The Leonardo award – the European Corporate Learning Award aims at generating this attention and stimulating the discourse. We must link this discourse with the other areas of learning.

If we learned any lesson from the latest financial and economic crisis, then it would be that not everyone has learned his lesson.
It is indeed surprising that in many sectors – and not only in banks – behavioral patterns, decision pathways, and insights from the crisis are ignored and even shoved aside. Günter Szogs, secretary of the “Leonardo Award” coined the term “subprime knowledge” in reference to the subprime crisis.

This expresses that the quality of the knowledge of many who were in part responsible for the crisis indeed was no better than the quality of the toxic bonds they put into circulation. And this was the case although these people are among the best-educated experts of our society. This makes it clear that business knowledge must be viewed only in the interaction with social knowledge.

Business knowledge can be understood only as a part of social knowledge.

Let’s have another look at what this policy has brought us. The Lisbon agenda was to have made Europe the most competitive knowledge society in the world (BEAT) – but this success did not materialize.

We are dismayed at the lack of qualifications of applicants who want to start working with us after completing schooling.
We regret the lack of political resolve and are simultaneously overwhelmed by demographic changes and the resulting lack of qualified personnel.

All of this should spur those of us involved in Corporate Learning to move learning and knowledge to the top of our business agenda.

We need the circumspect cooperation of all involved.

Back in 1996, the UNESCO under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Jacques Delors addressed this topic and identified four dimensions of learning:

Learning to do
Learning to know
Learning to live together, and
Learning to be

These insights form the basis for the European Lifelong Learning Index “Elli” developed in 2010 – for many leading education experts, “Elli” is already the successor to the name of a city in Italy.

Jacques Delors’ four dimensions of learning are the core of our European DNA:

“Learning to know” – the ability to acquire and increase knowledge.

“Learning to do” – the ability to act and achieve goals through training and education. This can be successful – and this was proven by the discussion on integration of recent weeks – only through

“Learning to live together” – with the realization that differences complement each other and monocultures do not lead to best results.
  
“Learning to be” – meaning that successfully combining these three dimensions of learning develops trust and self-confidence, good judgment and the ability to shape one’s life.

I am very moved and pleased that we are today awarding the first European Corporate Learning Award to the father of this valuable and inspiring European concept.

More than 20 years ago he described the vision of the four dimensions of learning as “treasures within”. This is the foundation of a European knowledge society.

For his visionary approach and for his dedication to an open European knowledge society, we would like to honor him today as the first recipient of the Leonardo award.

Those who ask the right questions will be successful in the future. I now have the honor of welcoming a person to the stage who has asked many important questions all his life. He had the opportunity to discuss many of these questions with his friend Jacques Delors. It is therefore a special pleasure for us to welcome him to speak on behalf of the award winner.