Join our Scandinavian safari, where we'll explore the future of cities in a time of dramatic economic, social and environmental change.
Building and rearranging the way we live in cities requires cultural shifts. Learn Nordic philosophy of Bildung, the Folk Highschool movement, design, architecture, economics and regenerative systems to understand the levers which led to this regions success.
Dive into pragmatic and systemic approaches on the path to the Next Economy, learning from pioneering thinkers and practitioners in cities leading the way. Embrace once-in-a-lifetime connections and conversations with local leaders in politics, advocacy, education, built environment, finance, systems thinking, storytelling, innovation and the arts.
This Impact Safari is built for those who are seeking to activate and deepen their influence in serviceto our shared hopeful future.
Impact Safari Scandinavia is designed for a diverse cohort of humans all activating their communities in service to a thriving planet. This may look like business leaders, impact pioneers, social entrepreneurs, artists, activists, policy makers and capital holders.
This Impact Safari is by application only, with limited capacity.
The dates for 2025 are May 11th - 20th, beginning in Copenhagen and closing in Oslo. These dates also connect with the Impact Conference, Katapult Future Fest in Oslo, projected to begin on the 21st of May Oslo, which Small Giants attends. So join for the Safari and stay on for KFF.
Our Impact Safari programs are designed as a cross between a study tour and a leadership experience; you can expect to be engaged through your head, heart and hands. We believe our inner world deeply affects our ability to lead well towards the next economy. As a result, our Impact Safaris create expansive containers for us to not only learn from the places we visit, but also to dive deep into what this means for our inner work and the way we would like to lead.
We are living through what has become known as the "metacrisis". The Consilience Project writes “our civilization has never been more vast, complicated, and fragile. This systemic fragility is exacerbated by new technologies, geopolitical instability, an ecological crisis and a reliance on global economic supply chains. These interlocking, interrelated problems are known collectively as the metacrisis.” The meta-crisis creates a backdrop for all of our work and will frame our time together in Scandinavia.
Together with friends and partners in the region, we will explore key questions like:
Welcome to Copenhagen. This afternoon we walk to Liza Chong's, community centred living quarters, for our opening workshop. Continue to Kanalhuset, on the historic island of Christianshavn, with its many listed buildings and cobbled streets, Kanalhuset is located along Christianshavn's Canal. With a view of the canal and the tall masts, we will share Community Dinner, a local connection initiative to break bread together. Sit fireside for an evening talk with Rune Rasmussen, professor of Nordic Animism, sharing the folklore of the Scandinavian region, setting cultural context for our journey.
After breakfast at the hotel, we begin with an orienteering Design walk through Copenhagen. Spend time in the Industrial area sharing luch, visiting Copenhill before meeting for an exclusive tour of the Noma Gardens surrounding the iconic resturant, designed by Piet Oudolf. Freshen up before a phone-free dinner at our local friend, impact activist & artist, Silja Andersen's home - enter this gallery-like abode, exploring connection, relationship & responsibilities. Enjoy a night cap at a local bar or get an early night.
Today we head an hour north of Copenhagen to Humlebaek, where we will meet a host of leading regenerative thinkers and practitioners. Following a short forest walk we arrive at Krogerup, a regenerative community farm bordering Krogerup Folk Highschool. Hear from Thomas Hogenhaven (Planetary Impact) and from the pioneer of the Danish ‘Green Student Movement’ Sarah Hellebek. Before a tour of the Folk Highschool, from Principal and Danish Wellbeing Officer, Rasmus Meyer. Hang out with Lea Korsgaard, Founder of human-centric media giant Zetland, talking all things journalism as a force for good. Walk through fields to Louisiana Museum of Modern Art where we will spend the afternoon reflecting on our journey so far. As we make our way back into the city, prepare for dinner with Home.Earth founder, Rasmus Norgaard.
Uncover the Nordic Secret with a morning workshop led by Author, Lene Rachel Andersen. Before making our way to BloxHub, the Nordic Hub for sustainable urbanization for workshops experts in the field. Put on your Sunday best as we make our way to The Australian Ambassador to Denmark, Kerin Ayyalaraju's residence joined by Former Chief Architect of Copenhagen, Camilla Van Deurs. Choose your own adventure for dinner or join us at the hotel.
Welcome to Stockholm, the entrepreneurial heartbeat of Scandinavia. Be guided through the Old Town by our in-house Swede, Kaj. In the afternoon visit an Impact Foundation, meeting and hearing the stories of remarkable humans in pursuit of thriving cities for people and place. End the day with a dining experience with special guests.
We begin our second day in Stockholm with a workshop at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, diving into the nature of Planetary Boundaries and how they affect the future of cities. Over lunch you’ll meet a very special guest for a conversation about Nordic leadership. We’ll then spend time reflecting at the iconic contemporary art and photography museum, Fotografiska, before crossing town to visit the most visited museum in Scandinavia, the Vasa museum. We’ll end the day with another intimate dinner with very special guests.
Today we explore the balance between inner work and systemic action. In the morning we’ll dive into the Inner Development Goals with founder Tomas Bjorkman, exploring the ideas and concepts through the lens of Scandinavian culture and leadership. In the afternoon we’ll shift the focus to systemic action, with a series of site visits and practical experiences.
Our cities are complex ecosystems. Complexity recognises an ever-changing set of conditions, dynamic flows and intangible relationships that shape connections between parts of our systems. Emergence describes the messy reality of how our systems change in often unplanned, novel and non-linear ways. Today we dive deep into this topic with pioneering filmmaker and systems thinker Nora Bateson. Nora asks, “How we can improve our perception of the complexity we live within, so we may improve our interaction with the world?” After our morning workshop we head out from the city, boarding speed boats for a dash across the Archipelago to a farm-to-table meal, private sauna and overnight experience in nature.
Today we travel across the magnificent countryside by bus and train, arriving in Oslo in the early afternoon. The train ride provides the ideal context for reflection and integration. Arriving in Oslo we’ll go for a guided walk around the harbour and a visit to the famous Munch museum. Enjoy dinner with our friends from the leading impact foundation, Katapult.
We begin our second last day together exploring the nature of peace. We’ll explore the Nobel Peace Centre in the heart of Oslo and spend time with their team. In an era defined by major conflict and the rising spectre of the climate emergency, what can the great peacemakers through time teach us? As we shift our gaze towards the future, we explore the power and limitations of capital and enterprise with special guests Danny Almagor and Jed Emersen. We meet local entrepreneurs at The Conduit in the heart of town and celebrate the start of Katapult Future Fest with a party in the evening.
Our final day together begins with a closing circle on the nature of systemic leadership. What are our roles and responsibilities in creating future cities that are resilient and regenerative? What wisdom have we gained through this journey together and what systemic action will we take on our return? After a delicious lunch, we spend our final afternoon together on a pair of private, floating saunas in the middle of Oslo harbour. Be immersed in a swimmable city, reflecting on the potential of systemic leadership towards a hopeful future.
Kaj (pronounced Kai) is the CEO of Regen Melbourne, an engine for ambitious collaboration, in service of Melbourne. Powered by an alliance of more than 200 organisations, Regen Melbourne is the host of bold projects that are moving Melbourne towards a regenerative future.
Kaj is also the Director of Action Labs at Small Giants Academy where he leads the creation of new initiatives and collaborates on the Academy’s education and storytelling programs.
Anna is Brand Director and Head of Impact Safari at Small Giants Academy. She thrives on creating transformational impact experiences for our community by collaborating deeply with local knowledge. Her work is informed by her study and practice in the fine arts, passionate about creating nurturing spaces for humans to be human and explore storied places across the globe through a local lens. As a trained death doula, Anna approaches her work and life with deep reverence to rites of passage and the cyclical way of being. She feels grateful to deliver these transformational programs, supporting the guides and the cohorts wellbeing before, throughout and after the Safari. She has now produced Impact Safaris through, Israel/Palestine, lurtuwita/Tasmania, Bhutan, Scandinavia, Uganda. In her downtime you can catch her writing, wandering galleries and creating spaces for humans to rewild.
Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen is an historian of religion, Ph.d., educated from the Universities of Uppsala and Copenhagen.
Rune has lived in many countries and done fieldwork in a number of contemporary (primarily Afro-descendant) religions, but since childhood he has had Nordic religion as a strong field of interest.
Today Rune is working on applying contemporary developments in anthropology to rethink the way we address Nordic religion both in terms of scholarship, but also as a reservoir of cultural knowledge for environmental activism and sustainability sensitization.
Silja Nyboe Andersen is an avid connector with an inner activist seeking to enhance our sensitivity to vitality. Silja has more than ten years experience in the impact investing space and has worked tirelessly as an investment activist in several capacities within the financial sector and family offices. She works as a coach and curator of events designed to empower individuals to use their resources as a lever for positive change and empowerment.
Ms Ayyalaraju is a career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was most recently Australia’s first Pop Up Ambassador to Estonia. She has served overseas as Deputy Head of Mission in the United Arab Emirates and previously in Vietnam and Lebanon. Ms Ayyalaraju holds a Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University.
Founder of Home.Earth, developing affordable, inclusive and sustainable homes and spaces in the largest cities in Europe. Co-founder and board member of NREP, the largest real estate fund manager in the Nordic countries, where he served as CIO for 13 years. Background from McKinsey and Nordea. "I firmly believe that for all us to thrive in the urban landscape we need diverse and inclusive neighborhoods. I wish for Home.Earth to demonstrate a sustainable path towards this goal."
Sarah is board member of Andelsgaarde, working to engage young people in the sustainable transformation of the agricultural sector – both practically and politically. Sarah is teaching the course Earth is Calling at Krogerup Højskole focusing on climate activism, sustainable farming, and nature relations. Recently becoming Vice Princople of the alternative education folk school.
Lea Korsgaard is Editor In Chief at Zetland. Zetland is a Danish journalistic startup that was established in 2012 by some experienced journalists from the traditional Danish news media companies to give their version of what the future news media could look like. Zetland is a membership based brand. It was relaunched in 2016 as Denmark’s slowest news media that cuts through the news noise with few, in depth stories about the most important events. As they say: All you need to know. No more than you can make. She has previously worked for major Danish newspapers like Politiken and Berlingske.
This is an all-inclusive cost for the duration of the program, including accomodation, in-country travel, food & drink with meals, intimate workshops with global leaders, and an immersive leadership program delivered by the faculty at Small Giants Academy. This cost is exclusive of return flights from your origin to Scandinavia.
Smart move. To secure your place or ask any questions, please email Impact Safari Producer, Anna here:
Small Giants is located on the traditional lands of the Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
With thanks to our partners
