On Tuesday 30th April, as part of the Fettes Career Partnership Programme, we hosted a panel event on ‘The Way the World is Growing…’ expertly chaired by Former Scottish Political Editor of the Times and Old Fettesian, Hamish Macdonell (SH-GL 1981-1986).  One hundred and thirty Old Fettesians, Parents and members of the Lower Sixth squeezed into the Upper to hear incredibly thought provoking sound bytes from our Expert Panel. 

Current Parent, Professor Francisca Mutapi FZAS FAAS, Professor in Global Health, Infection and Immunity at the University of Edinburgh and co-Director of the Global Health Academy began with the current statistic on the global population 7.7bn, moving into the global demographics and forthcoming shifts in population age informing us on where global growth and the workforce will be.  She touched not only on health challenges but also on the opportunities that the world will face.

Robert Graham, Current Parent and Managing Director Graham’s The Family Dairy discussed food trends, the demands of consumers on ethics, on dietary changes and the rise of the smaller producer.

Current Parent, Jamie Macnab of Savills brought the transformations in the built environment to life with changes in property and land use and the shifts in both work and living environments, especially the domestic rental market. 

Old Fettesian, Ed Stack (Mo 1994-1999), Founder at tech start up SuperRational focussed on the pressures and potential of AI. Could Robots pay our taxes and the Government pay us all a living wage?  Surely humans are needed for ethics and creativity? 

Stephen Bird, CEO, Global Consumer Banking at Citi looked both backwards and forwards providing facts from the previous industrial revolutions and taking us forwards into the current fourth revolution.  The current technological and biological derivers of change, the number of smart devices that we will have, the increase in machine IQ, where the global economies are going and the shifts in business, skills and consumer demands. 

There was time for wider question to the panel from the guests on climate change, employment, education, older populations, sustainable energy and future food sources.

Afterwards we were treated to drinks and canapés kindly sponsored by Savills to further fuel our networking conversations.  This was a great event, we are so fortunate to have such a generous community of OFs and Parents who are willing to give us their time and expertise in this way. Inspiring all attendees to consider their #FettesNextSteps

Some quotes from our attendees

OF – The different perspectives on the topic from people in very different spheres-contrasted really well

Parent - Very informative and a good selection of thoughts from both panel and attendees

Pupil - Lots of food for thought but also made me think more about my future and what career paths I might take. Really enjoyed the friendly and open atmosphere and would attend another similar event

Careers Prefect - I felt the format of a panel was a great way to explore ’the way the world is growing' . It was very beneficial to hear other peoples questions and the responses from the experts on the panel. It was definitely eye opening and made me think more about the long term changes which are effecting the job market and our lives as we grow up. It helped to have experts from a range of areas as it gave very different perspectives on the the questions asked.