Page 18 - 20-21年度PETS研習手冊

2020-21 PETS 社長當選人訓練研習會
2020-21 GMS 扶輪基金獎助金管理研習會

I had the opportunity to speak recently to Rotarians in Rochester, New York. A former
executive at Kodak was in attendance. He told me that they all knew that photography
would make the transition to digital eventually. They just never expected it to happen
so fast. They went from being the worldwide leader in their field to a company in
bankruptcy in just a handful of years.

Time will not slow down for us.
But we will not let rapid change defeat us. We will capture this moment to grow Rotary,
making it stronger, more adaptable, and even more aligned with our core values.

In Germany, we see Rotary as a community of shared values and personal integrity.
Friendship and networking draw people to Rotary. Because of that, we have strong
clubs, from which we generate strength for our service.

The Four-Way Test helps us make objective decisions. It is all about self-reflection.
Sometimes you don’t even know if what you see with your own eyes is true. But The
Four-Way Test allows us to ask ourselves: Am I being honest? And am I doing the right
thing? That is important. And if we are being completely honest with ourselves, when
we look ahead, do we think Rotary is doing enough to face the challenges of the future?

Rotary has to change and will change. And even if some fellow Rotarians will complain
that it does not look like their old Rotary, we have to change. As Paul Harris said, we
have to be revolutionary from time to time. And now is the time to be revolutionary.
One way that we will do this is by creating new club models and rethinking what it
means to be in Rotary. Young people should be the architects of these new clubs.

For many younger people, sitting down for a meal together is not the best way to meet.
Just because we have held meetings this way for over 100 years doesn’t mean it is the
only way. [My partner] Susanne’s club, for example, is a local e-club. They meet online
once a week, communicating on a smartphone app, and they meet in person once a
month.

Susanne’s club ranges in age from 27 to 70. I love this kind of diversity of generations
in our Rotary clubs. That is the ideal — a multi-generation club. Some clubs will succeed
in doing this, but only if they meet the needs of younger generations.

We have to be open to new approaches — and creating unique new clubs for younger
people is just part of the solution. You have the power to implement them. It will be up
to you to make it work. Forming new Rotary clubs is the distinct responsibility of the
district governor. Rotary International has already embraced change. Now it is up to
you to make these new clubs a reality.

And by the way, one way that we can listen to younger generations and make existing
club membership more appealing to them is to focus more on the environment. Recent
disasters — such as the bush fires in Australia — underscore the importance of taking
strong action. Our last three presidents made a strong case for Rotary doing more to
preserve the environment. There is much we can do ourselves — cutting down on our
use of plastic, not overly cooling or heating our homes and offices, not driving too fast
on the German autobahn. We are already building environmental protection and

HOLGER KNAACK, THE 2020-21 PRESIDENTIAL THEME: ROTARY OPENS OPPORTUNITIES

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