The Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership (ALCRL) hosted the 3^rd International Conference on Responsible Leadership at the University of Pretoria during November 2014. The conference, attended by more than 80 international and local delegates, discussed the theme ‘Bridging sciences, business and politics: The role of responsible leadership in creating the necessary transition to a sustainable global economy’.

Opening the proceedings, Prof Derick de Jongh, Director of the ALCRL, welcomed delegates to what he termed “a convergence of many disciplines”. He acknowledged the importance of interdisciplinarity in advancing the field of responsible leadership. He also highlighted the ALCRL’s aim of leading the debate on linking science, business and leadership, with this conference as a starting point.

Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace’s International Executive Director, was the first keynote speaker, presenting a recorded message during the official opening of the conference. He shared ideas on the role of leadership in the sustainability sector and emphasised the fact that we are running out of time to address the impending and catastrophic danger of climate change. He also called on big businesses to “see yourself as revolutionaries, see yourself as people who are willing to make big changes in the world and not only focus on profit making”.

Concluding the evening, Prof Malcolm McIntosh from Griffith University highlighted reasons why we need a new political economy, based on his new book Thinking the Twenty-First Century: Ideas for the New Political Economy. Guests at the gala dinner were also entertained by the UP Avuwa cultural group.

The conference was presented in partnership with Griffith Business School, Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative, Business School Lausanne, Tongji SEM and Babson College, with Exxaro Resources as the leading sponsor.