Just over 10 years after the term “impact investing” was coined, the field is at a crossroads. Large-scale mainstream players are entering the space with significant funds committed to impact investing. More than ever, impact investing can do great good – for example by funding the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda of the UN.

At this critical juncture, no principles exist to help distinguish an impact investment from a conventional investment. Enduring principles for impact investment need to be established. These principles will have to be defined by the most renowned thinkers and experts in the field.

The Alpbach retreat, co-hosted by the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt, the Global Wallace Fund, the Open Society Foundation, and the Vodafone Institute, will do just that. Up to 40 leading and influential people from all parts of the impact investing ecosystem will meet in the state of Tyrol in Austria. They will work together to define principles for impact investing that any player in the field should respect. The goal is to specifically take on the challenge of SDG #1: “End poverty in all its forms everywhere,” working on concrete cases to define how the principles should apply. The retreat takes place as part of the European Forum Alpbach.

Public confidence in the European project has dramatically fallen. A widespread gap between citizens’ expectations and the perceived or real shortcomings of the EU’s political performance has given rise to populist movements across the EU. These movements seek to block the path to further European unification, challenging its core values of freedom, democracy, rule of law, tolerance, and solidarity. With the elections to the European Parliament in May 2019 just around the corner, the European Union is facing a make or break situation.

Therefore, the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt is taking a clear stance for the principles and goals of a united and strengthened Europe. As a foundation with German roots and a global orientation, we strongly believe in and advocate the values of the European community. The Munich European Forum assembles some 200 European leaders from politics, business, and civil society to send a clear pro-European message: We need to strengthen the EU and bring it closer to its citizens.

The Forum is not a solitary event. It concludes and puts into a larger perspective the results and ideas of the first cycle of a dialogue process conducted over the last 18 months: Under the title “Refocusing Europe,” three European Tables dealt with key issues related to Europe’s economy, security, and identity. They will serve as starting-points for the discussions at the Munich European Forum.

Because of their limited mobility and socially assigned roles, women are more vulnerable than men in disasters. At the same time, women’s intimate, frontline knowledge of their local environment gives them the capacity to be leaders and transformational agents.

The United Nations 2030 Agenda recognizes that without gender equality and the empowerment of women sustainable development will be unattainable. One central element of sustainable development is resilience, understood as the ability to recognize and address transformative forces such us climate change, globalization, urbanization, technological progress, and demographic patterns.

So far, women’s leadership in building resilient and inclusive communities across the world has not yet been adequately highlighted. Therefore, the 13th BMW Foundation Global Table in Udaipur, India, wants to develop solutions on how to counter social inequalities and empower female leadership. Participants from around the globe will share their experiences, discuss success stories and challenges, and develop forward-looking strategies.