At the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, held under the theme “Resilient Dynamism”, Serageldin joined world leaders from politics and business, media and academia, technology pioneers, spiritual and cultural leaders, to share insights on critical issues, and to collaborate on the risks and opportunities that lie ahead of the global community.
Over the course of the five-day meeting, Serageldin participated in workshops, debates and private sessions that discussed a wide range of topics: from “ A New Vision for Arab Employment”, to “The Future Role of Civil Society”, to “The Future Role of Faith”.
As part of the Arts and Culture program intended to explore ways in which various forms of art influence society , Serageldin was rapporteur of a session entitled “Objects of Culture”. Posing the question “How do artefacts convey the essence of culture?”, the session was moderated by James Cuno, President and Chief Executive Officer, J. Paul Getty Trust, USA; and panelists included Julien Anfruns, Director-General, International Council of Museums, France; Thomas Campbell Director and Chief Executive Officer, Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA; Neil MacGregor, Director, The British Museum, UK; Hermann Parzinger , President, Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Germany; Mikhail Piotrovsky , General Director, State Hermitage Museum, Russian Federation.
In another interactive session entitled “Shared History”, moderated by Justine Cassell , Charles M. Geschke Director, Human Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, USA, Serageldin shared a panel with Thomas Campbell , Director and Chief Executive Officer, Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA; Ge Jianxiong , Professor of Historical Geography and History, Fudan University, China; Elif Shafak , Writer, Turkey; Jimmy Wales , Founder and Trustee, Wikimedia Foundation, USA. With the preservation of culture as one of its key discussion points, this session raised the question: “How will future generations learn about their past in an era of decentralized knowledge?”.
Serageldin also led a discussion on “Identity Politics” that raised the issue “How is the notion of identity changing in today’s ‘super-diverse’ societies?”. The session was moderated by John J. DeGioia , President, Georgetown University, USA, and co-leaders of the discussion were Mark Pagel , Evolutionary Theorist, University of Reading, UK; David Rosen , Chief Rabbi and International Director, Interreligious Affairs, American Jewish Committee (AJC), Israel; Elif Shafak , Writer, Turkey; Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah , Secretary-General, Civicus: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, South Africa.
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