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John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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Topkapi

John Elkington · 21 September 2009 · Leave a Comment

Part of the Divan, where the imperial council met, sometimes covertly watched by the sultan Part of the Divan, where the imperial council met, sometimes covertly watched by the sultan This may be part of the Throne Room This may be part of the Throne Room Detail of fountain Detail of fountain Reflected Reflected Column Column Locked Locked Elaine Elaine Lion Lion Gilded lookout Gilded lookout Spirals Spirals Computer screen provides hint of modernity Computer screen provides hint of modernity A bench of Americans, I think resting A bench of Americans, I think resting Carriage Carriage

Didn’t see the Executioner’s Fountain, but there were many places in Topkapi Palace this afternoon and evening where you got a profoundly uneasy sense of stress, politicking and human tragedies that played out during the 470-year rule of the Ottoman sultans. I found the Harem particularly suffocating in that sense, but the treasures – architectural or in the form of manuscripts, ceramics and stained glass, tiling, fountains, inlays, jewels, weapons and clocks – were sometimes quite literally breath-taking. It being a public holiday, the place was buzzing, but Elaine and I found we could escape the worst of the press by walking around counter-clockwise.

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Introduction

I began this blog with an entry reporting on a visit to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, on 30 September 2003. The blog element of the website has gone through several iterations since, with much of the older material still available.

Like so many things in my life, blog entries blur the boundaries between the personal and the professional. As explained on this site’s Home Page, the website and the blog are part platform for ongoing projects, part autobiography, and part accountability mechanism.

In addition, my blogs have appeared on many sites such as: Chinadialogue, CSRWire, Fast Company, GreenBiz, Guardian Sustainable Business, and the Harvard Business Review.

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About

John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements.

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john@johnelkington.com  |  +44 203 701 7550 | Twitter: @volansjohn

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