BrusselsBrussels +32 (0) 2 372 91 68

President’s vision

2020 - 2022

Berit Hägerstrand-Åvall
Vice President Divisional Logistics, STORA ENSO

My vision for F&L going forwards is about sustainability, diversity and collaborating better in our community

I was brought up in the Finnish Åland Islands where knowing and working with the local community was essential. Finland and our Nordic neighbours are known for leading the way in sustainable living and we have had the luxury of a little more time to learn from our attempts to adapt our business models and stakeholder communities to this approach.  While I stand ‘on the bridge’ as F&L’s President, I intend to focus on how we can all make our businesses and the entire logistics sector more ‘sustainable’ for the future – not just in terms of the environment, but also in our value-add proposition.

Berit Hägerstrand-Åvall with Philip Evans and Audrey Macnab

Part of this is the human element and diversity of age, gender, education, skills – all elements – will be another focus. While the best person for the job must always be appointed, there is scope to learn more about how we find, recruit, support and retain our teams. I am excited about building on the work F&L has started with young leaders with two-way mentoring opportunities across generations, industries and transport modes.

We can each tackle volatility, uncertainty and disruption better if we look at how we as leaders can collaborate better together. Is it a bigger risk if we do not take the time to push the ‘stakeholder agenda’ forward? How do we define success? How can we steer our business models towards being more efficient, more sustainable and more resilient? Can technology help us innovate, re-think business value propositions and improve our processes?

F&L is exactly the right Forum to tackle these issues because we can work together in a unique way. I am proud to help steer the ship for the next part of our voyage. Thank you for your continued support and for coming aboard for the journey!