Remember the SDGs? The new global goals for sustainable development, being negotiated at the UN, right now, for the whole world to adopt this September? Maybe you are not following the negotiations on the SDGs as closely as I am (I have to follow it closely, it is part of my current consulting assignment with … Continue reading Governing the SDGs: Make Your Voice Heard
Sustainable Development
Change to improve long-term, systemic conditions for humans and nature
The World’s Theory of Change
In training courses, workshops, and in books — including a forthcoming new book with my friend and business partner Axel Klimek — I teach people working on sustainability how to clarify and improve their “theory of change”: their mental model of how they are driving change toward sustainability, in their specific context. At the level … Continue reading The World’s Theory of Change
Why a “one-man musical” on sustainability, you ask?
First and most truthful answer: because it's fun. Now, here's the longer and more nuanced answer. Years ago, in the early 1990s, I discovered that music was a great way to deal with the emotions that come up around overwhelmingly huge global problems. Key people in my life — most notably Donella Meadows, lead author … Continue reading Why a “one-man musical” on sustainability, you ask?
New Sustainability “Model Calendar” for 2015!
If you are expecting photo-models, think again. This wonderful 2015 wall calendar — produced by the folks at Stockholm Resilience Center and Beijer Institute for Ecological Economics — is about conceptual models, the kinds of diagrams and think-pieces that help us understand the world. And it is a gem. Here you will find twelve essential … Continue reading New Sustainability “Model Calendar” for 2015!
The Scarlett Johansson-SodaStream-Oxfam Car Crash
When a car crash happens, it is very hard not to look at it. Consider the recent brouhaha over the actress Scarlett Johansson’s TV advertisement for the Israeli bubble-water-machine-plus-flavor-capsule company SodaStream, which was aired in connection with the US football extravaganza known as the Super Bowl, and led to her rupture with the UK-based humanitarian … Continue reading The Scarlett Johansson-SodaStream-Oxfam Car Crash
“A Fresh Start for Sustainable Development”
Note: A different, chattier version of this post was sent to WaveFront newsletter readers. The eight-point summary is the same. To read WaveFront, sign up at http://www.AtKisson.com. The new issue of the leading journal Development, under the new editorship of Tariq Banuri, is finally out! Much food for thought there. I have an essay in … Continue reading “A Fresh Start for Sustainable Development”
My To-Do List, Fall 2013 …
This page from my notebook (see photo) sums up the headlines on my to do list for the coming year: launching a new music album, building a global volunteer campaign for sustainability, participating in a number of important scientific processes, publishing a little book, and all the while continuing to do the usual consulting, training, … Continue reading My To-Do List, Fall 2013 …
Summer: A Time for Measuring, Analyzing, Discussing — and even Experiencing! — Happiness
The following was originally composed as a set of notes for use by Junko Edahiro, who writes a monthly newsletter on happiness and wellbeing issues in Japan. See the website of her Institute, ISHES, for more info. My own summer vacation, spent mostly in Sweden and the United States, has been a happy one ... … Continue reading Summer: A Time for Measuring, Analyzing, Discussing — and even Experiencing! — Happiness
Indicators, MDGs, SDGs, and GDP
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
Knowledge and Sustainability: The Global State of The Art
Recently I had the honor — and the amazingly complex challenge — of preparing a report for the new United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD), based in Incheon, Korea. The title of the report signals its state-of-the-art global breadth: “Knowledge, Capacity Building, and Networks for Sustainable Development: A Review.” This report has been published … Continue reading Knowledge and Sustainability: The Global State of The Art
Alan AtKisson 