A message from Aspen Institute President and CEO Dan Porterfield, Washington DC.

Dear Friends,

One of the great lessons of history is that in moments of crisis, our communities sustain us. And since our founding, the Aspen Institute has been committed to not only the creation of a free, just, and equitable society, but to fostering strong communities among our many partners and friends. Indeed, the ways in which we connect with each other are at the heart of our work and our impact.

The statement below was released by members of the Aspen Ministers Forum on February 18, 2020. We are a group of former foreign ministers from around the world who met recently to discuss one of the most urgent challenges of our time: the deepening global environmental crisis. It is clear to us from these discussions that climate change, ecosystem degradation, and the excessive exploitation of natural resources are now threatening millions of species with extinction and jeopardizing the health of our planet.

PRESS RELEASE

20 February 2020, Queenstown, New Zealand

On Saturday 8 February the Aspen Institute New Zealand (Aspen NZ) celebrated becoming the 11th partner of the Aspen Institute International Network and holding the inaugural Executive Leadership seminar, ‘Leadership, Sustainability and the Good Society’.

The inaugural Aspen New Zealand Seminar titled ‘Leadership, Sustainability and the Good Society’ was held at Millbrook Resort earlier this month. Todd Breyfogle, the Aspen Institute’s Managing Director of the Executive Leadership Programme, moderated the sessions over four days which embodied classical, humanitarian and leadership issues as well as current tensions and consequences.

Sandy Mandic, Associate Professor at the University of Otago, shares her experience at the CityLab 2019 Convention in Washington, DC last month. Sandy was delighted to be nominated by the Aspen Institute New Zealand to attend.

Do you want to be part of a dynamic team setting up an international, not-for-profit Institute here in Queenstown? Are you highly experienced in logistics and delivering quality events? Apply by 29 November, 2019.

AI is over 60 years old, but in the past five years, it has exploded into the news and major media. This seminar addressed the factors leading to the recent successes of AI and machine learning and provided examples of economic and medical opportunities, and the social risks associated with AI and privacy, autonomous systems, and potentially democratic institutions.

Think of Queenstown and the images that spring to mind are of the great outdoors: adventure tourism, skiing, spectacular scenery. Now, the Otago town is adding a different string to its bow. It’s become the headquarters of the Aspen Institute NZ, the newest member of an international organisation dedicated to values-based global leadership and the exchange of ideas, and the first in the Southern Hemisphere.

Aspen Institute New Zealand has been welcomed into the fold of the international Aspen Institute and will be up and running over the next six months.

Based in Queenstown, Aspen Institute NZ is a non-partisan and non-ideological organisation focused on education and policy. Its mission is to foster leadership to contribute to the development of both New Zealand society and globally.