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John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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Line 6, São Paulo

John Elkington · 21 September 2022 · Leave a Comment

Arrived in São Paulo around 05.00 this morning and were ferried to hotel by our driver, Carlos. Did a Volans team meeting en route. On my first visits to Brazil, the thought of wi-fi from a speeding car would have seemed like sci-fi. Then across to Acciona to hear about their mega-project, Line 6 of the city’s subway system. After a briefing and lunch, we were vanned across to one of the construction sites and taken deep into the tunnel workings. Beyond impressive. But the social and environmental aspects were fascinating, too. More on that anon.

Team meeting under way as Carlos negotiates São Paulo traffic
Business as unusual in Acciona’s offices
Concrete casings for the tunnel
Reflecting
Our intrepid team
Venturing deeper
Looking back
A concatenation of materials
In the background, a shrine to Saint Barbara, patron saint of miners
Louise inspects a control room
Concrete silos, I imagine
The cutting edge of the tunnelling machine, with welding under way
Ditto
(Very) heavy machinery
Welding on a drain cover
We emerge, mind-boggled

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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.

Contact

john@johnelkington.com  |  +44 203 701 7550 | Twitter: @volansjohn

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