THE Global Social Business Summit came to a close Friday night, amid calls for European leaders to get out of their box and create a union that is not devoted to Europe alone and that can solve the world's problems.
"A temporary solution is no solution. We need a fundamental solution," Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus said in his speech to the cheering audience at Austria Centre in Vienna.
His call comes as European governments are busy trying to prop up their foundering economic systems that left millions of people, especially the youth, out of jobs.
"When you have created the European Union, you have continued to create a box of your own. You follow the same rules, the same logic and the same structure," Yunus said, urging the European leaders to break open the 'box'.
"We [people] are capable of designing a new one, devoted to a long-term solution. This is our immediate need."
"We are not in the twentieth century anymore; we are way beyond that. We must bring a new conceptual framework to solve the problems," Yunus said.
"This is the time to use new technology. This is a new generation of young people, but we are still trying to solve the problems with our old theories."
"Do we have a vision? We need a vision. Where do we want to see ourselves in 20 years from now?"
Prof Yunus was on stage with Thomas Stelzer, UN assistant secretary-general, and Heinz Becker, member of the European Parliament, discussing how to leverage the Nobel-winning European Union to drive social business.
The European Commission has introduced rules to map social enterprises thatstarted taking hold in Europe. Social economy accounts for 10 percent of the total European economy and employs more than 11 million workers, which is 6 percent of total employment, according to data from the European Commission.
"Europe will get into a new phase by way of social business. And it will make a change in the European paradigm," Becker said.
Becker's comment mirrors Europe's thrust to be in the lead in social business, which can
be a powerful agenda for change to deliver better outcomes for the common good.
Social business is based on a determination, in European Commission President Josei Manuel Barroso's words, that it is possible to do things more responsibly and more fairly, while still being a success on the market.
Social business can become a real engine of growth. "Europe must not only be part of these changes. Europe should be in the
lead," Barroso said in a report on the new rules on social business in Europe.
The rules have been designed to develop a regulatory framework for social entrepreneurship funds and foster the development of microcredit. And social businesses will have access to a fund of 92.28 million euros to be operational from the next year.
"The concept of social business is an invaluable contribution by Prof Yunus for creating a more just, equitable and sustain-
able world," Stelzer said.
"Emphasising social issues and community concerns in business strategies will help overcome the imbalances and distortions which have led to global economic and social issues," he said.
Social business can decisively help fast-track the implementation of millennium development goals in little more than three years remaining until the 2015 deadline, according to the UN official.
As hundreds of individuals from different backgrounds gathered under one roof in Vienna, the heart of Europe, they built a network and shared insights with each other, coming from more than 50 nations. The Global Social Business Summit has turned into a leading platform for social business thinkers and promoters worldwide.
It was a summit that let participants rethink the way humans want to live on one planet burdened with a seven billion population now growing to nine billion.
Hans Reitz, head of Global Social Business Summit organised by Grameen Creative Lab of Germany, summed up the event's overarching theme -- people represent different nations, cultures and backgrounds and tell different stories, but should have one major goal — to shape a better world.
"We have to think differently to make a change in society," he said. "Let us use our creativity to create a joyful movement for social business."
Inspired by Yunus to galvanise the young people, Monique Coleman, US actress and UN youth ambassador, said: "My global wish is for balance to be restored, which would include the empowerment of women everywhere, eradication of extreme poverty and an end to armed conflicts."
"My deep desire is to contribute to these issues with the fullest of who I am and can become."