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The citizen’s eye view of Breakthrough cities

Evergreen Brick Works garden, with part of leaning chimney on right Evergreen, smiles Peter (Love), John (Brodhead), Geoff (Cape) Chairs In session, Aaron on right Discussion One wall, of four walls that were seeing similar activity Roofscape Reception (detail) Bridge Graffito

Our final Toronto session was out at the Evergreen Brick Works, an extraordinary reclamation project that is greening the quarry and brickworks that produced most of the bricks used to build the city. Astronishing project. Find out more about the story here. This really is an extraordinary social enterprise: can’t wait to go back and take a proper prowl around. Wonderful to see a little of Char’s father Peter, too.

This last event in our Toronto series focused on cities and was orgnaised by Evergreen CityWorks, led by John Brodhead. They had convened a group of perhaps 20 Toronto citizens to explore issues related to the city, and to Breakthrough urban innovation. Having originally trained as a city planner at UCL, I felt I was coming full circle.

A fascinating session, and I was sad to have to leave part-way through to take a cab into the city for an interview with CBC. Luckily Char made it across — her youngest son Peter has been ill (and this would prevent her and her sons flying back for over week, as events would turn out) — for the afternoon part of the session. We were both inspired to think how we might use similar processes in our wider Breakthrough work, hopefully working alongside our Canadian friends and partners.

But thrilled to have the opportunity to have a wonderful lunch, with a delicious craft beer (it was Friday) with Evergreen co-founder and Executive Director Geoff Cape. Afterwards, he and I took a rapid walk around some of the site, allowing me to snap some of the facilities and the space still to be developed.

Loved the graffiti, including one of what may have been a wolf, which was appropriate since a mental image that came to mind at one point during the citizens’ panel session, at a moment when there was something of a existential outpouring on the proliferation of choices in our consumer societies, had been that of a howling grey wolf.

Tim Smit of the Eden Project, a member of the Volans Advisory Board, kept coming to mind as I talked to Geoff, so I put them in touch as soon as I got back to London.

Artwork in CBC building CBC

Taking our message to MaRS

The field of play for our main event at MaRS, Alan Gelberg of MaRS on right Bob Willard, top left, during one of the working group sessions Charmian Love of Volans as we wind down Someone’s left a paperclip Joeri (van den Steenhoven, top) and Aaron (Williamson, Value Web) finish up on the visuals

We’ll be posting more on the Volans website imminently, and including a report in our latest newsletter, but in headlines our first Breakthrough Canada events went wonderfully well. we started off with a CEO breakfast, introduced by Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of the MaRS Discovery District. And what an amazing place MaRS proved to be.  But then our team member Char(mian) Love knew that already, having worked there as an intern some six years ago, before coming to Volans.

Later in the day, we swung into our first major Breakthrough Canada event, also held at MaRS. I will include a link here to the report-back when it’s available, but meanwhile huge thanks to Aaron Williamson (of our longstanding Breakthrough partners, The Value Web), and to all the others who helped the session take flight–including Ilse, who kicked it off. Among our other key partners in the event were the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, RBC (Royal Bank of Canada), KPMG, Summerhill and two other key parts of MaRS–Social Innovation Generation (SiG) and the MaRS Solutions Lab.

Great to see a fair few people I knew at the sessions, including Nick Parker of the Cleantech Group, who Char and I had dinner with the previous evening, together with some of Nick’s friends. After the MaRS events, a group of us also went off to another wonderful dinner, hosted by Tim Draimin, Executive Director of of SiG. A different world from Colombia, a week or two back, but the sense of being at home–and of warm hospitality–has been very much the same.

And a close encounter with coffee in the Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens Palms Irises Getting ready for the event Outside the Gardens Wendy Arenas Wightman being interviewed at Semana Margarita Marino de Botero says she is pre-Internet, but uses iPad

It’s decided: I am falling in love with Colombia. Took a cab this morning to the José Celestino Mutis Botanical Gardens, though taking a cab here can be a matter of some courage. The roads aren’t great and the driving is worse. I have seen two multi-vehicle collisions since arriving. But I arrived in good time and the driver kindly guided me into the Gardens.

I was taken around the Gardens in the early morning sun by Juanita Rico, from Semana magazine, and then María López Casteno came across to meet us. She is the daughter of the owner of the Semana Group and is in charge of sustainability-related activities there, among them Semana Sostenible. Great energy as the participants arrived at the conference centre: I met some wonderful people.

Then, as in anxiety dreams, one of those things happen that you really wish wouldn’t: given a small cup of espresso, I somehow managed to upend it over my tie and shirt. Retreating to the restroom, which had plenty of hot water, paper and dryers, I made the best of things. That said–as I mentioned later in the day–the aroma of good coffee was constantly with me.

The morning session was in effect a Breakthrough Lab, with some 60-70 people, and a ‘fishbowl’ session in the middle. María and Felipe (Arango) led the early part of the event and the discussion was wonderfully engaging. When it ended, a number of us headed off to the Semana offices for a lunch of some 20 people, hosted by María, including Wendy (Arena Wightman) and Felipe (Arango), but with a goodly mix of people I had not yet met.

Among those invited was Margarita Marino de Botero, the Colombian environmentalist who was one of the members of the Brundtland Commission. Very lively conversation around the table, after which some of us talked to Felipe López. He presented me with a signed copy of his autobiography, noting that I seemed to be the man who had persuaded his daughter to “save the world.” Initially, I was not entirely sure that he thought that this was a good thing, but it became clear that he was proud of her and of her mission. María recalled that she had read Cannibals With Forks six years ago and the lights had come on. It’s at moments like these that I struggle to see how the impact of some things we do can be capturing in any normal set of impact metrics.

Even the Indians find it hot in Cartagena

All along the watchtower Streetscape Graffiti Flowers in Hotel Santa Clara Heat and humidity at work on camera Flowers on roof of hotel Martín Burt of Fundación Paraguaya Carved apple Ruth Oniang’o speaks at the Forum Ruth and Maggie (Margaret Catley-Carlson, Patron of the Global Water Partnership) Apparent ghost ship in harbour, thanks to humidity

Flew in to Bogotá and then Cartagena on Friday, for the meeting of the Nestlé Creating Shared Value Advisory Board on Sunday and then the 2013 Creating Shared Value Forum today. A key part of the Advisory Board meeting involved reviewing finalists for the Nestlé Prize in Creating Shared Value. Great to hear an update from the last winner, Martín Burt of Fundación Paraguaya. The weather was very hot, to the point where even colleagues from India commented on it.

We were staying at the celebrated Hotel Santa Clara, where each of us were given a copy of the novel Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García Márquez. Had never read anything by him, but was enthralled by this book. It starts off in the ruined chapel of the nunnery that would later be turned into this 5-star hotel, and the building is a major character throughout the novel. Began reading the book on the flight from Cartagena to Bogotá, then finished it on the flight on to Frankfurt a few days later. Highly recommended.

The Shared Value vs Sustainability saga continued, to a degree, though Michael Porter’s framing of the potential contribution of Shared Value has softened considerably. Since the Advisory Board meeting was off-the-record, there is a limit on what I can sensibly say, but it is clear that the chasm between what win-win solutions can achieve in a dysfunctional economic system and what we will ultimately need to do is becoming a bit clearer to people. The question now is how we bridge that chasm, which is a question I have been working on for much of this year, with a proposal about to go out to companies and foundations.

For me, one of the highlights of this year’s CSV Forum was the presentation by J. Carl Venter of Circle of Blue, where I am also on the Advisory Board. Their impressive Chokepoint series of reports has covered China, India and the USA. Disturbing,  but highly recommended reading.

Carl had visited a nearby slum and spent the day talking to local residents, finding out about how water and sanitation issues affected their lives. His photographs, shown at the Forum, were one of the most moving elements in the process. Apparently, the police escorted him out of the area later in the day, perhaps because they feared for his safety, but also perhaps because they feared that the authorities might be embarassed.

Overall, I was struck by the growing traction that the CSV agenda is now getting, with Colombia’s President Santos and his wife both speaking at the Forum. It was great to have some time to catch up with the extraordinary members of the CSV Advisory Board. And it was fascinating to see at least a little of Cartagena, with its amazing–and often grisly–history.

The ramparts I walked along had not a little to do with the raiding of Sir Francis Drake in 1586, while the slave traffic through the port was prodigious in the day, with only Cartagena and Veracruz authorised to trade slaves at one point. Among other things, these wretched people were used to cut cane, build fortifications, and work in the terrible mines of the West Indies, Venezuela and Peru. Ending the slave industry must have seemed an impossibility at the time, just as getting a grip on climate change often does today, and I met people who said that various forms of quasi-slavery are still endemic in some parts of Latin America. But I take some comfort from the fact that that infernal triangular trade was brought to an end.

At one point, apparently, Cartagena became a ghost city, but it doesn’t feel like that now. I didn’t get to see the Museum of the Inquisition, but it was hard not to recall the centuries of pain inflicted in this city of tourism and pleasure. Although Ann Veneman invited me to join her on a tour of the city, I had sadly brought a mass of work to do, and spent any free time pushing forward with that.

One natural highlight: the sound of the frogs in the hotel courtyard at night, though they had apparently had to be imported from some other part of South America. All in all, though, I think I’m beginning to fall in love with Colombia.

Speaking at the K-Fair in Dusseldorf and Green Business Congress in Brussels

The Rhine when Celina and I walk down to the shore ahead of dinner Richard (Northcote), Celina (Chew) and Patrick (Thomas) of Bayer MaterialScience The field of battle: where I spoke for PlasticsEurope Another angle Patrick demonstrates flexible cabling Graffiti-proof coatings Wind turbine blade, like a giant eel Partial exoskeleton: robotic swimming device, like a mermaid or walrus tail ET-like exhibit Another angle Patrick Thomas in green tie Video of Solar Impulse landing or taking off All aboard the ICE train

Things have been moving so fast recently that life risks turning into a bit of a blur. That said, I enjoyed my trip to the K-Fair in Dusseldorf, where I was hosted by Bayer MaterialScience–speaking both for them (see this YouTube edited highlights video) and for PlasticsEurope. I spoke in a series including such people as Joschka Fisher (who I once debated in Wiesbaden, way back in 1989), Bertrand Piccard (the motive force behind the amazing Solar Impulse aircraft) and Yoshiyuki Sankai (who works in the field of exoskeletons).The theme was dreams for the future.

Great to catch up with BMS CEO Patrick Thomas, Richard Northcote and Celina Chew, who we have been working with on Project SunRise. First worked with Patrick way back in the early 1990s, when he was with ICI Polyurethanes.

After a couple of days in Dusseldorf, it is all aboard an ICE train (not the one shown) and off to Brussels for a CEO lunch and then to speak at the Green Business Congress, whose theme this year is ‘Mission Zero.’ Appropriate since we have just agreed to do a project for Interface, whose founder the late Ray Anderson launched the original Mission Zero, and was one of the Zeronauts featured in The Zeronauts.

Then a dinner with members of the C&A team we are working with, hosted at the wonderful Belga Queen restaurant. Got the time wrong, so had to race, but was guided by my ‘Brussels angel”, Bob Starc. Then, after another night in a hotel, off to catch the Eurostar home.

Banner for the Green Business Congress