Flipping the Script: Co-Creating New Narratives in an Era of Shocks

Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye

May 24, 2025

5:30 - 6:30 pm GMT

Previous narratives around global affairs, politics, technology and the environment no longer capture the complexity of today’s realities. We urgently need positive new stories to inspire collective action and decision-making.

Join BSR's Sustainable Futures Lab in a highly interactive, creative workshop to explore new opportunities presented by "shocks" across different domains, from wars to AI to climate upheavals. We will then discuss how to weave these into positive new narratives around innovation, collaboration, and a reimagined future.

This workshop, currently sold out, will take place at the Hay Festival. We invite you to log on the Festival website to sign up for the waitlist, and to connect with BSR staff at the event, please reach out.

Scheduled Speakers

Christine Diamente, Managing Director, Transformation, BSR

Managing Director, Transformation, BSR

London

Christine leads BSR’s Business Transformation team, helping companies to manage sustainability throughout their business and across their supply chains and to develop resilient business strategies that leverage insights from BSR’s Sustainable Futures Lab.

She works with companies across sectors and geographies to structure a sustainability management approach that mitigates risk and captures emerging opportunities, creating strategic advantage for their businesses, while contributing to a more just, sustainable world. Christine also co-leads engagement with boards of directors to promote effective board governance and leadership ambition on sustainability.

She brings over 20 years of experience in leading brand, sustainability, public affairs, communications, and reputation management with multinational corporations at the executive leadership level. This also includes overseeing corporate relations with external stakeholders, such as the World Economic Forum, the UN, European institutions, and investors.

Previously, Christine was Head of Brand Strategy at Nokia. She has also held major roles at Alcatel-Lucent and Alcatel, leading Brand and Corporate Sustainability and European Affairs. Christine has also served on various boards, including as a chair of the Telecoms Industry Dialogue on human rights, as an advisory board member of Reuters Events Sustainability, as a member of the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation, and on the European Internet Foundation.

Christine holds a MA in History and a BA in History and International Politics from the University of Ottawa. She completed the Management Acceleration Program (MAP) at INSEAD, and she achieved the ESG Competent Boards Certificate and Global Competent Boards Designation (2021). She speaks English, French, Spanish, and Italian.

Recent Insights From Christine Diamente

Full Bio

Jacob Park, Director, Sustainable Futures Lab, BSR

Director, Sustainable Futures Lab, BSR

New York

Jacob leads BSR’s Sustainable Futures Lab, a new practice using strategic foresight techniques to help businesses engage with emerging issues that are reshaping the global landscape.

Before joining BSR, Jacob was the lead futurist in the New York office of Forum for the Future, where he used scenario planning and other futures techniques to develop sustainability strategy and drive innovation for leading businesses, foundations, and multistakeholder groups. Prior to that he worked at Adaptive Edge, a boutique strategic foresight consultancy, on collaborative scenario planning. Jacob began his career doing human rights research and advocacy at Human Rights First and the Center for Economic and Social Rights. He speaks English and French.

Jacob holds an M.B.A. in Sustainability from Presidio Graduate School and a B.A. in History from the University of Chicago.

Recent Insights From Jacob Park

Full Bio

Charlene Collison, Director, Collaboration, BSR

Director, Collaboration, BSR

London

As Director, Collaborations, Charlene develops and implements strategies to engage BSR member companies and other stakeholders in high-impact collaborations for sustainable development. She specializes in building collaborative approaches between consumer-facing companies and their value chains to embed long-term sustainability, build resilience in the face of disruption, and increase equity, inclusion, and justice.

Charlene brings over 20 years of experience in sustainability, systems change, futures, and collaboration. Prior to BSR, Charlene was associate director for sustainable value chains and livelihoods with global sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future, where she directed collaborative system change initiatives in cotton, tea and other commodities, and led strategy projects with partners across the fashion and textile, agricultural and food sectors.

Charlene has an extensive background in futures, including working with the UK government’s futures unit developing and testing strategies across government departments.

Charlene holds an MSc in Sustainability and Responsibility from Ashridge Management College (UK), a BA in International Relations from the University of Puget Sound (US), and a Diploma in Organisation Development from Henley Business School (UK).

Recent Insights From Charlene Collison

Full Bio

Margot Brent, Associate Director, Transformation, BSR

Associate Director, Transformation, BSR

London

Margot leads BSR’s strategy practice helping companies develop sustainable business strategies that drive innovation and build resilience leveraging insights from BSR’s Sustainable Futures Lab. She also works with BSR members within the consumer sectors practice.

Margot brings over 10 years’ experience in sustainability, futures thinking, design-thinking, innovation management and communications. Prior to BSR, Margot was an innovation and sustainability manager within the fashion and retail sourcing industry. She has also helped design and deliver climate resilience projects for UNEP and UNDP. She has extensive experience in sustainability topics ranging from climate justice, climate resilience, circularity, supply chain, women’s empowerment, nature-based solutions, community livelihoods and social impact. She has lived and worked across Africa, Asia Pacific and Europe.

She holds a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics and a B.Phil in Sustainable Development, both from the University of Stellenbosch.