The St. Gallen Symposium, formerly known as the International Management Symposium and the International Students’ Committee (ISC) Symposium, is an annual conference held each May at the University of St. Gallen in St. Gallen, Switzerland. It brings together leaders from business, politics, and academia to discuss economic, political, social, and related global issues.

The ISC Symposium was founded in 1970 by a group of students led by Wolfgang Schürer, Clemens Ernst Brenninkmejer, Franz Karl Kriegler, Urs Schneider, and Terje I. Wölner-Hanssen, in response to the international student protests of 1968. The first event conducted by the organisation, the International Management Dialogue, was held in 1970. The event attracted 100 students and 100 business leaders. Over time, the event received international speakers such as Kofi Annan, Satya Nadella, Josef Ackermann, and Christine Lagarde.St. Galler Tagblatt, Ab und zu ein Lächeln entlocken, retrieved 10 December 2011.

Activities

The St. Gallen Symposium debates current economic, political, and social developments. This event presents as an inter-generational dialogue in a conducive and informal setting.Handelsblatt News am Abend, 12 May 2011, St. Gallen stellt die Machtfrage.

The symposium's topic is chosen each year based on current events and issues. Topics vary from business-oriented to more holistic themes as embodied by the topics Growth – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (2016), The Dilemma of Disruption (2017), Beyond the End of Work (2018), Freedom Revisited (2020), and Shifting Global Power (2025).Lichtensteiner Volksblatt, 8 May 2010, Zukunftsmärkte Brauchen Technologie und Innovation.

History The ISC organises the St. Gallen Symposium with the organising team alternating every year. In February 1970, Wolfgang Schürer (DE) founded the International Students' Committee (ISC) together with fellow academics from the University of St. Gallen, Clemens Ernst Brenninkmeyer (NL), Franz Karl Kriegler (AT), Urs Schneider (CH), and Terje I. Wölner-Hanssen (NO). They founded the ISC to replace the 1968 International Student Riots. The name, International Students' Committee, was chosen based on the different nationalities of the founders, namely Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland. On 30 June and 1 July 1970, the first International Management Dialogue (from the original German: Internationales Management Gespräch) occurred at the University of St. Gallen, with 100 students and many business leaders participating.International Students' Committee, About us: History, retrieved 22 November 2011.

Early years

After holding the first International Management Dialogue, the founding presidents Wolfgang Schürer and Urs Schneider published a book with the presentations of the first meeting. After the first ISC event, Wolfgang Schürer institutionalised the ISC idea with the help of Urs Schneider. Around 200 people participated in the first event, with about half of them coming from prominent positions in the economies of 20 countries. The other half of the participants came from 40 different universities across Europe. After the second International Management Dialogue in the following year, the symposium was recognized by the Rectorate of the University of St. Gallen.

The Club of Rome that studies The Limits to Growth, analysing the effect of exponential growth on a finite planet, was presented at the third symposium in 1972. Aurelio Peccei and the Minister of Science of Lower Saxony, Professor Eduard Pestel, participated in that event. It was the first great forum in the German-speaking world at that time. The next symposium was not held in 1974, in theory, due to the global economic downturn caused by the 1973 Oil Crisis, and problems with the continuity of the student initiative. After that, the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies emerged to continue the work of the International Students' Committee. The members supported the ISC over several years. In 1977, the St. Gallen Symposium made the headlines with a round table discussion with German Employers' President Hanns Martin Schleyer and DGB Chairman Heinz Oskar Vetter. The St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies developed the St. Gallen Symposia in the coming decades.

The 1980s A change was introduced in 1989 when the International Students' Committee founded the St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award, which today has grown in size and is now called the Global Essay Competition. The students were required to submit an essay. Only the 100 best students could participate in the St. Gallen Symposium. Moreover, authors of the best contributions were bestowed with the St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award, CHF 20,000.– in prize money, and the chance to present their essays at the St. Gallen Symposium (see below).St. Galler Tagblatt, 13 May 2011, St. Gallen Symposium.

1995-2010

Since the mid-1990's, the ISC has tried to raise the international profile of the symposium. In this restructuring, a new logo was introduced and the name "International Management Symposium" was changed to ISC-Symposium. Moreover, the ISC gave financial support for the construction of the Executive Campus HSG at the University of St. Gallen during this period.

In 2002, the Swiss Federal Council commissioned the ISC to organise the International Conference on Federalism and maintain the structure of the symposium. The conference was attended by eight heads of state and government, sixteen ministers, three federal councillors, twenty government councillors, and their delegations.news aktuell, Internationale Föderalismuskonferenz 2002 an der Universität St. Gallen , retrieved 22 November 2011.

The current name, St. Gallen Symposium, was introduced in 2005. The following year, Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, received the Freedom Prize of the Max Schmidheiny Foundation, already awarded in 2003.Max Schmidheiny Stiftung, Preisträger 2003: Kofi Annan , retrieved 22 November 2011.

From 2008 to 2010, due to an extensive reconstruction of the University's main building and its auditorium, the symposium took place in a temporary tent city behind the Library building of the University of St. Gallen.

2010-2018 The 40th St. Gallen Symposium in 2010 introduced a few changes. For example, the duration of the event ranged from half a day to two days. The Topic Leaders supplemented the group of speakers, organising single events. The Knowledge Pool extended the selection of students. The Knowledge Pool consists of 100 people specifically invited to the symposium by the ISC, providing a counterweight to the 100 winners of the academic St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award (now the Global Essay Competition). Another innovation was the Global Perspectives Barometer (now the Voices Report), an annual survey of current and former student participants on current social issues in cooperation with the GfK Association (Credit Suisse until 2013).

The St. Gallen Symposium got a new office in Singapore at the beginning of 2012.

The restructuring of the St. Gallen Symposium began in 2017 and was planned to be completed by 2020. During this period, a new group called Aspiring Leaders was introduced, the organisation of worldwide Year-Round Events was intensified, and the symposium's overall offerings were adjusted.

The Aspiring Leaders are a group of young decision-makers who have reached the early milestones of their careers, intended to bridge the gap between the Leaders of Tomorrow and the Senior Leaders. The Year-Round Events—around ten held annually in Europe and Asia—support the St. Gallen Symposium's goal of fostering inter-generational dialogue throughout the year. These include the Singapore Reception in November and the Zurich Reception in January.

Since 2019

In September 2019, the St. Gallen Symposium adopted a new logo to emphasise the progressiveness and student character of the initiative. The new branding was further underlined by the motto "Where aspirations get inspired." At the 49th St. Gallen Symposium, a workshop session format, "Interactive Session," was introduced. The "Interactive Sessions" take place in parallel with the "Insight Sessions".

Postponement of the 50th Anniversary Symposium

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the 50th St. Gallen Symposium, scheduled for 10 March 2020, was officially postponed to 2021. It was the second time the St. Gallen Symposium could not be held at its planned time.

New formats

For the St. Gallen Symposium from 5 May to 7 May 2021, strategic further development of the physical dialogue with digital elements was realized, thus guaranteeing the security of the participants and more sustainability. Newly, the St. Gallen Symposium also took place through two hubs in New York and Singapore and worked with 8 Swiss embassies all over the world on new formats.

Managers, politicians, and scientists were invited to the 50th edition of the symposium in May 2021 (under the motto Trust Matters) to broaden the discussion. German climate activist Luisa Neubauer, the overall ski World Cup winner Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, and the German Jesuit Klaus Mertes, who helped to uncover the abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, took part in the symposium. The committee selected approximately 200 young talents ("Leaders of Tomorrow"). 40% of the invited speakers were women. It was a higher percentage than any previous symposium.

Programme and sessions

The St. Gallen Symposium happens for two days at the beginning of May. The official program includes different types of sessions:Walliser Bote, 14 May 2011, Energiesicherheit hat einen hohen Preis.International Students' Committee, Programm, retrieved 11 December 2011.

Plenary Sessions introduce the main topics and raise controversial issues, a starting point for the following Insight Sessions. The Plenary Sessions are divided into One-on-One, where two people meet on stage. The Keynote Panel, a traditional panel discussion, and the Keynote Address are platforms where a speaker delivers a speech. The roughly 30 Insight Sessions are held in smaller groups of about 25–35 attendees and serve as a follow-up to the Plenary Sessions. A characteristic of Insight Sessions is the personal framework. A speaker initiates the discussion, whereas the grand part of an Insight Session consists of a vibrant discussion moderated by a Topic Leader. To achieve a lively argument, the Chatham House Rule is applied. Interactive Sessions take place simultaneously with the Insight Sessions. Unlike Insight Sessions, the Interactive Sessions focus on landing the Topic itself rather than the Topic Leader and Speaker. In this environment, participants can elaborate on possible solutions in an interactive and intimate environment. The Insight Sessions appear in a small setting with 20 participants at most. Social Sessions enable the participants to continue engaging in informal dialogues beyond the official program, like Dinner Nights or lunches. Furthermore, Public Insight Sessions aim to introduce the participants to complex issues and theories. Those sessions often only deal distantly with the topic of the St. Gallen Symposium. Public Insight Sessions are open to anyone interested in the St. Gallen Symposium and its initiative.

Apart from Public Insight Sessions, the sessions are not open to the public. However, selected Plenary Sessions are live and broadcast on the St. Gallen Symposium's official YouTube channel.St. Galler Tagblatt, HSG bereit für Symposium, retrieved 11 December 2011. Furthermore, with the support of the Ria & Arthur Dietschweiler Foundation, key findings of the annual symposium are presented and discussed at the St. Gallen Symposium in Town Sessions.

Participants