Here are two poems from the volume, written in the mid-1990's. The first is an excerpt from the "Fugue" series, experiments in capturing trains of thought in the moments between wakefulness and sleep. The second, "The Work of the Animal Nations," was first published in the literary journal Point No Point. © Alan AtKisson, all … Continue reading Two Excerpts from Alan AtKisson’s “Collected Poems, 1982-2009”
Stockholm+40: Dreaming about revolution
I thought I would write blog entries throughout the Stockholm+40 conference. Instead, I listened – not so much to the formal presentations and speeches, though there were a few good ones. I listened to my friends and colleagues. "What are you working on?" I wanted to know. "How is it going?" For me, the sustainability … Continue reading Stockholm+40: Dreaming about revolution
Stockholm+40 and the King of Spain: No hiding from the truth
This is the first in a series of posts that I will make from the Stockholm+40 conference, 23-24 April 2012. For more on this conference, please see the official website: http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/15451 It is dizzying to think that the world has been wrestling with the problem set we call "sustainability" for forty years now. There is … Continue reading Stockholm+40 and the King of Spain: No hiding from the truth
Subject: Sustaining happiness (or, Why I didn’t go to a meeting on Happiness)
[Copy of Facebook Status Update] Friends, if you follow my Twitter feed, you'll see a note from friend Kristin Vala Ragnarsdottir saying she missed seeing me at the High-Level Meeting on Happiness hosted by the Prime Minister of Bhutan at UN headquarters in NY. This is a very significant meeting, and I was pleased and … Continue reading Subject: Sustaining happiness (or, Why I didn’t go to a meeting on Happiness)
NEW: Green Economy + National Happiness = ?
Can we create “happiness for all” while preserving the planet? Will humanity manage to create “green economies”, and convert our current economic systems from destructive forces to sustainable and indeed restorative processes, in time? The new report Life Beyond Growth — issued on March 1, 2012, by the Tokyo-based Institute for Studies in Happiness, Economy, … Continue reading NEW: Green Economy + National Happiness = ?
Life Beyond Growth—download free report
New report traces revolution in how we think about "progress" Is there Life Beyond Growth? The new report by that name declares decisively yes, citing more and more countries that are seriously questioning the "Gross Domestic Product" (GDP) and traditional economic growth as their default definition of "progress." Despite all the economic and political turmoil … Continue reading Life Beyond Growth—download free report
Why Russia Should Invest in Sustainability
Seven Reasons why Russia Should Invest in Sustainability — Three of Them Unconvincing by Alan AtKisson CEO, AtKisson Inc. & Author, The Sustainability Transformation On Wednesday, 10 February, I made the second keynote presentation (after Ashok Khosla's opening) to a conference in Moscow called "Innovative Russia: Responding to Global Challenges." The other participants on the … Continue reading Why Russia Should Invest in Sustainability
What’s So Unexciting about Being “Sustainable”? Consider the Alternative
One of my colleagues and associates, Roberta Fernandez (ISIS Academy USA), started an excellent discussion thread on ISSP/LinkedIn about the meaning of the word sustainability. It drew a lot of comments, as people proposed alternative "brandings" for sustainability and spoke for or against their favorite alternatives, such "Balanced Living" or "BaLi" for short (!). At … Continue reading What’s So Unexciting about Being “Sustainable”? Consider the Alternative
How I Created (Not) a UN Campaign
This article is about how I became obsessed with trying to create, or catalyze into being, an international campaign to dramatically increase renewable energy investment in the developing world — and why I now feel ready to let go of that obsession. The short version is this: The campaign is happening, and the UN is … Continue reading How I Created (Not) a UN Campaign
Reflecting on Life, Sustainability, and Star Trek
How different would my life be if I had never seen Star Trek? The question occurred to me because recently — in a fit of nostalgia, or out of a simple desire to have something to watch on the TV at 11 pm, when I’m too tired to read, and not quite sleepy enough to … Continue reading Reflecting on Life, Sustainability, and Star Trek
Alan AtKisson 