after more than a month in silence i am back in front of my computer and a lot of things have happened... as opposed to start updating on some of my experiences the past month i thought that I ll be posting an interview that helps articulating some of my discoveries after having participated in the Global Humanitarian Forum Youth Forum, The Global Humanitarian Forum, the Tällberg Forum and after having spent a wonderful vacation in the Swedish archipelago with my love, my family and close friends...! I have had a fantastic time and I am so excited about my recent past, present and future!
* Conference themes always mean something more to the participants than others who just see and read the name. What was the theme really about?The theme really was about understanding the current state of the world, when it comes to our planet, the economy, technology, learning/education and building on these four, governance. What tied it all together was an understanding of the world as one system, the key to be able to comprehend the scale and opportunity that comes as we recognizing converging crises in a time of diverging interests. Towards the end the theme helped defining the need for an integrated approach on solutions to the defining issue of our time, climate change.
* (Assuming the theme is really about sustainability and climate change, the global crisis being the climate one) What are the underlying issues of this global crisis?As articulated above, we are currently operatin g in a world with converging crises. We have a financial crisis, an economic crisis, natural systemic crises within all our ecological sub-systems, we have a health crisis, a food crisis, a water crisis and humanitarian crises. All of these crises seen as separate events are to fundamentally misunderstand the problem, thus also the possible solutions.
From one perspective the body works really well to articulate this point. We can live our life as we want until our body indicates that we are not living in harmony with it. We might get fever or feel stressed. These crises are just symptoms of a lifestyle which clearly has not been in harmony with all aspects of our personality. Sometimes, we just get a cold, a signal from the body that something is wrong, our actions on that symptom will ultimately determine if we will recover fast or becoming even sicker. It is really from this perspective I have come to understand the for example the issue of climate change. Our nature is indicating that it has fever. The sickness of the nature is articulated through natural disasters, e.g. flooding, hurricanes etc,. The symptoms of our natural fever are causing humanitarian disastrous, such as poverty, starvation and a rising food prices just to mention a few. Thus, the key challenge to approach a solution is really to listening to the feedback on our actions. All these crises gives us the feedback we need to approach a solution.
* So in short, the underlying issue of climate change is our inability to balance all aspects of society? Yes and no. Yes because it is true, no because there is not a one liner to articulate this complex issue. I do believe metaphors are incredibly powerful support tools to help articulating problems as such, however, as we start seeking solutions or even speaking about solutions, we must become tangible again. Thus, move away from metaphors and use simple commonly used language. Bottom line, we, meaning all of us, fundamentally need to change the way we live our lives. We can choose to see this change as a step back, or we can see it as a forward roll, as i have chosen to see it here: http://vimeo.com/5378535. Allow me to share for you about the past two weeks of my life. I decided to have my vacation in the Swedish archipelago.
At the place were I lived there were no water so we cleaned ourselves by swimming in the sea. One of the highlights of the two weeks was my sailing trip in between some of the beautiful island in the archipelago. My day activities were about reading, meditating, training and spending quality time with my family and friends. In short, I used maybe a litre of water a day on average and my carbon footprint was heavily reduced compared to a life in the city. My conclusion, my vacation was incredible, a forward roll as opposed to a step back. Imagine the impact if I would have chosen a vacation across oceans instead...
* What were some of your favorite solutions proposed at the end?As we recognize the connection between our guiding ideas and our actions we are approaching a solution. We need to change our guiding ideas because as we have changed our guiding ideas our actions fundamentally will change as well. As opposed to be driven by ego, greed and consumption, we need to be driven by clarity, compassion and choice. As opposed to have GDP growth, profit growth and the number of cars as su ccess indicators, as guiding ideas, on national, organizational and individual levels, we need to re-invent the way we understand these objectives. An important component for this to happen is that we achieve a deal in Copenhagen, not any deal, a good deal, meaning that it is good enough for planet earth to be able to contain humans on it. Bottom line, earth will survive, the question is if it will be able to safely have human living on it. The experts tells me that for us to be able to continue to live here safely in harmony with nature, we, i.e. all of us, meaning every single one of us, need to achieve 350 parts per million as a global roof for carbon emissions, on top of stop destroying our forest and over eat and drink our natural re-sources. The negotiators in Copenhagen in December need to agree upon what should be the framework that help ensures that. Some would argue that what we need to do now is a step backwards, but I would see it as a step forward. It is time fo r humanity to reconnect to what it means to be a human being.
*I understand that this is a critical solution but I do not see it as realistic. Do you think an agreement at Copenhagen will be reached? What was the consensus on that question at Tällberg?My short answer to your question. It has to be. The most important consensus in our history needs to be agreed upon in Copenhagen at Cop 15, the number we all need to dream about and remember is 350. To read up on it, please visit: http://www.350.org/.
Realistic or not, the nature of the challenge we are facing are starting to fade out all realistic solutions available, thus, we need to dare to think big about what we as humanity can do and will do. I believe we deserve to be saved.
* Share with us some of the most interesting conversations you found yourself in?A very tough question as I found myself in so many interesting and what I call shifting conversations. With shifting conversations I mean conversations that you leave feeling somewhat different. You feel, see or view something differently after you have had the conversation. Amongst the one standing out happened during a lunch that I had with Richard Barret. He is a values based leadership guru and he was asked by the nation of Iceland to analyze the current state of the country. He made a values review of Iceland in September, concluding that if Iceland would be a company they would be bankrupt as of that date. We all know the path that Iceland took after September until today. I shifted during this conversation because I realized that there are new ways of measuring how we are doing as na tions that are non financials, yet credible and effective. Thus, Barret represent the new way of thinking, the new era where we have expanded the way we understand growth and success on national, organizational and individual level.
* The youth contingent at forums such as these are usually small, how many young adults were present? Two questions on youth: What was their unique contribution to the forum, what made them valued to the forum? And what were they saying in the talks, what were their perspectives?The youth representation at Tällberg was made through an organization called YES. I am not sure on their views and perspectives, so I wont comment them, however, when it comes to the agenda as such, I do believe there was an underrepresentation of youth, a dangerous mistakes as today’s youth are key players in the solution. For next years forum, I hope to meet many AIESEC participants that takes part in the agenda.
until later
emanuel
