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John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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To Kew With Gene

John Elkington · 11 September 2022 · Leave a Comment

Elaine, Hania and Gene descending stairs in the Palm House
Gene wearing Elaine’s hat

Elaine and I cabbed across to Kew Gardens this morning to accompany Hania, Jake and Gene to the Children’s Garden, the Palm House, the Lily House, and the like. Was blown away by the design of the children’s area, where we were allowed to come in as grandparents – but would not otherwise have been able to experience.

Quite remarkably well designed and run. And amazing smells from the flowers and the gum trees. Very taken with The Singing Hollow, where you stick your whole head into a hole in a rock pillar and hum. A sense of what it must have been like for our ancestors inside the great cavities where they painted those early masterpieces of cave art.

A nearby sign said that there were humming hollows in Malta and in medieval cathedrals in the south of France. Amazing sensation, though Gene didn’t like it at all. One sensed, though, that he would have made his way back there before too long …

Fell into conversion with a woman who was originally from Tipperary and comes across to the play area from North London with her granddaughter every week. I’m not surprised.

Lovely sunshine, through a fair amount of cloud, and a sense of the summer shading into autumn and winter. But the grass and many of the trees are looking much revived after recent rain, though a fair few trees are still dead or in need of intensive care after the drought.

The Oak Tree Circle, part of one of the impressive structures in the children’s garden

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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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