Just completed work on a “Theory of Change” for a client that is seeking to have a real impact on climate change. Having identified what the client is good at doing, and at what others in their environment are already doing well (and hence, that the client does not need to repeat), a couple of […]
We just ran a 2-day event for GIZ in Kachreti, Georgia, where participants from all 3 Southern Caucuses countries developed sustainable cross-border touristic products. Gold was a theme, as we Learnt of a trove of archaeological findings showing the region as a cradle of civilisation which then gave rise to the golden fleece myth; Discussed […]
At this year’s Global X meeting, I was particularly struck by the discussions around Artificial Intelligence and platform economics with the likely enormous impact on all industries. If we can manage to create the platforms correctly, they will not just severely disrupt value chains but also be greener than before. Also of note was the […]
Just been helping a client to role-play a major competitor, and consequently refine their strategy. A number of interesting insights emerged – a combination of bringing many perspectives together, and breathing life into the business intelligence already gathered. Particularly of note though, was that the existing strategy (which we already developed with the client two […]
Interesting to realise just how exposed SE Asia potentially is to a major change in the (relatively broadly defined) electronics sector. The affirmation here is that electronics is “equivalent to 25 percent of the region’s total exports in goods.”
Just moderated a mini-workshop on electricity supply for the European Calculator project, as part of the out-reach to co-design a model that will help decision makers judge the impact of different policy levers when trying to reach the Paris Agreement commitments on climate change. Particularly interesting to me was the bullishness of what was considered […]
A very interesting report on 10 trends shaping migration. Bravo the European Political Strategy Centre! (screenshot from website, click on picture to go to document)
In beautiful Delft to run a workshop on possible social impact of alternative Climate Change Mitigation options! Some things are obvious – no coal means unemployment in coal producing regions – but now we need to tease out the less obvious implications for anything from gender equality to energy poverty… Thanks EU Calc!
See SWP’s publication here Whilst there is a correlation between poor countries getting richer, and higher migration (when you are dirt poor, you cannot pay for a rogue to transport you), they list multiple other factors that shape migration, e.g: demographic change with more youth, structural economic change with rural to urban drift, inequality, access […]
Thanks to Daniele Réchard and her team for organising an excellent day as part of the ESPAS ‘Global Trends to 2030: The Making of a New Geopolitical Order?’ event, and good to see so many friends there, inter alia Angela Wilkinson, Aaron Maniam, Jeanette Kwek, Norbert Reez, Jaana Tapanainen, Kristel Vanderelst, Thomas Lehr, Alun Rhydderch, […]
Together with four of my colleagues am busy running a retreat for the 60 staff of Enterprise Georgia in Kachreti, a major wine producing region in the country. An enjoyable mixture of role-playing stakeholders, developing strategy and fantastic countryside!
Last night I was a speaker in the e-conference “Looking at the Catalan crisis from a European angle“. Listening to the arguments, it struck me that the voices we hear on both sides – Spanish and Catalan – are mainly the nationalist ones: Catalan nationalists point out that even today Catalan is not an official […]
In order to better understand trends and international developments, I interview people of interest in the different countries we’re working. This time, I was lucky to spend some time with a person working in the growing Armenian art scene. Thank you so much! Q: What, in your opinion, are the main topics, drivers or important […]
This may be another example of the law of unintended consequences. By training the military from countries with weaker African states, the EU aims to support them in joining Peace-Keeping Operations in theatres where we do not wish to send our own troops. But better trained officers are more effectively able to seize power with […]
An interesting piece at a number of levels, as it: Is written by the President of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association. Sure, in the last decade, China has wiped out many competitors here, but the surprise is the language used – it could have come from a Western green developmentalist. A timely reminder that China […]
Thanks to Andres Veiel and Jutta Doberstein for the chance to have co-moderated a fascinating couple of sessions on “Welche Zukunft”at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. Turning the usual process on its head, we gathered headlines of future news from 250 participants who sacrificed their Saturday to look at how the future may change – […]
Just facilitated a very interesting conference on “Energy for Displaced People: A Global Plan of Action for Sustainable Energy Solutions in Situations of Displacement”. Most striking: this is a clear reaffirmation that nobody should be left behind with regards to access to energy (as per SDG 7) – not even those displaced by conflict or […]
Just completed a two-day workshop which involved distance participation from Kabul. The technology worked really well on day one, and even in a highly-interactive workshop format (no powerpoints, no presentations, only joint work on pin-boards) they were really well involved (at one point, we were all standing, and so were they in front of the […]
Excellent to have spent the last couple of days with colleagues from the South Caucuses, accompanying them on a learning journey through Germany to discover different opportunities in the green economy. The week lived from the excellent inputs received by a number of speakers, both at the seminar centre we used as a base, and […]
