“Cities are increasingly the home of humanity. They are central to climate action, global prosperity, peace and human rights.” — UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon October 31 is World Cities Day. Do we actually need such a day?… Continue Reading
Meet Willa Stoutenbeek, founder of W.Green, a branded communication agency focused on sustainable fashion & lifestyle. In 2013, I saw her on stage at TEDxAMSWomen. Her rallying cry to clean up the fashion industry by changing our own shopping behavior really resonated with me.… Continue Reading
Most of my book reviews are non-fiction, but my favorite summer fiction – Solar by Ian McEwan – fits right in. It’s actually a perfect follow up to the earlier post on leadership for sustainable change. This review focuses on… Continue Reading
What defines effective leadership to drive positive sustainable change? I asked this question to all people I interviewed for my blog in the past three years. This post builds on their collective wisdom, quoting some of the best-read interviews, supplemented with my… Continue Reading
Meet Renée Scheltema, award-winning film and documentary maker. We met at the screening of her latest film, Normal is Over, in Amsterdam. By the time we could both make time for this interview, she was back in Cape Town, where… Continue Reading
Sustainability is becoming an imperative rather than an add-on for companies and brands. Nielsen research shows that brands with societal commitment grew faster than those without. In 2015, 50% of Unilever’s growth came from its “sustainable living” brands. In June 2016, I had the honor… Continue Reading
Meet Jan-Willem Vosmeer, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Heineken*. On a sunny afternoon in Amsterdam, we talked at length about Heineken’s program “Brewing a Better World” and sustainability communications. Here’s what Jan-Willem had to say about water, co-creation and communication.… Continue Reading
Meet Maarten ten Houten, Founder and CEO of Coolfinity, a social enterprise that brings innovative and sustainable cooling solutions to countries with power infrastructure challenges. In 2015, Maarten and I worked together on crafting an ecosystem of many different organizations… Continue Reading
Meet Marjan Minnesma, founder and director of Urgenda, an organization aiming for a fast transition towards a sustainable society with a circular economy using only renewable energy. On the day of the interview, the Dutch government announced it would consider… Continue Reading
From May 18-20, 2016, I joined the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Global Conference. Here are my overall takeaways, highlights and concerns from this three-day event, focused on collaboration, the SDGs, big data and action for impact. A celebration of collaboration GRI’s… Continue Reading