This year it has been the 3rd summer in a row that I was actively playing with the idea of cycling from London to Ghent, in one day. I felt that I was ready for it now. My naivety around the challenge has largely been dissolved and the conditions were good. Last week, on the 29th of June I made my first endeavour. But to be honest, the journey was about much more than the physical activity.
In my previous blog post, I explained my concern that if we as a society don’t take digital privacy seriously, we will probably head into dangerous directions. Over the last few months, I have experimented with different tools and formed strategies to enhance my personal privacy and to start steering society in a positive direction. The journey so far hasn’t been easy, it required me to dig under the surface of the world wide web and to become more tech savvy than I anticipated. With this blog post, I want to give you guidance in taking digital privacy seriously. Continue reading “How to take digital privacy seriously”
A few months ago, I became aware of my digital footprint. I got concerned that the digital tools we accustomed ourselves to over the last decade steer us in dangerous directions. They could even trap us there. Ever since I am becoming scrupulous in finding alternatives for myself and I want to share these with you. I am going to explain my principal concerns in this blog post.
Continue reading “Why I am taking digital privacy seriously”
Something has gone lost in our society. To be honest, a few things are lost. We can not trust the so-called sustainable products, definitely not after the Volkswagen scandal. But also, our individual self-determination erodes bit by bit. Continue reading “#HackingBugs for autonomy”
Last month a quality newspaper headed “Belgians are tired of sustainability, but aren’t sick of it”. It was the conclusion of research done on 1000 Belgians, commissioned by the new sustainability network The Shift. To be clear it’s mainly about the term ‘sustainability’. One in two doesn’t know (anymore) where the term stands for and one in three is tired of the term. Sustainability is too abstract, distant and not transparent. What can we as professionals do about this?
“Who are todays (world)leaders and what can we learn from them?” It was a question during a Q&A session with Chris Guillebeau during a conference last year. Chris is an ‘authority’ on micro-entrepreneurship and one of his life achievements was to visit every country in the world before his 35th birthday. Not his answer but the bewildered absence stayed in my memory.
Last tuesday iCleantech Flanders organised the Cleantech Connected conference in Brussels. The conference brought regional and international players together to discuss the future of cleantech and the opportunities for Flanders. There were around 250 participants, from industry, intermediary organisations and a few representatives from government and research institutions.
Continue reading “Cleantech in Flanders – Insights from Cleantech Connected”
It’s amazing that the sustainability-transition gets more and more followers. In spite of the growing momentum, a lot of mental energy can be wasted. The spectrum of problems is wide, the strategies are complex and the solutions are diverse. If it doesn’t immediately put you off then, it isn’t unlikely that you will meet dissolution or burn-out along your path.
“The midnight blurred line” questioned why we allow our commons to be destroyed and “Do we have the courage to face the realities of our time?” pointed out that maybe it is –addiction- that is blocking us from becoming constructive with our commons. This blogpost will look at what causes addiction and how we can become constructive from our destructive behaviour.
Continue reading “How to become constructive with our commons and addictions”
Addictions leave trails of destruction and need to be stopped and healed on time. On a small scale it is easy to identify an addiction. We can label it to marginalised individuals or a dodgy neighbourhoods. If we zoom out onto a larger scale it can be harder to recognise and acknowledge societal wide addictive behaviour.
Continue reading “Do we have the courage to face the realities of our time?”
Merel Claes 