Khulan Berger is an impact-driven leader and systems thinker working at the intersection of climate, culture and innovation. Rooted in Mongolia, shaped in Singapore, and based in Switzerland, she has led initiatives, built partnerships, and advised organizations advancing sustainability and systemic change. She is currently pursuing an Executive DBA (PhD) at SSBM Geneva, where she integrates engineering and business expertise to contribute to transformative change toward a just, resilient, and regenerative future.
Maruee Pahuja (India) works at the intersection of arts, science, and human connection. An eye care practitioner, visual artist, expressive arts consultant, and process facilitator, she explores how creativity can nurture perspective, empathy, health, and pathways to peace. At the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation, she leads arts-based work with young leaders through the Creative Leadership youth initiative and serves on the advisory and steering committee of the Caux Arts and Peace Encounters.
I reflect critically on the times we are in, especially as an artist, resonating deeply with Adrienne Maree Brown, who writes in Emergent Strategy: “I may be guilty of being a visionary talker, so I concentrate my work on the generation of vision, the strengthening of the muscle of looking forward together.”
The role of the arts in peacebuilding has allowed me to step into an intersection I’ve been intentionally walking for years. Preparing for the Caux Arts and Peace Encounters last year and the workshop at Geneva Peace Week 2025 was both a joy and a reckoning. What may appear as a few weeks of preparation is actually years of invisible work: research, practice, trial anderror, and trust in the arts and in humanity, even amid challenging political ecosystems.
The role of the arts in peacebuilding
In our line of work, burnout, hopelessness, and empathy exhaustion are common. My friend Debra Roberts once said to me: "Trust your creativity; it's really the ultimate insurance policy in life. The creative act is what keeps us alive and well." If we want to continue working as changemakers, leaders, and peacebuilders, we must also build hope and the capacity to be alive and well.
As peacebuilding pioneer John Paul Lederach says, peacebuilding itself is a creative act. This connects to the idea of salutogenesis — the origin of health. It’s not about curing disease after it occurs, but focusing on the conditions that create health and resilience.
We are in the midst of a polycrisis. Overwhelm, fatigue, and anxiety are inevitable. Many young leaders I’ve worked with have expressed these struggles.
Building and sustaining imagination in such times is therefore our responsibility as creative beings, and the arts offer one of the most vital pathways through which this capacity can be nurtured.
If we want to continue working as changemakers, leaders, and peacebuilders, we must also build hope and the capacity to be alive and well.
Maruee delivering the arts-based workshop "Peace in Practice" at Geneva Peace Week 2025
A Concrete Example: Creative Leadership and Youth
As part of the Creative Leadership youth team at Caux Initiatives of Change. I began introducing creativity and expressive arts to online conferences and gatherings for young people worldwide. Since then, we have hosted five online conferences — from exploring uncertainty to imagining new possibilities, reimagining democracies, and weaving counter narratives.
Through arts-based methods like creative writing, visual expression, movement, music, photography, nature-based arts, mindfulness, and creative dialogue participants learn to explore other ways of knowing - imaginative, intuitive, embodied.
This year, we are going to host “Reimagining Democracy(ies)”, the second edition of our in-house programme for young leaders at the Caux Palace, and we will continue to integrate these creative approaches and practices of learning and dialogue.
These are embodied ways of creating change that ripple outward. Participants create arts-based workshops in their communities, schools, and organizations using creative methods to foster dialogue, empathy, and healing. Many report the arts-based sessions as the most impactful workshops they haveattended, and some seek guidance on designing arts interventions for youth in their organisations.
Moderating the closing ceremony of Geneva Peace Week 2024 with Sarah Noble, Head of Global Engagement, Creative Peacebuilding & Inner Development at the Caux Foundation
Arts as Process, Not Product
It’s important to distinguish between arts as product or skill and arts as processes for community building, expression, and healing. Many people conflate art therapy, expressive arts therapy, art as therapy and other arts-based approaches, but each has a unique philosophy and methodology.
In my own practice, these dimensions also intersect in different ways:
As an ocularist, I restore vision and presence to individuals who have lost an eye due to trauma, war, or disease. This technical and artistic work restores dignity, hope, and social engagement.
As a visual artist, I create multisensory installations that expand perceptual empathy, exploring themes of visibility, identity, inclusion, and perception. The goal is not to produce a fixed product but to provoke reflection and relational understanding.
As an expressive arts facilitator, I guide participants through creative processes that foster relational transformation, dialogue, and community resilience. The aim is not to create a polished piece of art, but to hold a space where meaning can emerge and empathy and imagination can take root and grow.
Several insights have emerged from this work:
From making sense to sense-making: expression and embodiment first, reflection after.
Low skill, high sensitivity: breaking performance-based barriers and tapping into inherent creative capacity.
Arts can also be disruptive, challenging dominant narratives, expanding perspectives, and questioning assumed “truths.” In a world that reduces people to roles or data points, the arts re-humanize, creating possibilities few dare to imagine.
As Maria Popova writes: "The very few — those who refuse to mistake the limits of the permissible for the horizon of the possible — will build a whole new table, populating the fresh slate of its surface with options others have not dared imagine. These are the visionaries, [the artists] — the only people who have ever changed this world."
The goal is not to create a polished piece of art, but to hold a space, surface meaning, and cultivate empathy and imagination.
Art works from participants at the "Peace in Practice" workshop at Geneva Peace Week 2025
Sustainability in Peacebuilding
Sustainability in peacebuilding forums is not simply about maintaining programmes. It is about nurturing regenerative capacities: imagination, curiosity, relational trust, and creative thinking.
Arts practices can help sustain hope even amid complexity and crisis.
Poetry and policy both have a place in peacebuilding.
Of course, challenges remain — limited resources, the risk of superficial engagement with the arts, and the difficulty of measuring subtle impacts such as relational trust or inner resilience. Yet these micro-practices embody the principles of emergent strategy: small, adaptive, relational actions that gradually shape worldviews of the future.
Ultimately, the question may not be whether peace can exist, but how we create the conditions for it to be imagined anew.
The question may not be whether peace can exist, but how we create the conditions for it to be imagined anew.
Speaking at the panel discussion at the closing ceremony at Geneva Peace Week 2025 (4th from the left), the International Day of Conscience 2025, and at the Kofi Annan Geneva Peace Address 2024 with Ahmad Fawai, Kofi Annan's former spokespersons and Communication Advisor
In a world where peace and cross-cultural understanding face increasing challenges, creating spaces for dialogue, empathy, and connection has never been more urgent. The arts are powerful tools to navigate complex emotions, foster healing, bridge divides, and build understanding.
Be part of this transformative gathering at Caux Arts and Peace Encounters 2026 (10 – 13 May 2026), where artists, peacebuilders, and changemakers explore how creativity can spark meaningful change in communities and in the world.
The 12the edition of Geneva Peace Week (13–17 October) brought together thousands of peacebuilders, diplomats, artists, and changemakers under the theme “Peace in Action.” This year, Caux Initiatives ...
The Arts and Peace Encounters at Geneva Peace Week 2024, held on 18 October 2024, took us on an immersive journey through different forms of artistic expression, including music, theater, poetry and v...
What strategies are effective in building confidence and trust between conflicting parties and what is the role of trust in healing and reconciliation to generate peace that is sustainable? The peace ...
“As crises multiply, we are in dire need of courageous and ethical leadership!” said moderator Ahmad Fawai, in his opening words at the Peace Address, entitled “Rising Peacebuilders”. His words set th...
On 15 October 2024, Maruee Pahuja was a panelist at this year's Kofi Annan Peace Address where she discussed with Mary Robinson, first woman President of Ireland, former UN High Commissioner for Huma...
It has been an honour to have been part of the 10th anniversary edition of Geneva Peace Week. But once the curtains are drawn and the week is over - where do we go from here? Against the backdrop of c...
On 4 November 2021, Initiatives of Change Switzerland and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (Peace and Human Rights Division) organised a webinar in the framework of the Geneva Peace Wee...
The theme of 2020’s Geneva Peace Week was ‘Rebuilding Trust after Disruption: pathways to reset international cooperation’. On 6 November, Initiatives of Change and the Geneva Centre for Security Poli...
Listening is a powerful tool that can have powerful effects on its recipient. It is also a difficult one to master. On 5 November 2020, Initiatives of Change Switzerland led an online workshop on the ...
Geneva is full of organizations which are working for peace, human rights and wellbeing, but they rarely come together. Each year, Geneva Peace Week seeks to break down the silos between these actors ...
On Monday 5 December 2016, together with 17 other NGOs, IofC International was granted Observer Status to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Council. Rainer Gude, Chargé de Mission in ...
Peacebuilding is often seen as a sophisticated process, aimed at restoring the ways society deals with conflicts and at strengthening institutional capacities; a complex series of actions that require...
13:30 - 14:45
Amphitheatre - Maison de la Paix, Chemin Eugène Rigot 2, Geneva
OPENING SESSION
ABOUT THE EVENT
Bringing together leaders, practitioners and changemakers from diverse sectors and regions, the Opening Ceremony of the Caux Democracy Forum will spark reflection on the state of democracy today and illuminate pathways for renewal.
You will be introduced to the core themes driving the 5-day Caux Democracy Forum and to the journey that continues in Caux, where deeper dialogue, learning and collaboration will unfold throughout the week.
This opening moment is designed to create a vibrant shared space—a chance to reconnect, find inspiration and envision tangible possibilities for democratic transformation.
MASTER OF CEREMONY:
Sarah NOBLE, Head of Global Engagement, Creative Peacebuilding & Inner Development at the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation
WELCOME ADDRESS
Jacqueline COTÉ, President of the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation
Ambassador Tim ENDERLIN, Peace and Human Rights Division, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
GLOBAL KEYNOTE PERSPECTIVES
High-level international leaders provide a global overview of democratic governance and human rights challenges.
Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Representative of the Council of Europe
WORDS OF WISDOM
"Ethics, responsibility and the future of democracy": A reflective leadership intervention offering long-term political insight
Yukio HATOYAMA, Former Prime Minister of Japan (2009–2010)
14:45 - 15:00
ARTISTIC INTERLUDE
15:00 - 16:30
THE INNER DIMENSION OF DEMOCRACY
This session shifts the focus to the human, cultural, and psychological foundations that sustain democratic life.
Co-Moderators:
Ignacio PACKER, Executive Director, Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation
Representative of Creative Leadership youth initiative
PART 1: Facts about the state of democracy — In Conversation
A dialogue examining current democratic trends worldwide, connecting empirical democratic realities with public perception and media narratives.
With:
M. Richard WERLY, Swiss journalist and political commentator
and others
PART 2: Bridging systems change with inner change
An exploration of how sustainability transitions require transformation in leadership mindsets, values, and collective awareness.
With:
Christine WAMSLER, Professor, Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies
PART 3: Conversation on participative democracy
An interactive dialogue highlighting citizen engagement and participatory governance models.
With:
Christine LUTRINGER, Executive Director & Senior Researcher, Graduate Institute Geneva
Marie HÜRLIMANN, Co-Founder, Foraus – Swiss Forum on Foreign Policy
PART 4: Women at the Heart of Democratic Economies
An intervention highlighting the role of women’s leadership, inclusive economic systems, and cross-regional cooperation in strengthening democratic resilience.
With:
Ai SASAKI, Chairperson, Asia Women Leaders Forum (AWLF)
16:30 - 17:00
REFRESHMENTS
A short coffee break with be offered at the end of the Opening Ceremony.
16:30 - 18:30
TRANSFER TO CAUX & CHECK-IN
The journey from Geneva to the Caux Palace in buses, departing at 16:40 and 16:50 will be the opportunity, beyond the logistical travel, to connect people in the bus and inform on Caux as part of the International Geneva ecosystem offering a place to step back from daily institutional pressures and engage in deeper conversations on democracy, leadership, and human responsibility.
18:30 - 20:00
Dining Room (2nd floor)
DINNER
A shared dinner will spark first connections - laying the groundwork for the trust and relationships that make constructive democratic dialogue possible.
20:00 - 21:15
Main Hall (4th floor)
WELCOME TO CAUX & INTRODUCTION TO OUR EXHIBITIONS
A warm welcome to everyone to the Caux community, setting the tone for the week ahead. It’s a chance to kick off our time in Caux together, discover the Caux Palace and Initiatives of Change and find out who's in the house.
You get an overview of the week’s themes and structure, and learn what to expect from the journey ahead.
We will also introduce the Solidarity Café, other spaces where you can connect, share ideas, and continue conversations throughout the Caux Democracy Forum, and discover our two summer exhibitions!
EXHIBITIONS
Press Cartoons
An exhibition of press cartoons dedicated to the issues of freedom of expression and democracy
You are invited to visit the exhibition spaces and enjoy refreshments available on the Esplanade (weather permitting) and in “Les Galeries” (4th floor).
22:00 - 22:30
Chapel (up the hill at approx 50 m from the main entrance)
EVENING REFLECTION & TAIZÉ SINGING
The day concludes with a time of quiet reflection featuring Taizé songs for peace, unity, and reconciliation.
Join the Greeting of the Day ceremony in the gardens of the Caux Palace or enjoy a moment of quiet, inspiration and music by the bay window in the Main Hall, with a breathtaking view of the rising sun on the Swiss mountains and the lake.
With:
Lewis CARDINAL (Canada), Communicator, Educator & Storyholder, Leader of the Global Indigenous Dialogue
David FABER (USA)
7:30 - 9:00
Dining Room
BREAKFAST
09:00 - 10:30
Main Hall (4th floor)
WHO DO WE ELECT AND WHAT KIND OF CITIZENS DO WE CHOOSE TO BE?
Personal Stories & Conversations
What makes democracy truly work: strong leaders, engaged citizens, or both? What kind of leaders do we support or want to be? What values guide our choices? And what kind of citizens do we aspire to be?
Day 2 of the Caux Democracy Forum invites us to explore the vital relationship between democratic leadership and active citizenship. Bringing together political leaders, civil society voices, and participants from around the world, the day will examine how trust, responsibility, and civic engagement shape the vitality of democratic societies.
Through lived experiences and inspiring personal stories, we will reflect on responsibility, trust, and participation and explore our own role in renewing democratic life.
With:
Laurent WEHRLI (Switzerland), Member of the Swiss National Council, and Chair of its Foreign Affairs Committee
Yukio HATOYAMA (Japan), Former Prime Minister of Japan from 2009 to 2010
Guests from the USA and from Ukraine
10:30 - 11:00
Dining Room (2nd floor)
COFFEE & TEA BREAK
11:00 - 12:15
Community Group Rooms
COMMUNITY GROUPS
Community Groups are a core part of the Caux Democracy Forum experience, helping to build a sense of unity and shared purpose—“Let’s do this together!”
These small, diverse groups of around 15 participants offer a space to reflect on the plenary themes, exchange ideas, and learn from one another’s lived experiences.
Guided by a community group facilitator, each session creates a safe, respectful environment where deep conversations can flourish and real connections begin.
With ground rules rooted in trust, inclusion, and care, these groups invite you to be fully present, listen openly, and speak from the heart—if and when you feel ready and are often a great place to forge new and inspiring friendships.
12:00 - 13:30
Dining Room
LUNCH
13:30 - 14:15
NETWORKING & FREE TIME
14:15 - 15:30
Main Hall
IN CONVERSATION WITH...PASCAL COUCHEPIN (TBC)
With:
Pascal COUCHEPIN (Switzerland), Former President of the Swiss Confederation in 2003 and 2008 (to be confirmed)
Drawing on his experience at the highest levels of public service and his deep knowledge of Swiss institutions, Pascal Couchepin will explore the evolving relationship between democratic leadership and civic responsibility. The conversation aims to reflect on how democratic systems can sustain trust, accountability, and active citizenship in a changing political landscape.
15:30 - 16:30
Terrace (2nd floor)
COFFEE & TEA BREAK
16:30 - 17:45
Rooms to be determined
DEEP-DIVE PARALLEL SESSIONS
People fostering societal cohesion
This session aims to highlight the diverse ways in which citizens and communities contribute to strengthening the social fabric on which democracy depends.
Representatives from Demokratis, a youth group promoting understanding and engagement with Swiss direct democracy, will share how younger generations are working to revitalise civic participation.
LEWIS CARDINAL (Canada), Communicator, Educator & Storyholder, Leader of the Global Indigenous Dialogue, will offer perspectives rooted in Indigenous wisdom and community-based governance.
A guest from the United States will contribute insights on electoral systems and the challenges of sustaining democratic legitimacy.
Thriving economy for people and planet
Democratic Architecture in the Digital Age
Exploring how democracy can be translated into the digital world, in partnership with the EPFL Center for Digital Trust.
Healing the Wounds of the Past
18:00 - 18:30
RECEPTION
18:30 - 19:30
Dining Room
DINNER
20:00 - 20:45
INTRODUCTION & MUSICAL INTERLUDE
20:45 - 21:45
CANDLELIGHT CONVERSATIONS - HUMAN BOOKS
22:00 - 22:30
Chapel
EVENING REFLECTION & TAIZÉ SINGING
The day concludes with a time of quiet reflection featuring Taizé songs for peace, unity, and reconciliation.
Join the Greeting of the Day ceremony in the gardens of the Caux Palace or enjoy a moment of quiet, inspiration and music by the bay window in the Main Hall, with a breathtaking view of the rising sun on the Swiss mountains and the lake.
With:
LEWIS CARDINAL (Canada), Communicator, Educator & Storyholder, Leader of the Global Indigenous Dialogue
7:30 - 9:00
Dining Room
BREAKFAST
9:00 - 10:30
Main Hall
COMMUNITY & PARTICIPATION -A DAY TO EXPERIENCE DEMOCRACY IN ACTION
Personal Stories & Conversations
What kind of citizens do we choose to be in a time of democratic uncertainty?
Day 3 of the Caux Democracy Forum invites us to explore how communities, civic engagement, personal responsibility shape the health of democratic societies and participation in different democratic contexts.
Amanda FERNANDES (Policy Director atACLU Hawaii) will bring perspectives from her work defending civil liberties and advancing democratic rights in the United States.
10:30 - 11:00
Dining Room
COFFEE & TEA BREAK
11:00 - 12:15
Community Group Rooms
COMMUNITY GROUPS
12:00 - 13:30
Dining Room
LUNCH
13:30 - 14:15
NETWORKING & FREE TIME
14:15 - 15:30
ROOMS TO BE DETERMINED
MASTERCLASS SERIES 1: 7 OPTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM
15:30 - 16:30
Terrace
COFFEE & TEA BREAK
16:30 - 18:30
CONNECTING WITH NATURE
With:
Lewis CARDINAL (Canada), Communicator, Educator & Storyholder, Leader of the Global Indigenous Dialogue
David FABER
Free time to go to the Rocher de Naye by train or visit Montreux
18:30 - 19:30
Dining Room
DINNER
20:00 - 21:10
FILM SCREENING: DEMOCRACY NOIR
Democratic resilience and the warning signs of democratic backsliding
This evening session invites participants to reflect on the fragility and resilience of democratic institutions through the screening of the documentary Democracy Noir (watch the trailer).
The film explores how democratic erosion can occur gradually when the safeguards of democracy—independent courts, media pluralism, oversight institutions, and fair political competition—are weakened. Rather than dramatic ruptures, it illustrates how shifts in laws, institutional capture, and control of the information space can slowly undermine democratic accountability.
Set in Hungary, the documentary follows three women—an opposition politician, an investigative journalist, and a nurse—who confront corruption and democratic backsliding in their daily lives. Their stories illustrate the courage and persistence of citizens working to defend democratic values in challenging political environments.
Following the screening, a panel discussion will broaden the conversation to examine global trends of democratic backsliding. Speakers from Europe and the United States will reflect on warning signs of democratic erosion, the role of civil society, and how institutions and citizens can strengthen democratic resilience.
Taking place shortly after Hungary’s parliamentary elections in April 2026, the discussion provides a timely opportunity to reflect on democratic developments in Europe and beyond. Perspectives from Ireland will also offer insights into democratic renewal and civic participation.
Join the Greeting of the Day ceremony in the gardens of the Caux Palace or enjoy a moment of quiet, inspiration and music by the bay window in the Main Hall, with a breathtaking view of the rising sun on the Swiss mountains and the lake.
With:
LEWIS CARDINAL (Canada), Communicator, Educator & Storyholder, Leader of the Global Indigenous Dialogue
7:30 - 9:00
Dining Room
BREAKFAST
9:00 - 10:15
Rooms to be determined
MASTERCLASS SERIES 2: 7 OPTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM
10:15 - 11:15
Dining Room
COFFEE & TEA BREAK
10:45 - 12:00
MARKET PLACE
12:00 - 13:30
Dining Room
LUNCH
13:30 - 14:15
NETWORKING & FREE TIME
14:15 - 15:30
Rooms to be determined
MASTERCLASS SERIES 3: 7 OPTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM
15:30 - 16:30
Terrace
COFFEE & TEA BREAK
16:30 - 18:30
Main Hall
PLENARY - HARVESTING & RESTITUTION ON THE MASTERCLASSES
18:30 - 19:30
Dining Room
DINNER
20:00 - 00:00
CAUX HAS TALENT
Friday, 26 June
7:00 - 7:45
GREETING OF THE DAY & TIME FOR THE INNER COMPASS
Join the Greeting of the Day ceremony in the gardens of the Caux Palace or enjoy a moment of quiet, inspiration and music by the bay window in the Main Hall, with a breathtaking view of the rising sun on the Swiss mountains and the lake.
With:
LEWIS CARDINAL (Canada), Communicator, Educator & Storyholder, Leader of the Global Indigenous Dialogue
7:30 - 9:00
Dining Room
BREAKFAST
Before 10:00 -
CHECK-OUT
Please make sure to check out of your rooms. You’re welcome to leave your luggage in the designated storage area until departure, or bring it with you to the Main Hall for the Closing Session.
Marking the 72nd anniversary of the Castle Bravo nuclear test test — the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated by the United States — the event highlighted the lasting human, environmental and intergenerational consequences of the 67 nuclear tests carried out in the Marshall Islands. Under the theme “Añin Jitbon Mar” (Spiritual Calling from our Islands), the commemoration called for global solidarity in addressing the legacy of nuclear testing and pursuing nuclear justice.
Following the event, Ignacio Packer, Executive Director of the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation, shares his reflections on the powerful warning carried by nuclear survivors and what it means for the world today:
There are moments in international Geneva when you realise that diplomacy and humanity intersect in a very personal way. For me, this was one of those moments.
Between 1946 and 1958, sixty-seven nuclear weapons were detonated in the Marshall Islands. For many of us, those numbers belong to history books. For the Marshallese people, they belong to family stories — to illness, to lands that could never be returned to, and to a relationship with the ocean and the land that was deeply disrupted.
Today, we listened to those voices. And they were not speaking about the past alone.
They were warning the world.
There are moments (...) when you realise that diplomacy and humanity intersect in a very personal way.
Ignacio Packer speaking at the event in Geneva (photo: E. Brenot)
I was born in 1962, at the height of the tensions surrounding the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Cold War brought humanity frighteningly close to nuclear catastrophe. For my generation, the nuclear threat was part of the background noise of childhood — something we hoped would gradually fade as the Cold War ended.
For a while, it seemed that it had.
Yet recent assessments by the UN and leading research institutes warn that the world may be entering its most dangerous nuclear moment in decades. Conflicts are intensifying, arms-control frameworks are weakening, and nuclear arsenals continue to expand.
In the past week alone, wars have escalated dramatically. Global tensions continue to rise. The language of nuclear weapons has returned to international discourse.
As I listened to the survivors today, I could not help thinking about the world that younger and future generations are inheriting. I am the father of three wonderful young adults, now between 27 and 32 years old. Like many parents, I hope they will live in a world where the lessons of the past have been learned, not forgotten.
But hope alone is not enough.
What struck me most at today’s commemoration was the dignity with which the survivors spoke. There was no anger in their words. Instead, there was determination — a quiet reminder that nuclear weapons are not abstract geopolitical tools. They are instruments capable of inflicting immense suffering on human beings and on entire ecosystems.
Survivors understand this reality better than anyone. And when survivors speak, humanity is invited not only to remember, but to learn.
When survivors speak, humanity is invited not only to remember, but to learn.
From left to right: Selina Leem, Activist, Nuclear Justice and Climate Justice I John Taukave, Pacific Cultural Arts, PhD candidate, University of Amsterdam I Ambassador Doreen de Brum, Representative of the Marshall Islands in Geneva (photos: E. Brenot)
I am also conscious that I write these words from a privileged part of the world, where peace and stability are often taken for granted. Yet over the years, as a humanitarian, I have had the privilege of meeting people from many corners of the world — communities living through conflict, displacement, injustice, and extraordinary resilience.
Those encounters change how you see the world. They remind you that our planet is deeply interdependent. The suffering of one region is never truly isolated from the rest of humanity.
Today, as a devastating war unfolds in the Middle East and geopolitical tensions rise elsewhere, the warning carried by nuclear survivors feels painfully relevant. Their message is not ideological. It is profoundly human.
Remember what happened. Understand the consequences. Choose a different path.
At the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation, we believe that peace begins with the courage to listen — especially when the stories we hear challenge our comfort.
Last summer in Caux above Montreux, in the historic Caux Palace, we hosted an exhibition of drawings created by children from Pacific communities affected by nuclear testing. More than 800 visitors came to see the exhibition. Many discovered the story of the Marshall Islands for the first time.
Children often express truth with remarkable clarity. Their drawings spoke of loss, but also of hope. They reminded us that memory can become a force for responsibility.
We believe that peace begins with the courage to listen — especially when the stories we hear challenge our comfort.
Extracts of paintings by Marshallese children at the exhibition in Caux in 2025
This year, the Caux Foundation marks 80 years of Caux as a place dedicated to trust-building and reconciliation. Over those eight decades, people from around the world have gathered there to confront difficult histories and rebuild trust across divides.
The voices we heard today belong to that same journey. They are not voices of accusation. They are voices of warning — and of hope.
In a world where wars continue to erupt and mistrust grows between nations, the testimonies of nuclear survivors remind us of something essential: peace is not simply the absence of war. It is the result of choices we make, individually and collectively.
Choices to listen. Choices to remember. Choices to act with responsibility toward future generations.
Peace is not simply the absence of war. It is the result of choices we make, individually and collectively.
Jennifer Philpot Nissen, Human Rights and Disarmament, from the World Council of Churches (photo: E. Brenot)
As a father, as a humanitarian, and simply as a citizen of this fragile planet, I cannot hear those voices without asking a simple question: In a world where wars spread, nuclear risks rise, and mistrust deepens between nations, what must each of us do now to protect our children’s future?
The survivors from the Marshall Islands are asking us to reflect on that question with honesty. Their call is not addressed only to governments.
The voices of survivors not only call us to reflect on the future we are shaping. They also remind us that democracy, peace and human security require courage, dialogue and responsibility. This summer, the Caux Democracy Forum (22 - 26 June) will bring together people from all over the globe in Caux to explore Hope, Healing and Human Security.
Ignacio Packer is Executive Director of the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation, a Swiss charitable foundation committed to promoting trust, ethical leadership, sustainable living and human security. With over 30 years of experience in humanitarian and development work, he worked at the European Bank for Latin America and then at KPMG, before becoming a recognised leader of NGOs and international alliances for over 25 years. An expert in human rights and social issues, he has been particularly involved in defending protection frameworks for migrants and refugees, especially children and young people.
Each year, the Marshall Islands observe Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day on 1 March, honouring those affected by the nuclear testing programme that took place between 1946 and 1958. On 28 February 2025...
What if you were to place your leadership at the service of a vision rooted in trustbuilding and reconciliation, at the heart of an iconic center for international dialogue? In anticipation of the current Executive Director's retirement, we are seeking our future Executive Director.
About the Caux Foundation
The Caux Fondation is a Swiss private charitable foundation committed to advancing a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world by fostering trust across divides. Since 1946, it has welcomed individuals from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs to the Caux Palace, a historic venue overlooking Montreux and Lake Geneva. Guided by the conviction that personal transformation is the starting point for broader societal change, the Foundation offers a unique space for dialogue, reflection, and collaboration—an approach it calls “Hospitality for Change.”
The Executive Director (ED) provides the highest level of strategic and operational leadership, ensuring the Foundation’s continued relevance, impact, and long-term financial resilience, as well as that of its assets, including the Caux Palace and its estate. Working in close collaboration with the Board and the President, the ED leads the implementation of a robust and sustainable strategy that combines mission excellence with financial discipline.
The ED is an inspiring leader, capable of guiding the Foundation through its next phase of growth, diversification, and renewal, notably through the Heritage 2040 project.
If you are interested in learning more about this role please refer to the full job description here
A blog by Ignacio Packer, Executive Director of Caux Initiatives of Change
19/02/2026
Featured Story
Off
A blog by Ignacio Packer, Executive Director of Caux Initiatives of Change
Leading today means navigating a world of uncertainty, rapid change and growing human expectations. Between economic performance and social responsibility, many leaders feel a new tension, often silent but very real. On the occasion of the International Day of Social Justice, and following on from recent discussions in Caux with business leaders, Ignacio Packer, Executive Director of the Caux Foundation, offers his thoughts on what it means to lead with justice in our time. An invitation to take a step back and reflect on the role of leadership in a changing world.
On 13 February, at the Caux Palace, we spoke with business leaders about a paradox that has become almost commonplace: their companies are still holding on... but their teams are getting tired.
No one mentioned AI at first.
We talked about difficult management meetings. About competent employees who are not leaving but who no longer make suggestions. About economically sound decisions that leave a vague sense of unease.
And at one point, one executive summed up what many were thinking: "I have to transform my company, but I don't want to be the one who hurts people."
For me, this sentence is at the heart of World Social Justice Day, which we celebrate on 20 February. Today, social justice is no longer just about laws or redistribution. It is about the daily decisions made by thousands of executives. It is about very concrete choices: reorganising, automating, cutting jobs, asking for extra effort... or waiting.
Today, social justice is the daily and very concrete decisions made by executives.
Ignacio Packer (right) on 13 February with SME leaders at the Caux Palace
A new silent responsibility
Today, many leaders are experiencing the same tension. On the one hand: costs, skills shortages, market instability, and AI. On the other: human fatigue, loss of meaning, and fragile commitment. Swiss insurance companies confirm that exhaustion has become a major cause of long-term absenteeism.
But managers do not have the luxury of waiting. And that is where something is changing profoundly.
Businesses are no longer just facing an economic crisis; they are at the crossroads of technological, social, ecological and human transformations. In this context, leadership is no longer just about optimising an organisation. It's about staying the course in uncertain times without losing people along the way.
AI is changing less the work... than the role of leaders
There is a lot of talk about what AI will replace. But the real question is: who will bear the human responsibility for decisions optimised by machines? AI will analyse better. It will often decide faster and more economically. But one question will remain human:
Is this decision fair to the people concerned?
The role of leaders is shifting from performance manager to architect of human trajectories.
Leadership is no longer just about optimising an organisation. It is about staying the course in uncertainty without losing people along the way.
Ignacio Packer
Ignacio Packer (right) in conversation with participants at the SME event
What we learned in Caux
After several discussions with leaders, one thing became clear: the problem is not primarily technical. It is internal.
Many know what to do, but are unsure how to do it without breaking trust. What is missing is not a tool. It is a space to think clearly. A space where we can step out of emergency mode and become fully responsible again.
This choice is part of a long tradition: since 1946, the Caux Palace has been an international venue for dialogue and reflection on ethics, responsibility, and the role of decision-makers. From the Principles for Business, launched in 1994 by the Caux Round Table, to the current programmes on ethical leadership and people-centred economics, this approach has for decades supported those who see people as the key to sustainable performance.
It is not about learning AI, but about learning how to make decisions when everything is changing. A time to rediscover our inner compass, understand what needs to change and what needs to be protected, articulate performance and dignity, and transform without betraying our values.
Leaders will not come here looking for recipes. They will come here to rediscover their stance. Because, ultimately, sustainable competitiveness today depends on a rare quality: the ability to transform an organisation without creating injustice.
Passing on the rich history of the Caux Palace as a meeting place: Ignacio Packer (left) with Sarah Noble, Olivier Chambovay and a participant in the SME event
Social justice in practice
Social justice is no longer an abstract concept. It comes into play when a leader announces change without humiliating, automates without abandoning, reduces without destroying, explains without manipulating.
In a world marked by multiple crises and AI, the company should be a place of social stability. And every managerial decision becomes a societal decision.
At Caux, we seek to enable leaders to experience:
the security of a space of trust,
the clarity of deep reflection,
the hope that comes from having a clear direction
and the ability to take concrete action.
Then something can change.
It's not about being kinder, but about being fairer. Because it is this inner requirement that makes it possible to transform the company without sacrificing either its performance or its people.
A conviction
We are entering an era in which machines will optimise decisions. But social cohesion will depend on those who give them meaning. Leading tomorrow will not primarily be a technical skill; it will be a human responsibility.
And perhaps, ultimately, a deeply social responsibility.
Our event ‘Leading with humanity in the age of artificial intelligence’ interest you?Immerse yourself in the magnificent natural setting of the Caux Palace and explore with us how to accompany technological transitions in a fully conscious, democratic and respectful manner.
It is not about being kinder, but about being fairer. Because it is this inner requirement that enables us to transform the company without sacrificing either its performance or its people.
Ignacio Packer is Executive Director of the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation, a Swiss charitable foundation committed to promoting trust, ethical leadership, sustainable living and human security. With over 30 years of experience in humanitarian and development work, he worked at the European Bank for Latin America and then at KPMG, before becoming a recognised leader of NGOs and international alliances for over 25 years. An expert in human rights and social issues, he has been particularly involved in defending protection frameworks for migrants and refugees, especially children and young people.
On 25 October 2024, the Caux Round Table (CRT) - Japan hosted the 13th Business and Human Rights Conference in Tokyo with 225 corporate leaders, executives and experts from several Asian countries par...
Annika Hartmann de Meuron, Managing Director of Ethical Leadership in Business (ELB), looks back on four exciting years of developing ethical leadership in business in Switzerland. ELB aimed to increa...
The Co-founder of Zimba Women, Peace Kuteesa, is passionate about providing women with the tools and resources to participate in their economies and develop their communities. She spoke at last year's...
A year ago, video conferencing became the new normal in our work lives. It was the safest place for us to meet and collaborate. It seemed so easy: just invite someone to join the call and continue as...
Global Entrepreneurship Week in November 2020 included e-space, a three-day hybrid event, which offered a range of master classes and conferences. Rainer Gude, Co-Director General of Initiatives of Ch...
During Global Entrepreneurship Week in November 2020, Initiatives of Change Switzerland took part in e-space, a three-day hybrid event, which offered a range of master classes and conferences. Annika ...
The Ethical Leadership in Business conference, on 25 and 26 June 2020, kicked off the first Caux Forum Online. It offered a diversified experience with panels livestreamed from the Caux Palace, networ...
Nazrene Mannie is the Executive Director of the Global Apprenticeship Network (GAN) and talks about her learning experiences. Our interview series 'My Learning Story’ hopes to become a global learning...
Our interview series ‘My Learning Story’ hopes to become a global learning experience, connecting people around the world as they share their stories of what we all do every day: learning to build a b...
‘My Learning Story’ hopes to become a global learning experience, connecting people around the world as they share their stories of what we all do every day: learning to build a brighter future. Disco...
Our new feature ‘My Learning Story’ hopes to become a global learning experience, connecting people around the world as they share their stories of what we all do every day: learning to build a bright...
Gender Equality and Inclusion: Turning Commitment into Practice
10/02/2026
Featured Story
Off
“Inclusion doesn’t happen by accident. Our Gender Accountability Champions ensure it happens by intention.”
With these words, Ignacio Packer, Executive Director at Caux Initiatives of Change, reaffirms both his personal and organisational commitment to advancing gender equality. As a International Gender Champion, Ignacio is committing not only for himself, but also on behalf of the Caux Foundation, ensuring that gender equality is embedded into how the Foundation plans, facilitates, and evaluates its work.
From Intention to Deeper Implementation
In 2026, this commitment moves decisively from initial steps to deeper, organisation-wide practice.
Through trained Gender Accountability Champions and a gender-inclusive facilitation framework, every Caux Forum and all events organised by the Caux Foundation will integrate concrete gender objectives, inclusive facilitation standards, and structured reflection and reporting.
Gender equality shouldn't be an add-on, but a core element of organisational culture and shared responsibility.
Ignacio Packer, Executive Director at Caux Initiatives of Change
Given everyone a voice - Participants at an event at the Caux Palace
Building on Strong Foundations
These 2026 commitments build on important progress made in 2025 and are structured around two core organisational commitments.
Commitment 1: Gender Accountability Champions in Every Forum and Encounter
In 2026, Gender Accountability Champions within our events organising teams will play a central role in embedding gender equality into programme design and delivery.
These Champions will:
Receive targeted training in gender-sensitive programme design, facilitation, and reporting
Ensure that each event includes at least one concrete gender equality objective
Submit a short Gender Inclusion Reflection Report after each Caux Forum or general event feeding directly into organisational impact reviews
This distributed leadership model shifts accountability from a single focal point to shared team responsibility, supporting deeper and more sustainable organisational transformation.
Commitment 2: A Gender-Inclusive Facilitation Framework
At least 50% gender-balanced representation among moderators and facilitators
Clear guidelines for inclusive language
A structured feedback loop on participants’ experiences of gender safety, participation, and representation
This framework ensures that inclusion is visible, measurable, and consistently applied — strengthening both participant experience and organisational accountability.
Working together as a network for more gender equality: Geneva Pledge for Gender-Responsive Climate Action 2024
A Shared Responsibility for Inclusion
At the Caux Foundation, we see gender equality not as a side initiative, but as a core way of working and a practical driver for meaningful impact.
Every step counts. Through executive leadership, trained Gender Accountability Champions, and organisation-wide standards, we are committed to making gender equality a shared value and standard that shapes how we convene, lead, and foster greater inclusion - together!
Sayali Powale is a marketing and creative professional with over nine years of international experience across advertising, branding, and digital projects. She has worked with global agencies and brands, leading multidisciplinary teams and managing campaigns across digital, print, and experiential platforms.
A blog by Ignacio Packer, Executive Director Caux Initiatives of Change
23/01/2026
Featured Story
Off
A blog by Ignacio Packer, Executive Director Caux Initiatives of Change
Ignacio Packer in Davos
After participating in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos on 22 January 2026, Ignacio Packer, Executive Director of the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation, reflects on the question that stayed with him most: "Can trust still hold in today’s fragmented world?" In this blog, he explores what the erosion of trust means for democracy, cooperation, and leadership — and where renewal might begin.
I’m writing this on the train, on my way back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, with one word echoing in my mind: trust.
I went to Davos this year for three reasons. First, I draw energy from the sheer density of conversations — the collisions of ideas, experiences, and disciplines that are hard to replicate elsewhere. A particular highlight was a lunch discussion on trust organised by the Geneva Graduate Institute, which brought a rare depth and honesty to a concept too often used loosely.
Second, Davos places me face to face with people living very different lives, shaped by different assumptions and priorities. It stretches my capacity to listen carefully and to understand perspectives I do not naturally share.
Third, I wanted to be present in key conversations on food systems, especially as I have just joined the Global Advisory Committee for the Global Conscious Food Systems Summit taking place later this year in Bhutan, led by UNDP-COFSA. At a time of accelerating ecological and social strain, food systems are where trust, power, and human security intersect most visibly.
Across these conversations, one theme was everywhere — and nowhere taken for granted: trust.
Leaders spoke in markedly different registers. Some used blunt force - even disrespectful - rhetoric, others chose calibrated restraint in describing a world shaped by fragmentation, geopolitical tension, technological disruption, and democratic strain. What struck me most was not only what was said about trust, but how leaders are behaving in its absence.
Increasingly, trust is no longer assumed. It is managed.
Powerful actors rely on leverage, pressure, and transactional frameworks to keep cooperation going. Alliances are maintained through safeguards and redundancy rather than confidence. Europe speaks of unity while quietly pursuing greater autonomy. Business is asked to act as a stabiliser, even as public confidence in institutions continues to erode.
These arrangements may keep systems functioning in the short term, but they do not renew legitimacy.
Systems held together primarily by pressure, rules, and transactional deals do not rebuild trust. Without legitimacy, peace becomes fragile and democracy becomes procedural. People may comply, but they no longer believe. Over time, that erosion fuels polarisation, weakens institutions, and increases the risk of conflict.
This is why the question of trust cannot be treated as a communications problem or a governance tweak. It is fundamentally a human one.
Systems held together primarily by pressure, rules, and transactional deals do not rebuild trust.
Davos
A Call to Action — and a Call for Inner Development
This is a call to all who exercise influence — including the current U.S. administration and other global power centres — to lead with integrity, tell the truth, repair what has been harmed, and choose dialogue over domination. In a world under strain, the most strategic asset is not leverage. It is trust.
Rebuilding trust requires more than institutional reform. It requires inner development — the capacity for self-reflection, responsibility, and moral courage. Without this inner work, external systems inevitably default to control, coercion, and performance.
For decades, our work in Caux has approached trust not as a slogan or reputational asset, but as a human and relational process. It has offered neutral ground where political, economic, and cultural divides can be faced honestly, and where cooperation begins with personal responsibility and integrity (read more).
In a world moving toward what some describe as “managed interdependence,” such spaces matter more, not less. Places like the Caux Palace, our centre for dialogue and peacebuilding, allow people to step out of posturing and pressure, meet across divides, and rebuild the relationships that make genuine cooperation possible.
Democracy, after all, does not fail only when institutions weaken.
It fails when trust between citizens, leaders, and systems is allowed to disappear.
In a world under strain, the most strategic asset is not leverage. It is trust.
The Caux Palace near Montreux (photo: Adrien Giovannelli)
Because trust is deeply human, Caux will also host the Caux Inner Development Goals Forum from 13–17 July 2026, under the theme “The Alchemy of Forgiveness.” By placing forgiveness and inner development at the heart of leadership and systems change, this forum strengthens the personal foundations of peace, resilience, and democratic culture. It supports the difficult but necessary movement from compliance to conscience, from polarisation to repair, and from performative cooperation to lasting legitimacy.
So the question I leave Davos with is not only: can trust still hold?
It is: what are we prepared to do to rebuild it?
Trust will not return through declarations or forums alone. It will return if leaders, institutions, businesses, and citizens choose to invest time, courage, and humility in rebuilding relationships, listening across divides, and aligning power with responsibility.
Choosing the hard work of togetherness
This is an invitation to step out of managed coexistence and into intentional togetherness. Caux offers a place to do precisely that — not as spectators, but as participants. Not to manage decline, but to renew legitimacy.
The work of rebuilding trust cannot be postponed, and it cannot be done alone. It begins wherever we decide to show up, engage honestly, and take responsibility for the future we are shaping together.
You are welcome to Caux.
Trust will not return through declarations or forums alone. It will return if we choose to invest time, courage, and humility in rebuilding relationships, listening across divides, and aligning power with responsibility.
Discover the full report of the Caux Democracy Forum 2025 which brought together more than 350 participants from over 45 countries at the Caux Palace to reflect and act on the theme “Revitalizing Demo...
Call for workshops! You would like to give share your inspiration, ideas and skills with other participants at the Caux IDG Forum this summer? We look forward to your application! Applications will be...
"In a democracy, each of us carries the responsibility to engage, listen and to contribute. It is more than a political system. It is about choice and voice. How does this resonate with you?" With the...
Spanish journalist Victoria Martín de la Torre is passionate about Europe, diversity and interfaith relations. Here she reflects on different aspects of Europe, based on her PhD research which led her...
Amid escalating conflicts worldwide, the arts emerge as a potent force to challenge misconceptions and foster positive perspectives. The pivotal role of artists in creatively raising awareness has nev...
On 25 - 28 January, some 60 CEOs and other senior staff came together under Chatham House Rules to share personal experiences on how to balance a sustainable business with integrity and trust. Executi...
Save the date for the Caux Forum 2024! This summer Caux Initiatives of Change, in partnership with Initiatives of Change International and supported by other civil society networks, UN agencies, phila...
The Caux Forum 2023 Opening Ceremony set the tone for the conference with the theme, ‘Strengthening Democracy: The Journey from Trauma to Trust.’. Discover the report and relive the highlights of this...
In a world filled with diverse cultures and languages, the journey of musician Tsvetana Petrushina is an inspiring tale of how she discovered her purpose. Her remarkable story led her to the Caux Pala...
Arpan Yagnik, a participant of last year's Creative Leadership conference and team member of the IofC Hub 2021, talks to Mary Lean about creativity, fear and vocation. ...
When Indonesian law student Agustina Zahrotul Jannah discovered the Young Ambassadors Programme (YAP) on Google she felt both excited and hopeless: excited because she hoped it might give her the skil...
How did Sofia Syodorenko become involved in the zero waste movement, and what does it mean to her? Now Chair of Foundations for Freedom, she is also a representative of the Zero Waste Alliance Ukraine...
The second in Tools for Changemakers’ series of Stories for Changemakers took place on 25 August 2021, with an interview with Patrick Magee, who planted a bomb at the Grand Hotel, Brighton, in 1984, w...
An experienced Swiss executive, Olivier Chambovay has over 25 years of experience in governance, strategy and conscious leadership. As former Chief Financial Officer of the Central Institute of Valais Hospitals (approx. 600 employees), he oversaw institutional performance, led major cross-functional projects and implemented a conscious business concept (shared governance, team charter, feedback training, positive error culture and sustainability).