The Cuban model of sustainability

The current round of global soul-searching about our blighted system of economic organization has led to an upsurge of activity in the field of alternative metrics. In France, on Sept 14, Nicholas Sarkozy unveiled the findings of a commission he appointed last year to study new, alternative measurements of social progress in a [...]

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How green will the future “Grand Paris” be?

Nicholas Sarkozy, like most recent French presidents, is mindful of his legacy and accordingly launched in 2007 a call for architects’ submissions for the “Grand Paris” of the 21st century. The results of that consultation can be seen at the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patriomine: ten booths showcasing the visions of superstar architects such [...]

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Green, good and beautiful holiday gift ideas

Earlier this week I spent half an hour browsing in a traditional French candy store. The candies are sold in bulk from big glass vats and have names like “Les Negus de Nevers” and “Les Briques du Capitole” which evoke place and regional identity. Each variety of candy – the name, packaging and craftmanship – [...]

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Yves Cochet calls for food and energy rationing

Earlier this year I wrote about the taboo subject of rationing. Yves Cochet, a deputy for the Green party, made an important speech to parliament last month on the financial crisis in which he tackles the subject head on. Here’s an excerpt of his speech, without the backdrop of the inevitable booing and hissing from [...]

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Choose a socially responsible bank

Have you thought about how your bank invests your hard earned savings? Aside from the issue of toxic debt, what about the moral issues of investing in weapons manufacturing, paper mills which are processing illegally deforested logs, environmentally damaging activities such as mining and so on? Friends of the Earth have just published a handy [...]

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Green board games for the whole family

Le Negocio is a board game which takes fair trade coffee as its theme. Each player assumes the role of a coffee entrepreneur, and has to manage all aspects of a fair trade coffee business from fund raising, inventory, sales to the social and environmental impacts of the business.

Néoeco is a broader take on the [...]

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La Ruche: a new home for social entrepreneurs in Paris

A collective workspace called La Ruche (“beehive” in French) has just opened its doors to host social entrepreneurs in the heart of the Canal Saint Martin in Paris. Home to some 20-odd entrepreneurs on a membership basis at present, the attractively renovated open space will ultimately welcome 60 entrepreneurs when renovation is completed in the autumn, [...]

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On values, communications and thinking for ourselves

 
 

A new report from WWF has put both “green” marketers and “post-environmentalists” on notice. Entitled “Weathercocks and Signposts: The Environment Movement at a Crossroads”, the report demonstrates that it is no longer sufficient to rely on marketing techniques to promote behaviour change for the environment. Instead, it argues that any effective strategy for tackling environmental [...]

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Support a good cause by switching search engines

Doona is a non-profit search engine set up in 2006 by three French high school students and claims to be the world’s first search engine which donates all of its revenue to humanitarian and social causes. It currently has 36 partners – all chosen by a popular vote on the internet – including WWF, SOS [...]

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