Tom Bentley
Policy Adviser, Government of Victoria
Tom Bentley will be Executive Director for policy and cabinet for the Premier of Victoria, Australia from September 2006. He was Director of Demos from 1999-2006.
at 12:00am on Thursday, 29th June 2006
I'm at the Tallberg Forum in Sweden, discussing how to make the world sustainable with a whole crowd of concerned souls. It's deliberately in a part of Sweden that is off the beaten track, on a very beautiful lake, in an area that is 97% forest, and proud of its traditional identity. A funny place to discuss global poverty and and environmental degradation, you might think. One of the ways to ground the somewhat lofty discussions is that this year, the forum is running 10 workshops based on places around the world, from Cambodia to Peru, that urgently need new kinds of sustainability. I've been moderating a discussion of Dalarna, the region that Tallberg is set in, which shows that even in rich, free, idyllic areas, some new thinking might be required. Local participants are increasingly concerned about the 14% economic inactivity, and the apparent lack of opportunities for young people. Whether the solutions might fit with environmental sustainability, and with the traditional identity (folk violinists, traditional costume, long boats and much more), is still an open question.
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