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John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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Adventures From Windsor To Madrid

John Elkington · 22 November 2015 · Leave a Comment

Albert Bosch Riera at Sustainable Brands
Albert Bosch Riera at Sustainable Brands
A view from the 23rd floor of the Aviva Undershaft building
A view from the 23rd floor of the Aviva Undershaft building
Morning sky in Madrid
Morning sky in Madrid
Lise Kingo in full flight with Henry Bonsu
Lise Kingo in full flight with Henry Bonsu
I go exponential
I go exponential
The Spirit of Brundtland
The Spirit of Brundtland
On camera
On camera
Richard Northcote of Covestro
Richard Northcote of Covestro
One of many screens
One of many screens
Ole Lund Hansen of the UNGC LEAD initiative sums up
Ole Lund Hansen of the UNGC LEAD initiative sums up

Kicked off the week outside Windsor at the Sustainable Brands 2015 conference. Spoke in the opening session with Koann Skrziniarz of SB and Albert Bosch Riera, the explorer – who among many other things has climbed all seven of the world’s highest mountains. His theme: ‘The Spirit of Adventure.’ Travelled back towards London with him after our session ended – we got on like the proverbial house on fire and ended up hugging goodbye.

The rest of the week slightly blurred by, though we had a fascinating meeting of the Friends Life/Aviva Stewardship Committee of Reference, on the 23rd floor of the Aviva Undershaft building in the City of London. Very interesting presentation from Amec Foster Wheeler on how they see and handle the ethicals to sustainability agenda.

Then had to scoot out to T5 for the flight to Madrid, for the annual meeting of the LEAD initiative developed by the UN Global Compact. The security was not noticeably tighter after the terrible events in Paris on Friday 13th. Great welcome as we arrived late for the UNGC reception, after which we headed on to a delightful supper with Richard Northcote of Covestro.

A well produced UNGC event the next day, co-hosted by Endesa in their extraordinary HQ building, not far from the airport. Met some very useful people and had a potentially landmark discussion with Lise Kingo, who now runs the UNGC. More anon on that, hopefully.

First snow this week, yesterday morning – great clods of fluffy snow falling, as though someone was plucking a goose in the heavens. Walked across to the bookshop to browse and came back with two huge history times, Eugene Rogan’s The Fall of the Ottomans and James Holland’s The War in the West. A bit like a squirrel gathering nuts for the winter, though a fair amount of travel to come before Christmas.

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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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