Celebration every day!

Have you noticed that nearly every day of the year has a certain meaning to part of the people on the planet. Weather we are discussing about a specific year, week or day that is dedicated to raising awareness on various topics. This week has been focused in Finland on the consumption with a topic of "Consume less - live more" by several organizations. I took part on the week by recycling books and baby cloths and doing my food shopping in shop selling only local products.

Yesterday was the Earth Day on 22nd of April and this made me think how to illustrate the different topics. Excellent and cleaver comics for the variety of our celebrations can be found from Seppo Leinonen´s blog. He is a very well known Finnish cartoonist and illustrator. One of my absolute favorite one that makes you think is the one were the father of the family is taking the coins out of his child´s piggy bank. This being the natural resources of our planet Earth. If this does not wake people up - what does?

The entire year 2010 is dedicated to Biodiversity by the United Nations. One of the interesting topics on the Solutions local, together is biodiversity and how do we incorporate that into urban planning. Now is still some time left to submit your solutions on this and several other topics on the website - have a look and create the added synergy with the conference.

And of course, happy St George´s day - I greet you with left hand!

A night out

Lucas was having a rare night out. He was going to the theater with his wife. The play they were going to see had got good critics, which was the reason why Lucas had agreed to go in a first place – he wasn’t much for the cultural things. Nevertheless, tonight he was going with an open mind and would enjoy the night.

As they were sipping wine at the interval, Lucas was trying to decide how he felt about the first part. The topic was well chosen and the characters were credible. The play made him think about the nature of people – what did they think was important, what were their values and what impact they actions had. How often do we adapt viewpoint of others and somehow hide our own wishes and hopes but also fears under a surface of artificial coating. Lucas wondered how much art, and especially today’s art, could influence on people’s behavior and their way of thinking. Could it make a difference and what would it take in order to do so?

Call for Solutions!

Finally, we are in the stage, that the Solutions local, together - conference themes are out and a Call for Solutions is open for anyone to propose good sustainable solutions to the conference programme. The Conference focuses on four themes, that have an origin from the classical elements. These are:

• Earth - Urban planning for citizens and nature
• Water - Water for life
• Air - Climate and energy
• Fire - Inner inspiration - knowledge, new skills and partnerships

Through these themes, the conference has a good ground to address well cross-sectoral topics that are in need of sustainable approaches. Also several side events are soon to be released for public and these will add significant value to the conference topics, especially addressing the local aspects and involvement opportunities.

All possible linkages are very welcomed to the conference, so do not hesitate to contact us. I am sure our enthusiasm will get to you, too, and we will be able to advance the passing of sustainable solutions around the local authorities, companies, communities and citizens in the Baltic Sea Region.

Motivation inside an Easter egg?

Lucas was very keen on getting all possible information related to the business entrepreneurship, but realized that not everyone was as keen on following the lessons. He started to note down the different behavioral habits of his co-students and questioned their motivations.

Here is a list of most common characteristics in his class:

• speaking on the phone while "listening" - same claim that this is possible, maybe, but at least it is rude for others.
• listening to music with one ear
• reading a news paper/book while trying to follow
• discussion with the person next to you - if on the topic, fine, but if not...
• walking back and forth - normally this takes place in the end of the class room
• sleeping participants
• ....

This made him very sad, as although several efforts were done for the future of the students, those were not appreciated. Lucas started his Easter break by writing a letter to himself on how his own attitude, behavior and motivation influence on his future. Like an Easter egg- his future has several layers still to be revealed.

Earth Hour every hour?

During the past two weeks, preparations of the conference have taken big leaps forward and soon we are able to come out with practical news about the content and more on what has been planned. Locally a big effort has been given to improving the use of local food in restaurants. This has meant that the logistical chain from production to table has been widely discussed.

For many of the restaurant owners, the immediate reactions to sustainability are linked to switching off lights when not needed, saving water and avoiding garbage. These actions mainly happen automatically for those that are committed. But for others they need to be reminded or made automatic. The same goes for the local food, it needs to be made so easy to get and use, that there is not anymore the arguments of "more work is needed" or it is not cost-effective. Even the most dedicated green thinkers use these arguments and not in vain, as at the moment you need to make a big effort in order to fill your plate with ingredients that are locally produced.

Campaigns like Earth hour are needed to showcase the power of decision in our daily lives. We need to rethink our systems so that the Earth Hour would be every hour for us all!

Any business ideas?

The first morning of the course for future entrepreneurs had come. Over 25 participants with different backgrounds all expressed their expectations towards the content. It became evident, that the financial depression was forcing all of the participants to rethink about their future and this course had high hopes for it.

The course was mainly based on self development and practical tasks. Once the basics had been taught it was time to find a business idea that could be developed further. Lucas wrote several ideas for himself.

---A copy of Lucas´notebook--

• production of ice cream or frozen yogurt several of my friends are producing milk and eggs that could be used for this.... No - to many are trying the same.
  
• use of recycled materials for something else well, what would be the thing here..
  
• delivering of fire woods would this be rewarding enough
  
• garden planner trendy idea, but could I really do it
  
• logistic dealer for local food a lot of investment and networking.. needed but difficult
  
• ...
  

More carrots

On national level, a lot of discussion has been focusing on the future vision and what alternatives do we have for it. There seems to be a consensus that a change is needed and everyone has role to play in it. Still we are not burning yet for the change. Is it so that we do not have a huge need that forces us to do anything radical?

Before sustainable changes take place, we need to have many measures in place, both carrots and sticks. We can force some changes to take place by laws, taxes and limitations. Still the hardest challenge is - how to change the behavior of the citizens so that they feel positive about it? What changes trigger a behavior change and what kind of measures are needed for that? Many experts are looking for the answers in their own surroundings.

Many say that it does not, in the end, matter how do we reach the change, as long as it takes place. I do not totally agree on that, as we need to ensure that everyone is going to be on board. The carrots make things easier and we can all create them by being/looking for role models, organizing competitions or offering peer support. Hopefully the conference will be one of the big carrots! Let´s create the positive spin among our networks!