Deutsche Welle: Aart De Geus at the Global Media Forum
May 21, 2013
Aart De Geus (58), former Dutch minister for social affairs and employment and chairman of the Bertelsmann Stiftung since August 2012, will be a panelist in the June 18 plenary session entitled "Global Governance: Blueprint for a Sustainable World Economy." The topic for discussion is how global governance can help to implement the aims of sustainable development, such as social justice, environmental protection and democratic participation.
De Geus, who is a strong advocate of the internationalization of the Bertelsmann Stiftung, is convinced that there will be no “economic growth at any cost” in the future. “Instead, economic policy must pay attention, firstly, to avoiding the destruction of our ecosystems and, secondly, stabilizing social cohesion. In sum, economic policy must ensure the long-term stability and productivity of ecological, sociopolitical and economic systems. Economic policy therefore needs to take into account more than just GDP.”
On the panel with De Geus are the former Environment Minister of South Africa Valli Moosa, GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) Managing Director Dr. Hans-Joachim Preuß, and Professor of Sustainable Development Mohan Munasinghe from Sri Lanka.
“The Future of Economic Growth - Economic Values and the Media” is the topic of the international media conference from June 17 - 19. Deutsche Welle expects 2,000 guests from around the world at the World Conference Center in Bonn. Kicking off the event on Monday morning is a ceremony celebrating the 60th anniversary of Deutsche Welle, which went on air for the first time on May 3, 1953.
Partners and supporters
More than 50 workshops and plenary sessions at this year’s media conference are organized in cooperation with DW’s partners. These include, among others, UN Water, UNEVOC and UNCTAD, as well as Amnesty International, Germanwatch and Misereor, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, the World Future Council, the Grimme Institut, the Goethe Institut, and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
The 2013 Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum is co-hosted by the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Sparkasse in Bonn. It is also supported by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Regional Development Fund, the Minister of Federal Affairs, Europe and the Media of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the City of Bonn. Our cooperation partner is the Foundation for Environment and Development of North Rhine-Westphalia.