When the Tällberg Foundation was initially created in 1981, it was shaped to become a platform for a free and open exchange of ideas and experiences that could help tell a story about the future. We believed that the narratives that decision makers from all walks of life could share about their own risk-taking and investments could become a valuable contribution to our understanding of the future. And so it proved to be.

The backbone of the Tällberg Foundation’s activities is this open and trustful sharing of visions, worries. It has its roots in the Scandinavian model for reaching consensus. The Tällberg meetings, be they smaller workshops or the larger Forum-venues, offer a unique sense of intellectual freedom. The Tällberg meetings are not organized in anyone’s interest. This is not a meeting of specific stakeholders like business, politics, academics or civil society. Since 2005, the Tällberg Forum regularly assembles every year some 450 leaders from up to 70 countries and with a wide variety of professional experiences. The Tällberg process offers its participants a diversity of practices and ideas to improve understanding of the wider complexity.

The perennial question that the Tällberg Foundation asks is “How on earth can we live together – we the humans and we with nature?”

The Tällberg methodology is focused on learning. As learning has no end, neither has the Tällberg process. We chose from the very beginning never to end our meetings with a Declaration, a Manifesto or a Consensus report. Every participant takes away new insights. But most importantly: to gain a new insight carries with it a new responsibility for action for the participants.

This philosophy has made it possible for the Tällberg Foundation to stay clear of representing any specific sectional, national or stakeholder interest. With our systems and humanistic approach, we represent “the interest of the whole.” This is the foundation for our exploration of the fundamental question: “How on Earth can we live together, we Humans and we with Nature”.

The purpose of the Foundation, as expressed in its statutes, can be summarized with one phrase: free and open learning.