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
Sustainable Development
Letter to a Struggling Business Change Agent
This letter was written to a student who approached me for advice on how to engage a company that was just not showing any interest in sustainability ... Dear ______ Thanks for your patience, it's been a terribly busy time ... kids starting school, me starting work ... but I am happy to have this … Continue reading Letter to a Struggling Business Change Agent
Pyramid 2012: The Story of Building a Shared Dream
This is the personal “back story” on the origins of the Pyramid 2012 campaign, which published its final report on 18 June 2012. For the official story of this two-month-long “global workshop,” in which well over a thousand people participated, spread across twenty countries, please visit the campaign website to read the press release, 14-page … Continue reading Pyramid 2012: The Story of Building a Shared Dream
Is “Sustainable Development” Dying?
This short article's title does not refer to the upcoming Rio+20 summit, which even Ban Ki-moon is publicly worried about (see my piece about managing expectations for the summit, link below). But of course, it could. Nor does it refer to the general, spreading sense of malaise felt by many sustainability activists and professionals — … Continue reading Is “Sustainable Development” Dying?
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
Reflecting on Life, Sustainability, and Star Trek
How different would my life be if I had never seen Star Trek? The question occurred to me because recently — in a fit of nostalgia, or out of a simple desire to have something to watch on the TV at 11 pm, when I’m too tired to read, and not quite sleepy enough to … Continue reading Reflecting on Life, Sustainability, and Star Trek
Labeling Sustainability: Is Certification Working?
The answer from this small seminar group of world experts on assessing the impact of sustainability standards -- gathered by IVL, IISD, RFF and others to review the work of a big international research program called Entwined -- is a qualified yes. The "Yes" is interesting (and thanks to Erika Svensson of IVL for inviting … Continue reading Labeling Sustainability: Is Certification Working?
Alan AtKisson 