• 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    • Unpublished Writing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

UNGC Breakthrough Symposium

John Elkington · 10 November 2016 · Leave a Comment

Cambridge Union panorama
Cambridge Union panorama (click on image to expand)
A ring of facilitators
A ring of facilitators
David  Christie (with cake) and some of Innovation Arts team
David Christie (with cake) and some of Innovation Arts team
Lisa Goldapple of Atlas of the Future, with our report
Lisa Goldapple of Atlas of the Future, with our report
PA futurist Rob Gear votes for his 3 technologies
PA futurist Rob Gear votes for his 3 technologies

Great couple of days in Cambridge, where we were co-hosting the first Breakthrough Symposium with the UN Global Compact – as part of their annual series of LEAD company events. Co-facilitated with David Christie of Innovation Arts – and with support from our partners Atlas of the Future and Hüman After All.

Slightly taken aback by the venue, to start with, but in the end it worked well. And the Symposium’s first morning coincided with the announcement of the US presidential elections result.  Our American friends were in total shock, but we kept the juggernaut rolling.

The first morning involved a trip across to PA Consulting‘s R&D site in Melbourne, which covered everything from from drone-monitored farming through to 3D printed biscuits, and was an invigorating start to the process.

Met some great people – and moderated three panels, including people from the Braskem, Covestro, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Enel, iDisrupted, Provenance, PA Consulting, Singularity University and Tradeshift.

Great visual capture of the event, with a number of rounds of discussion groups on the floor above, but I’ll aim to distil those in a later blog. So more anon.

Uncategorized

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