Another interesting SDG* academy online course: “Climate Action: Solutions for a Changing Planet”:
*Sustainable Development Goals
Climate Action
Category Archives: Projects
Macroeconomics for a Sustainable Planet
Trailer for the online course “Macroeconomics for a Sustainable Planet”:
This online course is pretty amazing. It’s about the intersection of sustainable development and economics, specifically macroeconomics. It covers how factors like unemployment, inflation, protectionism, fiscal deficit and more can drastically alter our sustainable future. The course is being taught by Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs and former Minister of Finance of Chile Dr. Felipe Larraín. More information: http://bit.ly/macrocourse.
Honey Harvest
A lot of bees, a lot of work, a lot of challenges, a lot of fun, a lot to learn, a lot of honey. WOW. It is like a wonder. It is amazing. What these little workers achieved! I feel honoured to be part of their team. They have so much to give.
They give so much in terms of life lessons. How they cooperate, communicate, coordinate, build, fly, find their ways, eat, save, clean, regulate temparature, organise their society (top-down and bottom-up).
And now they “give” all this honey as well (well, I basically “stole” it). I did leave quite some honey in the bee hyves as they need (in my opinion) their own, but nevertheless they provided about 70 kilograms. I put it in jars of 250, 500 and 1000 grams and I get to use the new labels. Now it not only TASTES GREAT, but looks okay too.
A true gift of nature. Gotta love it.
In case anyone is interested or has any questions, please send me a message. The prices are in line with the Tiroler Bienenladen (Tyrolean Bee Shop): http://www.tirolerbienenladen.at/
Mobile phone for the gorilla
In addition to all the honey bees and my Alpine life style, I’m professionally into “impact, finance, sustainability” themes.
During the Summerschool “Climate Change” we discussed the sustainable use of resources with the case study: “a mobile phone for the gorilla”.
Interesting to discuss how huge global issues can be caused ( 🙁 ) and solved ( 🙂 ) by (the sum of) individual actions. Everybody can make a difference!
More information in German via: https://naturschutzbotschafter.fzs.org/de/handy-aktion/
Honeycomb perfection
Honeycomb perfection
Bee keeping means entering a whole new world! It is so fascinating! This is a freshly built honeycomb of my “Engl-poulation” – the wax pattern is just perfect. The regular hexagon. The mathematical precision is amazing. It is the most efficient way of building, but it also displays a stunning geometric beauty. The cooperation of these small creatures is unbelievable too. Such a great organisation and society they live in.
“Young worker bees excrete slivers of warm wax, each about the size of a pinhead. Other workers take the freshly produced slivers and carefully position them to form vertical, six-sided, cylindrical chambers (or cells). Each wax partition is less than 0.1mm thick, accurate to a tolerance of 0.002mm. Each of the six walls is exactly the same width, and the walls meet at an angle of precisely 120 degrees, producing one of the “perfect figures” of geometry, a regular hexagon.”
A true wonder of nature. And the sweetest is yet to come into these perfect regular hexagons… honey!
Summer-(School!)-Time!
Also this summer 2017 I will teach during several Summerschools “Climate Change” in Obergurgl, Tyrol, Austria.
These summer schools are part of the unique “k.i.d.Z.21” project of the University Innsbruck. More information (in German) via:
.
In summary, the key aspects of the “Climate Change” Summerschool concept are:
– Exchange between Science and Schools
– Interdisciplinary approach/ different perspectives
– Constructivist learning method/ conceptual change theory
– Personal experience
Spending a week in the mountains brings new insights. Standing on a stunning, but melting glacier. Climate change is unfortunately visible.
Should you be interested, feel free to contact me. Some first impressions below and updates follow.
Arrival of the bees
It is June 2017 and I am back home am Arlberg. After the great bee keeping course in Imst last year, it is now time to welcome thousands of new friends in Pettneu am Arlberg. They come from Pitztal and their new houses have been carefully prepared:
A new, amazing, fascinating world opens up! After mega adventures with mountain gorillas in Virunga, the tiny honey bees in Tyrol are keeping me busy these days.
More updates follow.
First inspiration and preparation
It all started with a great Bee Keeping Course at the Agricultural School in Imst, Tyrol, last year (2016). The course is pretty extensive; it took quite some time, but therefore you learn a lot. From experienced lecturers. It was a nice crowd all together with the participants as well. I can highly recommend this course!
Basically, my love for bees started earlier in live…! During my first years in live. With Maja. She has been an inspiration!
And also “CARE” am Arlberg – No Handicap Ski Event
By the end of the winter season, I organised with an amazing group of people a No Handicap Ski Event in St Christoph am Arlberg. Some impressions and links to media (in German):
https://www1.meinbezirk.at/landeck/c-sport/schneesport-mal-anders-no-handicap-skifahren_a2063550
Photo by Maren Krings, 360° Photography
Photo by Maren Krings, 360° Photography
Photo by Maren Krings, 360° Photography
Photo by Maren Krings, 360° Photography
2017
Happy New Year!
Care, Dare & Share
Care, Dare & Share –
as much as possible.
Value who you are and what you have.
Do good and do well.
Add value.
Live your life.
Add to life. Make a difference.
Enter into valuable (ad)ventures.
Apprectiate others around you.
Recognise other living beings.
Enjoy and respect (your) nature.
Explore. Consider. Wonder.
…………………………………………………….
Be
“Be” by Bahriye Goren-Gulek (2016)
Very proud to announce that recently the first book of my good friend Bahriye Goren-Gulek came out! With the intriguing title “Be”.
Bahriye is a successful brand strategy expert with global experience and university lecturer.
“The core premise of the book is geared around the idea that inspiring leaders are not only successful because of what they do. It is primarily because of who they are. A certain sense of being that comes with deeper levels of awareness, which turns ordinary people into inspiring leaders. Whether you are a CEO, a director, a student, a parent, or merely someone who wants to inspire and make a positive difference in the world, reaching deeper levels of awareness is what will help you make that difference.”
The book describes several concepts to reach impactful awareness. One of the (surprising) concepts is “Insanity”. I was pleased when Bahriye asked me to contribute to this chapter and to share some of my (insane) experiences and gained expertise. Please note that “insanity” is not like a mental disorder following Bahriye’s definition, but rather “being different from the norm”.
One of the questions in the case study was about being “insane” or “non-conforming”. My counter question was “What is the norm and why?” Where do norms come from? When are which norms applied? And, again, why? By asking such questions, you will see that “norms” and “normal” are not that straightforward. Normal is an illusion…:
So, “… why is it perceived to be insane to not comply to (arbitrary) norms? Is it because of the majority? The majority, however, doesn’t make anything true, right, or good!”
(the so called argumentum ad populum)
NL and Korea invest in Turkey
And great, green news from Turkey! In this transaction, for the Istanbul headquartered Seker Bank, East and West literally meet. More details on the website of FMO, the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank:
Deal team
UK Investment in North Kivu
Great news from Virunga! Just follow this link:
Value@Venture
Dare to jump!
The reference “Value@Venture” may need some explanation, so please allow me to clarify:
- “Value” – the term “value” is often seen as plain material/ financial value, but true value has much more to it. I see it from a moral perspective too. Values & norms are important. Adam Smith (the famous economist with his market theory “led by the invisible hand”), for example, not only wrote about the “Wealth of Nations”, but also about “Moral Sentiments”. Humans are value driven animals in the broadest sense of the word.
Conservation Finance
Report Conservation Finance
This week a new report on conservation finance came out:
“Conservation Finance. From Niche to Mainstream: The Building of an Institutional Asset Class”
Please find the report via this link:
Sustainable farmland, healthy forests, clean water, and abundant habitat stand to become more valuable as the global population climbs to nine billion by 2050. Already, pioneering investors have put together financial solutions that combine real assets, such as tropical forests, with cash flows from operations in fields such as sustainable timber, agriculture, and ecotourism. Conservation finance, as this field is known, represents an undeveloped, but emerging private sector investment opportunity of major proportion.
