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John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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Dancing With The Chronophage

John Elkington · 27 September 2015 · Leave a Comment

Horse sculpture at Jesus College
Barry Flanagan’s bronze horse sculpture at Jesus College
Ripper (the red and white structure)
Ripper (the red and white structure)
Sleepers
Sleepers
Setting sun
Setting sun
Contrail
Contrail
The Corpus Clock
The Corpus Clock
Clock at night
Clock at night

We drove across to Cambridge this afternoon, to stay for a couple of days at Duke House, run by Liz and Rob Cameron (he’s an Executive Director at SustainAbility).

With the sun blazing, we took a wonderful walk around the city, including the grounds of Jesus College, to explore the latest iteration of Sculpture in the Close.

One installation that caught my eye was composed of railway sleepers – not sure what the theme was, but put me in mind of Communist sleepers and the Cambridge Spy Ring.

Still adore the Corpus Clock, which I discover was developed in memory of the clock-maker John Harrison, winner of the original Longitude Prize for his chronometer. His work was the subject of a school project that had a huge impact on me in the early 1960s when I was at Bryanston.

I love the idea that the designers decided that Harrison’ grasshopper mechanism was both so important and so unknown that they turned the whole thing inside out, with the grasshopper – chewing its way through time – known variously as the Chronophage, Rosalind and Hopsy.

If time’s going to be eaten up in this way, I can think of few better ways to do it.

Talked to an interesting couple from Palo Alto, also staying at Duke House. She drives a Tesla, he a Boxter. Different worlds – particularly when compared to our 15-year-old Volvo V70 parked outside. Still my favourite car ever, however.

Our 15-year-old V70
Our 15-year-old V70, pictured in Barnes before we left

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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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