A discussion of two themes ('leadership' for 'sustainability') that are of increasing importance to our global society. Read on to explore and contribute to the perspectives I've developed during masters studies and ongoing research in strategic leadership towards sustainability...

1.12.06

Checking things out in Ghana

I'm just back from a short trip to Ghana which served a double purpose of reacqainting me with a mate of mine and attending a research conference on Is Corporate Citizenship Making a Difference? (held back to back with the Global Compact Learning Forum, which I also attended part of).
Our paper on partnerships for sustainability was well received but it was a research conference so everyone was of course interested in their own areas and others that linked to it directly. I was pleasantly surprised how the concepts of the MSLS programme came in handy as by the end of the conference terms like transdisciplinarity, sphere of influence, partnerships, complexity, trade-offs etc were all discussed. Nice. Overall, there was lots of CSR talk and growing recognition of the need to re-orient businesses towards sustainability but still plenty of drill-holes. I guess thats research

It was great to catch up on all the latest news, relive the good times in Karlskrona, sample local food and nightlife, hang out at the beach etc. I went to the Cape Coast and a rainforest where they have this cool canopy walk. It was a wake-up call for me in some ways to see the reality of sustainability challenges and some pretty complex CLD’s that need to be understood if the changes we desire are to occur. Having local knowledge at my disposal was invaluable insight into the complexities of life in Ghana. The resourcefulness, warmth and supportiveness of Ghanaian culture was a great surprise. It was an interesting contrast to life in Sweden and we discussed the similarities and differences (Sweden doing not quite so well as I would have first thought).

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