Time flies: 2020 demarcates the first lustrum of the NBM conference series. The foundation of this series was laid in two workshops held at the Toulouse Business School (TBS, France) in 2014 and 2015. During these workshops, it became clear that thorough research was needed on the nature of business models. So, the idea of a 1st International conference was born: NBM @ Toulouse 2016. In this seminal conference, we focused on the issue of organising value creation in such a way that it addresses sustainable development. The main idea was to further explore the potential of a new generation of business models to contribute to societal challenges.
Now almost five years down the line we have organised NBM @ Graz (2017), NBM @ Sofia (2018) and NBM @ Berlin (2019). Each of the NBM conferences followed a specific theme related to new business models. The second edition of the conference took place at the University of Graz, Austria, in June 2017. This conference’s focus was on the development of new business models especially emphasising the creation of multiple forms of value. In 2018, our community was welcomed in Sofia at the University of National and World Economy. The impact of a new generation of business models on society from both a local, regional, national, and international perspective has been the focus. Our visit to Berlin at ESCP Europe in 2019 incorporated change into the discussion. We focused on the contribution of developing new business models to reach the Sustainable Development Goals through sustainable entrepreneurship, innovation and transitions to future fit societies.