I am sitting in my favorite cafe in Stockholm's south side, laptop out, sipping on a strong cafe latté ... for the first time in a year. It tastes wonderful. To those of you who love coffee, I can almost recommend taking a year-long fast, just to rediscover how wonderful this drink truly is. But … Continue reading A Year Without Coffee
Camping at Tällberg – Epilogue
Note: This is the final installment in a six-part series. You might want to read them in sequence. My tent is back in the closet. The great circus tent used for the Tällberg Forum's plenary sessions is undoubtedly on its way back home to Italy. The Tällberg Companion -- the little book with schedules, participant … Continue reading Camping at Tällberg – Epilogue
Camping at Tällberg – Episode 5: Cold Water Cooking
John Elkington is leading a very lively discussion on aid and entrepreneurism. "Does aid work?" says a young Kenyan entrepreneur, whose name I missed (he is a late addition to the program). His answer is a clear no, backing up, strengthening, a point made by Iqbal Quadir. Quadir asked Sweden directly -- because the Deputy … Continue reading Camping at Tällberg – Episode 5: Cold Water Cooking
Camping at Tällberg – Episode 4: Stop Talking, Start Planting
Morning again. Somehow folks crawled out of bed after dancing and drinking past midnight, and made their way to the big tent by 8:30 (it is full when I get there) to experience the climate change negotiations game run by Drew Jones and other colleagues. First, Drew Jones -- his voice almost wavers with emotion … Continue reading Camping at Tällberg – Episode 4: Stop Talking, Start Planting
Camping at Tällberg – Episode 3: An Evening of Standing Ovations
Gro Harlem Brundtland is relating stories from her childhood -- as a Norwegian refugee in Stockholm during World War II, leading her little brother safely across streets, and the unexpected apology she received from her father, when she was 12 or 13, because he had cut her off in a debate and declared her simply … Continue reading Camping at Tällberg – Episode 3: An Evening of Standing Ovations
Camping at Tällberg – Episode 2: A Bad Problem is Actually Much Worse
It's morning. I had a wonderful, quiet time by the Lake, sleeping, writing, playing guitar. (The photo was taken just after midnight, from my tentsite.) But now I walk (late) into the big tent of the Tällberg Forum. Global reality hits me like a desert wind. "The problem that we already thought was bad is … Continue reading Camping at Tällberg – Episode 2: A Bad Problem is Actually Much Worse
Camping at Tällberg – Episode 1
Bo Ekman formally opens the 2009 Tällberg Forum in his traditional way -- philosophically, and a bit theatrically. He asks us to just listen to the drip-drip-drip of a water drop, shown in video on the big screen. He reflects on the "the change of change" -- we used to think of nature as the … Continue reading Camping at Tällberg – Episode 1
Karaoke in Beijing is Part of My Job
If you had seen me strolling with my colleagues into the cavernous Partyworld, a deluxe marble-and-chandeliers karaoke center in the center of Beijing, you would have been forgiven for not believing me if I told you that I was working. When you are a visiting speaker/consultant/trainer in Asia, and the evening's planned activities include karaoke, … Continue reading Karaoke in Beijing is Part of My Job
How I Got Lost at the United Nations
In twenty-one years of work on sustainability, I have never before attended a UN meeting. Even when the big sustainability conferences happened (Rio '92, Johannesburg '02), I stayed home, content to keep working on projects that were more specific, less global. In fact, even though I lived in New York for years, on two occasions, … Continue reading How I Got Lost at the United Nations
Letter from Sweden: The State of the End of the World
The Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm is always a good place to spend a seminar morning on a beautiful Spring day, even when the topic is far from cheery. This is the day, called Valborg, when Swedes, in their several millions, gather around great bonfires to celebrate the coming of Spring. Male choruses sing … Continue reading Letter from Sweden: The State of the End of the World
Alan AtKisson 