The war in Ukraine, the climate crisis, disinformation and the role of an independent judiciary – these topics, at first glance unrelated to business, in fact have a very strong impact on it. During the Enterprises Forum in Gdynia, to which members of the CZR UG team were also invited, participants had the opportunity to listen to a series of expert commentaries on economic, geopolitical and climate issues and take part in a discussion about the modern company, a strong leisure industry or human rights in business.

On 25th May 2020 the seventeenth edition of the Forum of Enterprises took place in Gdynia. This cyclical event is organized by the Pomerania Development Agency. The agenda of the conference addressed mainly to business representatives was divided into main session and thematic panels.

In the first part economic commentary was presented by prof. Jerzy Hausner from Open Eyes Economy. Tadeusz Iwański, head of the Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova Team at the Centre for Eastern Studies, commented on the current war situation in Ukraine. Zuzanna Rudzińska-Bluszcz, head of the ClientEarth Foundation, answered the question what are the consequences of the climate crisis.

In the first part, we prepared a series of comments on economic issues and climate indicators. Unfortunately, they were quite depressing. However, I think that everyone who runs a business in Poland thanks to this conference and our speakers will have a broader outlook and open eyes on the problems, which are not strictly business issues, but have a huge impact on the economic reality in Poland – says Katarzyna Laskowska, Deputy Director of the Entrepreneurship Development Department in Pomerania Development Agency.

Janusz Schwertner from Onet prepared a short lecture on fake news and disinformation in the media space and presented a recipe on how to try to counteract it. A commentary on the role of an independent judiciary in the development of business was given by mec. Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram. At the end of the main session, Tomasz Michniewicz from Radio 357 answered the question: How to eat an elephant, or what to do in the face of a challenge that is (probably) beyond us?

At the end of the main session, we wanted to cheer up our participants. Therefore, there was a lecture by Tomek Michniewicz, a traveller, journalist and reporter, who told our participants how to cope with adversities – adds Katarzyna Laskowska.

In the last part of the conference, participants could take part in three thematic panels: Modern and Resilient Company, Strong leisure time industry and Solidarity in Development. As Katarzyna Laskowska says, a lot of space was also devoted to sustainable development.

For example, in the theme block Strong leisure industry there was Ms Agata Delmaczyńska, who helps mainly the hotel industry, but also the event industry to change into a more sustainable and greener industry. She prepared various case studies to inspire our entrepreneurs to change their system of work in this industry. There was also a topic that isn’t touched on too much at conferences, but we wanted to bring it up. In the theme block Solidarity in Development we talked about human rights in business – something that is not so popular in Poland yet, but it is an important topic for us as an institution that supports Pomeranian entrepreneurship – emphasizes Katarzyna Laskowska.

Honorary Patrons of the Entrepreneurs Forum are Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship Mieczysław Struk and Mayor of Gdynia Wojciech Szczurek.