Gathering ’11 was an event that brought together leading thinkers, change-makers and collaborators from across Australia and around the world to explore and develop ideas on how to solve today’s most pressing social and environmental challenges, together.

In this series of podcasts I interview the attendees about their personal experiences of Gathering ’11, as a way of exploring these topics further, and of continuing the conversation.

Ralf Lippold blogged his reflections of Gathering ’11. I thought I’d explore this further with him.

Ralf is a Consultant in Lean Thinking and System Dynamics and ‘boundary spanner’. He is passionate about sharing and connecting people and their ideas. He lives in Dresden, Germany.

You can follow Ralf on Twitter: @RalfLippold. He shares his thoughts on a number of blogs and platforms. The best starting point is his ‘Blogger’ profile.

During the interview, we talk about making small changes, quickly; connecting people and ideas across networks and countries; the social change scene in different areas of the world — and penguins!

There are a couple of things Ralf mentions during our chat, that are worth noting here:

• The ‘opening’ video discussed is ‘Thrivable’ featuring Jean Russell by Alan Rosenblith. This was launched at Gathering ’11.
• He mentions attending a previous conference, which was The 3rd SoL (Society for Organisational Learning) Global Forum in Muscat, Oman.
• He also mentions a trip he took to Finland to visit a ‘management school without teachers‘. That is Team Academy: the Entrepreneurship Centre of Excellence of the JAMK University of Applied Sciences in Jyväskylä, Finland.
• CoOrpheum: is a co-working space in Dresden.
• Ralf is currently on a mission to establish a new hightech institution to fuel the innovative entrepreneurship eco-system in Dresden. That project is InnoBay.

Credits: Intro music by Sic Alps / by-nc-sa

Please consider donating via the Gathering ’11 website. Your contribution will ensure the team can pull together Gathering ’12 and continue to share what they learned from Gathering ’11. They greatly appreciate your support!