Thoughts and Reflections by Zdravko Kozinc, Co-founder and Co-creator, Iskriva Institute
One of the most inspiring pieces of news in the past month was that the third colleague from Iskriva Institute has been accepted to the annual meeting of the UNLEASH global talent network, which brings together around 1,000 young people from all over the world each year. With their knowledge, fresh perspectives, and youthful enthusiasm, they co-create a network of people connected by a shared goal: to address global challenges in a tangible way, starting at the local level. At the same time, we launched a series of trainings on impact investing and capacity building for new angel investors. Within the development of the Old Ironworks and as one of the outcomes of the autumn conference “Co-creating the Heritage of the Future: The Pulse of the Industrial Past, a Vision for the Future,” new, almost “space-age” stories are emerging—connecting spatial informatics, satellite sensing, and the placement of economic activities in the environment while ensuring ecosystem sustainability.
But when we step outside our own vibrant bubble, the picture looks somewhat different. The social climate is far from relaxed and oriented toward creative expression. We find ourselves in a paradox: at the peak of scientific understanding of human behavior and society, yet at the same time facing a crisis of meaning and inner stability.
Modern communication often does not connect us—it distances us. There is a growing sense that the individual is the measure of everything, leading to a quiet, widespread anonymity. However, human beings are not designed for this. We are shaped within the context of small groups, where everyone has a role, where feedback loops exist, and where we are seen. Without this, something essential is lost: a sense of progress, connection, and meaning. The “active passivity” we observe is not only a social phenomenon but also a response to this loss of meaning.
This is precisely where the question of investment emerges. In such conditions, investment is not merely a financial decision, but above all a decision about the kind of society we are co-creating. If capital remains detached from relationships and context, it cannot contribute to addressing the challenges described above—and may even deepen them. Returns alone do not create communities, build trust, or restore a sense of meaning.
That is why, at Iskriva, we are increasingly placing impact investing at the core of our work—not as an alternative, but as a necessary step forward. We understand impact broadly: as investing in people, in relationships, and in projects that do not merely describe problems but actively solve them. In models of cooperation where the public and private sectors are not competitors, but partners, each contributing with their capacities to greater collective well-being.
The question of the future is therefore no longer merely how much we will create, but what we will create with it.
The future, as we want it, is not self-evident. It is shaped through decisions—also investment decisions. And it is in these decisions that we see whether we will build only value, or also meaning.
