Redefining Business Success 3-4 Dec

As part of our Earth Charter in Business project (DfID funded), we instigated this Consultation at St George's House, Windsor Castle .  St George's was set up in 1966 by the Duke of Edinburgh and the then Dean, Robin Woods, as a place where people can come together to explore contemporary issues....an excellent idea.

On this occasion a group of  people from business (global and local) met with academics, NGOs and people from media, economics,  the arts, education, faith groups and government ministries  to discuss how we can redefine success in business - ie move away from profit as the sole measure of success.  Business could be the engine which moves us towards a sustainable world instead of away from it....but it will need education and encouragement, legislation from governments,  regulation and enforcement. Some very useful ideas and connections came out of the 24 hours, so,  many thanks to St George's House for this valuable opportunity.

Coalition of Resistance AGM - Dec 2nd. London

COR Chair , Romayne Phoenix of the Green Party,  with new COR president, Tony Benn.  A very busy day, meeting colleagues to resist the appalling cuts to services which are devastating to the most vulnerable members of society.  That a government made up of millionaires can do this is truly grotesque.  NEF's Olivier Vardakoulias , a Greek, and member of Syriza, gave a particularly insightful analysis.   Across Europe it's the elite on one side, the people on the other.  It's not an economic crisis - it's a political crisis.  Welfare provision has been funded by borrowing from future generations instead of a fair contribution from the rich.  Powerful interests prevent change.  

Saltaire: Yorks and the Humber Greens

Saturday Dec 1st.... members of Hull and East Riding Green Party (Martin Deane, Mark Maloney, Bill Rigby and Shan Oakes) , along with the Party's deputy leader, Will Duckworth, and other Yorks and the Humber Greens - at Titus Salt's magnificent Saltaire Mill,  that once thriving hub of the wool industry - now a gallery dedicated to David Hockney's work.  After the AGM and  hustings  for the  European candidacy, we visited the community hydro-scheme and the Mill.  Its always good to meet party members from across the region - and what great stuff they are all doing!

new community shop and pub - York

Today,  in York, as i was mourning the closing of the Blakehead bookshop and veggie cafe,  near the top of Micklegate,   I found a new shop  - The Emporium, in Tudor premises owned by York Civic Trust.  It's a community venture, selling art, crafts and produce from local organisations,  along with fair trade and eco products - brilliant!    I bought a renovated  and artistically decorated  lamp ( along with local honey, jam and chutney)...  On top of this, I discovered the nearby Golden Ball pub is now a community pub - fantastic news  - so we dropped in this evening and the beer's great too! (....no pics as grandaughters dropped the camera...)

Biosolids Conference

I'd  had very short notice of this event  (see my last post) so, even having perused the website, I'd not fully realised that biosolids means the organic 'fruits' of  sewerage.  I'd had in mind  the broader concept of biomass.  Euphemism getting in the way, perhaps, but apparently the experts in this large and fascinating field stick together and use familiar words with different meanings :  their 'cake' is not edible!   The invitation was to give a keynote speech about a green vision for the economy.  As I was short of time I'd adapted  a speech given by Caroline Lucas.   Luckily I was able to arrive an hour or so before my slot to eat and talk with stallholders (selling sludge management machinery, consultancy etc) and listen to other presentations. It was a steep learning curve. I discovered they are (in general) a green-minded group, so I chopped out of my speech the bit about climate change.  They are very aware of greenhouse gas emissions (as the photo of the presentation by ADAS shows).  They  want government to stop backtracking on renewable energy, and they say that regulation often gets in the way of greener ways of doing things as it's too inflexible.  Apparently the policy makers don't listen: e.g. they promise to meet at a plant and then change the venue to London, so they never really get to grips with the industry's issues.  Clearly, better communication between all sectors is needed (as it is with everything).  I'm really glad I had the opportunity to meet the biosolids gang...and I now have an invitation to speak at Leeds University, and a few contacts in this crucially important and, it seems,  misunderstood field. see www.european-biosolids.com

... sharing our vision

Speaking today at a conference in Leeds at the Royal Armouries  - the 17th European Biosolids  & Organic Resources Conference  - on a Vision for a Green Economy. There is a link to the text on this page, or you may click here

London: GPEX , and Guerilla campaigning

Green Party Exec Meeting 17th Nov, Development House;

and Guerilla Campaigning - Leon, Kings Cross Station.  We were very surprised to see this stack of Coke at Leon which purports to espouse wholesome values ...maybe they don't know that Coca-Cola sets up plants in places where it can pay staff very low wages (we saw a plant in Uganda), uses up all the water, and then sells the sugar-based product to people, making out its good for them.See this link, for example