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John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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MetaFly En Vol

John Elkington · 8 March 2020 · Leave a Comment

Metafly (source: Bionic Bird)

As someone who has long loved both biomicry (having served on Biomimicry 3.8’s board for some years, for example) and flight (from Leonardo via Otto Lilienthal to Bertrand Piccard of the Solar Impulse, who I met some years ago via Covestro), I was thrilled to see a piece in the latest Financial Times ‘How To Spend It’ supplement on the MetaFly.

Flight is built into our 12-year-old Volans branding.

And I always remember the ornithopters in the science fiction novel Dune, by Frank Herbert, who I also had the privilege of meeting way back. Here, finally, is a living (well almost), working example of ornithoptering. Well done Bionic Bird – and well done KickStarter, for helping fund.

Am sure these plastic wonders will cause unintended consequences, but I love the spirit of the thing. And given the way we are going, who knows, but we may well end up with similar nanorobots pollinating future landscapes …

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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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