Search Results for: Tim elkington

Off and on, I have watched the BBC’s Dr Who, in its various guises, since it began in 1963. Every so often, a new Doctor hooks me back in. Admit that I didn’t have high hopes for Jodie Whittaker as the thirteenth time around the block in the Tardis, but was moved by this evening’s show, riffing off the Rosa Parks historical-turning-point-on-a-bus-in-Alabama story.

If this gets even a few people digging back into the history of the civil rights movement that will be helpful, but I suspect that it will have opened many eyes – and hopefully minds. Loved Vinette Robinson as Parks: quiet, determined dignity in a human and civic rights cesspit.

Liked the central idea that apparently small, inconsequential events can set change the world. Saw The Telegraph dissed it, while The Independent liked it: the old political resonances still at work. Found some interesting background on Parks’ personal history here.

Got off the Tube at Hyde Park Corner, near SustainAbility’s erstwhile offices, and walked up through the backs to Grosvenor Square to meet Gaia – ahead of the People’s Vote march from Park Lane. Met her in front of the FDR statue, then met film-making friends of hers before we headed back across to Park Lane.

One of the many piles of books waiting to be read at home is No Ordinary Times, by Doris Kearns Goodwin, the story of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, which I had been meaning to read for aeons – and bought a week or so ago. We seem to be back in those times, with a growing need for a new generation of leaders.

An extraordinary mood abroad, joyous even, with people waving in friendly fashion at the police helicopters overhead. Saw many banners I liked, but one placard I particularly liked suggested that we need a national cuppa tea and a quiet chat with all concerned.

Only after some minutes of following the placard did I realise that it was being carried by Sue Riddlestone of Bioregional. We walked together for the rest of the route, with a fair few people coming up to say how wonderful the banner was.

Amazingly, so great was the press of people it took us three hours just to get back to Hyde Park Corner. Some estimates put the number of marchers at around 700,000. It felt like it, though consistently good-tempered and milt-mannered.

Along the way I met a number of people I knew, including a friend from York and a couple of friends of my brother from Henley.

A remarkable display of the tolerance and good humour of ordinary Britons. The best of a country that Brexit so threatens. And a fantastic scrambling of the generations, albeit with a strong sense that it is the young who will ultimately pay the greatest price for the “Eton Mess” that Cameron, May and their ilk have been dragging us into in zombie-like fashion.

Vainglorious, I know, to put myself alongside such mega-names in science, but all of the major science tests and thinkers spotlighted last night on BBC2 in Andrew Marr’s programme Life and Death on the continuing influence of Charles Darwin have had a major influence on me and the way I think.

They included Rachel Carson, whose books Silent Spring and The Sea Around Us had a huge impact on me back in the 1960s, Charles Elton (who had a big impact on my long-time colleague and friend, Max Nicholson), James Lovelock (ditto, as the author of the Gaia Hypothesis/Theory) and Norman Myers (with whom I worked on the Gaia Atlas of Planet Management back in 1985-6).

A case, last night, of key parts of one’s life and learning flashing past before one’s eyes.

Flew in from Gatwick yesterday to Catania. Travelling with Jules Verne for the first time. Slightly stunned by the size of the group, perhaps because they have recently been taken over any a more commercial group, though we sort of got used to it.

Then across today to Syracuse, founded in 733 BC, where Elaine, I and another woman managed to become separated from the group inside the Ear of Dionysius. Missed key parts of the tour of the ruins, but I suspect it’s because I am a natural outliers.

Fascinated by an independent visit to the Archimedes Museum, small but with some intriguing exhibits. Had long wanted to see his haunts, but interest was spurred when reading about the Antikythera mechanism. Surprised by the amount of graffiti here, though some to it quite creative.

A fairly frenetic September to date, among many other things with speeches given in:

Zurich at the Innovation for Sustainability conference on 4 September, Taking Sustainability Exponential, followed by a panel discussion with other members included the venture capitalist Steve Westly, who I hadn’t seen for some years having been on an HP advisory group with him shortly after we started Volans);

Amsterdam, at the Ashoka CircularFutures event on 6 September, co-hosted by Patagonia and eBay, where I spoke alongside Ken Webster of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation;

Bern, where I spoke at a dinner on 18 September, the night before the Swiss Energy & Climate Summit opened, meeting former German Foreign Minister for the first time since some time around 1990, when we spoke at an event in Wiesbaden; followed by a panel session the next day, alongside Urs Gredig, Editor-in-Chief of CNNMoney, Switzerland, and Anders Wijkman; and then

London again, where I was part of a panel that formed the centrepiece of an evening event co-hosted by Berenberg, Philanthropy Impact and the Impact Investment Network. Chaired by Richard Brass, Berenberg’s Head of Wealth and Asset Management UK, the panel also featured David Connor (Founder, 2030Hub, Liverpool), Martin Ewald (Managing Director & Head of Investment Strategy, Infrastructure Equity, Allianz Global Investors) and Rupini Deepa Rajagopolan (Head of Berenberg’s ESG Office)

Otherwise work continued on our New Carbon Economy Pioneers program, with Richard Roberts organising an event alongside Governor Jerry Brown’s Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS) in California, where we launched our new White Paper, Our Carbon Future, on our Innovate UK event in Exeter, and on our Tomorrow’s Capitalism program. All in the teeth of headwinds created by e.g. Brexit and looming trade wars, but we are making real progress.