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It begins.

We flew Turkish Airlines (TK2560) last night to Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, then caught – with our guide, Andrew Wilson – a plane on to Dalaman airport. Once there, we reclaimed our bags and clambered into a minibus with the others on this ACE tour and were driven some 40 minutes to Göcek, where the gulet M/S Sunworld 8 was moored.

Happily, the same vessel we went on the first time we sailed along the Lycian Coast, back in 2011, though with a different crew this time. We had debated whether to take the same trip again, but Elaine recalled that I had found the sailing so relaxing last time that it was now prescribed again to help me recharge after producing and launching g the new book, The Breakthrough Challenge.

Interestingly, of the 12 or so other people in the group, we turned out to have links to several. To begin with, I recognised one tall man with a stooped, aristocratic bearing, who turned out to be Christopher Parish, with whom I had worked years ago when I chaired The Environment Foundation – and we did regular consultations at St George’s House, Windsor Castle.

Elaine also recognised a couple whose daughter was in Gaia’s class at St Paul’s, and it transpired that yet another few-degrees-of-separation participant is Mary Wright, who – with her late husband, Chris – had been active in promoting sustainable living, via Action for Sustainable Living. She has brought along Kati Martin, who is involved in organic fashion for children as a Director of Boys & Girls.

Small world.

Then this morning we sailed south-east to the Island of Gemiler, a once thriving Byzantine – which may have been dedicated to St Nicholas, as patron saint of seafarers. In what follows, I will draw on the notes provided by Andrew, who also led the 2011 tour – and was a key reason why we came back.

Now in ruins, the island offers extensive evidence of religious activities, including churches, graves and an extraordinary processional way – through which people would process during baptismal rights somewhere between the fourth and seventh centuries AD.

Having welcomed wasps at breakfast this morning, which had turned up in not inconsiderable numbers to share our fruit, honey and other delectations, I was now reminded of just how irritating a wasp sting can be. As several of us waited for the Zodiac to ferry us back to the gulet, I mistakenly pressed a wasp against my forearm – and it did the inevitable.

Tonight, dinner on deck – then sweet dreams at anchor.

Have been producing a fair few articles and blogs in recent weeks as we moved up to the soft launch for the new book. Here are three of the blogs that have appeared so far:

– Fast Co-Exist: 5 Rules of Tomorrow’s Bottom Line

– Guardian Sustainable Business (Rethinking Prosperity): A Sustainable Future is Now in Reach

– Sustainable Brands: The Breakthrough Challenge: Arguments for Branding (Rebranding) Sustainability

A display of WWF Panda collecting boxes, that align and track you

Astrid and Sarah heading downstairs

Panda cut-out

Safari hats in a learning centre

The carpet is by Interface, the focus of our first Breakthrough Case

Sarah dubbed these ‘The Daleks’

Roofspace (detail)

Two big stories today: Scotland’s vote on independence and, big news in our corner of the universe, the soft launch of our new book, The Breakthrough Challenge.

Took the train south to Woking this morning, with our new Breakthrough team member, Astrid Hogsted. Have been a member of WWF’s Council of Ambassadors for almost 10 years and had been invited to give a speech at WWF’s Living Planet Centre, as part of their Learning Week.

Greeted and briefed over a sandwich lunch by Sarah Brunwin and Stuart Poore. Although I had seen a model of the building at one of the Council meetings in London, this was the first time I had visited: very impressive.

Also came across the slightly spooky Panda Eyes artwork made of WWF Panda collecting boxes. Created as part of the Pandamonium initiative last year. When you first hove in view, they are looking every which way. As you get closer, though, they all turn to watch you.

A very encouraging reception from the audience – and several invitations to come back and help with thinking through the implications of the Breakthrough Decade for NGOs like WWF. Keen to see how this could play out.

A different type of white van men/people (photo: Andrew Kerr)

Drove west yesterday, to stay overnight with Pat, Tim, Caroline et al at Hill House, and then on through Stroud this morning to Stonehouse. There we met Andrew Kerr, chairman of the Sustainable Eel Group. Elaine and I had recently made a small donation to SEG, having seen coverage of their first eel release on Springwatch TV programme. Next we drove north, with Andrew, beyond Kidderminster, to take part in the first of three eel drops into the Severn.

By way of historical and emotional context, I told the story of how glass eels brought me into the environmental field at a very tender age in the New York Times, a couple of years back.

The catastrophic decline in eel numbers in Europe in recent decades has seen them end up on the list of critically endangered species. The number of baby eel produced each year is only 1% of what it was before the 1980s. EU legislation now requires that EU countries take measures allowing 40% of adult eels to escape from inland waters to the sea, where they can spawn. Among measures now being pushed are controls on the number of eels taken, the redesign of barriers like weirs and dams to allow eels (and other fish) to pass through, and the restocking of inland waters with young eels—which is what we were up to on the banks of the Severn.

But there is good news, too. Andrew explained what had been happening on the Severn and the nearby River Wye. Fishermen using artisanal nets reported the lowest-ever number of eels caught in 2009: just 1 million. By contrast, over 30 million eels were caught this year, suggesting that the numbers of eels has somehow risen back to levels typical 30 years ago.

So what is going on? Is the seeming breakdown of a key ecological resource being reversed by unknown factors out in the distant Sargasso Sea, where European eels spawn? Is this part of some giant natural cycle? Or is the work of organisations like SEG starting to turn the tide of extinction? I suspect we are seeing a combination of all these factors at work—and others, too. Have done articles today for future issues of Director and Monday Morning magazines, providing more detail.

And here is a link to the latest edition of SEG’s newsletter.

What a privilege to be a small part of such a project – and huge kudos to Andrew and to Peter Wood, who is the man responsible for incubating glass eels to the point where they are ready for release. It is clear that the SEG team is massively invested, in every sense, in restoring the European eel to its rightful place in the landscape. They deserve the Golden Eel Award (when it can be created) at the very least.

And here are some other photos of the release we took part in:

Unloading

Ready to rumble

Anxious to be out of there

Peter (Wood) releases an early batch, into reflection of the bridge above

The work continues – all the boxes (and even the rubber bands) were collected afterwards

The great escape continues

Andrew, centre, makes a splash

A sense of release

Andrew and Peter, the van about to head off to the next drop

And the proof that I did my bit? Well here’s the shot Andrew took at the magic moment, as I released pretty much the last batch to go at this site:

 

Willie Cheng opens the conference

Various of my books on sale, including The Breakthrough Challenge

Jacqueline (Lim)

Part of the view from my bedroom window in the Marina Bay Sands hotel

Flew in day before yesterday for the annual Singapore Institute of Directors event for directors, this time on the theme of ‘Towards the New Capitalism’. I was keynoting the conference, which was huge. Great to be in the company of Jacqueline Lim, a key member of our London team.

I was invited to speak by Willie Cheng, a former Managing Partner of Accenture, who is now Chairman of SID. He is also a member of the Volans Advisory Board.

Then, after the keynote yesterday, I was part of a discussion panel, chaired by Professor Tommy Koh (Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs), and otherwise including Euleen Goh (Chairman, Singapore International Foundation), Lim Boon Heng (Chairman, Temasek Holdings), Peter White (COO, World Business Council for Sustainable Development) and Stephen Young (Executive Director, Caux Round Table).

A striking feature of the event was the Social Enterprise Marketplace, held over the extended lunchtime. The social enterprises featured were:

Adrenalin

Beat’abox

BettrBarista

Bizlink Centre

Bliss Restaurant & Catering

Circus in Motion

Dialogue in the Dark

Dignity Kitchen

Dream+

Employment and Employability Institute (e2i)

Ecosoftt

Edible Gardens

Eighteen Chefs

Ground-Up Initiative (GUI)

iNKFusion

Milaap

Newton Circus

NTUC FairPrice Cooperative

NTUC First Campus Cooperative

NTUC Learning Hub

PlayMoolah

ProAge

SATA CommHealth

Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (SCORE)

SilverSpring

TagBio

Think Your Way Out (TYWO)

T.Ware

Wonderful to talk to many of the social entrepreneurs and their team, though several are having a tough time of it. That said, the evolution of the sector since Volans first got involved here has been quite remarkable – and the fact that SID is now pulling them in is very encouraging. social entrepreneurs are truly part of the new capitalism.

Today Jacqueline and I visited SingTel, then had lunch with Willie (Cheng), then did two sessions for the Hong Leong Group, the first for senior executives, the second for a team from City Developments Ltd (CDL). Both sessions convened by Esther An, CDL’s Chief Sustainability Officer. Impressed by the quality of the discussion – and by what I learned about CDL’s sustainability-repeated activities in particular. Then out to Changi Airport, for the flight back to the UK – reading I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes. Gripping.