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
Sustainability
The science and philosophy of maintaining human and natural systems
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
My Earth Day in Africa
I'm reading an article in Scientific American's magazine "Earth 3.0" about some airlines testing new, greener jet fuels. But I'm here in Entebbe, Uganda airport, about to fly with very ordinary Jet A Kerosene on Kenya Airways to Nairobi. Surreally, an old Star Trek movie is on the television. Of course, I spent most of … Continue reading My Earth Day in Africa
An Old Song Rises Up Again Now
In The ISIS Agreement, I write about the first time I used songs and songwriting in the context of giving a keynote speech. One of the songs from that time has come strongly into my mind these last days. Why? Frankly, it's not one of my best songs, as I would judge it now. The … Continue reading An Old Song Rises Up Again Now
Exponential Growth Rocks On
At the closing banquet of the EARCOS teachers conference (I had been the opening keynote speaker) in Kota Kinabalu, one of the bands called me up on the stage to do an improvisational, rock version of my song "Exponential Growth." Linda Sills, Assoc. Dir. of EARCOS, captured the call-and-response moment on her phone camera ...
Alan AtKisson 