Futures Leaders Summit 2022 — Bosnia & Herzegovina Futures Foundation

During three amazing days, from the 2nd of December until the 4th of December, the Bosnia & Herzegovina Futures Foundation organized the second Futures Leaders Summit. An annual event that gathers prospective changemakers in the field of STEM. By hosting world-class local and international keynote speakers, hands-on workshops, and visits to local companies, this event creates a strong network that will change the way we perceive the industry and the future of our country's development.

This year we heard the stories of world-class leaders and organizations about how they are rethinking our present approach to global challenges and inspired us to reimagine a more prosperous future in which we take a more active role.

Let’s take a closer look into every day of the Summit and find out what we were listening to in the course of these amazing three days!

DAY I

The day started productively. Our attendees had the opportunity to visit one of six company visits, which includes APS Facade, Bosnalijek, Dizart CNC, Gate21, Energoinvest SUE, and Mistral, an HTEC Group company, where they got an insight into how these companies work and operate.

Our opening ceremony started later that day in Dom mladih Sarajevo, where Momčilo Amović - a member of the BHFF Board of Directors, Haris Selmanović - a member of the Organizing Committee of FLS, and Adnan Delić - Minister at the Ministry of Economy of Canton Sarajevo, welcomed us and officially started the amazing journey of Futures Leaders Summit.

Shortly after the ceremony, our learning sessions began! Our first keynote speaker was Sana Alajmović, Co-founder and CEO of Sigrid Therapeutics. She gave us amazing advice and talked about how prevention is the key to a healthy life and the future of healthcare.

The program was continued with Goran Janjić, a Sustainability and Business Strategist, who talked about corporate sustainability - a key ingredient for success in new economic perspective. Our attendees had the chance to learn about the background of corporate sustainability globally and how it affects regional business possibilities.

After a short break, Azra Osmančević, Head of Business Development at Viaplay Group and Co-founder of Justic, asked us a really interesting question. “What questions do future leaders contemplate?” She gave us the answer, as well. Azra gave us insight into how leadership and leaders need to be innovative, and why it is important to start working on your leadership right away!

The “Vera Šnajder” Award Winner Announcement

We proudly announced the winners of this year’s Vera Šnajder Awards, an award honoring the legacy of the first mathematician of BiH and the first female dean in the former Yugoslavia.

For more information about the ceremony and the winners, visit the following article.

Our last keynote speaker of the day, the CEO of Mistral, an HTEC Group company, Mersed Čamdžić, talked to us about embracing a growth mindset in times of uncertainty and what it means to have a growth mindset.

We finished our day with a Networking Party and an Expo for our IEEE Innovation Nation teams. Aside from that, we had a little bit of fun at our party with great music by FM JAM DJ, Kontra.

Check out gallery for DAY 1

DAY II

Rise and shine! The second day started with workshops from our great workshop facilitators: Dejana Ugrenović, Jasmin Avdić, Belma Muftić, Emir Numanović, Nenad Grujičić, Edin Škaljić, and the HulkApps Team. Shoutout to them for the amazing workshops they held, as they were very interesting and knowledgeable.

This day’s program kicked off with Ivica Puljak, the mayor of the city Split and a Physicist who talked about the importance of connecting politics and science, together. Connecting the two can connect many people which will lead to a promising future.

Next on our schedule, we had Nina Avramović Trninić, head of the Department for Railway Technology at the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology. She gave us the answers on how to achieve a climate-neutral economy with mega railway projects.

We had Aleksandar Linc - Đorđević, the Managing Director at the Data Science Conference, from whom we learned how the World can be changed into a better place through the use of data, analytics, and AI.

After an energetic break, we had lightning talks with Mirheta Omerović, Zdravko Cvijetić, and Kerim Hadžić, the three incredible individuals from three different industries who talked about how to build successful careers as young professionals with global impact.

Last, but not least we had Lejla Zukić - Krivdić, Head of Services Partner Development at Microsoft Germany, who taught us all about being a good leader in times of change. How to bring out the best in and inspire our teams to do their best work.

Check out our gallery for DAY 2

DAY III

The last day of the Futures Leaders Summit started early with workshops covering many different topics which were located in various locations in Sarajevo. We covered the power of effective communication, introduction to freelancing, emotional intelligence at work, how to move from unknowns to knows, presenting your skills successfully, and how to get your first job.

Again, a big shoutout to our workshop facilitators, Lejla Mazlić, Senad Šantić, Samira Nuhanović, Azem Kurtić, Ali Mokayes, Dijana Duvnjak, and Suada Bavcic, for the amazing and productive morning.

The day continued with a fireside chat titled “More Than a Façade” with Dado Durić, the director of APS Facade and one of the regional leaders in facade engineering.

“How can young people shape the future and be true winners in today's technology-driven world?” is the question that Muamer Babajić, the Founder of FITT and DKR and the Founder and CEO of MASTERWERK, answered in the next keynote. Our attendees learned to what extent technological change can be useful, especially in the 4.0 Industry.

Next up was a panel discussion on the topic of “Game-Changing eCommerce Trends Transforming The Market”, a panel where we learned about the impact of eCommerce on the future of the industry and our lives and what awaits us. Our amazing panelists were Hasan Hasić, Aida Soko, Maja Šarenac, Zlatan Gacic, and the moderator Ena Hodžić.

A small break passed and we were greeted by Maja Halilović on our second fireside chat of the day in which she talked about the future of fashion with a biodesigner. As the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of the annual global carbon emissions, we learned how the industry, and the Earth, can be changed with biomaterials.

We made it to our last keynote of this year’s FLS, giving the stage to Bojana Duovski, Mover & Shaker at Foundation Studiezalen. She talked about more facets of success and how paying it forward can create a dominoes-like phenomenon with a profound impact on the environment.

As the Futures Leaders Summit came to an end, our Closing Ceremony was opened by our Executive Director of B&H Futures Foundation, Majda Mujanović Babović, who summarized what we have done in the last 3 days and thanked the staff and the volunteers for everything they’ve done and for making this event so successful. She gave the floor to Asja Vrabac, the Marketing Manager of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Futures Foundation, who told us what BHFF offers and gave us insight into ongoing activities in the later-on period of the Foundation.

Check out our gallery for DAY 3

Every student, no matter if it’s at the beginning or the end of their studies, deserves a chance to attend world-class events, to be surrounded by successful and knowledgeable people, and most importantly, to hear first-hand that anything is possible. By listening to and meeting world-class speakers, students can truly recognize their potential and their path toward excellence becomes even brighter and closer.

We would like to thank all speakers, workshop facilitators, sponsors, and partners for making all of this possible. Special shoutout to our sponsors: Mistral, an HTEC Group company, ZenDev, HULK apps, KLIKA, Q ONE TECH, APS Facade, BH Telecom, DCCS, Č.J. Bihać, Monri, Scientific Instruments Australia, ZIRA, ID-S.ba, NONSTOP Studio, Milkprocessing and Austronet.
When all is said and done, the last words go to our wonderful volunteers who single-handedly delivered an event of such magnitude. We are tremendously proud and grateful for your amazing work and everything that you’ve done.

For more information, visit the website of Futures Leaders Summit. See you next year!