Future expectations

The end of the year is a good time to summarize the outcome of past year. It is a bit more than a year to go to the Solutions 2011 conference and the expectations for it are growing little by little. The conference planning is in good speed and more actors are gathering around it and bringing in their solutions. It looks very promising if at least half of the plans will fulfill.

Now after COP15 results it feels that the timing of the Solutions 2011 conference is going to be very good for making a difference and showing how we in the Nordic tackle the challenges ahead of us. From talks to action in practice.

I hope that you will do one promise for next year - that is to let me know what kind of solutions are you in need of? I promise then to do my best to fit it in to the conference somehow.

Thank you for reading the Blog during the year 2009 - more to come next year!

Green consumption

This year I have been very conscious about my own impact on climate change and overconsumption. Luckily I am not the only one as some toy companies have woken up and changed their package designs, more immaterial gifts are available and many people have decided to give only things that are truly needed. All this is not what the market would need to get the economy improving, but this is what we - people - need and the future needs. Good for us!

I have been lucky to avoid all the running around shops in panic, as I have planned my Christmas well in time. All of the presents have been bought or done by myself with a clear thought behind of them. The meals are prepared together well in time with local products. Even the decorations and wrappings are done from recycled materials. My Christmas feeling is peaceful and happy as I have had the joy of enjoying the longer planning needed for sustainable Christmas. Sustainability needs more thinking but is in the end also more rewarding.

It is surprisingly few people that really think about what is essential in this holiday season. Going back to my earlier Blogs I like to add a waking short video to my favorites. Have a look at 1.5 to Stay Alive
maybe it will bring the meaning of Christmas into a totally different light. Rewarding Christmas to all!

Future is ours

Recent days have made me think about the different levels of involvement, starting from informing to involvement. In an ideal world, everyone would get their voices heard on the topics that affect them. When there are many stakeholders, like now in COP15 meeting, it is nearly impossible to come to a satisfactory decisions when the process of participation is not thought through well enough. This is the case now, when physical participation of relevant NGOs is being denied and demonstrations are considered as negative actions.

It is frustrating to see even though everyone talks about the same thing, but when it comes to actual decision-making - the decision-makers still think the individualistic way - not ours, but mine (my country, my world). Involvement is about us, future is ours - therefore we should remember the common benefits. What is left if it is not our common concern?

Very often we know only afterwards that we had a change to influence, for a limited time. Therefore I want to point out to you that influence now when there is a Public consultation on the future EU 2020 strategy ongoing until 15.1.2010. This is about our common future guided by the EU. EU 2020 strategy is about a new sustainable social market economy, a smarter, greener economy where our prosperity will result from innovation and from using resources better, and where knowledge will be the key input. The strategy is about the transformation needed in Europe. If COP15 does not do the trick - at least give your opinion at http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/secretariat_general/eu2020/consultation_en.htm

Overloaded with information

All possible climate related organizations have had the same idea - to publish, launch or organize an event in connection to the COP15 meeting. This has caused bloated e-mail accounts with an overload of information and invitations. As there is too much of everything it is very hard to make your message heard and understood. How can you distinct yours from the message flow?

The facts that draw your attention are not necessarily the ones that you should focus on - or are they? It happened to me that in the midst of all the climate related events and news I have become very critical about what are the real efforts carried out by the organizations. One of the most evident one to me is how you enable the participation of those who did not travel to Copenhagen to take part physically but would still like to follow the discussions. Very few have had some attempts, by enabling the speakers to join in from distance or broadcasting the sessions. Even those who have tried, have not really succeeded, as they forgot that the majority of the participants need to install special programmes or versions to view them. And believe me, this is not easy in centralized organizations. For true involvement, the channels should be made easy!

In the end, everyone has a desire to be heard and understood. We are in a hurry to find the most relevant solution for our problems. If only someone could scan the information flow and pick the most relevant info for us! That seems to be the main challenge for us all. Where is the friend to call who would do that for us?

Good enough

It is hard to say when the local authorities are the best in their class. This can not be measured by financial language, as money is only a resource. Cities are aiming to become the best for the citizens. This creates a lot of demand from different stakeholders. Cities are pulled to different directions, and often forget what is the most important for the common benefit.

For local authorities it is important to see how effectively they fulfill the mission and what kind of outcomes are received in relation to the available resources. One can measure this only if the starting point is clearly analyzed and the change is somehow evidenced. How well do we see the process in our own cities?

You can not force a true change to take place. The changes are enabled by a wise leadership who understands their role. Without this enabling, we can not reach the status of being the best and reach sustainability.

It needs to be remembered that in the end it does not matter what you have reached in life - you are only good in comparison to what you can become.

Message through movies

There are still 9 days to the UN climate summit in Copenhagen. Those people involved in climate change work can see it by the loads of e-mails received about newly available publications, newsletters and events organized around the topic. No doubt a change is expected, but how to reach the masses?

To my mind, one of the best ways is to showcase the urgency through a well-packaged movie. Recently I have been seen three different movies that express the message clearly and certainly appeal to different audiences. Out of these, my favorite one is "The Age of stupid". This documentary reveals well, how the ongoing processes influence the lives of people around different parts of the world. It makes you think, what is the quality of life and how can we ensure that everyone has the right for the same?

A second movie is "Swimming with the Polar Bears". The movie goes deep into our feeling of responsibility and also adds personal dimension to the global warming. What is my approach in life?

A third one differs a lot from the previous two, as it is a cartoon movie done around the Baltic Sea."The Lord of the Things" combines the different well-known legends and movies in order to pass the message among the age group of 11-13 years. It makes you think, would things be better without ignorance?

I hope you will take the opportunity to watch the movies and to pass the message!

More information about the movies:
"The Age of stupid"
"Swimming with the Polar Bears"
"The Lord of the Things"

Sampo of sustainability

Everyone is talking about innovations and new deals in the midst of different crisis. In many cases we forget that we can learn much from the history. In Finnish mythology, the Sampo was a magical artifact of indeterminate type that brought good fortune to its holder. The Sampo was something worth fighting for.

Several historians have tried to identify what the Sampo really was. According to Matti Klinge, finnish historian, the Sampo could have been a pole about mechantile law in Samppalinna, in the city of Turku, Finland. If we interpret this into current day - we could claim that still we are all looking for this Sampo - Sampo of sustainability. And it just happens to be that in year 2011 we will gather in Turku to share it.

For me Sampo of sustainability is the best that our societies could offer. Ingredients of this are shared values, active networks and joint efforts for everyones benefit. Are we able to act now so that we could spread the Sampo in January 2011?

The Sampo was a pivotal element of the plot of the Finnish epic poem Kalevala, compiled in 1835 (and expanded in 1849) by Elias Lönnrot based on earlier Finnish oral tradition. More from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampo

Who cares?

We all want to feel needed and do work that is appreciated by others. In many times the appreciation stems from small things. It is easier to talk about something far away and not to touch the closest things around you. We keep on improving the strategies and action plans and sometimes succeed on changing major issues. Despite this very often the small practical issues remain unsolved.

I work in a room with windows that led the cold autumn wind through their cracks and nearly without any light. I trust in the fact that the ones responsible for this value my work and do their utmost. I still trust that before X-mas the working conditions will be fixed. But what happens if nothing happens...

In developed society there are not tasks that should not be appreciated. It is said that the value of human being is measured by the fact how he treats the ones from whom he does not get anything from. How do you value the work of others?

Make it fun!

How many times we work so focused on our tasks, that we forget to include fun as the key ingredient into our actions?

Solutions are being created
when challenge has been found and it
meets the right mixture of people
with idea to solve it.
If elements of fun are added to the concept you are sure to succeed!

For food for thought about fun and solutions, check for example the Bottle Bank Archad Machine and Piano staircase at http://thefuntheory.com

Intermediaries of Sustainability

One often wonders - how many of the things we struggle with have already been solved somewhere in the world? Through the Internet, we get a clue of the answer. Still majority of the knowledge is with the persons. And only partially answers are available through a free search.

So in order to be efficient and result full, we would need to know the right persons or the way to work in the relevant networks. This is a challenging task, as the context changes all the time. For this task intermediaries are needed.

Anyone can be a practical intermediary. The most advanced cities have dedicated a person/persons for the task. They may be called as Co-ordinators of Sustainability or Climate Change experts. These are the key persons to advance the work towards implementing solutions. Does your city have one already?

Steps before actions

Nowadays, you can everywhere run into presentations, speeches and texts urging the actions to take place. "Enough for talking - time to take actions", "more actions, less talk" - is spreading fast. But why the process is so slow, although everyone knowns in principle, that changes are needed?

A true fact is that changes will only happen if the driving forces are strong enough or the organization culture enables visionary work. The force can be for example, a financial situation or a disaster that needs radical changes in previous manners. In any cases, nothing will happen unless there is a passionate person to create the demand or to push others to join him/her.This is vital. Sometimes a new combination of people will start something bigger than ever before or a person that has high enough status will trigger the process to start.

From the driving force, it is still some way towards real actions. A joint vision on the future is needed. This needs to be explicitly written, so that all are truly sharing it. Then one fact of success is based on how the organization works together and values the small steps taken. In many cases, the process itself results in bigger change then the real measurable outcome. This should not be forgotten.

During the planning process of Solutions2011 conference one encounters the process very vividly. It is fascinating to see how the different actors suddenly pull themselves together and start to jointly plan actions that just waited to be fulfilled. What kind of change would you like to see taking place?

Process of sustainability

It is challenging to create a conference, that focuses on the process of sustainability as widely as possible. It would be much easier to just arrange a conference without really thinking about the impact it could/should have on the hosting city or on the Baltic Sea Region. You could just tender out the elements needed and plan the programme. This is not what Solutions local, together will just do, it aims to do more than usually is done for sustainability.

How do you quarantee that the event will make an impact on the hosting city before and after it? A good example of the larger process that one can influence, is the reduction of CO2 emissions by year 2050. All possible efforts are needed to reach a maximum reduction, therefore this should be also enabled through the events organized. A reality is that in order to have an impact in the city of Turku, one needs to create a new working culture, where existing networks are acting together. Every actor is challenged to do things differently and think about the eventual common benefits. Actions are needed during the entire process.

The conference preparation team is committed to organize a conference with a true impact. The elements of the sustainability process will be revealed during the upcoming months. If you are interested to be part of the process, you are welcome to contact me.

Essentials

The biggest environmental act is not to organize a conference at all, as the most of the CO2 emissions are caused by the travel to the conference. But why do we have so many conferences and how could those be compensated?

Everyone knows that nothing really can compensate the true meeting of people. Through the online presentations and video conference facilities, one is not able to reach the essentials of a good meeting. Facts can be received without moving anywhere from your computer, but only a fragment of following essentials:

• atmosphere that changes according to the composition of people and the facilities around.
• random meeting of interesting people
• impressions received through different senses
• feeling of togetherness, support from the like-minded
• ideas that are generated through the right timing and content

A huge challenge is to create a conference that is not just a meeting, but an event that is an important part of several ongoing processes. It can be a finish of something, but as well a beginning of something new. In the Solutions local, together – conference we are at the moment combining these ongoing processes in order to create a unique synergy on several levels. It is fascinating to realize that so many actors have become enthusiastic about the event. I have the feeling that Solutions conference has all the potentiality for becoming a milestone in the development for sustainable Baltic Sea Region.

Conference sharks

You could spend all your time going through conferences and various meetings. Baltic Sea Region is rich in its diversity and activities. Therefore it is challenging to build up a conference that has a real impact. By observing the people, you can learn a lot also in this respect.
The real conference "sharks" end up meeting each other very frequently. This creates a certain culture of behavior in all of the conference events. It is fascinating to analyze this a bit on distance. You could raise several characteristics of a "conference sharks":

• Prioritizing social parts - coffee breaks, evening outings, sightseeings. The true networker knows that the best place to create links and enable true actions happens during the unformal programme.
  
• Working while listening - carrying out multiple tasks at the same time. This is done, mainly through internet, but also mobile, whispering, reading, napping or drawing.
  
• Arriving 15 minutes late - at least.
  
• Collecting loads of materials - going through them during the meeting or just piling them on the existing piles in the office.

These are just my observations - you are free to add on..

Conference bag

My closet is full of conference bags. I keep adding the new one beside the old unused ones. Mostly these are computer bags. And in all honestly, you only really need one. The one, that you anyway have with you when you go to the conference. I often see a pile of bags being left to the organizers as a objection to the idea. Hopefully we will see more of this happening in order to change the behavior.

The organizers of the conference very often assume that the participants expect to receive a bag from the organizers. Have they ever really consulted the users? I am sure many would say that they would rather not have the bag, but instead have a cheaper conference or compensate it with something totally new.

The most advanced organizations have changed to use bags that are made out of recycled materials or that can be recycled. Still these bags are not produced close to the event, so the logistical emissions remain.

It makes me still very sad to see that so many resources are put into producing, transporting and tailoring the bag, mostly in the other side of the world. There is no sustainability in that! The attempt is that nothing from the Solutions conference would not stay unused in the closet! You are able to see how we will succeed with it.

Welcome

This conference Blog focuses on how to organize a truly sustainable conference that benefits all engaged stakeholders. In most traditional conference preparations, the practical arrangements are separated from the content development. In this Blog they are all interlinked as the focus is on Solutions - local, together.

Through the upcoming months you are welcome to follow and join the thoughts behind the Nordic Conference on Sustainable Development in the Baltic Sea Region 2011. My aim is to tackle the main topics of conference practicalities and content in this Blog. This gives you a change to be part of the process and express your own view on matters.