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Walk your Talk

prone was invited deep into the heart of Wales to witness the leading edge in sustainable business practice for a post-peak-oil world.

We’ve looked on the face of the future, and seen the joy of a child and the wisdom of an adult.

Looks like we might need both.

Fifty investors and financiers, entrepreneurs and creative artists gathered on 4th to 7th November at Buckland Hall near Brecon, a place of unsurpassed natural beauty (anyone who hasn’t been to Wales yet should go there immediately).

From Harvard to Hebden Bridge they came. And having got there, from all parts of the UK and from abroad, at personal cost and in working time…they played.

They put their wellies on and rambled around the lanes and woods. They said they were butterflies or bumblebees. They built wood fires and set off fireworks. They freely followed their interests.

They posted discussion ideas on walls. prone led a session on talking your walk. Who’s going to get the message out, and how?

This is the technique of ‘Open Space’, designed to allow genuine, real connections and truthful discussions. Happiness, it turns out, can be a sophisticated way of achieving, in just three days, a step change in thinking about how business can become more sustainable to face the climate crisis ahead.

“Is our action congruent with our intention? That’s the founding principle of Walk your Talk,” organiser Mike Zeidler told me. “We’re making a change in the way we do business and the way we relate to each other. What does sustainability really mean to each of us?

“The point of Walk Your Talk is to leave us feeling re-energised, with more people to call on, with fresh ideas and challenges. Some will draw on that and start expanding their initiative or work. Others will leave with new understanding or convictions.”

It all started when Dame Anita Roddick founded the New Academy of Business to put sustainable business ideas into practice.

But now it’s a mighty movement, pushing for social change.

Groups are springing up to face the challenge. The Social Venture Network; the Association of Sustainability Practitioners; Pioneers for Change; Ethical Junction. Huge numbers, tens of thousands of us walking our talk every day.

“What you’re seeing is the visible edge of a phenomenal and powerful movement of people. It’s real and it’s out there,” Mike said.

It’s fantastic to be on the crest of this wave. To be using your business to build a more just and sustainable world – could there be anything better?

The future’s here.