THE ALARM HAS CHANGED IN TONE AND VOLUME

Dear Clients and Partners – Circular Practitioners,

Above all, I hope you are all well and in a safe place.

After days of social distancing the world has realised that this pandemic is not about taking temporary shelter and waiting until everything ‘gets back to normal’ – that ‘normal’ has gone for good. The unprecedented global impact and the perceived duration of the crisis makes it clear that we have entered a new era. With no intention of underestimating the uncertainty, the need to adapt to a socially-constrained life and keep up with the most urgent matters, besides health, has spontaneously prompted an ongoing reflection on how we can make use of this collective global experience for the good of humanity. Let these motivating thoughts of hope lead our conversation at the Circular Business Academy while we are designing our agenda for the remainder of 2020 – and beyond.

The alarm has changed in tone and volume

Yesterday, after a few weeks’ pause, I again picked up a book by Carola Rackete, the young captain of the Sea-Watch 3 rescue ship of the NGO of the same name, which, last summer, despite the closed ports in the south of the Mediterranean and after days of persistent waiting, entered the port of Lampedusa to bring the shipload of shipwrecked refugees to shore. The book is the testimony of an informed leader of the younger generation, who is confronted by the fact that the planet has been badly injured and that humans are taking a high risk that the climate crisis will inevitably reduce the chances for future generations to live a decent life.

I’ve been following Carola ever since the refugee crisis began, even before Lampedusa. I could hardly bear both the indifference and the helplessness of those who, at their best, stood by as helpless observers of yet another episode in the face of the overwhelming problem of refugees. Among them there were individuals like myself, institutions, decision-makers, ‘leaders’ and so on.

Many of today’s refugees are already fleeing from climate devastation, which is often exacerbated by oppression, war, hunger and profound economic crises. But as I continued to read Carola’s book in these days of the coronavirus, I became aware that the alarm sound has changed in both tone and volume.

The right questions to ask

The imminent global refugee crisis is just one of the many faces of a less and less liveable planet. The coronavirus pandemic and its consequences represent yet another one.

Even though we have been overwhelmed by the day-to-day developments, one question is in the air: What will the world be like afterwards?

We all need hope and we are all waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel. With this motivation, let’s rephrase that question: What can we do to make the world more liveable afterwards? What can we learn from this extreme global experience? How can we equip ourselves to defeat the pandemic and prevent anything like this ever happening again? What can we leave behind? How can we recover without going backwards? How can we reimagine our lives, our households, our organisations, and our living environments: the cities, infrastructure and communications? How can we reconcile humanity with nature? And how can we distribute the achievements of science and technology in a more just and more efficient way across the world, between the generations and within our societies and communities.

Finding answers through a migration of the dialogue to digital and remote modes

Here, we are inviting you to start the conversation.

In the next days we will adapt the CBA agenda of 2020 and work towards a substantial migration of a good part of the activities planned in the near future to digital platforms and a remote mode.

You are invited to stay in touch, to contribute to our dialogue through digital conversations, suggestions and the sharing of interesting content. Please follow us through our Newsletter, on LinkedIn and on our website. You can write to us at info@circularbusiness.academy .

We will shortly inform you of the changes to our agenda and invite you to our digital encounters: chats, videoconferences, lectures, and webinars.

And, above all: stay in a safe place and in good health!

Kind regards to all,

Jurij Giacomelli
Founder
CBA