The World Resources Forum Association is enthusiastic to announce the 2023 World Resources Forum (WRF) Conference. WRF’23 will take place in September 2023 in a hybrid format, consisting of a 3-day in-person event in Geneva and a program of online sessions.
Under the theme of ‘Rethinking Value — Resources for Planetary Wellbeing’, WRF’23 will take stock of recent environmental, economic, social and geopolitical developments, and will focus on three key transitions able to drive systems towards positive, disruptive change. The key transitions will be reflected in three main conference tracks:
- Digitalization: from a material to a service-based economy
- Value Chains: from extractive to regenerative value chains
- Sufficiency: from a consumer to a sufficient society
The focus on high-potential transitions will provide the opportunity to dive into a rich variety of multi-disciplinary and cross-cutting topics, including mineral resource governance, responsible sourcing, digital circular economy, sustainable e-waste management, sustainable consumption & lifestyles, sufficiency in energy and built environment, & much more!
The event will engage international stakeholders from policy, science, industry and civil society through a dynamic and innovative program, including Impulse Talks, Panels, Ideation Labs, Research Labs, Solution Labs & Matchmaking Sessions. Most sessions will be designed to be highly interactive, enabling participants to go beyond the role of listeners and become active shapers of this global, multi-stakeholder debate. Following the success of WRF’21—the first WRF conference to be organised in a hybrid format—some sessions will be live-streamed from Geneva and some will take place fully online.
While announcing the conference, WRFA President Dr. Bruno Oberle stated: “Today, we are touching first-hand the disruption of several systems, as reflected in climate change, biodiversity loss, conflicts, health crisis, and the dysfunction of global linear supply chains. To provide a meaningful and urgent answer, and to steer disruption towards positive outcomes, we need to transform what we value and how we create value in our production and consumption systems. This calls for a radical transformation of policies, business practices, behaviours and values. For this to happen, the engagement and collaboration of all stakeholders is of paramount importance, from policy, to industry, science and civil society. WRF’23 aims at being a platform for not only discussing what is required but also collectively moving the first steps towards achieving those solutions”.
Since the first WRF Conference in 2009, the impact of our Forum depends on the engagement of international partners and contributors. This year will be full of dedicated opportunities, such as a Call for Paper for researchers and for organising Partner Events around the world. More information will follow shortly together with the conference website.
