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John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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Jørgen Randers @70: Festschrift and Arøy

John Elkington · 25 May 2015 · Leave a Comment

Flew in from Seoul to Heathrow, picked up Elaine, and thence more or less immediately on to Oslo, for one of the most glorious sojourns of my life. On the menu, a Festschrift conference to celebrate Jørgen Randers‘ 70th birthday, and his many contributions, kicking off with Limits to Growth back in 1972, and then a more personal trip out to Arøy, the island where he has a summer home. The conference picked up our Breakthrough Decade theme. But, first, some images, to give a flavour of the thing:

Poster outside the plenary hall, alongside stacks of the book, Science Based Activism
Poster outside the plenary hall, alongside stacks of the book, Science Based Activism
Skateboard: a cameo in BI
Skateboard at rest: a cameo in BI, the Norwegian business school where Jørgen was President in the 1980s
Per Espen presents Jørgen with the book, originally designed as a surprise
Per Espen (Stoknes) presents Jørgen with the book, Science Based Activism, originally designed as a surprise
Jørgen in full flight
Jørgen in full flight
House where the 70th birthday party was held
Later that day: community-owned house where the 70th birthday party was held
Paul Gilding, Michele Grosvenor (Gilding), Mathis Wackernagel, Elaine
Paul and Michelle Gilding, Mathis Wackernagel, Elaine in the setting sun
Stained glass peacocks
Stained glass peacocks, illuminated by the same setting sun

This was the first Festschrift I had taken part in, but if this is what we can expect from such things, I can’t wait for the next one. Several hundred people came together at the Oslo-based business school BI, where Jørgen was president from 1981 to 1989. Having contributed to both Jørgen’s amazing book 2052 (my essay was on the future of the military out to the 2050s) and to the Festschrift book, Science Based Activism (edited by Per Espen Stoknes, also author of What We Think Of When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming, and Kjell Eliassen), I was asked to help kick off the event.

What a privilege to help celebrate someone who has been one of the great presences in this field of ours since I was beginning my M.Phil. at UCL back in 1972.

At the start of my presentation, I mentioned that Elaine and I had decided to give Jørgen 2,052 eels, to be released later in the year by the Sustainable Eel Group. Just as Jørgen has spread memes around the world, the idea is that the eels will go out into the wider world and proliferate – which, given the 99% collapse in European eel populations since I had my fateful encounter in the 1950s, is devoutly to be desired. Andrew Kerr had explored for us the possibility of taking eels to Norway for release, but EU regulations (no count sensibly) make that impossible. So the release will be here.

The themes and order of the day can be found here. It was fascinating to hear both people I already knew, among them Paul Gilding and Mathis Wackernagel, and people I hadn’t yet met – not least John Sterman, who is the Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management, and current director of the MIT System Dynamics Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His presentation of their interactive online platform, Climate Interactive, blew my socks off.

Later in the day, there was a memorable dinner celebrating Jørgen’s 70th birthday, where it was wonderful to hear speeches from people who have known him for many decades – including our old friend Jan-Olaf Willums. Then, as the the carriages threatened to turn into pumpkins, we caught a coach back to the Radisson Blu across the road from BI. After a night of intense dreams, at least in my case, a smaller group of us (13 of us in total) took 3 cars several hours south to the small island of Arøy, to stay a couple of days with Jørgen and his wife Marie.

Lighting up time: now we are out on the island
Lighting up time: now we are out on the island (Jørgen, John, Paul)
Checking the provenance of a gift bottle of champagne online
Checking the provenance of Carsten’s gift bottle of champagne (oddly dedicated both to Jørgen and I) online
I have never known anyone measure out champagne of statistically
It takes a physicist: I have never known anyone measure out champagne so accurately, statistically and fairly
A gift of a copy of the original systems map that led to so much else
A birthday gift from Jay Forrester of a copy of the original systems map that led to so much else
The morning after
The morning after
Ditto
Ditto
Per Espen heads out into the blue
Per Espen heads out into the blue
And, considerably later, returns
And, considerably later, returns
Panorama
Mooring
Jørgen at the helm
Jørgen at the helm
And he's off again, for another load
And he’s off again, for another load
Rocking it
Rocking it
Forest floor
Study in green: forest floored
Rock pools
Rock pools
Mussel nursery
Mussel nursery
Captain Randers
The forceful Captain Randers
Picking our way through the archipelago
Picking our way through the archipelago
Jay Forrester
Back home with Jay Forrester

On the first full day, and I really can’t say why, particularly when I knew the water was somewhere around a bone-cracking 10-11 degrees, and when you could see a fair few jellyfish floating around, I decided to go for a swim.

The truth is that if Paul (Gilding) hadn’t been there with his camera egging me on, I might have thought better of it. As it was, I plunged in and instantaneously regretted it. Still, as my blood supply struggled to find any molecules with even a modicum of anti-freeze properties, I rolled on my back and swam a little way out, as if I knew what I was doing. Then, as soon as I decently could, I swam back to shore and hauled my way up the seaweed-coated steps.

Later in the day Per Espen went in, and the following day, claiming he couldn’t be left standing by a youngster like me, Jørgen went in too. I’m pleased to have taken the plunge, but secretly thrilled that I don’t have to do it every day. On balance, I preferred sitting on the dock and watching swallows, a heron, terns, geese, oystercatchers and eider ducks doing what they do.

Per Espen emerges from his swim
Per Espen emerges from his swim, with Jørgen soaking up the rays
Time to reflect
Time to reflect
Furling the flag - or was it unfurling?
Furling the flag
The process completed
The job completed
Dinnertime - happily, I'm perfectly camouflaged against an orange blanket
Suppertime – happily, thanks to wardrobe and having caught the sun, I’m perfectly camouflaged against an orange blanket
Ulrich warms up
Ulrich (Golueke) warms up – how do I do an umlaut, rather than ‘ue’?

 

Sitting on the dock of the bay
Later, sitting on the dock of the bay
Sparks fly
Sparks fly
Miraculously, it's day again - and Jørgen goes swimming
Miraculously, it’s day again – and Jørgen (briefly) goes swimming
Swallows over pine pollen on the waters
Swallows over pine pollen on the waters
The three who braved the 10-11 degree waters
Ultra-cool: three who braved the 10-11 degree waters
Jørgen holds a jellyfish
Jørgen holds a jellyfish
Blue birds
Blue birds
Thrift and other wild flowers
Thrift and other wild flowers
A chopping board originally retrieved from the sea
A chopping board originally retrieved from the sea
Susan's phone case
Susan’s phone case vibrates with tablecloth

The island sojourn was a wonderful chance to catch up with people like Mathis (Wackernagel) and Susan (Burns) of the Global Footprint Network, whose work I have long admired, Paul and Michelle Gilding, and Jørgen and his wife Marie, alongside people I hadn’t met met face-to-face, like Per Espen. A mix of fireside conversations, walks in a form of wilderness, and leisurely meals in the open, either in the sun or, at night, wrapped in blankets under the stars. As Mathis put it, “heaven on Earth.”

Paul
Paul: Green at peace
Whose skull is this?
Whose skull is this? (We couldn’t agree.)
Most of the guests, charted by age
The physicist’s logbook: guests, charted by age (I went first, hence the black ink …)
Per Espen as the boat bumps its way back to the mainland
Per Espen as the boat thumps its way back to the mainland

Then yesterday, Sunday, Per Espen drove Elaine, Nigel (Lake) and I back to the Randers home in Oslo. Later on, Jørgen arrived back with Mathis, Susan, John and Cindy – and, critically, several bowlsful of Greenland shrimp, plus mayonnaise and slices of a round loaf, on which concoctions of immeasurable delight (and no doubt massive ecological footprints) were duly assembled. I can’t remember when I have enjoyed myself so much, though by the time we got back home, a week after leaving for Seoul, I was ready to sleep forever.

Greenland shrimps before we head off for the airport
Greenland shrimps before we head off for the airport

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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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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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