Annual Report 2025 - Report - Page 82
Young Scientists at #LINOecon
Synonyms for the Lindau Spirit:
Inspiration, Connection, Education
Unathi Thango, University of South Africa, gave an engaging farewell address
at the 8th Lindau Nobel Meeting in Economic Sciences. The full speech is available
in the Lindau Mediatheque.
If I were to sum up the whole experience, I’m just going to
use one word: Wow! But obviously, that’s not going to be
enough. So, I thought of the three themes that are synonymous with the spirit of Lindau: that is inspiration, that
is connection, and that is education.
I’ve had a very, very good week of inspiration. I was
very, very inspired by the discussions we had with the
Nobel Laureates, their approach, how they look at life in
general. Most beautifully for me, I got a chance to call my
father all the way from Qunu on the Eastern cape of South
Africa. I wanted him to talk to one of the Nobel Laureates,
that is with Robert Aumann. I actually gave him the video
call, and he had a one-on-one with my dad.
In terms of the second value, connection: I think this
is what we are all here for. I exchanged quite a number
of contact cards with a lot of the scientists. I’m hoping to
take back to South Africa everything I got from this collaboration, as well as a look back on my own research in
ways that are enriching, uplifting, and in ways where I
can also look at how to use adaption and innovation to
strengthen and enhance my work.
80 | Different Generations – Shared Experiences
Lastly, and of course not least, the value of education. I’m
a macroeconomist. So, I originally thought I’d stay away
from sessions on finance, on developmental studies. As
the week progressed, I challenged myself to go in, listen,
and see what I can take in to enhance and look at some of
the niche areas that can also help the way that I look at
economics. Even though I never got to present my own
work, this challenge of sitting in and listening to the
work of the Young Scientists was very educational.
I asked myself an important question, now that we
have been to Lindau and we are going back to our societies, our universities: How is the fact that you had this
opportunity going to change the trajectory of your own
career? It’s almost a rhetorical question. I had to look and
lean inwardly to answer it. The answer is in the cards we
are given, the power to leverage this connection time.
The power to write that email, make that call, ask for that
feedback, and grow. I would say that the foundation has
been laid for us. We can build now.
