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