Content of the book
Sustainable Development... a Global Opportunity
Sustainable development is hot and certainly not just another hype! It is more of a rapidly expanding trend, which is destined to give a positive twist to both our own world and that of our children. After all, everyone wants to live in a clean, healthy, safe and sustainable world, which they can pass on to their children with a clear conscience. Everyone enjoys aesthetically designed products, tasty, healthy and affordable food and low energy bills.
Sustainable development places economics and ecology hand in hand. Sustainable products, manufactured in accordance with the Cradle to Cradle protocol, are economically feasible, as no valuable raw materials are lost. Everything is food, according to William McDonough and Michael Braungart, the conceptual fathers of the Cradle to Cradle protocol. Products and semi-manufactured products are biodegradable or can be recycled in a manner that retains their original quality. This means we will never face acute shortages of natural resources, while the technology is already available to produce renewable energy using the sun, wind and biofuels.
In Sustainable Development... a Global Opportunity, Anne-Marie Rakhorst provides a captivating account of a world full of optimism and faith. A range of sustainably developed products and sustainable technologies are discussed as testimony to the fact that a sustainable world is within everyone’s reach. Consider, for example, biodegradable clothing, generating energy using a dance floor, the air-conditioned bed, and the microCHP which serves as a personal household power station. As a human being and an entrepreneur, she has both feet firmly on the ground. She does not describe a sort of utopia or a dream, but a new reality with a certain future.
Interviewees
Michael Braungart is a professor, chemical engineer and the founder of the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA). In 1995, together with the American architect William McDonough, he founded MBDC, a company that initiates sustainable product design and manufacturing processes. Also with McDonough, Braungart wrote Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things.
Elco Brinkman is chairman of Bouwend Nederland, the association of construction industry employers in the Netherlands. Prior to his political career and current post, Brinkman held many secondary positions. He is currently also chairman of the board of the ABP pension fund, member of the Socio-Economic Council SER and vice-chairman of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers VNO-NCW.
Jacqueline Cramer was appointed Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment in 2007 in the 4th Balkenende government. Cramer began working as a freelance environmental consultant in 1999. Up to 2005, she was Professor of Environmental Management at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam and, until 2007, Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Utrecht's Copernicus Institute.
Wouter van Dieren is director of IMSA Amsterdam, Sustainability & Innovation. He is also a Member of the Club of Rome, the World Academy of Art and Science, Pugwash Nederland, Commission on Globalisation, Global Forum and US-China Council for Sustainable Development. Van Dieren has been actively involved in global environmental efforts since 1968.
Ruud Koornstra is director/shareholder of Tendris Holding, a company that initiates sustainable businesses, including Durion Energie (later Oxxio), the Visa Greencard, Lemnis Lighting and Tendris Solutions Alantcardo. Koornstra is also co-founder and member of the board of trustees of the Social Venturing Chair at Nijenrode University.
Hans van Veggel is chairman of the board of management of Multi Corporation, which includes Multi Development, Multi Investment, Multi Asset Management and Multi Mall Management with the majority shareholder Morgan Stanley. Multi Corporation currently operates as an investing developer in over eighteen countries, working according to the Design & Development formula.
