Stunning, world-changing news has been trying to click and trill its way through the chaotic cloud of media that serves as humanity’s proxy for global collective consciousness. Did you miss it? Don’t worry, I will fill you in. Mother and baby sperm whale. Whale babies babble, just like human babies, until their codas start settling … Continue reading Could learning to talk with whales change the world?
Sustainable Development
Change to improve long-term, systemic conditions for humans and nature
An editorial request to Bill Gates: please do a rewrite
I read carefully the recent Bill Gates memo, “Three Tough Truths about Climate Change” (28 Oct 2025), which caused a lot of commotion on social media. It was worth a close read, and I am still thinking about it, as well as tracking the media reactions, which have often been, in my view, exaggerated. Certain … Continue reading An editorial request to Bill Gates: please do a rewrite
The Plum Tree – A True Story about the Power of Optimism
These plums, and this marmalade, are proof of the power of optimism to create change. Even when things look bleak. Now with a new PS about overcoming perceived failure. (Read on below the image >>) A few years ago, our plum tree got infected with the dreaded “brown rot”. I was too busy with work … Continue reading The Plum Tree – A True Story about the Power of Optimism
Baltic Futures = Europe’s Future
Consider the Baltic Sea: Brackish. Beautiful. Highly polluted. Linking (or dividing) the following countries: Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark – and Russia. It might irritate certain EU member states, not mentioned above, both current and former, to learn that for journalist Oliver Moody, Berlin bureau chief for The Times of London, the … Continue reading Baltic Futures = Europe’s Future
Loyalties: A framework for how I intend to engage in the public sphere
Towards the end of this article, I present a list of my fundamental loyalties, defined as the intellectual commitments guiding my participation, writing and speech in the public sphere. Why am I doing that? To model transparency. To be clear, both with myself and with others, about what I intend to do, before I start … Continue reading Loyalties: A framework for how I intend to engage in the public sphere
Keynote Speech: “Future Thinking for Sustainable Development”
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”
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
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
Alan AtKisson 