Resonance Culture

Develop meaningful, sustainable living and working environments

A short interview with Stephan Bode,

hotel entrepreneur and owner of the Schwarzwald Panorama

Stephan Bode

Stephan Bode strives for a new and sustainable living and working environment. In his keynote lectures he talks about his longing for a resonance culture and provides a deep insight into his experiences and development. This value accompanied him during his whole career from being a waiter to becoming hotel director and today a hotel owner, entrepreneur and pioneer with regards to organic and sustainability in the hotel industry. Under his motto: “Everything is possible” he draws a picture of the near future of our living and economic world.

Contact and individual request for speech:

Phone +49 70 83 / 927-500
Mobile +49 176 / 848 78 330

Vita Stephan Bode (PDF in German)

Mr. Bode, what’s the meaning of the title Resonance Culture - what does it have to do with companies and business?

I have been observing a fundamental change in values within our society for some time now. Today people are looking for connection, belonging and resonance. At the same time, they become increasingly aware of their connection to nature and claim more suitable economic solutions - especially with regards to the regional and global challenges of our time.

Resonance culture is about resonating with oneself and the surrounding world and from this developing a new more meaningful way of living and working. This then automatically contributes to resilient, i.e. highly resistant, sustainable and healthy companies, which in turn make a more meaningful contribution to people and their natural habitat through their actions.

If values have to be lived, what’s the purpose of your lecture?

Good question! To show people - underpinned with numerous, practical examples from my own development and experience - how easy it is to develop values, to live them vividly and then also to understand and use them as added value for one's own growth.

What can people/the audience take away from your presentation, how is the feedback so far?

The experience and especially the extraordinarily positive feedback from the past lectures show that my keynote lecture reveals itself as an inspiring treasure chest for all business areas and industries. My tips and knowledge gifts inspire people in different professional positions as well as in personal areas of life.

Who can book you as a speaker?

Basically, any company in any industry, any association or other institution that has the interest and the courage to embrace new thinking and a different way than the usual one.

Stephan Bode, pioneer of sustainability and winner of the B.A.U.M. Environmental Award

Everyone might agree that our economy must become more sustainable. But when it comes to concrete implementations, it often remains at procrastination and empty rhetoric. But there are pioneers of sustainability: people who pave the way for a sustainable economy, who don't just talk the talk, but take action. Such people have been honored by the Bundesdeutsche Arbeitskreis für Umweltbewusstes Management (B.A.U.M.) e. V. since 1993. One of the award winners is Managing Director & Owner Stephan Bode. All information about sustainability in the SCHWARZWALD PANORAMA and the development can be found in the book entry via the attached PDF in German.

B.A.U.M. pioneer portrait Stephan Bode (PDF in German)

Development of sustainable awareness in the Black Forest panorama

A short interview with Stephanie Schießl,

Development Helper Sustainability in the SCHWARZWALD PANORAMA

Ms. Schießl, what drives you to work for more sustainability in our minds?

My affinity for sustainability developed through animal welfare. Animal welfare came through the love and closeness to animals via numerous and varied pet keeping and weekends on grandpa's farm. Since there was not much in the village with Greenpeace & PETA, I independently held signature campaigns on the marketplace at the age of 11, with success! The filled lists and impressive letters, in which governments were urged with emphasis to more animal welfare, are proof of how much this topic occupied me already at a very young age. I could not realize the marine biology studies, but instead I ended up in the hotel industry after my hotel business studies and 5 years abroad in the corporate hotel industry. Since 2018, I am now able to combine both passions the hotel industry and environmental protection in one position at SCHWARZWALD PANORAMA within the unit "Development of sustainability awareness".

What is your goal in the SCHWARZWALD PANORAMA?

The mission is not to missionize. But nevertheless, a certain amount of pressure is necessary, to get the message into people's minds and hearts that everyone must make an effort to become part of the solution. Everyone has to take action to his or her possibilities, but without the excuse of doing nothing, because otherwise we are stuck in the so-called attitude-behavior gap where no one feels responisible. Sustainability has become mainstream, has made it out of the cereal corner and has become tangible with guidebooks and products. The number of people who still ask themselves "what does the plastic waste in the ocean have to do with me" has decreased considerably. Corona has shown us very clearly in some places that nature can still (!) recover if we distance ourselves from pollution. And that is a much broader field than focusing exclusively on CO2 emissions. More than 100 measures are listed in the environmental diary of the SCHWARZWALD PANORAMA in order to offer the broadest possible alternatives in all areas. We address all our stakeholders, guests, employees, suppliers, the municipality and want to achieve in the best case (sustainable) attitude and action through our example and experience! And with the number of arrivals per year, that are already be a lot of inspired people …

In your daily hotel operations, how do you do it?

The work in such a position is inter-divisional, complex, profound and therefore time-consuming, but above all characterized by a lot of repetition. You always have to call for people where they stand, have to research and explain complex contexts as a non-CSR student and of course always catch the right timing inbetween the rush hours of the hotel operation. The sustainable mission must remain practical. You have to learn to distinguish greenwashing from authenticity, because with the many approaches, products, and information in the area of sustainability, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. So it's a mix of quality management, controlling, coaching and product development. Not so easy, but with high resonance potential, because one thing is clear: the philosophy attracts guests and employees alike which increases our resilience in this rapidly changing environment!