Plantagon blog
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Well. After all these years, today I had an experience of other people understanding what we have been talking about for such a long time. Sitting at the conference table hearing them say the exact words regarding real corporate social responsibility that was always on my mind, moved me to tears.
Radical. Realistic. Romantic.
This week, I have had the privilege to work with intelligent, dedicated and passionate people that combines a heart for other human beings with the hard skills of how to make money and compete. They were not only from India, although they were in a clear majority.
I thought I knew quite a few things on how to make dreams come true, but I humbly bend my back for a whole culture that most probably always were better than us at this – although they didn´t always chose to use their skills. For different reasons I would guess, but I believe now that they were no victims and that it was always their choice. Now, they obviously choose to change the mindset of all of us…
For many years I was arguing and debating on the issue of Corporate Citizenship. I even trade marked it in Sweden (don´t remember why, really…). Then I lost faith in corporates freely wanting to change perspective and really taking responsibility for the whole, because they did´t understand the benefits. They were too slow, too unambitious, too narrow minded.
Well. Now I found them, here. The rest is a future story to be told…
Now all meetings are done, for this time. In a couple of hours we are leaving for Agra, to experience Taj Mahal. The romantic glow that I expect from Taj Mahal represents the positive hope and long term perspective that I get from being in this country.
Go Indians, go! I will try to catch up with you, for sure. Now Plantagon integrates the Indians that Mr. Columbus missed, and the Indians still being called by the wrong name. I will enjoy the time they will meet in this work.
Today we were kick-started. Woke up at 5 am by an angry telephone ringing. It was Mr. Brambhatt, head of Plantagon Indian operations. At about 2 am, three hours earlier, he had told us to be in the lobby latest 5 am to leave for the airport. We were leaving from Ahmedabad to Delhi, teaming up with the Swedish Trade Council to execute several meetings during the day.
So the phone kept ringing. Somewhere far away I heard Karin say: “Oh, it´s 5 am…”
The hotel missed the wake up call. Stefan didn´t wake up either. Six minutes after the angry phone we were in the lobby though. So was the pilot. Yes, the pilot that was going to fly our plane…
So the plane had to wait, not for us but for the pilot. We took up a chase close on his taxi´s tail and drove extremely fast to the airport. We made it. Exactly 58 minutes after stepping out of our beds we were sitting in the aircraft. The time was 6 am.
We were then going to fly to Delhi, flight time one hour. Supposed to arrive at 7 am. I woke up in Jaypur at 10 am. “What happened?” “Too much morning fog in Delhi, we circled the city until we ran out of fuel so now we are back in Jaypur to fill the aircraft up again…”
OK. I went both happy and disappointed back to sleep. Happy to get some more sleep. Disappointed because we missed our meeting with SIDA (Swedish International Cooperation Agency).
The day continued with really good meetings with Delhi Development Authority, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development.
Contacts will continue with all three parties.
Picture above from the meeting with Mayor of Mumbai yesterday (Receiving the Plantagon presentation from Hans).
Plantagon and SWECO represented by Hans Hassle and Stefan Svensson are travelling in India right now. The Plantagon India team led by Mr. Prashant Brambhatt prepared meetings with investors, city planners, politicians and constructing companies. We have seen actual locations where a Plantagon Greenhouse could be built. We have seen the dramatic need for securing the future food production. We have also heard good business reasons for Plantagon to prioritize this market. Yesterday in Mumbai, we had the honour of making a presentation to the Mayor of Mumbai, although she was extremely busy during her day of receiving “ordinary people”. Today in Ahmedabad we continue on-site inspections. Tomorrow in Delhi… Moore meetings, more extremely competent people, more of the Indian way of adopting fast to new concepts. Who said early adopters work on the fashion streets of Stockholm, New York, London and Paris..? Hey, they are here. Everywhere! We are learning a lot from just being here.
Urban Greenhouses Aim to Help Cities Combat Climate Change
“With its massive glass dome, the Plantagon Greenhouse wouldn’t look out of place in a sci-fi movie. And if all goes smoothly, one may soon crop up in a city near you. In these days of global warming, its creators argue, it’s not a question of if it will become reality but, rather, when.”
Read the full article by Jess Smee at SPIEGELONLINE
Read more
The Swedish organisation “Näringslivets Miljöchefer” (Environment Directors of the Business World) nominated the Plantagon CEO Hans Hassle for the award “Sustainable Leadership 2009″. We congratulate Hans and hope he makes it further among the other nominees.
Who is going to receive the award is decided by the jury in March 2010. The award is received by the winner during Sustainability Day on April 20, 2010.
“He organized the families into the clans, and then he set up the leaders of the clans. He established that the league of peace would be matrilineal and that each clan would have a clan mother. Thus, he established in law the equal rights of women. He raised the leaders of each clan, two men, one the principal leader and the second his partner. They were to work together for the good of the people. He called these two men “Hoyanah” or the “good minds”, the peacemakers: and they were to represent their clans in council. This, he established the principle of representation of people in government. Henceforth, he said, these men will be chosen by the clan mother, freely using her insight and wisdom and ratified by full consensus of the clans, chiefs and Grand Council of Chief of the Five Nations.”
What they never told us
By Oren Lyons
with the resources of the
American Indian Law Alliance
March 26, 1993
Download essay: what-they-never-told-us
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