City Challenge 2010

November 27, 2009 – 8:30 am

Today at the EUROCITIES meeting in Stockholm Maud Olofsson, Minister for Enterprise and Energy Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, urged all cities to take on the Globe Forum City Challenge!

Globe Forum has decided to challenge all European cities to share their sustainability projects to promote urban sustainable development. This challenge arose with the goal of showcasing innovations and promoting collaboration between city, municipality and region.

With the help of Tieto we designed a database that will give cities from all over Europe a tool for sharing best practices and together shape the cities of tomorrow.

The challenge launched today at the EUROCITIES meeting in Stockholm 27th of November 2009 and will go on until Globe Forum 2010 in April.

The first phase of the challenge is all about data collection and finding the right projects. Starting in January, the database will open up and the participating cities will start to fill it with information.

The goal for the cities will be to get as many sustainable projects as possible registered and linked to the city. These projects will form the basis for a unique global database for projects, innovation and ideas about sustainable development.

This is an ongoing process of collaborative problem solving, and the vision is to gather all best practises, from all cities, all over the world.

The database will be used for collaboration and inspiration. The city with the most sustainable projects registered will be recognized at Globe Forum 2010 in Stockholm.

Why take on the challenge?

  1. By taking on the challenge the city will become one of the pioneering members of the City Challenge.
  2. Your city will get access to the innovative technologies and solutions you need to succeed.
  3. Leading tool for cities, researchers,businesses and innovators when looking for best practises within sustainable urban development.
  4. Profit from the expertise of many in sustainable urban development – simply by using the power of collaborative problem solving.
  5. Showcase your city as a leading sustainable city.
  6. Display your results, progress, and receive real time status of what is going on globally insustainable development.
  7. Find projects and practises by regional affiliation, industry and type of project.
  8. Pin down what to focus on in urban development.
  9. Collaborate more effectively across industries.
  10. Get powerful feedback instantly.
  11. The city with the most sustainable projects registered will be acknowledged during the Globe Forum sustainability conference,Stockholm 28-29 April 2010.
  12. All shared cases will undergo the vetting process for Globe Award 2010, leading sustainability awards, nomination.

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Get up to speed, leverage your global network

November 24, 2009 – 8:21 am

Consumers around the world are more demanding than ever and require organizations to guide them to consume sustainable.  Hence corporations and governments will have to forcefully make it ‘easy’ (eco-easy),  for consumers to be more green, by restricting the alternatives.

Several companies have successfully challenged their internal processes to minimize the time it takes to bring a strong idea to market; however, they still find themselves unable to keep pace. This is often referenced as the “Red Queen” effect, a term derived from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass:

“Well, in our country,” said Alice, still panting a little, “you’d generally get to somewhere else — if you run very fast for a long time, as we’ve been doing.” “A slow sort of country!” said the Queen. “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”

Companies are in fact finding themselves in a position where their internal efforts, even when optimized and moving very quickly, are no longer fast enough to sustain the race. Many try adding money or people, only to find that this can only provide a temporary surge.

The key to overcome the “Red Queen” effect is to tap into and leverage the global pool of networks, individuals and suppliers outside the company. Collaborating and leveraging the network to get the job done offers the opportunity to make an increased speed sustainable, and keep you ahead of the game to serve the world sustainably and consumers eco-easy.

- Annelie Andersson

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2 degrees might be too much…

November 20, 2009 – 2:57 pm

László Szombatfalvy’s new book “Vår tids största utmaningar” (The big challenges of today) is really interesting.

He assesses the risk of 4 big mega threats of today: The pollution of the environment, the climate change, the political violence, and the world poverty.

The risks associated with these threats are much higher than the risk we normally accept within for example transportation by car or aeroplane.

If we manage to keep the global warming to the 2 degrees set by UN there is still a quite high risk for the shocking scenario, with a temperature increase without control.

It´s time to act. Since it seems to be hard to reach a world agreement, my recommendation is that companies, organisations and individuals shall take the opportunity and lead by good example to fight the global warming.

Kind regards,

Gustav Gorecki

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Indigenous Innovation in China

November 12, 2009 – 2:34 pm

Today I attended an interesting seminar about innovation in China, arranged by Vinnova.

A Chinese GDB growth of 8.9% Q3 2009, no crisis there….By 2020 China will invest 2.5% of their GDP in R&D in order to become an innovation-oriented society.

The problem in China according to Mr John Chiang from Peking University is a lack of entrepreneurship. The byrocrats decide the winners, but ususally those companies turn out to be tomorrows loosers.

Mr Magnus Breidne from Growth Analysis highlighted the unique Chinese model of state control and private sector, which make it impossible to forecast the success of the Chinese innovation strategy. The big challenge is that the innovations are producer-driven instead of  consumer-driven. Another interesting fact is that the start-ups is driven by returnees to China and MNC’s.

Personally I think that a good innovation atmosphere is hard to combine with a a socialist society and that it will be one of China´s most important challenges in the future.

Kind regards,

Gustav Gorecki

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Did the temperature increase during the last decade?

November 11, 2009 – 10:12 am

According to Pew Research Center only 57 percent of the Americans believe that the world is getting warmer, a drop from 71 percent since last year. 36 percent believe the temperature increase is caused by humans, down from 47 percent.

Dagens Nyheter writes about this in todays editorial. They also write that the temperature has not increased during the last decade. A question to all the readers out there, is it true?

planet

In the climate debate it´s almost taboo to question the temperature increase, it´s not a very healthy situation. We need to discuss temperature increases more openly and longer back in the history. How large proportion is explained by natural variations and how much is caused by the humans.

Whatever the reason is, companies of today have to adapt to the new market. A market with customers concerned of the environment.

Companies adapting to sustainability in every part of their value chain will experience lower costs and higher revenues. In the long term they will win the battle over their less sustainable competitors.

Kind regards,

Gustav Gorecki

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Catch up with videos from Globe Forum Gdańsk

November 9, 2009 – 6:50 pm

Whether you are interested in the panel talks, innovators competitions or listen to the wisdom of the crowd the links below will guide you to all the videos from Globe Forum Gdańsk ,  both in English and Polish.

Globe Forum web

WirtualnaPolska

Capital24

Globe Forum youtube channel

By Annelie Andersson | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Photos from Gdańsk

November 5, 2009 – 3:14 pm

The first Globe Forum in Poland was a huge success!

The stars and rising stars of business and sustainability met and networked at The Baltic Philharmonia which took place at the spectacularly renovated waterfront in Gdańsk.  See pictures of the forum sessions, exciting Innovators Contest, the dazzling entertainment and the fabulous Globe Award Gala dinner.

Photos From Gdańsk

If you attended, it was a pleasure to meet you!  We hope you found inspiring new contacts and future business ideas.  If you couldn’t join us, then we look forward to seeing you soon at our next Forum in Stockholm.

By Gregory Daniel | Posted in sustainability | Leave a Comment

Maximum profit – no longer a reason for a company to exist

November 5, 2009 – 10:19 am
- It’s rather obvious that we can’t continue “business as usual” if we want to survive. We need to create corporations built from a deep sense of responsibility for the common good, Hans Hassle CEO of Plantagon International AB continues. For Hans, this means core business that’s good for society, as well as democratic and transparent organizations that are able to balance commercial success with idealistic principles. At the Globe Forum in Gdansk, he presented the “companization” Plantagon International AB, an award winning innovation within the area of urban agriculture and sustainability.

Plantagon was awarded the prestigious “Innovator Idol” prize at the Globe Forum in Stockholm in June of 2009 among thousands of competitors from 36 countries. Globe Forum is one of the world`s leading events devoted to innovation and sustainability and was also held in Gdansk 28-29 October.

Time for microfinancing in large corporations

hanshassle3_largeHans Hassle is most experienced in management and marketing and has developed a new company form, called companization, a junction between company and a non-profit organization – open for all.

- We invite everyone to become stakeholders in Plantagon International AB by giving out 10% of our shares to Plantagon Non-Profit Association that is open for everyone. The 10% ownership also gives the association the right to elect half the company board. The only cost for the members is the annual membership fee of EUR 10, still they will share the profit whenever Plantagon International AB is sold. This means we will involve thousands of advocates for our cause and for our business – as long as we deliver what we promised.

- We have to realize that it cannot, and will not, be possible to maintain maximum profit as a single reason for a company to exist. Environmental, social and also political reasons will prevent that to continue. But most important of all: consumers and employees will put an end to it.

- Right now there is an open window for brands and corporations inviting people to become “citizens” and allies of what we are doing, not only being downgraded to consumers. We believe the future is microfinancing, “crowdfinancing” and involvement by many people that share a common interest and actually want to help the company to become successful.

- This may be the first time in the business sector that social responsibility,transparency and sharing are demonstrably valued at the same level as financial engagement. This may be the first opportunity to influence a large company from the inside without being an employee, a manager or an investor, but by being socially engaged in supporting its mission. This may be the first company to show that sharing rather than greed leads to financial success in the future.

- Companies like ours could never go on the stock market as that would surely destroy our brand.

North American Indians as owners

As a result of this thinking and to secure the knowledge of sustainable decision making, Hans came to a cooperation with one of the oldest democratic system still in function; the Iroquois Confederacy in North America. Together with their administrative center and the people of Onondaga Nation consisting of with the north American Indian people of Onondaga Nations he founded the Swedish company Plantagon International AB working with solutions for how to grow food inside cities and deliver directly to consumers without transportation.

-The unique privilege to work together with Onondaga Nations, a system based on a thousand year long democratic tradition, helps us understand how to combine action oriented business thinking with what is right for the Seventh Generation to come.

Chairman of the Board for Plantagon is the internationally highly recognized Chief Oren Lyons, as many seen as the most influential indigenous leader of North America of his generation:

- Within just a few decades, some 80 percent of the world’s population will live in cities.This will necessitate the need to grow fruits and vegetables in an urban environment, due to the lack of land.

- In response to this challenge we present the Plantagon Greenhouse, a

plantagonvertical space-efficient greenhouse for urban environment. The Plantagon Greenhouse will change the way we produce food, cut transportations and offer better food at better prices. To the North American Indian Nations this is a business that we prefer to casinos and selling tobacco.

- It is a historic event that we for the first time choose to use a foreign company to achieve our cultural goals. It is good example of the trust built on the relations between Onondaga Nation and Sweden.

For more information, please contact:

Isabelle Hernandez, Media Relations Manager at Plantagon International AB

Ph + 46 733 14 44 45

email: isabelle.hernandez@plantagon.org

 

By Annelie Andersson | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a Comment

Thanks Gdansk and Thanks Poland!

November 2, 2009 – 1:31 pm

It’s over and it went so fast.

It was an amazing experience and we made it. We, the Globe Forum Team, succeeded in making the biggest conference that  ever happened  in Gdansk. We brought sustainability and innovation to discussion and we were astonished  how the Polish market is into it.

Thank you Gdansk and thanks to  all our polish particpants and partners for an amazing time and for the opportunity to learn so much with you.

Looking forward for next year!!

By Alexandra Jansson | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Polish Sustainability Champions

October 29, 2009 – 3:24 pm

Last night a spectacular Gala Dinner took place at the Sheraton in Sopot, Polans. Two specific actors were recognised for their efforts in sustainability in Poland. The Responsible Business Forum in Poland (FOB) has together with the international sustainability award- Globe Award, done a national search for great sustainability cases in Poland.

Danone Poland was recognised for their innovative project carbon footprint.

The jury chair Mirella Panek Owsianska says in the motivation: “The project is comprehensive due to the fact that the actions taken allow monitoring and reduction of carbon emission throughout the production process.  In this context, the improvement of cooperation in the supply chain should be particularly appreciated.”

The Polish city Stargard Szczeciński was recognised for pursuing the city’s development strategy consistently and diligently. The city had very difficult conditions when it started its actions, but nevertheless, projects to revitalize the area were undertaken.

The jury also appriciated the consciously building in social integration into the realized projects.

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