The Limits - looking back and beyond

I was given the chance to attend an extraordinary get-together – Wouter van Dieren’s Jubilee symposium ‘The Limits, looking back and beyond’ - around the wide topic of sustainable development. The wide mix of attendees yielded a wide mix of perspectives, making it clear that the topic is wide and very complex. But I think there are two things most agreed upon: the necessity of sustainable development wasn’t disputed and a new set of rules is required in a new cooperative bond between civilians, politicians, business and NGO’s. The biggest challenge is a cultural one: can we change our behavior fast enough? Despite the message from Dennis Meadows, that the warnings of the 1972 report of the Club of Rome ‘Limits to Growth’ haven’t lost any relevance (on the contrary, the challenge to maintain our ecological footprint has become ever more difficult, as we now have to reduce the footprint instead of just slowing down its growth), optimism that we can do it prevails among those most concerned. It seems it starts with small scale private initiatives that inspire others and induce change in other organizations, other sectors, growing to scale exponentially, like a nuclear fission reaction.

Most inspiring and intense was the story of Robert Swan, the first man on the planet to walk to both the South and the North Pole. These adventures, and what he encountered on the way, have made him deeply aware of the vulnerability of our living space, driving him to undertake multiple extraordinary expeditions to spread his message and inspire young people. I bet he inspires the elderly the like. Although the scale might not be comparable, his overland trip with the yacht ‘2041’ through Africa to educate about AIDS prevention reminded me of the Adiante tour through Europe we undertook with Nuna 2 in 2004 to inspire the youth (and their parents with them) on sustainable technology. Swan almost seems addicted to his adventures, but it isn’t hard to imagine what drives him. In the first place it’s probably a highly effective and tangible way to induce the change you consider necessary. And second, it just feels great to meet enthusiastic audience and see people smile, which is an unsurpassable return on investment.