Lisbon: learning in luxury

Hot on the heels of being cringingly branded a 'young leader' by being selected for the Intercultural Navigation programme, I was last week elevated to international heights by being graced with an invitation to the BMW Foundation's European Young Leaders Forum. However unlike the British Council, which houses the leaders of the future in musty dorms, the BMW Foundation put us up in a five star hotel, in Lisbon. (I must confess that for both schemes I was selected not on merit, but on a recommended-by-a-friend type basis - in the brave new world of our network society it's not what you know, but which networks you know.)

As expected, the Forum's participants were high-calibre: the group of 40 hailed from over 20 countries, all were extremely smart and successful, and the breadth of their fields was stunning. Thy spanned the full range of professional sectors, from the most blood curdlingly corporate (a Ukrainian entrepreneur explained that his priority was not only to have a nice car, but the most expensive Mercedes on the market), to the most esoteric academia (a Latvian professor baffled the entire room with his absurdly verbose explanations of even the simplest points), to the most no-nonsense public sector (a Dutch European Central Banker delivered dreadful dry jokes and economic assessments in identical monotone) to the dreamiest lefty (a German idealist argued passionately that developing local energy markets could replace capitalism with a radical grassroots democracy). And of course all spoke impeccable English as a second or third language.

Though mostly in their mid-thirties or younger, these people's achievements were astounding. One had persuaded Greenpeace to fund him and some friends to write a report on green technologies which was so successful that it prompted the World Bank and UN to invite them to present it at their HQs, and the Swedish Government to change their climate policies. Another started a solar panel company in France which now employs 55 people and is growing at around 20% a year. A third started his own investment bank in Lithuania, which is now one of the biggest in the country, and is about to start his Ph.D. All three are the same age as me! Such stories were not exceptional within the group; they were the norm.

Almost competing with the brilliance of the participants were the stunning palace, exquisite and endless food, first-class entertainment and gorgeous weather that hosted our deliberations. Not to mention the beautiful host city itself - wondering through its effortlessly elegant lanes, soaking up the uniquely relaxed, deeply cultured and refreshingly down-to-earth atmosphere, I fell in love with the place.

It would have been easy to feel overwhelmed by such elevated surroundings, but instead I allowed myself to be swept up in the big ideas being thrown around and focussed on trying to keep up with the discussions. However what really made my name within the group was my capacity for sleep deprivation. 

Following an early morning flight I was shattered by the end of the first day, but when our local ringleader demanded we then visit some bars, it didn't take long for the peer-pressure and my own hedonism to get the better of me. I was also fully aware that these informal excursions are often the most valuable part of international networking events. 

After a late night and an early start the next day (BMW wanted to get the most out of us and saw the agenda as a challenge to see how much they could squeeze into each day), I was struggling to stay awake, but found myself out again the next night, with two American tourists and Geoff Mulgan - luminary of British politics, policy, thank-tanks, and now also the international social innovation scene - at Lisbon's most famous club, Lux.

Part-owned by John Malkovic, Lux is an institution. Widely regarded as the best club in Portugal, it effortlessly combines international chic with a come-as-you-are cool. Its large and quirky layout is complemented by huge outdoor spaces and a waterside location offers stunning views across the enormous Rio Tejo. The music is good enough to appease aficionados without being too loud or niche to deny those wishing to chat or dance stupidly. And dance stupidly we did. It was a great night.

I somehow ended up back there the following night, with 15 Forumites in tow. Though it didn't match the surreal appeal of the previous night, it was still good fun. However it did cement my reputation as the hardest party animal of the Forum, being the only person to go out on all three nights. After around 10 hours sleep in three nights I looked and felt like a baggy-eyed zombie, but I managed to stay awake during the discussions, and knew that I'd be able to trade of this hedonistic image for years to come, if I played my cards right.

Of course the discussions themselves were more than mere window-dressing for my nocturnal folly. The Forum topic was 'Social Cohesion Beyond the Nation State', and the three main issues were migration, social investments, and climate change. The Forum was jam-packed with inspirational speeches, innovative discussion formats, and fascinating new ideas, such as the concept of 'social remittances', which are the 'western' ideas (such as entrepreneurialism, or human rights) that migrants send back to their home communities, and have been shown to be a progressive force in developing countries.

Many of the participants were either economists or climate change experts, so there was much talk about financial mechanisms to promote environmental sustainability. It felt as if the people present were well-placed to offer genuine solutions to the issues at hand, and whilst the conversations were very technical and largely over my head, they were invigorating to observe. These discussions were balanced by a field trip to a favela school that struggled badly before being dramatically turned around by an impressive headteacher with stunningly progressive methods.

My four days in Lisbon rewarded me with a head bursting with inspiration, a stack of exciting new contacts, and the prelude to a nasty cold on account of the punishment my body had endured. Luxurious it was, but it left me in desperate need of a holiday.