Rooftop Garden coming up…

Last week I visited the ‘Nationaal Sutainability Congres’ in The Hague. The largest sustainability event in our country where around 700 people came together to discuss, to learn and to inspire. A bit more of the first than the latter perhaps, but it’s very comforting to be in a room full of people working (and talking) on sustainable change!

Two main conclusions stayed with me after the conference.

The first was stated quite clear and shared by all people present: It’s time to stop talking and start doing. Which is kind of a dual message in a room full of people talking about the topic. But still..

As Liesbeth van Tongeren, director of Greenpeace stated it quite nicely: Sustainable development is like the intention to start living a healthier life. You know it’s good for you, you know what to do (drink less, smoke less, get your ass to the gym, etc.), but probably familiar to many of us, quite often you say to yourself while pouring another glass of wine…‘I’ll start tomorrow!’

The second message became more and more clear to me during the day: It’s time to make sustainability more fun, sexy and inspiring! Just like in co-creation: Inspire participation. Inspire to start doing. It’s easy to keep pointing a finger to everything that’s wrong (circle of blame) or giving exhaustive lectures on the bigger picture. But even though that’s quite shocking, it doesn’t really help in deciding on how to take the first step.

So what does? Piet Moerland, CEO of the Rabobank stated it in a way that fits right up our alley: ‘It is way more productive to put 10 experts in a room to discuss possibilities, than let them all sit in their own brick & mortar offices thinking of the issues separately’

Of course that’s also what we believe in, so we’re working on it! Soon to be continued…

In the mean time I’d like to share some sustainable initiatives with you that show it definitely can be fun, innovative and inspiring to make a sustainable change!

The fun-theory by Volkswagen. An initiative dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun, is the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better.

The footprint chronicles by Patagonia. Open and transparent communication about their way of working, in which they give their practices some air and thought, and  they start making a change in the habits of the industry

The Karma by Fisker Automotive. A car that definitely won’t end up in the Business Week list of ‘Fifty ugliest cars of the past 50 years’.