One Ocean MBA’s Conference and Regatta Concludes

Saturday 21^st September saw the end of the 16th edition of the One Ocean MBA's Conference and Regatta, held for the first time in Porto Cervo. The event, organised by the SDA Bocconi School of Management and by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with the partnership of the One Ocean Foundation, saw the participation of about 400 students from top international business schools in Sardinia for three days of sports and discussions themed around environmental sustainability.

On the 20^th September, the sporting calendar saw 51 teams divided into Offshore and Cruise Classes competing in coastal races, while 14 teams in the Open Class competed in windward-leeward races aboard J/24s. On the final day, 21^st September, strong Scirocco winds at over 20 knots kept the teams ashore.

The Open Class was won by the MIP School of Management who placed first twice. They were followed by the teams from the MIT SLOAN School of Management and the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, in second and third places respectively.

The Offshore Class saw the Harvard Business School team placed ahead of the Rotterdam School of Management and the Chicago Booth School of Business. The Cruise Class saw the largest number of teams competing. Here the victory went to the team from the MIP School of Management, with the team from the SDA BOCCONI School of Management in second place followed by the team from the SKOLKOVO Moscow School of Management. In conclusion, MBA's Cup Challenge Trophies were won by the teams from the MIP School of Management (Open Class) and the Harvard Business School (Offshore Class).

The event's final day also saw the conference, Why Future Leaders Need to Face Sustainability Challenges. Held at the Colonna Resort, the talk was organised jointly by the SDA Bocconi and by the One Ocean Foundation (OOF) thanks to the partnership between these two institutions. Speakers were Andrea Illy, President of illycaffè, and the One Ocean Ambassadors Paul Rose, the explorer, and Maria Cristina Finucci, the artist who founded the Garbage Patch State in 2013. Maurizio Dallocchio, Full Professor of Corporate Finance at the Università Bocconi and Past Dean of the SDA Bocconi School of Management, moderated.

Representing the SDA Bocconi School of Management there were Dean Giuseppe Soda and Federico Pippo Lecturer of Corporate Finance and the MBA Sport Club Coordinator at the SDA Bocconi School of Management. Also in attendance were Riccardo Bonadeo, the YCCS Commodore and Executive Vice President of the OOF, and Jan Pachner, Secretary General both the YCCS and the OOF.

Giuseppe Soda, Dean of SDA Bocconi, had these words: "I think that this event offers an excellent opportunity for learning because it gives some of the world's students from top business schools an occasion for networking. Many of the participants will probably be in top positions in the future and they will have to make decisions that will have to do with environmental sustainability. We have to remember that 'There is no Planet B' and I really believe that events like the One Ocean MBA's Conference and Regatta can offer a framework for making responsible and informed decisions in the participants' private and professional lives."

Riccardo Bonadeo, Commodore of the YCCS and Executive Vice President of the One Ocean Foundation said: "My congratulations go to the winners of this event and to everyone who participated. I hope that you enjoyed the YCCS hospitality. I think that the location for this event, held for the first time in Costa Smeralda, shows just how important this mission is for us and proves that it's fundamental to promote a culture of environmental sustainability.

“There is no better audience that the youths who were here for this event, the potential tomorrow's leaders. I want to thank the SDA Bocconi Business School for supporting the One Ocean Foundation right from the start, ever since the Forum organized in 2017. We are now working together to make a new generation aware of the urgency of protecting our planet."

After the opening greetings, Maria Cristina Finucci spoke at the Conference about her personal professional experience and about her most recent work including the installation titled HELP. She underlined how communicating through emotions is key to sensitise people regarding pollution and environmental themes.

Paul Rose, the explorer famous for his work with National Geographic, spoke about his passion for nature and how through his profession he has put that passion to work for science, saying: "When I was young I thought that the ocean's water could wash away anything as if by magic," he said referring to a time when pollution in the oceans had a different awareness. "But today we are all more or less aware of pollution and its consequences, we hear talk every day about environmental and ecological disasters and we all are more attuned to the problem.

“Change is happening, for example the fighting illegal fishing or the establishment of protected marine areas. Personally, I'm an optimist and I think that the changes that are being implemented to preserve nature will help future generations to form an innovative and not old-fashioned outlook towards nature and that outlook will help them make strategic decisions in the years to come."

Andrea Illy, President of illycaffè, presented his company's "Virtuosagricoltura" project that aims at reducing its CO2 emissions. "This project's goal is to make our company completely carbon free. Step by step within the year 2020 we will develop this research project which we will implement in 2021. We are fooling around with the resources that the planet has given us and it's now time to look for avant-garde solutions that will allow us to make healthy products that are good both for the planet and for the end consumer."

"Knowledge generates change" were the words that the Conference's moderator, the Professor Maurizio Dallocchio, used to close the talks as he underlined the fundamental role that information plays in decision making. In this case, in decision making that has an impact on environmental sustainability.

The MBA's Conference & Regatta is an event that was created 16 years ago on the initiative of the SDA Bocconi School of Management's Sailing Club. Up to today 4,000 students and alumni of Master in Business Administration programmes have participated. The event is also supported by main partner Audi who expresses once again their support for the One Ocean Foundation and sustainability, and the YCCS, with whom they have been collaborating for over ten years. This event also saw SLAM participating as Technical Partner.

At the 2019 edition of this event there were 26 business schools including the Cambridge Judge Business School, the Chicago Booth School of Business, the Columbia Business School, the Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management, the Cranfield School of Management, the ESADE Business School, the GOETHE Business School, the Harvard Business School, HEC, the HKUST Business School, IE Business School, IESE Business School, INSEAD, KELLOGG - WHU, the London Business School, the Manchester Business School, the MIP School of Management, the MIT SLOAN School of Management, the Rotterdam School of Management, the SAUDER School of Business, the SKOLKOVO Moscow School of Management, TUCK School of Business, the Warwick Business School, the WHARTON School of the University of Pennsylvania, YALE School of Management and the SDA BOCCONI School of Management.

The next sporting event at the YCCS will be the Audi 52 Super Series Sailing Week that will be held from September 23 to 28. This event will close the 2019 regatta season in Costa Smeralda.

Images: YCCS