Solar Impulse is an international project to create a solar powered aircraft capable of night as well as day time flights, and one of its champions, Swiss adventurer and psychiatrist, Bertrand Piccard, will speak to the 2007 Forum of the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) in October.
Born in 1958 in Switzerland into a family of explorers and scientists, Piccard is described as an adventurer, psychiatrist and aeronaut who combines science and adventure to explore the human soul. Having studied medicine and become a senior consultant in a psychiatric hospital, he specialised in psychiatry and psychotherapy for adults and children. Always interested in the study of human behaviour in extreme situations, Piccard was one of the pioneers of hang gliding and microlight flying in the 1970s and became European champion in hang-glider aerobatics in 1985.
After qualifying as a balloon pilot, he won the first transatlantic balloon race, and in 1999 he and Englishman Brian Jones achieved the first non-stop round-the-world balloon flight.
Among the other topics for the Forum will be a presentation on the United Nations Global Compact project, an international initiative that brings business together with UN agencies, labour and civil society to support universal environmental and social principles.
Franck Baron, chairman of the Ferma forum, explains the thinking behind the theme. "Managing risk is about ensuring that the company is still here tomorrow morning - and in ten years. Such sustainability has a global context. It is not just about avoiding bad surprises, but about the business model of the company. We want to ensure that our business model does not have a negative impact on the planet."
FERMA MOVE
FERMA's new contact details are:
Federation of European Risk Management Associations
Avenue Louis Gribaumont, 1/B.4
B-1150 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 761 94 32
Fax: +32 2 771 87 20.
