TIAS draws attention to new leaders in Green Top Train

In the run-up to the UN Climate Summit in Paris, TIAS will ride the Green Top Train through the Netherlands on Friday, November 27, 2015. The train will be full of travelers who have sustainable, smart, and inspiring ideas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The world needs leaders who are committed to business with a purpose. TIAS sees it as its role to train these new leaders.

"Since the financial crisis, an awareness has been growing that no one can do it alone anymore. Business, government, and civil society need to work together in new ways to meet the challenges of our age. This requires a different kind of leader than the one we have had in recent decades," says Business Development Director Menno Maas. During this train journey, Menno Maas and Prof. Dr. Toni Sfirtsis will talk about business & society and innovation in education.

The business community needs to focus on business with a purpose. It is less about the hard profit targets and more about finding business solutions to social problems, for example in energy and environmental matters. In training these new leaders, TIAS focuses on four skills: cooperation, responsible leadership, innovation, and new business models.

Responsible leadership, cooperation, innovation, and new business models

Maas: "Responsible leadership means that businesses consider the interests of and show respect for all stakeholders within the chain. They choose sustainable solutions for the long term that benefit all parties. The element of cooperation can also be seen here. Innovation and sustainability have now become the two sides of the same coin. Most innovations are intended to make sustainable improvements. We see that, for example, in solutions to reduce CO2 emissions, but also in the selection and use of materials."

On November 27, the Green Top Train will ride from Haarlem to The Hague HS and then via Den Bosch to Amersfoort. The voyage will terminate at Utrecht Maliebaan station, near the Railway Museum. Small-scale events will be held at all these stations, where the organizations that board the train will present their solutions. There is an interesting program for the guests on the train, which anyone can follow through blogs and social media. The initiatives on the Green Top Train will be bundled and offered to the Dutch delegation to the UN Summit as inspiring and motivating luggage.

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