05 September 2012
En route to Quito. It’s been a tiring day-and-a-half of airports, queues, flights, taxis and a brief few hours in a hotel. London-Miami-Santa Domingo-Panama City-Quito is certainly not the most direct way to get to Ecuador, but needs must.
The air time has been unusually unproductive and unreflective, despite pre-flight plans to mark Cambridge dissertations. Instead, I have been entertained by the Alien prequel Prometheus, an offbeat Scottish heart-warmer The Angel’s Share (bad lad finds meaning in life via a whiskey distillery) and the amusing period film Hysteria (about the invention of the vibrator as a cure for anxiety in housewives). I have also been listening to the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (A Study in Scarlet) and At World’s End (Ken Follett), besides reading wizard detective Pete’s exploits in Moon Over Soho (Ben Aaronovitch).
Ahead lies a busy schedule of talks in Ecuador, followed by a keynote in Dominican Republic, hopefully with a few days of R&R in and around Santa Domingo.
07 September 2012
Had a great day yesterday – addressed a CEO breakfast in Guayaquil, then drove 3 hours over the Andes to visit a porcelain factory in Cuenca.
I’ve written a review of John Elkington’s The Zeronauts – “guaranteed to inspire a new generation of sustainability”.
08 September 2012
Had a good workshop today in Quito, using the CSR 2.0 Self-Assessment Diagnostic tool. Interesting regional differences between cities.
09 September 2012
Arrived in Dominican Rep last night. Today, explored Santa Domingo’s old city. Hot & sticky, but a wonderfully vibrant culture & great music. Enjoying working at my hotel in Santa Domingo beside a pool with turtles swimming around & basking in the sun on the rocks! 🙂 Watching the US Open Tennis men’s final. Can Murray hold his nerve & go on to win his first grandslam title? Go Andy go!
11 September 2012
Enjoyed giving the keynote at Dominican Republic’s 1st CSR conference by INTRAS. Tonight, a taste of Santa Domingo’s music & dance!
13 September 2012
In transit in Miami airport for the n-th time. One day, I need to get beyond the terminal to the beach! Looking forward to being home.
19 November 2012
I’m in Quito, Ecuador for the week, presenting at various events on the ethical economy, responsible business 2.0. & future fitness
Just heard that I’m to be included in the CSR International Top 20 Sustainability Leaders of 2012, based on an expert poll.
21 November 2012
Had an interesting session today at the Chamber of Commerce in Quito, talking about safe, shared, smart, sustainable & satisfying futures
23 November 2012
Another busy day in Ecuador, including a TV interview. Tomorrow is the Charity Ball, where I’ll be posing as a penguin
24 November 2012
Had a packed week, presenting to students at the Catholic University, entrepreneurs at the British-Ecuador Chamber of Commerce, local government agencies at the National Decentralisation Strategy event, NGOs dealing with women and rural development, companies embarking on S2M certification in the security and oil sectors, and the newly established Minister of Transparency – all this as part of Responsibility 2.0 Week. The forums gave me a great opportunity to test out my 5-S Future-Fitness Framework, which proved to have great potential as a tool for dialogue and planning among multiple stakeholders. Participants were able to identify problems, measures and actions to guide progress towards a more safe, shared, smart, sustainable and satisfying future.
As always, I was generously hosted by Roberto Salazar and his companies, Hexagon and S2M. We have resolved to collaborate on a research paper based on our experiences this week, and I will also focus one of my Guardian columns on dialogue as a catalyst for social cohesion in Ecuador. We finished off the week with a Charity Ball last night, which saw me schmoozing with the British and EU ambassadors in Ecuador, doing my best to impersonate a penguin (in my tuxedo). There was a fantastic live band called The Academicians and the lively dancing was pure joy to watch – and to indulge in. No wonder Latin Americans score so high on measures of happiness and life satisfaction. Somehow, celebration is at the heart of their culture, despite all the challenges faced by people in the region.
