On Thursday 16 May, I attended an excellent public seminar on the power of indicators and numbers in the context of sustainable development. Hosted by UNDP and the Dag Hammarsköld Foundation, in Stockholm, it featured two powerful women speakers: Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, former director of the UN's Human Development Index and now a professor at the … Continue reading Indicators, MDGs, SDGs, and GDP
Social and Economic Systems
Report from OECD: What Winning Looks Like
Here's a letter I sent out to my friends in the Balaton Group from New Delhi, India, where I was recently attending an OECD World Forum and moderating a panel on sustainability. I never thought attending a meeting on national statistics could make me so happy. /Alan Dear friends, I am reporting to you now … Continue reading Report from OECD: What Winning Looks Like
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)
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
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
A Week in Super-Fast Green-Growth South Korea
My first visit to South Korea introduced me to a remarkable country. Everyone I met, from the taxi driver to government officials, was unfailingly kind and courteous. I came away very impressed, on many levels. But the trip certainly started out in an interesting way ... South Korea is in a hurry. I felt this … Continue reading A Week in Super-Fast Green-Growth South Korea
“San-ten-ichi-ichi” — what March 11 means to Japan (so far)
I was on UN business in Korea this week, but on Friday, I took a day off to fly to Osaka and meet with friends Junko Edahiro and Riichiro Oda, at a hotel near Osaka’s Kansai airport. I wanted to find out how they were doing, and how the country was doing, since the last … Continue reading “San-ten-ichi-ichi” — what March 11 means to Japan (so far)
Watching Egypt 1 – Private Worries, Public Hopes
It was a relief to finally hear my client's voice on the phone. She was a bit breathless, but not sounding in distress. She had been out food shopping by taxi just that afternoon (this was Monday, 31 January), able to find what she needed, "though many people are just buying up whatever they can … Continue reading Watching Egypt 1 – Private Worries, Public Hopes
What is the GDP, Anyway?
As the world spins deeper into economic recession (is anyone formally using the word "depression" yet?), it seems appropriate to take a look at the number by which we measure such things: the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP. This mega-statistic is the indicator used by countries since WWII to measure their growth, and is by … Continue reading What is the GDP, Anyway?
Alan AtKisson 