Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute
| GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute
|
|
|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | Foundation, endowment |
| founding | 1962 |
| Seat |
Rüschlikon ZH, Switzerland
|
| management | David Bosshart |
| Branch | Think tank and event venue |
| Website | www.gdi.ch |
The Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI) is an independent research institute based in Rüschlikon near Zurich and the oldest think tank in Switzerland.
The research institute is based in Rüschlikon in the canton of Zurich . It was founded on September 1, 1963. The name and idea behind it is Migros founder Gottlieb Duttweiler . Based on its motto “The focus is on people and not capital”, the GDI researches and discusses consumption , trade and society as well as current economic and social issues.
The Institute is part of the Foundation "Green Meadow", which is partly funded by the largest Swiss retailer Migros. It publishes its research results in the quarterly publication "GDI Impuls" as well as in numerous studies and awards the renowned Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize every several years .
management
Previous institute directors were:
- Jørgen Thygesen, Virum / Denmark (1963–1964)
- Hans A. Pestalozzi , (1964–1966 interim; 1966–1979 regular)
- Jürg Marx (1979–1980 on an interim basis)
- Christian Lutz (1980-1998)
- David Bosshart (since 1999)
history
As early as 1946, Adele and Gottlieb Duttweiler founded the "Im Grüene" foundation, the aim of which was to set up an institute that could conduct scientific research in the field of cooperatives and the brokerage of goods. They wanted to promote events, courses and gatherings that should be understood as bridges from person to person and from country to country.
But Gottlieb Duttweiler did not lay the “foundation stone” until 1962, shortly before his death. This independent research institute for economic and social studies was established in the park "Im Grüene" , the former residence of the founder. His vision of networking business and society, his great curiosity and his socio-political ideas still form the basis on which the GDI builds its activities.
Hans A. Pestalozzi headed the institute for 15 years. His socially critical thoughts, published in 1980 in his book M-Frühling. From migrosaurs to human proportions , in 1979 they were released without notice.
aims
The institute says it does independent research . The institution wants to encourage unconventional and unconventional thinking in order to create groundbreaking ideas and concepts. The institute wants to be a meeting place and create space for bold ideas and cross-border communication.
Thanks to its networking, the institute sees itself as a global knowledge platform. Economic as well as social issues are researched, discussed and made accessible to the public.
The inscription at the entrance to the institute reads:
“Built in 1963 by the will of the donors as a place of encounter and reflection
The insight of science The experience of the experts The power of the cooperative united in the aim of helping solve some of the most difficult tasks of our time
Satisfy deficiency with excess
Preserving freedom and initiative through voluntary responsibility
Convert the conflict of interests between producer and consumer into real partnership
Increase trade for true service to the national community
Strengthening the personality in the mass age "
Fields of activity
As a place of encounter and knowledge, the institute focuses on four main areas: It is a research facility and innovative think tank, publishes its results in studies and in the quarterly publication "GDI IMPULS", organizes specialist conferences and presentations and is available to the general public as a conference and venue available.
Experts from business and society meet regularly at the institute to discuss trends and upcoming changes. Other vehicles for exchange are specialist events in cooperation with international partners and universities as well as evening events on socio-political issues.
subjects
In the last few years, the thematic priorities were mainly in these four areas:
- Innovations in trade and services
- Trends and analyzes in the food industry
- Marketing innovations and trends
- Social change and consumer trends
The institute addressed numerous developments in business and society at an early stage. As early as 1964, it dealt with "the introduction of evening sales". In 1974 people started thinking about organic farming, in 1986 " genetic engineering " was a big topic, and in 2000 the "Europeanization of gastronomy". The aging society was analyzed in the 2005 “Generation Gold” study. It showed how values and attitudes are changing in an aging society, what lifestyle is cultivated and what makes the “Generation Gold” happy. The GDI impulse winter edition 2007 dealt with the professionalization of the future industry and examined which navigation aids the researchers and trend agencies have available for the economy. In 2008 the institute dealt with social and economic change. In this context, Stefan Kaiser, editor-in-chief of DU-Magazin, warned against the Trojan economy, examined the most important fields of this development and showed the consequences and ways out of the ubiquitous Trojanization.
price
The Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize honors personalities who have made outstanding contributions to the common good and who are characterized by courage, tenacity, commitment and successful initiation and implementation of sustainable changes. The prize is currently endowed with CHF 100,000.
The "prison speech" given by the writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt on the occasion of the awarding of the prize to the then Czechoslovak President Václav Havel met with a great response .
Previous winners
- 1970: Fritz Bramstedt, Würzburg; Nutritionist, "Fight" against tooth decay
- 1972: Egon Kodicek, Cambridge; Nutritionist
- 1975: Paul Fabri; Nutritionist, fight against obesity
- 1988: Lisbeth and Robert Schläpfer (entrepreneurs), St. Gallen; Entrepreneur textile industry
- 1990: Václav Havel ; President of Czechoslovakia
- 1993: Esther Afua Ocloo , Ghana; Entrepreneur and nutritionist
- 1998: Roger Schawinski , Zurich; Journalist, media pioneer
- 2004: Joschka Fischer ; Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 2008: Kofi Annan ; UN Secretary General, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
- 2011: Jimmy Wales ; Co-founder of Wikipedia
- 2013: Ernst Fehr , Zurich; Economist
- 2015: Tim Berners-Lee ; Developer of the World Wide Web
- 2019: Watson ; IBM computer program for artificial intelligence
Events
The institute organizes a number of regularly recurring events. These include the “International Retail Conference”, the “European Trend Day”, the “European Foodservice Summit” and the “Food for Thought” and “at GDI” event cycles.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Lecture by Pestalozzi at an intercantonal teachers' conference in Solothurn
- ^ Lecture by Pestalozzi in Auf die Trees You Monkeys printed
- ^ Friedrich Dürrenmatt : Switzerland - a prison . Speech on Václav Havel, with a conversation between the author and Michael Haller and a speech by Adolf Ogi , Diogenes-Taschenbuch 22 952, Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-257-22952-6 .
- ↑ Jimmy Wales receives the Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize 2011. ( Memento from November 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) In: presseportal.ch October 8, 2010.
- ↑ GDI media release of October 1, 2012
- ↑ GDI media release of December 3, 2014
- ↑ GDI media release of December 11, 2018
Coordinates: 47 ° 18 '8 " N , 8 ° 33' 8" E ; CH1903: 684,216 / 239,635