This was among the main messages that Princess Laurentien van Orajne-Nassau of the Netherlands shared during her lecture “A different mindset for a sustainable future: the value of inter-generational dialogue”, which took place on 7th December in the Aula hall of the New Bulgarian University.
What is sustainable development, she asked. It is to meet the needs of today without compromising the needs of future generations to take their decisions. Currently we do not develop on a sustainable way and use our resources very intensively. We live without thinking how the world would look like in the future. In the Atlantic Ocean there is a place, where garbage on an area twice the USA has piled up, and this damages biodiversity. If the tendency for increase of the world’s population continues on the same way, in 2050 we will need three planets to live on.
A new platform is needed and a new mindset. This new mindset is based on sharing and common work. When you have an ambition, find supporters and work together with them on the cause, said Laurentien and added that when we look around, everywhere we see problems, but also see people or organizations that help solve those problems.
If you were engaged with a vision for something, which has not been an issue by now, you could not know how to do the things to achieve your goal. It is necessary to build the bridge as we walk on it.
Do believe in yourselves – as people and as a country, and you will succeed, said Princess Laurentien at the end of her lecture.
After the event, she signed her book “Mr. Finney and the World Turned Upside-down”, for which official presentation she is in Bulgaria.
The lecture was organized by the Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza” along with the New Bulgarian University, the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria, Credo Bonum Foundation and Publishing House Ciela. It was part of the European Debates initiative of the School, which aims at introducing young political and civic leaders to the philanthropic culture and sustainable development.