our vision and values.
If your organisation or company works in the field of The Built Environment and is interested in partnering with The Klosters Forum and joining our community of thought and action leaders in the space, please get in touch – stephanie@theklostersforum.com