Mental Health at the Center of the Impact Circle Event
On Friday, August 30, Impact Gstaad hosted the Impact Circle event on the picturesque Wasserngrat in Gstaad. Under the motto “Mental Health - Healthy People for a Healthy Planet”, leading figures from business, science and politics gathered to discuss the links between mental health and sustainability. Manuel Linder, President of the Impact Gstaad Association, opened the event and emphasized the importance of the topic: “A healthy planet needs healthy people, which is why resilience is of great importance and we must learn to find a balance between the pressure to perform and mental well-being.”
From top-class sport to neuromedicine
Highlights of the Impact Circle Event included exciting presentations by Dominique Gisin, former ski racer and Olympic champion, neuroscientist Dr Klaas Enno Stephan, Sean Mayberry, CEO of the social enterprise StrongMinds, and Christoph Gauch, Head of Relationship Management at GEWA, a social enterprise specialising in professional integration.
Sean Mayberry, a former diplomat and social marketer, emphasised that treating depression in women in Africa is the most effective and cost-effective way to combat systemic poverty. Dr Klaas Enno Stephan showed how computer-assisted methods can revolutionise psychiatry and psychosomatics. Christoph Gauch explained how GEWA supports people with mental health challenges to find their place in the labour market through professional integration programmes and economic services. And Dominique Gisin closed the Impact Circle event with personal insights into her career, which has been characterised by numerous setbacks and impressive comebacks. ‘The most important thing was to accept my fears and deal with them,’ said Gisin, explaining how mental strength and resilience can be built up.
Other items on the program included the presentation of the finalists of the Green Business Award and an update on the Young Impact education project.
The Impact Gstaad Association would like to thank all participants and speakers for their contributions to the Impact Circle Event.
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As the heart of Impact Gstaad, the Impact Circle unites influential locals, Gstaad guests and companies who want to have a measurable impact on local and global sustainable ecological, economic and social development. The Impact Circle Members make a fundamental contribution to the realization of groundbreaking and attractive events, are part of a high-caliber network, support the implementation of concrete measures and projects in Gstaad and help to drive the initiative forward operationally.
