- Posted on 24 Nov 2025
Where theory meets practice – Australian Positive Organisational Scholarship (POS) Community of Practice
This year our 6th Australian Positive Organisational Scholarship (POS) Community of Practice (CoP) event was held as a symposium in Brisbane on 2-5 July, 2025, as part of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) World Congress on Positive Psychology 2025, the largest gathering of the positive psychology community in the world. Our 6th POS CoP was an opportunity to support IPPA, and to network with our international colleagues and friends.
International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) World Congress on Positive Psychology 2025
Our symposium brought together international experts to discuss a holistic view of "Meaning & Purpose in the Workplace," a timely topic reflecting back on five years of our POS CoP forums.
Our panel:
- Professor Michael Steger - Founder and Director of the Center for Meaning and Purpose, and Professor of Psychology, Colorado State University.
- Andrew Soren - Founder and CEO of Eudaimonic by Design, board member of IPPA.
- Dr Suzy Green - Founder & CEO at The Positivity Institute
- Dr Rosemary Sainty - University of Technology Sydney Business School, founding Australian Representative to the UN Global Compact
The following perspectives were shared by the panel:
- Michael Steger spoke to the importance of asking leaders and managers how they view meaningful work and their role in meaningful work for their employees.
- Andrew Soren used the metaphor of the meaningful work boat - hull, masts, sails, captain, crew - and then asked - which part of this metaphor do organisations most often neglect, and what are the consequences of that neglect?
- Suzy Green spoke to the science and practice of meaningful work, including through the lens of adult development, life reviews, narrative interventions and perspective taking exercises.
- Rosemary Sainty brought insights from the recent European Academy of Management conference themed to “Managing with Purpose” – to connect the role of organisational purpose and its alignment with a positive impact on society and the environment, to individual meaning at work.
Acknowledgements
This event supports UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 17.
It is organised by The Positivity Institute and UTS Business School, as part of a commitment to the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME).
We also acknowledge the support of the Center for Positive Organizations, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.