In inviting SoL communities to form, the stewards for this effort noted that throughout the Industrial Era, the number of institutions in the world, including corporations, non-profit and government organisations, grew steadily. The resulting diverse institutional population now shapes the future in ways that would have been unimaginable even a few generations ago, directly influencing the success or failure of all efforts to make the world a better place.

The vast majority of today’s institutions still follow the industrial age model – hierarchies organised on command and control, people viewed as resources to be used to meet the institutions’ objectives, managers who sit at the top apparently in control. As we enter a new era, industrial age institutions face unprecedented changes. While no one can possibly say what all these changes will be, there is a growing consensus that continual learning and knowledge creation are becoming the keys for survival and vitality. We believe that only through building learning-oriented cultures, will organisations become worthy of people’s fullest commitment. Changing in this way is extremely challenging, especially for successful institutions. SoL is founded on the belief that change and innovation can best be achieved through genuine cooperation and sharing among diverse organisations from diverse cultures.

The 1st SoL Global Forum was designed to be a smorgasbord of case studies, tools and methods, and opportunities for dialogue in the belief that immersion in diversity has unpredictable but clear benefit.

Keynotes by Peter Senge, Arie de Geus, Göran Carstedt, Erwin Laszlo, Tex Gunning, and Juha Rantanen framed the overall theme of "Learning in Organisations – Inventing Desired Futures in a Global Society."

Participants of the 1st SoL Global Forum have:

• Deepened their understanding of how we collectively create the futures we desire through exposure to leading edge thinking and a rich diversity of examples from around the world;
• Improved organisational performance by sharing and reflecting on projects underway; integrating the perspectives of practitioners, researchers and consultants;
• Strengthened and expanded their networks of relationships, creating new channels for cooperation and joint action; and
• Broadened their opportunity for active involvement in the SoL global network and its dynamic learning community.