Dear Greta Thunberg, Bavaria is taking real action to protect biodiversity: From tomorrow 31 January until 13 February, voters across Bavaria have the opportunity to enshrine the protection of biodiversity, elimination of pesticides and increase of organic farming in the constitution. If during the 2 week period 10% of the Bavarian electorate (just under 1 [...]
10 years ago, just as Lehman had collapsed and the global financial industry was in the throes of a crisis that would cost people their livelihoods and bankers their bonuses, I hosted a panel discussion on alternative financial practices including Sustainable Finance. I deeply resonated with the idea that finance should be deployed to achieve [...]
In my blog post "Brexit Blues - some ideas to sort out the mess" in June 2016 I called for what I described as a "national unity conference". What I had in mind was a gathering of ordinary people from all walks of life to figure out what would be best for the whole country. [...]
(Dragon with shield of St. George on London Bridge, guarding the entry to the City of London) Woke up to news about #LondonBridge, a place I know well and love so much. My prayers and my heart go out to all hurt and affected. I happened to be elsewhere last night but I'm [...]
Last Sunday the world witnessed a new French Revolution: During the 1st round of the presidential elections French voters ostrazised the political establishment which has more or less ruled France under changing banners and names since the end of WWII. As a result, 2 outsiders emerged who could not be further apart from one another in [...]
Since Theresa May was selected by her party to succeed David Cameron as PM post EU referendum it was clear that she had no solid mandate from the electorate to take the nation through the transformative experience of negotiation a divorce from the EU. The absence of such a solid mandate resulted in a lack [...]
Copyright https://groenlinks.nl Surge in populism has awoken the electorate The future will be shaped by medium-sized parties and consensus building Auditions for a new Eurogroup leader to begin shortly? (probably) My trust in the people of the Netherlands was matched by the outcome of this much awaited election. Especially by the turnout of over 80%, [...]
Dutch Elections 15 March Thanks to my Dutch friends and business contacts I've come to know and appreciate the Dutch sense for community, openness, finding consensus-based practical solutions and exploring new options for old problems. Take for example the basic income experiment in Utrecht and the push for a zero emission car fleet. Or the [...]
My personal working title for 2017 is "Europe in Reset Mode": with upcoming elections in the Netherlands (15 March), France (April & May), Germany (3 state elections in March/May + federal elections in September), the Czech Republic (October), potentially also Italy (if a new election law currently in the works is approved in time by the [...]
Water fountain "Blindenbrunnen" at the Garden for the Blind, Rheinaue, Bonn, Germany ©️Michael Sondermann/ Bundesstadt Bonn During my weekly Chinese class, my teacher and I discussed a Chinese proverb called 瞎子摸象 (xiā zǐ mō xiàng). It literally translates as “blind man touching elephant” and encapsulates a well-known Asian folk tale of blind men [...]
