It is cold in Berlin, really cold. But the good news is, it is sunny as well and most people love to go ice-skating, playing curling or hockey or just dancing on ice – until the water police arrives to claim the missing permit for having an Ice Disco.
Last year again was driven by news of famine and starvation in East-Africa. With Ethiopia being one of the biggest countries in african coffee production, its natural factors offer ideal grounds for agricultural production, a sector in which 85% of the population are working in.
We undertook a visual research of the social and economic circumstances of coffee farmers in Ethiopia and their potential to develop sustainable business and establishing basic living standards by forming cooperatives, in order to aggregate social and technical innovation.
The development of Ethiopia could be described as in transition between tradition and industrialization. Between wooden ploughs with oxen and high tech Learjet’s. Most of the 82 million inhabitants are farmers (approx. 85%) in a country full of opportunities and rich in resources. As most of the developing countries the exports rely mostly on primary goods, such as coffee, livestock and khat. Ethiopia is a the most important coffee exporter in Africa, and earned 840 Mln. US-Dollars with their Arabica and Specialty coffees. Coffee exports account for around 60% of Ethiopian total exports.
Coffee is, after oil, the second most traded commodity in the world. One might suggest that the wealth of the coffee exporting countries might be as shimmering as in the oil-based economies. But its not even likely.
East-Africa is suffering from starvation. Infrastructure is a major problem. Foreign Trade in some ways as well. At the same time when the corn carrying cargo ships of the World Food Program arrive in Djibouti (which is the closest port for sea-trade), others full of rice and other agricultural goods are leaving for Saudi-Arabia and Asian countries.
There is a saying: “The Ethiopian hopes for a lot of rain in Canada.”
Economically seen the question is, how can the potential in the rural and remote areas be strengthened? How can the Farmers themselves emancipate from economic dependencies?
One key is education. Education that is given locally to those who actually are in demand. Bringing solutions and knowledge in order to improve the lives of the people, by improving the quality of their products and diversifying their portfolio. For example to produce a specialty coffee than only the poorly processed and thus poorly paid standard quality coffee.
If the farmers cannot make a decent living by what they do, they will migrate and leave their habitats. Causing the rapid growth of mega cities and shelters.
Trade than Aid.
For a fair trade, not only as a label, the African economies need to be taken seriously and they need to take their economic education and empowerment as much as serious.
With this project I want to set a positive example of what development work can do for the people, and what people can actually do for themselves, if organised and with a common vision.
You can also find & fund the project at betterplace.org
Thank You,
Alexander Klebe
In January 2001, when the first digital cameras were affordable, I was proud owner of a 1-Mega-pixels camera and working with my friends as models. It was fun to have the photos right on the screen after we took them and to introduce the first photo shop effects on them (which until now, I rather use in a mellow way).
Back then digital photography was an adventure.
Even more of an adventure it is to look at the photos so many years later. Now is the perfect time for a little retrospective: that’s why I wanted to share one of my very first digital portrait shots of Delia.
„It is not the strongest of the species that survive or the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change.” Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882)
Hätte Darwin – statt der Tier– und Pflanzenwelt – Unternehmen und ihre Umwelt untersucht, wäre er vermutlich zu ähnlichen Erkenntnissen gekommen. Denn Unternehmen sind in Zeiten, in denen sich die ökonomischen Rahmenbedingungen signifikant ändern, gezwungen, sich diesen anzupassen, damit sie effizient funktionieren können. Sie befinden sich in einem ständigen Wettkampf um Marktanteile und Ressourcen. Dabei agieren und reagieren sie wie lernfähige Organismen und wählen stets diejenigen Anpassungsstrategien, die den größten Erfolg versprechen. Insofern ist dieser Prozess mit dem natürlichen Selektionsmechanismus vergleichbar.
Die Theorien Darwins und die Gesetze des Kapitalismus haben vieles gemeinsam – etwa das Überleben der eigenen Spezies als zugrundeliegendes Ziel. Sowohl in der Natur als auch in der Wirtschaft geht es darum, sich Vorteile gegenüber den Anderen zu verschaffen. In freien Märkten geschieht dies oft durch hohes Innovationspotenzial, Kostenführerschaft, einen besonderen Kundennutzen oder auch den exklusiven Zugang zu personellen Ressourcen.
Unternehmen agieren und reagieren wie lernfähige Organismen und wählen stets diejenigen Anpassungsstrategien, die den größten Erfolg versprechen.
Die neuen Selektionsmechanismen des Marktes: Transparenz & eine soziale Orientierung des Unternehmens prägen die Evolution der wirtschaftlichen Akteure. Sie wollen Umweltveränderungen sowie daraus resultierende Anpassungsnotwendigkeiten erkennen und zu ihren Erfolgsfaktoren für nachhaltig geführte Unternehmen werden lassen.
Vor dem Hintergrund des Darwinismus können Sinnbilder skizziert werden, bei denen einige Unternehmen aufgrund ihrer Größe und Schwerfälligkeit mit Dinosauriern verglichen werden können. Während andere, die sich schnell den Umweltbedingungen anpassen und diese sogar mitgestalten, an agile Insekten erinnerten. Mit Managementstrategien, die die Kreativität im Unternehmen entfesseln – können Führungskräfte die Innovationsfähigkeit und damit Wettbewerbsvorteile nachhaltig sicher
We proudly present the first trailer on the Haniel Creative Summer School of 2011.
It was a pleasure to create this piece of educational experience that seeked to empower its participants in recreating their leadership styles and enhance it with the elements of creativity and sustainability.
Read the working paper on “The Art of Creative Leadership” (pdf)
We enjoyed the making of this product and want to thank the Haniel-Foundation for their support, the European University Viadrina and overall the extraordinary co-creators: Thomas Herpich, Hans-Georg Lilge, Ian Antonio Patterson, Sebastian Straube, Erik Malchow, Anna-Lena Schneider, Julia Butter, Danny Pajak and Paul Trommer and our video-editor Julian Graf for his keen endeavours on this project.
Alexander Klebe
Live, and let live.
a quote from a good friend of mine which I think it does not only makes sense in ecology but our lives as well.
– Gao He Ran
Gao He Ran is studying Landscape Ecology and NatureConservation at the University of Greifswald. Her goal is to present alternatives to increasing energy demands of growing Chinese economy. She seeks to bring ecological aspects into the reasoning. While China is constructing many Hydro-Power Dams (being #1 in the world in number of Hydro Dams and power production from rivers) her basic understanding is, that Ecosystems produce goods and have to be regarded in an long-term economical understanding as well.
For the second time this year the castle of Wartin offered an ideal location for giving a seminar on Creative Leadership to Bachelor Students of International Relations from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok Thailand.
Together with Ian Antonio Patterson we focused on the question: How can we lead ourselves and others? Not only we shared our knowledge on leadership styles and creative methodology, but as well learned a great many teachings on democracy, buddhism and landscape ecology from the other lecturers and the Thai students, who we like to thank very much.
Dr. jur., Dr. sc.pol. Hans-Joachim Mengel, LL.M (Yale) (FU Berlin)
Dr. Tiemo Timmermann & Gao He Ran (University of Greifswald)
and Dr. Semra Mägele
The past 15 days in Ethiopia were quite an impression, which I won´t want to miss as part of my life experience. The people are one of their kind and always worth a little interest in their lives, as they gladly show themselves and what they do. This little herdsman I found while being on a trek in the south of Gonder in almost 3000m of altitude. He reminded me of the story of Caldi, who was a Ethiopian herdsboy in the Caffa region. His goats were pointing him to the magic of the coffee beans and their stimulus.
While being in Ethiopia I also visited the coffee plantations in the Jimma region, with the help of Carl Cervone from Technoserve and his team, we were able to get in touch with the coffee farmers and get insights into their field of business and daily challenges. For example the challenging 6km mud-walk from the local market to their co-operative center. The whole coffee-story is unfolding even more, now that I am back in Germany and working on the video documentary on the coffee business. I am especially interested in alternative trade models like Fairtrade Coffee or the Coffee Circle, who operate a different model straight out of Berlin.
Maybe it is even time to rewrite my diploma thesis from 2007 on the Marketing and Monitoring of Fairtrade. But to be honest, I believe that a small documentary movie can have a much greater consumer impact, than a scientific and abstract work.
The castle of Wartin is a place for extraordinary thinkers who want to get inspired by nothing less than exception. It is a place to calm down the noise level and listen to what is inside of us: the small and great ideas.
Here are some of the photographic impressions from the castle of Wartin.
The inauguration party for all the hungry entrepreneurs at the new rooftop terrace of the Found Fair Berlin headquarter. A get-together to connect the dots.
The Art of Creative Leadership was the topic at the first Haniel Creative Summer School by the European University Viadrina. It was created with the purpose of giving future leaders another set of knowledge and methodology in creativity, sustainability and leadership.
The basic question was how creativity could be taught to future leaders and how their ideas could be translated into tangible and sustainable innovation.
Many great minds were involved at various stages of dialogue on the given matter, and soon the possibility of offering a summer school on creative leadership was at hand. The project developed rapidly, and with each step forward, each new “co-creator” won for the project, it became even more interesting than the original concept intended.
The Creative Leadership model soon become synonymous with practice, and the very manner in which the event was organized, and the styles of the many leaders, were appreciatively combined giving rise to a holistic approach that in itself defines the very character of the creative leadership. The whole planning of the event became an evolutionary process of collective thought which gave substance and form to our ideas.
1. The involvement of the ideas of many, among them artists, scientists, entrepreneurs and beneficiaries,
2. The common vision: creating an educational product, which would set a milestone in the fields of Leadership Education and Sustainability,
3. The given tools: the financing provided by the Haniel Foundation and the infrastructure of the university,
4. The inclusion and development of the skills of combined potentials,
5. All came together to the creation of a product: The Haniel Creative Summer School on “The Art of Creative Leadership”
We want to thank all the Co-Creators: Thomas Herpich, Ian Antonio Patterson, Hans-Georg Lilge, Sebastian Straube, Erik Malchow, Danny Pajak, Julia Butter, Anna-Lena Schneider and Paul Trommer – our Jogi.
Furthermore this project would not have been possible without the financial support by the Haniel-Foundation and Prof. Dr. Albrecht Söllner, from the European University Viadrina.
We also like to express our Thank to the Master of the Europäische Akademie & Collegium Wartinum Dr. jur., Dr. sc.pol. Hans-Joachim Mengel, LL.M (Yale) who was a big support.
Doing event photography at a wine tasting is definitely a good chance for sunshine and smile . Hosted by the wonderful team of Alexis Hue from Wein der Woche – a pleasant encounter.
