This is a blog post inspired by the civil conflict in Ukraine. However, it does not examine the causes of the unrest or attempt to lay blame with one side or the other. As people living outside of Ukraine, we may feel powerless as we follow the news trickling out …
[originally published on qceablog.wordpress.com] I was recently invited to participate in discussions on the role of religion in public affairs. The discussions were fascinating: depending on the religion from which one views the question, the answers differ. The question is, how can religion play a role in increasing environmentally and economically …
[originally published on qceablog.wordpress.com] There is a crisis on the fringes of the European Union (EU). Many narratives are circulating about Ukraine. Whichever narrative one accepts, the crisis illustrates the difficult issues which arise when European countries try to cooperate. All is well as long as people are content. But …
I am a curious person. You probably are, too. Most people are curious, although some learn to express their curiosity about others through speaking our judgements. If you look behind the criticism of someone’s shoes, their lifestyle, their choice of work, often you can see the unvoiced curiosity: how do …
I am suffering a bit from familiar foibles. You know what I mean: those foibles in other people and cultures – always easier to spot than one’s own. They make me grumpy – or, maybe I am already grumpy and therefore I notice how people in one country talk rather …
The newspaper announced it today: trees affect their environment. I am amazed that this is news – are there people who still don’t know this simple fact. We don’t need the media to announce it to us – just walk into a forest in winter and feel how it is …
Just a few days ago, my first sight in the morning was a waterfall of droplets cascading down three stories of a wooden stairs, dripping through ceilings and walls, dropping along wooden stairs, and settling in the cellar. My schedule was dramatically re-arranged so I could clean up, although the …
One feature of the natural world is that it is incredibly complex. This interconnectedness plays havoc with our human desire to plan and stratify, to separate and control. The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000) gives us one example: the goal of 100% good ecological status of EU surface waters …
One of the most important recent ‘discoveries’ in economics is not about either growth or jobs. It is about people. We have discovered that we are not actually the logical, cool, and selfish people that economic models often assume we are. In fact, we are so full of feeling-affected judgements …
One’s method of transport determines what one sees. A walking tour of a new city gives opportunity for far more detail than a driving tour. A cycle through the countryside gives one the opportunity to hear birds and smell the hot strawberries in a July field. I’ve even heard the …