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Elements of Success
by Nisandeh Neta This book reveals the ingredients that make up every successful result. It offers a five-step process of creating success, with in-depth explanations on each step and tips how to work with them.It teaches you how to manage every step of the way to your personal success, with little effort and maximum results. Often we are not aware of what the elements are of the process of creation. Once we’re good at something, we think it is because of our talent, or because of being lucky, without investigating what the process was that moved us from the state of “hunger” to the state of “fulfilment”.If we don’t know what the recipe for success is, it is difficult to repeat it. The book “Elements of Success” teaches you all you need to know about the recipe for success. Becoming successful is easy, if you know what to do…https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elements-of-Success-van-Nisandeh-Neta/175832529156094
Creative Leadership
by Sooraj Mittal, Hedda Pahlson-Moller, Evalueserve Is leadership limited to the ability of a person to influence other people in getting things done, above their normal standard and quality, or does the society need a new breed of leaders who can evolve on a continuous basis, addressing new challenges? Traditionally, leaders have been known to possess the ability to motivate people, identifying their strengths, nurturing them and making their team function in a synthesized manner, thereby delivering up to its true potential. However, over a period of time societies and systems evolved and so have the dynamics of leadership. Over a period of time, many nations have struggled for independence, apartheid, etc while, most resorted to violent means to achieve their cause, leading to mass destruction on both sides. But, only a few creative leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela resolved such issues through their revolutionary idea of non-violence. Thereby, not only helping attain the objective but also creating an example and inspiration for the coming generations that there is always a non-conventional and perhaps a less traveled path. There are three sets of situations from where a leader can be identified or nurtured: A person possessing a certain skill set and has the ability to take up the leadership role Lack or absence of proper leadership or certainly a crisis situation brings out extraordinary leadership skills to handle the situation People who choose to become leaders constantly try to develop the required skill set As the world becomes flat, it has become a level playing field for all the players, irrespective of the geography, cast or creed. The availability of similar tangible resources to all the players has made the environment into a place of cutthroat competition. In order to develop in such a competitive environment companies have to heavily rely on the intellectual capital, primarily present in the form of its employees. They need leaders who can guide and bring out the best from its human capital. Their role is not limited to merely guiding people in the right direction. They require creative leaders, who do not only limit their role to addressing problems through novel solutions, but by giving new viewpoints on how to resolve problems in the future as well. This brings us to a pertinent question – can someone be taught how to think creatively? Organizations spend heavily on training their employees, especially training potential leaders and inculcating leadership values. However, this does not ensure imagination, creativity or ethical behavior in the audience. These qualities develop over a period of time with experience and exposure to various kinds of problems. In addition, it also requires a conscious effort on the part of the individual to grow in that direction. Creative leaders can be broadly segregated as Re-definers and Re-directors. The former being those who introduce a new dimension to existing ideas (such as Bill Gates redefining the computer), while the latter could be those who find a new way of working (like what Henry Ford did when he introduced the assembly line production system). Before any organization/society demands for a creative leader, it should ensure that an environment is created, where such a leader can be identified and groomed. Society needs to be flexible in terms of accepting new ideas. For instance, at 3M, scientists spend almost 15% of their time on personal activities. As a result, Fry, one of the scientists, invented the simple, yet innovative, ‘Post-its’! During his free time, Fry used to sing at the church; however whenever he used small paper pieces as bookmarks, they would invariably fall. Fry recalled a weak adhesive developed by his company – he used it to develop easily detachable bookmarks, which we now see at homes and offices alike. Essentially, the difference between a leader and a creative leader can be compared to the difference between Subash Chandra Bose, an extremist, and Mahatma Gandhi, a Moderate. They hold a significant place in the history books, as both had fought against the colonial rule of the British Empire. Yet both had adopted different ways to address the problem. While, Bose believed in the conventional way of violence (an eye for an eye), Mahatma addressed the problem by means of non-violence and non-cooperation movements. As a result, the approach adopted by Bose, resulted in fear amongst the British for some period of time and had a short-term impact on the people. While, the approach adopted by Mahatma Gandhi had a long lasting impact on British as well as the common public, leading to a united effort to achieve independence for the nation. A society, as we know it, combines the likes of people from varied backgrounds, having differing skill-sets and divergent thoughts. Collective leadership ensures that this multicultural society moves in a cohesive and collective manner to attain the defined objectives into realistic and attainable goals. Today’s world is very chaotic and complex. The skill set required to address these problems are not present in one person. Moreover, the problems are not just limited to one system or society. Therefore, in order to address such problems a collective effort is required. For instance, the war against terrorism has to be a collective effort on part of all the nations across the globe, as the problem is not just limited to the US or India. It has an equal chance of striking any nation at any given moment. For instance, the defense force of a country would comprise of the Army, Navy and the Airforce. All have their own skill set and strategic importance to the security of a nation. Yet, when it comes to a war, a collective effort is required from all the three arms of win the battle. If the role of the leader has evolved, so have team dynamics. No longer can a group/department of people be necessarily classified as a team. These are a set of individuals, who are doing the job assigned to them. Essentially, a team is a group of people who collectively collaborate to achieve one predefined objective. The relationship of a leader with his/her team has evolved from a supervisory role to a multi-tasking role. The leader is a guide, mentor, motivator as well as a team member. Instead of moving ahead of the team, he/she has to move along with it. More than dependence, it is now a question of synergies and inter-dependence. The only thing, which is constant, is change, over a period of time societies have evolved and so has the way in which people think and see each other. Yet the same old concepts still exist, although the ways they are handled and demanded by the society have evolved. From a leader who leads from the front and keeps people motivated, to a leader who can provide innovative solutions to new set of problems.
Religion and state in the candidate countries to the European Union
by Balazs Schanda Issues concerning religion and state in Hungary ECCLESIASTICAL SITUATION OF THE CANDIDATE COUNTRIES TO THE EUROPEAN UNION At present there are 12 countries that are candidates for inclusion in the European Union. Negotiations were opened with the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia in 1998, after the Luxembourg European Council of December 1997 established the accession and negotiation process. The Helsinki European Council of December 1999 decided to open negotiations also with Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and Slovakia in February 2000. The status of Turkey as a candidate country, with all rights and duties and its full participation in the accession process, was recognized, although there was no decision on opening negotiations. The Nice European Council of December 2000 endorsed the strategy proposed by the European Commission in its Strategy Paper and the target date for membership of the most prepared candidate countries was set as 2004. The Commission insisted that no further obstacles should now be put in the way of the process of expanding the Union. It specifically reconfirmed the European Parliament’s view that the best-prepared candidate countries should be able to participate in the 2004 European Parliament elections. At the same time, the Commission endorsed the distinction that had been made between the candidates, while confirming the ‘catch-up principle’–that those countries which were most qualified should be allowed entry, and those not yet adequately prepared would have the opportunity of preparing themselves for acceptance at a later date. According to the present stage of negotiations, ten countries will have an opportunity to join the EU in the near future (according to the schedule in 2004). In the Commission’s view, Bulgaria and Romania will definitely need a longer period before accession and, as mentioned above, negotiations with Turkey have not yet been opened. In my paper I shall focus on the Central European region–Cyprus and Malta are in a very different situation from these countries. With the exclusion of the two Balkan States from the first round, all the candidates (except for Cyprus) have a history and an identity linked to Western Christianity (the largely secularized countries, such the Czech Republic, are also affected by this affiliation: or, rather, a rejection of it). Throughout their history, these Central European countries have striven to be recognized as belonging to the western part of the continent. Their inclusion in an enlarged Union is not for them the result of a cost-benefit analysis but, rather, a moral issue. The average size of the candidate countries hoping to join the EU is less than the present ELI average. The population of Poland is more than the total population of all the other nine countries put together. All the candidate countries of Central-Eastern Europe suffered communist governance for over four decades. Religious freedom was curtailed in them all. Certainly there were significant differences between countries and periods. Probably believers in the former Soviet Union suffered the most. The record for Czechoslovakia is definitely worse than that for Poland. Practices varied from open persecution to administrative harassment and discrimination with one common element: there was no religious freedom as such. Historical backgrounds, and the process and effects of imposed secularization of the various societies show great differences. In Poland and in Lithuania, Catholicism played a significant role in safeguarding the national consciousness; the same was true for Croatia, which is to become a candidate for inclusion in the European Union in the near future). Slovenia also is predominantly Catholic. Hungary and Slovakia have a Catholic majority, with firmly established Protestant minorities (Calvinist in Hungary and Lutheran in Slovakia). Estonia is the only candidate that is predominately Lutheran; and Latvians are divided between Catholics and Protestants. Orthodoxy in the candidate countries is linked to national minorities, especially the Russians in the Baltic States. In the Baltic States, as well as in other countries (such as Hungary), a jurisdictional conflict emerged between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, raising difficult issues concerning the limits of legitimate government involvement in inter-Church disputes. Denominational and ethnic affiliations also overlap in Romania, where members of the Hungarian and German minorities are either Protestants or Roman Catholics, while the Romanians are predominantly Orthodox (or, in parts of Transylvania, Greek Catholics). The Czech Republic is probably the most secular country among the candidates, and would in this way become the most secularized country within the Union. But Estonians and Latvians are not particularly devout either (not to mention the new German “Lander”). Taking the expanded Union as a whole, it can be seen that the incorporation of the new countries would result in a rise in the overall proportion of Roman Catholics. Apart from Bulgaria, none of the candidate countries has a significant Muslim population. Hungary is the only candidate country where the Jewish community has remained a significant mainstream religious community. New religious movements were active throughout the region in the 1990s, but their presence has not brought about significant changes in the denominational landscape
Religious Freedom and New Religious Movements in Europe
by Merudevi Dasi IntroductionEveryone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This is guaranteed in several legal documents, most importantly in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) (UDHR) and in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). These articles allow us to hold any beliefs we desire, whether they are theistic, non-theistic or atheistic. The right to manifest these freedoms is only restricted in order to protect the fundamental rights of others. The emergence of ‘new religious movements’ (NRMs) in the West since the 1960s has put these articles to the test. Are all expressions of faith acceptable in our society, and how should we react to them? European countries have chosen to interpret freedom of religion and belief in diverse ways, and have adopted different strategies on how to deal with these NRMs. In this article we look at some of the developments in Europe in this regard, particularly in France. France is by no means unique in its approach towards NRMs, but it is well ahead in introducing restrictive legislation against them. According to Abdelfattah Amor, the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance at the UN Commission on Human Rights, while Western Europe has previously been exemplary in the development of international and regional norms and mechanisms to protect religious freedom, its present practice is unsatisfactory. This was Amor’s opening message at a UNESCO meeting in Paris earlier this year. He spoke at the conference ‘Human Rights and Freedom of Religion: Practices in Western Europe’, which was attended by many experts in the field. Amor commented that many religious and spiritual communities ‘have been labelled as cults by parliamentary reports or inter-ministerial commissions’, and that ‘this generalisation and amalgamation’ has led to a situation where ‘movements that are perfectly respectable and sometimes very ancient’ are finding themselves in the same category as ‘cheaters and criminals’.[1] It is a common argument among those who oppose ‘new religions’ that these are not de facto religions but mundane movements hiding behind a religious label. That may be true about some groups, but it becomes problematic when a large number of religious and spiritual groups are put into that category without thorough research on the matter.
Limits to Knowing
October 2011 By Patrick Crehan, Director, Club of Amsterdam, CEO and Founder, Crehan, Kusano & Associates The way we think about the future has immense influence and impact on both our professional and personal lives. This is especially true for those who work in positions of responsibility for organizations and the people in them. They are the ones who decide on a regular if not continuous basis what time and money, human and material resources should be allocated to which activities so as to ensure optimal outcomes for themselves and their families, for their organizations and society as a whole. The tools we employ to think about the future are constantly evolving. Our ability to gather store and process information about the past and the present state of the world is expanding at an extraordinary rate. Several pas Club of Amsterdam events have looked at the extraordinary pace of progress in sensing, connecting and computing. These have helped our members explore the consequences of how our ability to sense the present, combine it with knowledge of the past and simulate the future, has expanded at an extraordinary rate. But it is worth while taking a look at the limits of our knowing about the future to see if we really understand how to use these powerful tools and ask if we really are on the right track, if we really are mastering the tools required to help us design and build the better worlds we want to create. Swept up in the euphoria of technological progress, there is a risk of “irrational exuberance”, that we might overlook small issues of great consequence. For this reason it is useful occasionally to go back to basics and take stock of where we are and try to filter what is real from what is mere illusion. The first reality check concerns the nature of our ability to model the world, simulate it and make predictions. Despite the extraordinary progress we have already made, and the very reasonable expectation that by the end of this decade we will have succeeded in feats as complex as simulating the workings of an entire human brain, there are real limits to what we can simulate and what we can predict. So far I am aware of at least 3 hard barriers to success in modeling and simulation, and there may be many more. The first is a demonstration by the philosopher Carl Popper, about the impossibility of predicting the future. His argument is very elegant and relies on special relativity. Effectively he provides a proof that if the world is governed by the principles of relativity, then even if we have perfect theories, and infinitely fast computing capabilities, we will still never have enough information available to always make accurate predictions even arbitrarily small times into the future. Of course we will get away with ‘good enough’ most of the time, but he explains that there is a hard barrier between that and being able to guarantee getting it right every-time. The second barrier has to do with the discovery of quantum mechanics and has to do with the ‘knowability’ of nature. The initial insights came from the work of Heisenberg and have been debated ever since. The general consensus is that it is impossible to simultaneously possess knowledge of arbitrary accuracy about the state of the physical world. In physical terms it means that we may know the position of a particle with arbitrary accuracy at a given time, but only by sacrificing accuracy in our knowledge of its state of motion. This is a hard limit on what we can know about the world and seems to be no way around it. Once again we can get by pretty well for most intents and purposes but bear in mind that many modern engineered products rely on relativity and quantum physics for their operation. Both relativity and quantum physics have left the realm of science and entered the realm of engineering many years ago. So these limits we refer to are real, impact our work and are faced by engineers every day. The third major barrier is one which only really emerged or became clear in the 1970s with the discovery of what is called ‘deterministic chaos’. This has to do with a form of ‘unknowability’ that afflicts even old fashioned Newtonian systems. It does not rely on artifacts of relativity of quantum mechanics. It would exist even if quantum mechanics or relativity were not true. This insight into the limits of ‘knowability’ go back to the discovery of dynamical systems that can be modeled perfectly, for which solutions can be shown to always exist, but which can never be calculated by any algorithm with any degree of accuracy. These systems often appear random or chaotic, when they are absolutely deterministic. Even though we know everything about what drives these systems, we also know that we cannot simulate them in any reliable way. In practice what happens is that arbitrarily small errors in the measurement of the parameters of the system lead to arbitrarily large errors in the results of a simulation. These are three hard barriers to what we can know from measuring modeling and simulating the world. There are others. Despite these limits we do pretty well and simulation can be a very useful tool when used in the right way. The spectacular collapse of Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) run by Nobel Prize wining economists is the text-book case of what can happen when the models are applied outside of their domain of applicability. We could move on from discussion about errors in simulations based on models to the impact of errors in the model itself, but that is a subject for another day. Instead it is interesting to look at issues relating not so much to our ability to predict the future, but to our ability to control it. The future is highly subjective. No one creates it alone. Chance requires the cooperation or complicity of a great number of actors. It is an iron rule of change and it is true whether we are talking about change on the level of the global economy, a business unit or our personal circle of family and friends. To affect change it is not enough for one person to know about the future, they need to bring along everyone else by forming change-coalitions for want of a better word. The starting point is creating and sharing relevant knowledge. This touches upon the philosophy and mission of the Club of Amsterdam, and there are many techniques for doing this. But even this is not enough. Given all the knowledge and understanding in the world, people may then need to act. This is the real barrier to making change happen, especially when we are looking at long-terms issues that do require an immediate solution. Such issues tend to get put off until it is too late. Making change happen requires not so much progress in simulation but progress in understanding factors such as motivation, confidence, courage, the will to act in ones own interest. This was why it took about 50 years before clear and overwhelming evidence linking smoking to lung cancer became generally accepted. It is why even today people do things like smoking that they know will shorten their lives and limit the time they have to enjoy the good things of this life. Arguable it is also one of the reasons why progress is so difficult on issues such as climate change. Despite the incredible progress we have made in out ability to collect and analyze data, model and simulate the world, make predictions about the future, we are still very poor I moving from knowledge to action. The future of the future needs to include initiatives that more explicitly not only the barriers to knowing but the barriers to acting when the knowing battle has been won.
Club of Amsterdam Journal, April 2020, Issue 224
Content Richer countries must do more to help those already experiencing the climate crisis by Keith Hyams and Morten Fibieger Byskov Data analysis: the dawn of precision agriculture by Naïo Technologies The Future Now ShowEnergy Efficiency with Michael Pachlatko and Anina.net from Beijing talking about Corona The future of zoos News about the Future: Self-healing potassium batteries / UV-Disinfection Robot Green chemistry Recommended Book: Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy by Hazel Henderson BeThe Big Role of Small Business in Dealing with the Climate Crisis by Patrick Crehan Climate Change Success Story: Sahara Forest Project Futurist Portrait: Blake Morgan Club of Amsterdam SearchSubmit your articleContactSubscribe Welcome to the Club of Amsterdam Journal. The Future Now Show about Energy Efficiency with Michael Pachlatko “The European Commission’s proposed Green Deal is not lacking in ambition: mobilising 1 trillion Euros over the next decade will lead to a fundamentally different energy infrastructure across the continent. At the same time, the financial industry is increasingly put under scrutiny to disclose environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria in the portfolio reporting. How can we ensure this transition will indeed be to the benefit of all citizens, and what is needed to accelerate capital deployment specifically in critical areas like energy efficiency and renewable energy?” – Michael Pachlatko, VP Finance, Joule Assets Europe, Italy Special Anina.net from Beijing talking about CoronaBeThe Big Role of Small Business in Dealing with the Climate Crisis by Patrick Crehan(…) If you are involved in running a business, you are invited to provide feedback on your awareness and training needs in relation to energy and climate related audits and other measures that you can take to help address the climate crisis. You can do this by responding to this ONLINE SURVEY. You will be informed of the results of the survey in a future edition of the Club of Amsterdam Journal. The focus is on energy efficiency, but the survey provides an opportunity for you to shape the program based on your specific needs. (…) Felix B Bopp, Founder & Chairman Richer countries must do more to help those already experiencing the climate crisis By Keith Hyams, Reader in Political Theory and Interdisciplinary Ethics, University of Warwick and Morten Fibieger Byskov, Postdoctoral Researcher in International Politics, University of Warwick The climate crisis is not just about the future. It is a reality that many people, especially those living in low-income countries, already have to live with. As is well documented, global heating increases the risks of extreme weather events that threaten human lives and livelihoods. Some of these effects are already being seen. Our research over the past two years, for example, has brought us into contact with indigenous communities in Uganda whose livelihoods are increasingly precarious as a result of unreliable weather. We have also worked in informal settlements in Zambia where disease prevalence is accelerating as a result of climatic factors. Elsewhere, coastal communities are losing income and food due to storm surges that damage crucial infrastructures and homes. And inland agricultural communities are experiencing prolonged droughts. This affects the quality and quantity of crops and leads to water shortages that kill off livestock. That, in turn, causes food insecurity for millions of people, such as in the case of the decade-long drought in Kenya. Droughts similarly create water shortages for poor urban populations, as we have seen in our work in Cape Town. Elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, increased rainfall is flooding latrines, contaminating drinking water and spreading diseases. A child collects plastic bottles near a house destroyed during cyclone Idai, Beira, Mozambique. EPA-EFE/Karel Prinsloo Meanwhile, among mountain communities the world over, retreating glaciers threaten water supplies that depend on seasonal glacial melt-off. For these communities, adapting to climate breakdown – by, for example, improving water infrastructure and management, and diversifying income sources – is an immediate and pressing concern. To make matters worse, global inequalities have left the global south lacking crucial infrastructural and institutional development necessary to build resilience to climate breakdown. Addressing injustice Not nearly enough action has yet been taken. We can, at least, say that it is increasingly accepted that we must sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But this doesn’t go far enough. We also owe it to those communities already experiencing climate breakdown – often those who have done the least to contribute to the climate crisis but experience the worst of it – to help them adapt to the new reality. Our failure to do so constitutes an injustice that is currently inadequately recognised. A major issue at the recent COP25 climate conference concerned who should pay for this adaptation and for the loss and damage compensation in lower income countries. It was agreed that countries that have benefited from industrialisation should take some responsibility for their historical role in driving climate breakdown. This responsibility, then, falls primarily – if not solely – on the affluent, industrialised nations of the global north. But the adaptation finance that has so far been provided by these countries has been insufficient, and has often failed to reach the most vulnerable communities. Workers inspect a wheat crop following unseasonal storms near Amritsar, India, 17 April 2019. Raminder Pal Singh/EPA-EFE In order to address this, countries that have signed the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC), the main governing body for climate action, must actually uphold the commitments made in the Paris Agreement, which highlights adaptation and loss and damage compensation as equal pillars of climate justice alongside mitigation. Such action might include a closer collaboration with development programmes all over the world to promote development for adaptation, as well as the continued allocation of UNFCCC resources towards adaptation initiatives. Such initiatives should aim to build resilient infrastructures in ways that support socioeconomic equality, addressing both physical and social causes of vulnerability. They should also provide alternative and sustainable livelihoods for poor and climate vulnerable communities, such as those depending on fishing and farming. And they must protect existing ecological knowledge and practices, such as raised fields among indigenous farmers in the Bolivian Amazon, which are key to resilience. Representing the most vulnerable Another key element of this concerns representation. The voices of poor and marginalised communities are too easily lost in a climate debates in the global north. For more well-off countries, significant costs from climate breakdown are still mostly in the future, albeit rapidly approaching. And so that is how the climate crisis is predominantly viewed. Sidelined voices need to be platformed more. Some progress have been made in this regard on an international level, with the creation of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPPP) as an advisory body to the UNFCCC. But such platforms are lacking at most national and local levels. Building on this, it is necessary to create opportunities for climate vulnerable communities to be actively involved in formulating both global and local visions of climate justice. These visions must give equal consideration to their present experiences of living with climate breakdown and the need to facilitate adaptation not only in the future, but in the here and now. In the case of the Batwa Indigenous Peoples of Uganda, we have found that national adaptation plans largely ignore the interests of marginalised groups like them. Sometimes, they even make their situation worse, or violate basic human rights. In an attempt to help them adapt to climate breakdown, the Batwa, for example, were forcibly relocated from their native lands in the rainforest to areas that, while having some access to infrastructure, lack proper housing and arable land. In many lower income countries, climate breakdown is already bringing very significant costs. But for many in the global north, the worst is still to come, and much of the focus of climate action is still on mitigation. Somehow, perspectives need to change: the climate crisis is an issue of global and social justice. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Data analysis: the dawn of precision agriculture By Naïo Technologies Digital technologies are now part of everyday life for farmers: small and large agricultural businesses, young and not-so-young farmers, almost everyone is using them. The sector is therefore producing a wealth of data, which can be used to improve economic and environmental performance and guide decision-making. However, the digital transition is only just beginning, and questions are still being raised. Transforming data into decision-making tools GPS, drones, robots equipped with sensors, mobile applications and connected devices are all tools that facilitate the everyday lives of farmers, helping them optimise the running of their businesses and make informed decisions. Monitoring fields, herds and buildings, examining weather and market developments and forecasting yields, agriculture as a whole generates a vast amount of valuable data. With the availability of this “agricultural data”, the stakes are high across the entire sector. “There is much to do on traceability, with high societal expectations for greater transparency on food products. The data collected can also be used to increase the competitiveness and productivity of farms, making it possible to enhance both their economic and environmental performance” states Guillaume Joyau,Head of Research & Innovation at the Department for Economy and Sustainable Development of the FNSEA (Fédération Nationale des Syndicats d’Exploitants Agricoles – French Federation of Farmers’ Unions). He also notes the impact of using digital technology and data analysis on the everyday lives of farmers, reducing on-call time and informing them of incidents quickly, and often remotely. “The value for farmers is very real. Being able, for example, to observe the health of crops, via sensors passing very close to the plants, means they can plan targeted actions in case of disease”, concludes Jean Inderchit, Product Manager at Naïo Technologies. Step-by-step digitisation Although the use of data is already relatively widespread on vineyards, farm digitisation is, generally, still in its infancy, and barriers remain. Firstly, the investment costs, equipment renewal cycles being staggered over one, or sometimes even two, decades. Also, the necessary infrastructure deployment for good network coverage, some areas still being largely incompatible with constant connectivity. And there are still no standards for the tools and protocols used, making communication and interoperability between different data collection systems complex. And then, using the data collected in the fields raises yet more questions. “Although it is the farmers who are actually producing this data, through their work, the analyse, aggregation and cross-referencing with other data and then transformation into usable information very often falls to third-party specialists”, explains Guillaume Joyau. This raises questions about how the data is used, its portability and even its storage… The DATA-AGRI charter and label, created by the Conseil de l’Agriculture Française (French Agriculture Council) (of which the FNSEA is a member), aim to establish a code of ethics and fair practices for agricultural digital technology. “Ensuring transparency and guaranteeing that farmers have control of how their data is used, creates favourable conditions for data use right along the chain. These are the key issues in building the emerging ecosystem” sums up Guillaume Joyau. Emergence of “Smart Agriculture” What is more, the analysis and interpretation of “Agricultural Big Data” today represents an opportunity to profoundly revolutionise agricultural practices. “The data collection must have a very precise and useful aim to offer genuine assistance in the running of a farm. If an autonomous robot can, at the same time as weeding lettuce plots, count the plants and determine their location, providing farmers with maps of their fields, the number of heads and the average diameter, this provides farmers with an extremely high level of information to optimise the manner in which they grow their plants”, illustrates Jean Inderchit of Naïo. Yield forecasts, practice improvements and even early detection of disease, making it possible to act locally to prevent the spraying of products that are harmful to the environment and the user, are all areas in which the data can be highly effective, opening the way to precision agriculture. For Guillaume Joyau, it is clear that “digital technology is a means of responding to many of the new issues with which we are faced. Climate change, for example, brings different diseases, different monitoring and new emerging risks, which digital tools can help us manage. And in the same way that mechanisation transformed agriculture in the 60s, these technologies will certainly lead us to change the way we approach production and the agricultural landscape, by designing new models”. Naïo Technologies develops and markets robots for agriculture and viticulture. We also hold a range of electric tools for weeding, hoeing and harvesting to help farmers efficiently collect the fruit of their hard work.Our robots assist farmers in their daily tasks in order to relieve their workload and increase profitability while reducing impact on the environment. The Future Now Show Shape the future now, where near-future impact counts and visions and strategies for preferred futures start. – Club of Amsterdam Do we rise above global challenges? Or do we succumb to them? The Future Now Show explores how we can shape our future now – where near-future impact counts. We showcase strategies and solutions that create futures that work. Every month we roam through current events, discoveries, and challenges – sparking discussion about the connection between today and the futures we’re making – and what we need, from strategy to vision – to make the best ones. April 2020 Energy EfficiencywithMichael Pachlatko “The European Commission’s proposed Green Deal is not lacking in ambition: mobilising 1 trillion Euros over the next decade will lead to a fundamentally different energy infrastructure across the continent. At the same time, the financial industry is increasingly put under scrutiny to disclose environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria in the portfolio reporting. How can we ensure this transition will indeed be to the benefit of all citizens, and what is needed to accelerate capital deployment specifically in critical areas like energy efficiency and renewable energy?” Credits Michael Pachlatko, VP Finance, Joule Assets Europe, Italywwww.eu.jouleassets.comeQuad platformwww.eu.jouleassets.com/about-equad H2020 LAUNCH projectwww.launch2020.eu April 2020SpecialAnina.net from Beijing talking about Corona Credits Anina Net, Founder, anina.netwww.anina.netFounder, 360Fashion Networkwww.360fashion.net The Future Now Show The future of zoos Jo-Anne McArthur – Captive Animals and the Future of Zoos Jo-Anne McArthur is an award-winning photographer, author, and educator based in Toronto. She has been documenting our complex relationship with animals around the globe for fifteen years; She was sharing in her photography exhibition that questions the future of zoos and the ethics surrounding animals in captivity. A Vision of a Zoo to Preserve Wildlife Few animals in modern zoos have to spend their entire lives behind bars and in the best cases, they can move around in spacious artificial landscapes based on their natural habitats. The World Zoo Conservation Strategy stipulates that the main priority of zoos today should be nature and species conservation and public awareness. So how effective are they at this? Horizon explores the existence of Zoos – Horizon: Should We Close Our Zoos? – BBC Two Liz Bonnin looks at the science behind zoos, what does it say about animal welfare? How good are zoos at conservation? How should they change in the future? News about the Future Self-healing potassium batteries In research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute demonstrate how they can overcome a persistent challenge known as dendrites to create a metal battery that performs nearly as well as a lithium-ion battery, but relies on potassium — a much more abundant and less expensive element. Batteries contain two electrodes — a cathode on one end and an anode on the other. If you were to look inside a lithium-ion battery you’d typically find a cathode made of lithium cobalt oxide and an anode made of graphite. During charging and discharging, lithium ions flow back and forth between these two electrodes. In this setup, if researchers were to simply replace lithium cobalt oxide with potassium cobalt oxide, performance would drop. Potassium is a larger and heavier element and, therefore, less energy dense. Instead, the Rensselaer team looked to boost potassium’s performance by also replacing the graphite anode with potassium metal. “In terms of performance, this could rival a traditional lithium-ion battery,” said Nikhil Koratkar, an endowed professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering at Rensselaer and the lead author on this paper. UV-Disinfection Robot The UVD Robots provide efficient and automated disinfection solutions for hospitals and life science customers. Application of UVD Robots in hospitals patient and operating rooms save patients’ lives by reducing Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI’s) and operational costs for hospitals. Claus Risager, CEO of Blue Ocean Robotics and Chairman of the Board of UVD Robots, calls it atremendous satisfaction for employees, management and the circle of owners to witness the deployment of the UVD Robot. “We are now helping solve one of the biggest problems of our time, preventing the spread of bacteria and viruses with a robot that saves lives in hospitals every day.” Green chemistry Source: Wageningen University 24 May 2019 he industry is seeking alternatives to petroleum-based products to help achieve the climate targets. Substitutes for petroleum can be extracted from biomass obtained from agricultural and organic waste streams. Scientists from Wageningen University & Research have been developing such green alternatives for use in cosmetics, detergents, paints and plastics. This will not only reduce CO2 emissions, but it will also result in a healthier environment for humans, animals and plants. Dishwasher tablets contain polyacrylates, which are petroleum-based chemicals. Researchers from Wageningen University & Research have developed a product based on sugar beet pulp that can be used as a green alternative to these chemicals and help the industry to reduce its CO2 emissions. The new product is also biodegradable and less harmful to the environment. ‘So we’ve killed two birds with one stone!’ says Jacco van Haveren of Wageningen University & Research. The Programme Manager for Biobased Chemicals and Fuels is involved in the development of biobased products. The chemical industry is seeking raw materials based on biomass to replace petroleum. Examples of these materials are agricultural and organic waste flows. Van Haveren believes they should not delay with the next step, which is to test the new ingredients to ensure that they are harmless and safe. Harmful substances Products like cosmetics, detergents, paint and plastic can contain toxic or potentially toxic substances and hormone-disrupting softening agents. These substances can be harmful to humans, animals and the environment. One example of such a substance is the resin used to fix tram rails in their bedding. ‘The resin used is based on isocyanates, which are harmful to the workers who install the rails. We have replaced the harmful product with a resin that is partly based on vegetable oils,’ explains Van Haveren. The new resin is currently being tested in practice. Biodegradable bio-plastic The researchers are also trying to find new biobased ingredients for cosmetics and personal care products. Moreover, many products and packaging materials contain non-degradable plastics. ‘We need to increase the use of biobased plastics and recycle as much as we can. Where recycling is not possible, or if the plastic ends up in the environment, we need it to degrade more quickly and completely so that it does not pollute the environment. This is particularly important for products that are only used once or for a very short time,’ says Van Haveren. His research team is hoping to find building blocks that can be used to create sustainable alternatives to packaging materials.“ Wageningen is truly unique in that it conducts research into fossil-free, sustainable alternatives to chemical products that are also safe and harmless to the environment. We have the world’s most extensive and long-running research programme in this area.” – Jacco van Haveren, programme manager Biobased Chemicals and Fuels Business and government Much of the research takes place in collaboration with businesses. ‘Some industrial partners do not only want to achieve the necessary CO2 reductions; they also genuinely want to go greener,’ says Van Haveren. For many major chemical companies, however, this is still a step too far. ‘They are willing to reduce CO2 emissions by deploying biomass, but they also want to continue manufacturing the current petroleum-based products. It is hard for them to change.’ The government is also supporting research into alternatives to ‘substances of very high concern’ and harmful substances, a field in which Wageningen has been active for some time now. ‘Wageningen is truly unique in that it conducts research into fossil-free, sustainable alternatives to chemical products that are also safe and harmless to the environment. We have the world’s most extensive and long-running research programme in this area.’ Recommended Book Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economyby Hazel Henderson With insight, clarity, warmth, and enthusiasm Hazel Henderson announces the mature presence of the green economy. Mainstream media and big business interests have sidelined its emergence and evolution to preserve the status quo. Throughout Ethical Markets Henderson weaves statistics and analysis with profiles of entrepreneurs, environmentalists, scientists, and professionals. Based on interviews conducted on her longstanding public television series, these profiles celebrate those who have led the highly successful growth of green businesses around the world. Ethical Markets is the ultimate sourcebook on today’s thriving green economy. The Big Role of Small Business in Dealing with the Climate Crisis By Patrick Crehan, CEO and Founder, Crehan, Kusano & Associates On 28 November 2019, days before the UN COP25 in Madrid, the European Parliament passed a resolution declaring a climate and environmental emergency. The conversation had changed from being one about climate change to talk about the climate crisis. After a year of extreme weather events that saw people from the EU and across the world dying from heatwaves, property and lives lost due to uncontrollable wildfires and more property and lives lost due to uncontrollable flooding, it was time to call out what Greta Thunberg called an existential threat to humanity. The media was full of discussion about the need for immediate action, by everyone citizens and business as well as governments, then along came the COVID-19 crisis, and it has dominated the news ever since. We don’t know how long it will take to get out from under the shadow of this global pandemic, but we do know that when we do, the climate crisis will still be there, just as urgent as it was before, and still in need of attention. Anyone in business needs to know what they can do about the climate crisis. This is as true of small business owners and managers as it is for giant corporations. Every business has a role to play and any see it as a catalyst for change at the level of its business model, and in terms of the way it relates to its clients, customers and employees. Received wisdom has it that small businesses have no time and no resources to devote to climate action. But this is not necessarily true. Recent conversations with Fréderic Mathout of CO2 Strategy and Mathieu Cribellier of CO2 Logic indicate that there is growing demand from small businesses for climate, energy and carbon audit services. As independent auditors they usually start by talking with the business owners, managers and employees about the concern of citizens for the climate and the environment, for the way they live and work, for the products and services they consume. This provides the starting point for examining and updating the way the business operates. The formal audit identifies opportunities for aligning operations with the needs of society based on improving their energy efficiency and energy management, switching to renewable energy sources and reducing their overall carbon footprint, in some case by planting trees. As a general rule, climate change is caused by the presence of greenhouse gases such as CO2 in the atmosphere. These are mainly due the way we use energy derived from fossil fuels. The contribution of a business to climate change can roughly be equated to the amount of CO2 emitted either directly by the business, due to energy consumed by the buildings it occupies, by its industrial processes, by its use of vehicles for transport and logistics, as well as the CO2 emitted indirectly based on products and services it consumes. Switch to renewables. This may be as simple as switching electricity supplier. It may mean electrifying the company fleet, switching to biodiesel or adopting strategies based-on bicycle logistics. It may also mean becoming a prosumer or joining a renewable energy cooperative. Reduce the use of energy or increase the energy efficiency of key processes. This might mean investing in better equipment, installing automated systems for energy management, re-inventing key processes and re-training staff to operate with a view to optimizing energy consumption in some way. Finally, it is also possible to de-carbonize activities by simply planting trees. It is interesting to note that there is an international market for planting trees, one that creates the possibility of planting a mixture of trees that allow the business to de-carbonize much of activities at the least cost financially, while completing the project with a planting strategy in line with the restoration of local eco-systems. The reality is that there are many things that even the smallest business can do. These efforts are not perfect and can always be improved; the threat of greenwashing is handled by having a certified auditor that can provide objective proof of the CO2 savings made. Energy efficiency measures provide cost savings and play an important role in providing access to sources of credit or investment for projects related to the energy, climate and environment. But the real pay-off goes way beyond those cost savings, it can have a transformative effect on the image of the company, on its communication and marketing, on the way it relates to its clients, customers and employees. The challenge for owners and managers of small businesses is to navigate the vast range of options available and choose a course of action that aligns with other business goals, such as responding to the needs of its clients who may want to green their supply chains, responding to the needs of customers who want to live in a more climate friendly way, and responding to the needs of employees who want to feel proud of the overall impact they have on the world in which they live. An independent energy, climate or carbon audit is a good place to start. If you are involved in running a business, you are invited to provide feedback on your awareness and training needs in relation to energy and climate related audits and other measures that you can take to help address the climate crisis. You can do this by responding to this ONLINE SURVEY. You will be informed of the results of the survey in a future edition of the Club of Amsterdam Journal. The focus is on energy efficiency, but the survey provides an opportunity for you to shape the program based on your specific needs. The survey has been created by INNOVEAS, an EU funded project to develop training courses and capacity building material aimed at small and medium sized enterprise, and intended to help them take climate action. If this is of interest for you, you are invited to join its LinkedIn group, Twitter feed and YouTube Channel for updates. If have friends or colleagues who are small business owners or managers (business with up to 250 employees or a turnover of up to €40M), please forward this article to them, tell them that there is much they can do to contribute to fighting the climate crisis and urge them to provide feedback on their possible training needs. 25 March, 2020Patrick Crehan of CKA is a member of the INNOVEAS project consortium Climate Change Success Story: Sahara Forest Project In 2050 about 9.3 billion people will share our planet. Already today the world is facing intertwined challenges of food, water and energy security, coupled with climate change, desertification and shrinking forests. None of these challenges are without solutions. At the same time it is ever clearer that we cannot afford to pursue responses to one challenge that come at the expense of another. The greatest challenges of our time are closely interlinked and the same must be true for their answers. To borrow the words of Albert Einstein: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Considerable parts of what are now considered desert areas were formerly vegetated. The army of Julius Caesar conquered much of the African territory north of the Sahara, turning forests into farmland. For some 200 years North Africa supplied around two-thirds of Rome’s total grain supply. This resulted in deforestation, increased salinity in the soil and loss of minerals. In the same way that the extractive use of resources has contributed to the loss of natural vegetation, The Sahara Forest Project proposes to use restorative practices to establish vegetation in arid areas and reverse the trend of desertification. This process of restorative growth will be catalyzed by combining already existing and proven environmental technologies, such as the evaporation of saltwater to create cooling and distilled fresh water (i.e. in a saltwater cooled greenhouse) and solar thermal energy technologies. The technological combination in The Sahara Forest Project is designed to utilize what we have enough of to produce what we need more of, using deserts, saltwater and CO2 to produce food, freshwater and energy. The Sahara Forest Project proposes to establish groups of interconnected economic activities in different low lying desert areas around the world. The simple core of the concept is an infrastructure for bringing saltwater inland. A Sahara Forest Project facility will be successful only when it is well integrated with the local communities. In addition to mitigating effects of climate change and contributing to conflict reduction in resource-scarce areas, the SFP facilities will provide employment for both high- and low-skilled workers. Programs and facilities for knowledge transfer and training will be established to ensure that long-term social and economic development opportunities are created. The Sahara Forest Project is not too good to be true. It is an integrated system designed to harvest technological synergies while minimizing waste. The design is founded on the premise that we must find a more holistic approach to successfully tackle challenges related to energy, food, and water security.. Futurist Portrait: Blake Morgan Blake Morgan is a leader in customer experience. She is a keynote speaker and customer experience futurist and author of two books on customer experience. Her bestselling second book is called “The Customer Of The Future: 10 Guiding Principles For Winning Tomorrow’s Business” (HarperCollins). Her first book was “More is More: How The Best Companies Work Harder And Go Farther To Create Knock Your Socks Off Customer Experiences.” She has worked with Comcast, Allstate, Genentech, Accor Hotels, Accenture, Adobe, Cisco, Parker Hannifin, Ericsson, Verizon, Omron and more. Blake is a guest lecturer at Columbia University, the University of California, San Diego as well as adjunct faculty at the Rutgers executive education MBA program. Blake contributes to Forbes, the Harvard Business Review and Hemispheres Magazine. She is the host of The Modern Customer Podcast and a weekly customer experience video series on YouTube. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband, daughter and their two dogs. 50 Leading Female Futuristsby Blake Morgan Futurists are looking ahead to prepare themselves, their organizations and their audiences for how the world could change. And as they delve into the future, they have a chance to shape it. The Company Of The Future Has A Soul printable version
Ecological Architecture – some thoughts
By Patrick Crehan, Director, Club of Amsterdam, CEO, Crehan, Kusano & Associates sprl March 2008 Thoughts about the event about the future of Ecological Architecture 1) The term ‘ecological architecture’ is not well defined it refers to something that lies beyond green or sustainable architecture. It demands more in terms of environmental and human performance. 2) Existing standards for sustainable/green/ecological/good architecture are inadequate. They set the bar too low in terms of performance. They are ineffective in that they attenuate the aspirations of building owners when commissioning. Owners who want to achieve a certain rating or certification with respect to a recognized standard, feel no need to go beyond the highest rating, even if this could be done at little extra cost. 3) The building is one of the basic units for architecture. The challenge of ‘ecological architecture’ exists at many levels – building, urban environment, city, country or planet. Question: Do standards exist at these different levels? How do they interact? 4) Though technical, the issue of measurement is important for the reason that you cannot manage, compare or improve what you cannot measure. Question: What are the dimensions of performance for ‘ecological’ architecture’? … at the level of the day-to-day running and maintenance of the system? … over the life-cycle of a ‘project’? … at different scales? 5) High performance architecture (at building level anyway) does not have to be expensive. It is possible to build ‘zero-energy’ or ‘autonomous’ buildings at no extra cost. The cost structure will be different from conventional approaches in that some items cost more but are off-set by savings elsewhere. 6) To have a real impact there is a need to educate people and help them make appropriate changes to the way they live. 7) The real issue for large scale adoption under current conditions is the retro-fitting of existing buildings. Making high-performance buildings from green-field sites is relatively easy. Question: Is there a role here for standards to be required of landlords or of government in public procurement? 8) One of the challenges of adopting ecological architecture is resistance to the substitution of consumables. The ‘radiator’ is an old consumable, often not the best solution to a problem, but other solutions are possible such as in-floor systems for heating and cooling. This has been possible for many years, but take-up has been low. Another example is in the design of sun-screens. Those that roll from the bottom to the top are much more efficient than those that go from the top to the bottom, but they are generally not employed. 9) Governments have no incentive to reduce the energy cost of buildings. Energy is taxable and ecological architecture ultimately means the loss of a source of revenue. The enemy is not ‘government’ in that governments need taxes to run society. But they need to recognize an alternative. The same force is at work in the case of alcohol and tobacco. Question: What would happen if overnight all taxes of energy, alcohol and tobacco disappeared? What would this mean in terms of loss of revenues for taxation to pay for healthcare, social security, school and hospitals? What could be done to replace these revenues in an ageing post-petroleum society? What would such a society look like and where would it generate the taxes to cover its own cost of social infrastructure. Maybe the real revolution is not in building standards, but in a whole new vision for organizing society that includes a new model for taxation?
Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2007
by World Economic Forum Highlights Switzerland takes the leading position in the TTCI rankings. Switzerland is an extremely safe country, with excellent health and hygiene indicators, as well as environmental regulation that is among the most stringent and effective in the world. And in a country that has some of the most well regarded hotel management schools in the world, the quality of the country’s human resources is second to none, ensuring an adequate supply of high quality staff for the industry. The air and ground transport and tourism infrastructure are also among the best in the world, making it very easy and comfortable for visitors to move around the country. Further, the country’s natural and cultural resources are among the richest in the world (the country is home to six World Heritage sites, and much protected land area). Switzerland is one of the only high-income countries, together with Spain, that is among the top ten countries with regards to the prioritization of travel and tourism. All of this comes together to make Switzerland a very attractive place to develop the travel and tourism sector. Austria and Germany, ranked 2nd and 3rd, respectively, are among the top three countries, together with Denmark, regarding the quality of environmental regulation, and they are among the top four in terms of safety and security in the country, with very low crime and violence, and reliable police services. And most strikingly they hold the top two spots in the area of natural and cultural resources attributable to several World Heritage sites in both countries (especially in Germany), and large nationally protected national parks and such areas. Germany is rated as doing better with regards to the quality of transport infrastructure, particularly ground transport infrastructure, where it is rated number one, whereas Austria’s tourism specific infrastructure is rated as the best in the world, ahead of Germany. The United States is ranked 5th in the index. The US is among the top three of the 124 countries covered regarding natural and cultural resources, with a large number of World Heritage sites (20 of them), as well as in the percentage of protected land area, making the country an attractive destination. The country also has an excellent infrastructure and business environment for Travel & Tourism, ranked number one in the overall subindex: it has the most well-developed air transport infrastructure in the world, by a significant margin, as well as excellent tourism infrastructure. The country’s human resources also get excellent marks (ranked 5th overall). It should be noted, however, that hiring foreign labor is highlighted as difficult (ranked 43rd), and this is an area of concern due to the seasonality of much of the tourism labor force. France, the most travelled to destination in the world, is ranked just outside the top-ten at 12th place. The country’s strengths lie in areas such as natural and cultural resources (with for example 30 world heritage sites, among the highest in the world), the quality of the air and ground transport infrastructure (both ranked 4th), and health and hygiene (9th). However, these strengths are offset by weaknesses, such as the country’s policy rules and regulations (ranked 40th), and the general attitude of the French towards visitors (ranked a very low 122nd overall). Spain, a country that has seen an impressive increase in tourism over the years, is ranked 15th overall, just behind France within Europe. Spain’s strengths can be traced to its excellent tourism infrastructure (ranked 2nd) and air transport infrastructure (ranked 7th), as well as excellent natural and cultural resources (with the second highest number of World Heritage sites in the world – second only to Italy). And Spain is notably ranked 3rd overall with regards to the prioritization of the travel and tourism sector by the country, the top ranked European country in this area, demonstrating the recognition within Spain of the importance of the sector as an important driver of economic growth. Italy, the country with the highest number of World Heritage sites in the world ranks a mediocre 33rd in the TTCI ranking. The country is strongly assessed for its cultural aspects, and its very good tourism infrastructure. However, Italy’s T&T competitiveness also suffers from several weaknesses, which bring the overall rating down. This includes policy rules and regulations, where it ranks a dismal 70th, below most European countries due to very strong foreign ownership restrictions, and rules governing FDI. Further, the government is not seen to be prioritizing the sector (ranked 92nd). Within Asia, Hong Kong is the highest ranked country (6th), followed closely by Singapore (8th). These economies have excellent infrastructure: the ground transport infrastructure of both are assessed as among the top three in the world, and their air transport infrastructure also gets high marks. They also have top notch human resources, providing healthy and well educated people to work in the sector. With regards to the policy environment, they hold the top two places out of all countries, with regulatory environments that are extremely conducive to the development of the travel and tourism industry (policies facilitating foreign ownership and foreign direct investment, well protected property rights, few visa restrictions). Further, they are among the safest countries of all assessed with regards to crime and security issues. Hong Kong is unsurpassed with regards to the quality of health and hygiene, and Singapore is ranked second with regards to the overall prioritization of travel and tourism. Australia is ranked 13th overall, just ahead of New Zealand (14th). Both countries are characterized by excellent natural and cultural resources, with much nationally protected land area and in the case of Australia, many World Heritage sites as well (16, placing the country 12th). And given the importance of the natural environment for much of their leisure tourism, it is notable that they also have stringent environmental regulations. Further, both countries are characterized by a relatively strong prioritization of the tourism sector, and effective destination marketing campaigns. Malaysia, ranked 31st, has good ground transport infrastructure, and excellent price competitiveness, ranked 2nd overall on this indicator, with low ticket taxes and airport charges, low comparative fuel prices, and a favourable tax regime. The country is perceived as quite safe (24th), although health and hygiene indicators lag behind many other countries in the region, with in particular a low physician density. The country’s policy environment is measured as relatively conducive to the development of the sector (ranked 26th), and the government is prioritizing travel and tourism, with one of the highest travel and tourism fair attendances in the world (ranked 2nd), and an excellent evaluation for its destination marketing campaigns (ranked 6th). Thailand is ranked 43rd in the TTCI, just behind Korea (ranked 42nd). Thailand benefits from a very friendly attitude towards tourists (ranked 6th), and the sector is indeed prioritized by the government (ranked 14th) with, similar to Malaysia, excellent destination marketing campaigns and an effort to ensure national presence at major travel and tourism fairs internationally. However, important weaknesses remain, particularly regarding the quality of transport and tourism infrastructure, both of which remain relatively underdeveloped. India is ranked 65th overall. The country has some clear strengths, mainly linked to cultural endowments, ranked a very high 7th overall with regards to the number of World Heritage sites in the country, and its famously welcoming attitude towards foreign travellers. The country also benefits from excellent price competitiveness, ranked 6th overall, with low ticket taxes and airport charges and low prices in the economy as a whole. And with regards to the policy environment, property rights are indeed well protected, and foreign ownership is authorized, although the stringency of visa requirements places India a very low 106th overall. However, the tourism infrastructure remains underdeveloped. Further, despite government and industry efforts to promote the country abroad (India is ranked 4th with regards to tourism fair attendance), and the exposure given to recent promotional campaigns, the assessment of marketing and branding to attract tourists remains mediocre (ranked 59th). China is ranked 71st in the TTCI. Although China is ranked 3rd in terms of World Heritage sites, and 11th in terms of price competitiveness, it has a policy environment that is not at all conducive for T&T development (ranked a low 97th), with property rights that are not sufficiently protected, strong foreign ownership restrictions and stringent visa requirements. Environmental regulation also gets low marks, with the government not seen to be prioritizing the development of the sector in a sustainable way. China has a relatively good air transport infrastructure (ranked 36th), and ground infrastructure which is ranked 45th overall. However, tourism infrastructure remains highly underdeveloped (ranked 113th). There are also some safety and security concerns (83rd), as well as issues related to health and hygiene (84th), with a low physician density and access to improved sanitation and drinking water which is low by international standards. Barbados, at 29th, is the highest-ranked country in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. Barbados is ranked 2nd overall with regards to national tourism perception, with a positive attitude towards tourists, and the value of tourism in the country. The government is prioritizing the sector to a very high degree (ranked 2nd), spending a high percentage of GDP on the sector, and ensuring quality destination marketing campaigns. Further, the country has a regulatory environment that is quite conducive to the development of the sector, with low visa requirements, and very open bilateral Air Service Agreements. Costa Rica, ranked 41st, is second in the LAC region. The country’s strengths are in the area of natural resources, ranked 12th on the percentage of nationally protected land areas. Its policy environment is very conducive to the development of the sector (ranked 17th), with open bilateral Air Service Agreements, low visa requirements and an environment that welcomes foreign investment. However, safety and security remains a concern (67th). And while tourism infrastructure is quite well developed (36), ground transport infrastructure remains highly underdeveloped (93rd), particularly roads and ports, making travel in the country somewhat difficult. Mexico, in 49th place, gets quite high marks for its natural and cultural resources (ranked 29th) with nationally protected areas and a large number of World Heritage sites. This “natural attractiveness” is reinforced by a relatively good policy environment for the development of travel and tourism, ranked 33rd overall with low visa requirements, and low foreign ownership restrictions, for example. Mexico also has relatively well developed air transport infrastructure (32nd), although its tourism infrastructure (47th) and ground transport (62nd) get lower marks. And its price competitiveness is ranked a low 85th, in particular due to high ticket taxes and airport charges. Safety and security is also a major concern for the country, with high levels of crime and violence. Brazil is ranked 59th overall. The country benefits from some excellent cultural and natural resources. And the air transport network gets relatively high marks (28th), as well as measures of the dedicated tourism infrastructure (also 28th), such as the presence of major car rental companies. However, the general ground transport network remains underdeveloped with the quality of roads, ports and railroads ranked 96th, 88th and 81st respectively. Safety and security also continues to be of serious concern, ranked 90th overall, as is the case in a number of countries in the region. More generally, the overall policy environment is not particularly conducive to the development of the sector, ranked 75th, with, for example, highly stringent visa requirements, and foreign ownership restrictions. Among countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranks highest, at 18th, well ahead of the second ranked country, Israel at 32nd place. While UAE ranks quite low with regards to natural and cultural resources (80th), it makes up for this with a number of strengths in other areas measured by the index. For example, national tourism perception is rated 3rd in the world, with an extremely positive attitude towards foreign travellers, and pride in the value of the country for tourism. The country also does very well with regards to price competitiveness, ranked 8th in this area, despite a very high price level, due to low ticket taxes and airport charges, low taxation more generally, and low fuel price levels in the country. The UAE’s infrastructure also gets good marks, particularly air transport infrastructure, ranked a very high 8th out of all countries assessed. The government is seen as prioritizing the sector strongly (ranked 4th), and carrying out very effective destination marketing campaigns (ranked 1st). Egypt, a country so rich in cultural heritage, ranks a low 58th overall in the TTCI. And this is despite a number of clear strengths beyond the cultural richness. Egypt has excellent price competitiveness, ranked 5th overall with low comparative prices overall, including fuel prices. Further, the government is prioritizing the sector, with relatively high government spending on travel & tourism and ensuring the country’s presence at major tourism fairs. This level of prioritization is reflected in some policy areas such as the favourable policy on visa requirements. On the other hand, the country’s infrastructure is underdeveloped, particularly tourism infrastructure (85th). An upgrading of the quality of the country’s human resources available to work in the sector, ranked 69th, would also improve the country’s overall travel and tourism competitiveness. Mauritius is by far the most competitive country in the sub-Saharan Africa region with regards to Travel & Tourism, ranked 39th overall. The general attitude of the population to foreign travellers is quite welcoming, and this is buttressed by great support by the government, which demonstrates the greatest prioritization of the industry of all countries analyzed. The country’s tourism infrastructure is quite well developed, with a high concentration of hotel rooms and many major car rental companies operating in the country. On the negative side, the policy environment could be improved, ranked a low 63rd in this area due to foreign ownership restrictions and rules on foreign direct investment, as well as a visa regime that could be simplified to allow foreign tourists to enter the country with less hassle. South Africa is the region’s second-strongest performer, ranked 62nd in the TTCI. The country is endowed with a significant number of World Heritage sites, and infrastructure in the country is also relatively well developed, particularly air and ground transport infrastructure. Some aspects of the regulatory environment are conducive to the sector’s development, such as the excellent protection of property rights and visa requirements that are not extremely onerous. And the country is assessed as carrying out very effective destination marketing. However, there are also some areas of weakness that have brought down South Africa’s overall ranking. Safety and security is of serious concern (ranked 95th), as well as health and hygiene, where it is ranked 82nd overall, with a low physician density, as well as concerns with regards to access to improved sanitation and drinking water. You can download the full report click here