The following is a more polished version of the opening keynote speech I delivered (speaking from notes) in Gdansk, Poland, on 16 June 2025, at an international conference on sustainable development hosted by WEB Merito Universities (see Endnotes for more info and link). I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity to present this speech, which … Continue reading Keynote Speech: “Future Thinking for Sustainable Development”
Author: Alan AtKisson
Chronicle of a CEO Burnout
Update 4 August 2025: There is now a complementary blog post to this one, called "How I Recovered from Burnout." Please read the two articles together. This is a cautionary tale. I tell it so that others might successfully avoid the kind of health-related collapse that I experienced after a long period of unrelenting stress … Continue reading Chronicle of a CEO Burnout
Third-Age Thoughts
Initial reflections after a long professional career in public service for sustainability On January 1, 2025, I woke up to the reality that I was actually and truly retired. I have no professional position, no company or business to maintain, no formal work responsibilities, at all. I am living on my income from a modest … Continue reading Third-Age Thoughts
Announcing my retirement from public service
Letter and social media post sent 1 January 2025 To friends and colleagues around the world: I am retiring. After 44 years of professional work, 36 of them spent working to advance sustainability and sustainable development, it’s time for a rest. I had intended to continue working professionally a few more years, but in November, … Continue reading Announcing my retirement from public service
Fleeting Beauty of Life
Over the past year, like millions of other people, I have been "playing" with various AI applications, chiefly ChatGPT and DALL-E. And like millions, I have watched with astonishment as these tools rapidly advance. After it first launched, I asked ChatGPT about me. It told me that I had died three years ago. I said, … Continue reading Fleeting Beauty of Life
Launching a new book: “Embraces, Vincent”
I am so pleased to announce the publication of this new book by my friend Vincent Williams (1933-2017). I had the pleasure and honor of editing it, together with Vincent’s daughter, Alexina Thorén Williams (who initiated and led the project). Purchase the book on Amazon.com or Amazon.se Vincent was a truly unique, wonderful person and … Continue reading Launching a new book: “Embraces, Vincent”
Getting Better, or Getting Worse? Revisiting my book Believing Cassandra
© 2022 by Alan AtKisson Part 1 in a series of essays. DRAFT published 19 July 2022 at AlanAtKisson.com In 1999 I published my first book, Believing Cassandra. That book – which opens with a retelling of the history of another book, The Limits to Growth (1972) – was an instant hit in its very … Continue reading Getting Better, or Getting Worse? Revisiting my book Believing Cassandra
Closing my company — AtKisson, Inc. — for good
The title is a play on words. Yes, I am completely closing down my nearly 30-year-old company, AtKisson, Inc., and English uses the phrase "for good" to mean "permanently." The last logo of the AtKisson Group But I also want to celebrate that company's history, because it truly aimed to be a force for good: … Continue reading Closing my company — AtKisson, Inc. — for good
World premier for “Christmas Night” – A song from the archives
In 1983 I recorded my first demo album, a ten-song cassette of original songs. I was 23, living in New York, just starting out as a singer/songwriter, and I needed this album to start getting gigs. The album, titled "Whitewing" after the title track, was recorded in my friend Darryl Cherney's bedroom/studio, with his huge … Continue reading World premier for “Christmas Night” – A song from the archives
Compass, Pyramid, Amoeba: How these tools for accelerating sustainability came to be, how they began spreading around the world, and what’s going to happen next
By Alan AtKisson In 2021 I donated all the copyrights and licensing agreements for the “Accelerator” – a set of tools that I and colleagues created, developed, and used around the world, over a period of nearly 30 years – to the international non-profit organization Compass Education. “Accelerator” has three main parts: (1) the Sustainability … Continue reading Compass, Pyramid, Amoeba: How these tools for accelerating sustainability came to be, how they began spreading around the world, and what’s going to happen next
Alan AtKisson 