Rediscovering Europe’s Sensuality

Posted on June 17th, 2013

   This article was first published in German in Die Achse der Guten “It is the charm of sensuality…which in subjects of this kind reigns in all its fullness” So observed Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Europe is losing the sensuality on which it was built and on which its future depends. Without it Europe will, ...Read more »

From Technocracy to a Practical Politics

Posted on June 17th, 2013

For the environmental movement to succeed, it needs to convert its ideas, science, theories, and activism into practical politics that can win votes on a large scale. Iwas recently involved in an email discussion that highlighted what I feel is a fundamental block to achieving meaningful change around environmental policies. It started with someone asking ...Read more »

The Currency of Outrage

Posted on June 7th, 2013

In the 1970s some economists published a report about commercial whaling. Their conclusion was that the most economically advantageous approach would be to hunt whales to extinction and thereafter re-tool the fishing fleets for different purposes. The idea was met with international outrage and never implemented. Since then the International Whaling Commission has been one ...Read more »

Imagination not Information: The Art of Sustainability

Posted on May 30th, 2013

A rational, data-driven approach won’t be sufficient to drive a sustainable future. We need more emotional engagement. “Our failure to address environmental issues is not a failure of information but a failure of imagination.” This comment came from Professor John Robinson of the University of British Columbia at the end of a session I co-organised ...Read more »

Sustainability Refreshed

Posted on May 30th, 2013

Self-righteous environmentalism and results-driven management have led to sustainability fatigue. Leaders need to admit we’re at sea and try to refresh sustainability The last century has yielded many societal transformations. Important among them has been the ever-growing interest in finding ways to live sustainably in our environment. “Sustainability” as a concept has become mainstream. There ...Read more »

Killing for Art

Posted on May 18th, 2013

  A student in a Canadian art school constructed a so-called “performance art piece” that involved killing a chicken in the school cafeteria. I participated in a discussion on Canadian Public Radio about the issues this raises. Listen to the podcast here. ...Read more »