Tightening bonds between oikos Warsaw members, self-education and developing strategy for the Local Chapter were the main goals of the first oikos Warsaw Retreat. The meeting took place on 21st and 22nd November 2009 in Moscibrody, and gathered most of our chapter members.

As for the Saturday early morning, the turnout at the meeting was a very  high. 21 oikees turned up at the meeting, among them were both newcomers and current members, but also our alumni, who contributed  significantly to the success of our retreat. 

We started our seminar with an excellent lecture on CSR given by Łukasz Makuch, one of our alumni, who currently works as CSR consultant with PGE S.A ( the main energy producer in Poland). The lecture was a really food-for-thought for all the participants, and furthermore we realised how significantly CSR contributes to a well being  of a big company. The exposition was a great opportunity for the new comers to get to know CSR from the insider position.

The Saturday after-lunch session was a case concerning new CSR strategy for a local American brewery.  While working on the solution, we were divided into teams of three consultants, which made the task valuable in terms of both, learning and team working. Finally, we had to present our conclusions and suggestions to our alumni, who assessed our performance.  

The second day of our meeting was entirely devoted to develop strategy for our Local Chapter. We tried to come up with new ideas and projects as well as to delegate tasks to our members. Furthermore, we discussed current issues and projects such as” Energy savers” and organisation of Autumn Meeting 2010. The brainstorming and many heated discussion resulted in a new strategy for our chapter as well as in solutions to current problems . Moreover, the fresh view of newcomers  helped us come up with completely new ideas.

Certainly, what we did during that weekend was not only hard working. The meeting was a great opportunity for all oikos members to get to know each other better, beside that it allowed them to meet our alumni and learn how they turn CSR and Sustainable Development into practice. In order to let the people unwind and integrate, on Saturday night, we organised a ping-pong tournament, whose winner,  Łukasz Makuch, was awarded a “best oikos member ping-pong player” . Beside the tournament , given the beautiful surroundings, we had a nice walk after lunch on Saturday, which we all really enjoyed.

Summing up, the meeting was first of all a really food for thought for the participants. It provided us with the knowledge concerning CSR and gave the chance to get to know each other better. Furthermore, living  in the country surrounded by an pristine Polish nature let the oikos members, who are mostly citizens of big cities, realise the importance of sustaining the environment and the tradition.  

We would like to thank both oikos international and owners of Moscibrody Manor House who supported our meeting. We also hope that such an event in the future!