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
Sustainable Development
Change to improve long-term, systemic conditions for humans and nature
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?
Blogging, Tweeting, Booking Face – Results & Survey
For the last month, I’ve done my best to write publicly (on the internet) about my professional life, with a personal voice, as often as I possibly could. “Daily” was the original ambition. It became “often” instead. What did I learn? Should I continue, with the same frequency? You know, that’s really up to you … Continue reading Blogging, Tweeting, Booking Face – Results & Survey
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
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
Letter from Syria / the Tigris-Euphrates Region
Picture the cement superstructure of some future small office building, vaguely futuristic in form, strange angles, sitting on scrubland. No walls yet, just empty space between the beams. Strung between the beams is somebody's laundry. It's hard to imagine who would hang laundry here. The nearest residential housing is at least a kilometer away. More … Continue reading Letter from Syria / the Tigris-Euphrates Region
Revisiting the Big Push: A Strategy for Scaling Up Renewable Energy
While the Cancún climate talks were under way, I published several different versions of the following short essay, which first appeared as a blog post in "Triple Crisis," then as a comment in Eurovoice newspaper's "Comment:Visions," and finally is slated for publication in the academic journal Solutions. Here is the Comment:Visions version: In late 2009, … Continue reading Revisiting the Big Push: A Strategy for Scaling Up Renewable Energy
Climate and Health: Side Issue, or the Bottom Line?
The fall has been so full of climate change-related seminars that I earlier forgot to write up this one: a day on The Health Impacts of Climate Change at Stockholm's prestigious Karolinska Institute (Oct 11, 2011). (Here I must reveal that my wife works at the Institute, Sweden's leading medical training and research center, as … Continue reading Climate and Health: Side Issue, or the Bottom Line?
Wailing on the Road to Cancún
"It's so bleak, it's very depressing. But we are activists. When things are bleak, we don't give up. We get busy." So said Meena Raman of the Malaysia-based activist group Third World Network at a small seminar on climate change held in Stockholm this week. For me, it was an excellent opportunity to get updated … Continue reading Wailing on the Road to Cancún
“Changer pour Durer”: Change to Endure
"The French think differently," said nearly every one of us who was not actually French. Of course, we said this to each other in French, so perhaps we were thinking differently too. Last week (19-24 Sept 2009) I attended an inter-disciplinary colloquium at a castle in Normandy called Cerisy-la-Salle. The central massive stone structure (see … Continue reading “Changer pour Durer”: Change to Endure
Alan AtKisson 