The St.Gallen Symposium
The leading global initiative for intergenerational dialogue
The St.Gallen Symposium is the world’s leading initiative for intergenerational debates on current economic, political and social issues. It is held every May at the University of St.Gallen and is organised by the International Students’ Committee (ISC), an independent student initiative of the University of St.Gallen. The St.Gallen Symposium features a wide range of talks, discussions and lectures on a set topic. Some of the events are also open to the public. The purpose of the symposium is to promote open and inclusive dialogue between the generations.
From PR exercise to
international symposium
In 1969, Rector Francesco Kneschaurek called on representatives of foreign students to improve public perception of students at the University of St.Gallen (HSG). He did so with an eye to gaining an additional building complex on the campus, on which there was to be a referendum. Wolfgang Schürer suggested organising an international conference on European business models and inviting leading management experts to take part. Together with Clemens Brenninkmeijer, Franz Kriegler, Urs Schneider and Terje I. Wølner-Hanssen, they founded the International Students’ Committee (ISC) and organised the first symposium in 1970.
In 1989, the ISC launched the «St.Gallen Wings of Excellence Award» essay competition, which is now one of the world's largest and most prestigious student essay competitions. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary, the International Students’ Committee was made a more prominent part of the symposium’s public image, with the event being renamed the «ISC Symposium». In 2002, the Swiss Federal Council commissioned the ISC to organise the International Conference on Federalism, which was attended by 8 federal state heads, 16 ministers and 3 federal councillors. In 2006, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan accepted the Max Schmidheiny Foundation Freedom Prize (which he had been awarded in 2003) at the University of St.Gallen. In 2010, the ISC organised an international conference on democracy and decentralisation as part of the Swiss presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. In 2012, the St.Gallen Symposium opened its first office outside Switzerland in Singapore as a base for Asian markets. In 2019, the ISC team presented the new brand identity at the 49th St.Gallen Symposium, unveiling the symposium's new look for its next 50 years.
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