Seit Ende der vergangenen Woche gibt es auf Instagram einen Account mit dem Handle 12062020olympia[1]. Innerhalb weniger Stunden zog der Account so viele Follower an, dass Instagram ihn für einen Bot hielt und vorübergehend deaktivierte[2]. Der Account gehört zu einer Crowdfunding-Kampagne auf Startnext, die Geld für “Die größte BürgerInnenversammlung Deutschlands im Olympiastadion Berlin mit bis zu 90.000 Menschen” einsammelt.
Last Friday, in many countries around the world, millions were out on the streets to protest for action against climate change. In Germany, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in more than 500 towns[1]. Over the weekend, newspapers and social media buzzed with photos showing large crowds in public places; many of my friends and acquaintances posted their own snapshots from the protest marches.
A rupture is haunting Europe. Less than 36 hours ago, half of a country at the heart of the continent voted to leave the common institutional framework known as “European Union”[1]. Of course, everybody reacted (and is still reacting), from established media[2] to social networks[3], from financial markets[4] to cash machines in remote places[5], from politicians all over the world[6] to the proverbial woman (or man) on the street[7]. There are those who cheer and imagine a series of further -exits, prefixed by almost any imaginable letter in our European alphabets.
In my last post, I defeated the view that there could be any truth(s) about sustainability. In closing, I also conceded that it would be disheartening to conclude from this that nothing can be done. Indeed: Practically everyone who’s ever felt a whiff of the magic of sustainability also intuitively feels that something needs to be done, urgently and with vigour. If we accept that people (and by consequence, organisations) do feel this urge[1], it is also acceptable to look for answers to how people (and organisations) can best achieve what they want with regard to sustainability
The current edition of Harvard Business Review features an article with the heavy title “The truth about CSR”. I disagree with many arguments in this article. I’m also generally skeptical about any claim to “the truth”, no matter about what. More importantly, however, I think that sustainability – and, by consequence, it’s organisational manifestation as CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) – is an area in which it is particularly unlikely that any truth(s) can be asserted for good.
