• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

  • About
    • Ambassador from the future
  • Past lives
    • Professional
      • Volans
      • SustainAbility
      • CounterCurrent
      • Boards & Advisory Boards
      • Awards & Listings
    • Personal
      • Family
      • Other Influences
      • Education
      • Photography
      • Music
      • Cycling
    • Website
  • Speaking
    • Media
    • Exhibitions
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Reports
    • Articles & Blogs
    • Contributions
    • Tweets
    • Unpublished Writing
  • Journal
  • Contact
  • Show Search
Hide Search

A Week on Wings

John Elkington · 29 October 2009 · Leave a Comment

Adelaide Convention Centre, detail Adelaide Convention Centre, detail Winged figure Winged figure Sculpture mushrooms Sculpture mushrooms Mushrooming shadow Mushrooming shadow Turtle skeleton in Museum of Southern Australia Turtle skeleton in Museum of Southern Australia Opals Opals Opalised pleiosaur Opalised plesiosaur Mock-up of pleiosaur in pursuit of lunch Mock-up of plesiosaur in pursuit of lunch Knapped flints - exquisite Knapped flints – exquisite Display Display Array of spear points Array of spear points Streetscape Streetscape A king A king King and shadows King and shadows War memorial War memorial Railway tracks, looking from my room south into sunset Railway tracks, looking from my room south into sunset – conference centre roof, fountain and sea

Back this morning from a whistle-stop tour of Australia, mainly focusing on Adelaide, where I keynoted the annual sustainable development conference organised by the Minerals Council of Australia. My panel was chaired by Sue Sara of Xstrata, and was made up of Mike Rann, Southern Australia’s Premier, and John Strongman, ex-World Bank.

One thing I will long remember from the reception on the first night at the Museum of Southern Australia was the skeleton of a plesiosaur, where the calcium in the bones had been replaced in part by silica, turning them – in part, at least – into opals. Me next, please.

On the evening of my keynote there was a dinner at the National Wine Centre, where we were treated to a range of wines made by the d’Arenberg winery. Chester Osborn did a series of highly colourful introductions to the wines, which were great fun. My personal prize for the most elaborate wine name went to the 2006 Galvo Garage Cabernet Merlot Petit Verdot Cabernet Franc, though I confess I preferred the 2006 d’Arenberg ‘Dead Arm’ Shiraz. I also rather liked the 2008 Noble ‘Mudpie’ Viognier Pinot Gris Marsanne, so named, Chester explained, because the same ingredient s went into it as into a mudpie, mainly earth wand water.

Stopped off in Singapore briefly on the way, to meet up with Kevin Teo and Allen Tan of the Volans office based there, and Elim Chew, the well-known Singaporean entrepreneur. She gave Elaine and I a pair of chubby-bottomed cast angels, very much on the flying theme. There was a point to them. A highlight of the trip back was reading George Friedman’s extraordinary book, The Next 100 Years. Read it cover-to-cover. Amazingly provocative.

Elim and I in Changhi airport Elim and I in Changhi airport

Blog

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

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.

Recent Comments

  • PATRICK DICK on Reminder of Glencot Years
  • Milton Marino Gómez Ortiz on Tickling Sharks
  • John Elkington on Green Swans A “Must-Read”

Journal Archive

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.

Contact

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

John Elkington

Copyright © 2025 John Elkington. All rights reserved. Log in