Thesis Building Blocks... ! Tech innovation & green transformation

 

Holzmann & Grünberg 2021 (Merics)

Did you know that "technological innovation is a key pillar of China’s green transformation?" (Ibid) 

Study of Eastern & Western dialectics continues. Meanwhile, dreaming of summer!

 

Many "thought diamonds" for thesis found in a splendid new course on comparative political economy! Thrilled.

 

                                               Visual from class. 

To not be too proud to be strong

Learnings on a Monday morning

"Don't be afraid to be weak" (check, this I've learned years back!) 

but

I've always wondered what it means to " not be too proud to be strong".  

I think I'm learning! 

Return to Innocence  by Enigma

Love
Devotion

Feeling
Emotion

Don't be afraid to be weak
Don't be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence
The return to innocence
And if you want, then start to laugh
If you must, then start to cry
Be yourself don't hide
Just believe in destiny
Don't care what people say
Just follow your own way
Don't give up and use the chance
To return to innocence
That's not the beginning of the end
That's the return to yourself
The return to innocence
That's return to innocence

Writings 2020 and 2017. Much can be built "from the grassroots up"

(2020) Towards a New Bretton Woods Moment

A podcast, in-between business and academia, found a name today - "Castles in the Air"! Refers to International Relations scholar Hedley Bull's thinking that without stable understandings between the major powers on how to conduct their mutual relations, international organizations are like castles in the air (unrealistic dreams). For him, stability is like sand. 

Q: Within the trade war tensions of today, could UNDP coordination of global SDG Finance create new "sand of stability"? Could the scaling up of investments into companies that link their businesses with the UN 2030 sustainable development goals create cohesion and further peace? I believe so! In the words of IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva:"We can do better than build back the pre-pandemic world – we can build forward to a world that is more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive. We must seize this new Bretton Woods moment."

New Bretton Woods Moment meaning: New balance built together. In financing the goals for sustainable development, the UNDP is working on nothing less than reforming global financial architecture (towards triple-bottom line thinking!) On the grassroots level, every "power coupling" of investment and business activity targeting a SDG counts.

(2017) In a time of great technological transformation, it is

important that we treasure togetherness.

Buiding connection.

And together, by sharing our

acquired life wisdom, we can make sense of

the changes. Community

learning is important, because much can
be built "from the grassroots up".

Society flourishes when each
individual blossoms. And a grand key to our
flourish, is, simply, connection. The human
connection! The social impact project which
sprang from this blog has arranged thematic
tea tastings, and other community events over
the past seven years. We have documented
events as has been possible. 

This action has also functioned as a type of
R&D center for the mother company. We are happy to
say that we have been applying our learnings to our
adventures in the Wild Wild...East.

Now, it is time for some structural changes -
onwards and upwards! Change.

Study note of the Day

Surprisingly, my political science thesis topic  - and the study of Eastern and Western dialectics within it (key theme related to contradiction management, an approach I use to assess China) - takes me back to the theme of dialogue between religions, within which I worked a few years ago in a research assistant role. I have an ongoing dialogue between the taoist roots of Eastern dialectics, virtue and Christ. Thankfully, I can always turn to Dr. Huang for advice :)

 "Dialectical logic has its roots in Taoism and is a perspective that embraces paradox and contradiction as the very vehicle through which positive change and growth can occur (Palich et al 2002). Following this logic, change is obtained by the tension between two opposing forces while the absence of this tension results in a lack of evolution. That is why the resolution of contradictions is not consistent with evolution and thus the Chinese spend more time discovering complexities than trying to reduce them" 

-Karsaklian, 2016 (343) 

Mood

 Snapshot. Spotted in hotel lounge. Artist Unknown

Study notes for thesis 25 Aug 2020

 

Vierailu Teekauppiaalla

Kävimme ystävän kanssa tutustumassa teehuoneeseen, jossa on tarjolla yli sadan vaihtoehdon valikoima (myös nettikauppa)! Old Tea Shopin "teevalikoimasta noin 80 % on luomuviljeltyjä tai muutoin ekologisesti tuotettuja ja torjunta-aineista vapaita." Maistelimme hienovaraista japanilaista vihreää teetä tunnelmallisissa olosuhteissa, vieläpä Kallion Udumbaran teekulhoista! Oli ilo viettää hetki rentoutuen teen maailmojen äärellä kiireisen työpäivän päätteeksi.

Uutta teesatoa Japanista

"Old Tea Shop on pohjolassa tietääksemme ainoa teehuone ja kauppa, joka ostaa teensä juuri Nakain suvun perinnetilalta Kyoton maakunnasta. Siellä teetä on viljelty jo yli 300 vuotta. Nyt uusia laatuja on Kukicha Karigane ja jo viime vuodesta tutut hojicha, gyokuro ja matchalaadut." Lähde: https://oldteashop.fi/pages/luomuteen-viljely-japanissa

Teimme myös ostoksia. Tai ystäväni teki ostoksia ja minä sain lahjan. Huikeaa Taiwanin Da Yu Ling - teetä! Olin sanaton. Lämmin kiitos.

Kiitos myös teekauppias Mikko Nygrenille hyvästä seurasta ja teehetki elämyksestä! Tiedänkin jo, mitä teetä seuraavaksi Kaisaniemen Old Teashopin valikoimasta hankin: "Kultainen Miekka" keltaista teetä. Sitten jotain hyvää Assamia, jonka jälkeen valkoista teetä. Tai Yunnan Green?

Under further study: The question of eastern and western dialectics

Visual from Mr. Sunshine

Midsummer 2020 biking trip!

Very excited about this! Material for thesis

Found via a keynote last week by Ann Rosenberg, an impact leader. Background for the keynote that was entitled "How to Prepare Your Business for the World After COVID19":

The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired businesses to accelerate their sustainability efforts as they navigate a new world. Businesses that have already begun their sustainability journeys are emerging better prepared and more resilient. Despite the difficulty caused by the pandemic, it has provided an opportunity for corporations, startups, NGOs, government, and civil society to focus on responsibility and sustainability as they prepare for the future

Language study via "Negotiator" (谈判官).

Evening

Memories of slides and slides and slides

Critical Realism, theory and methods. Political science compulsory methodology course. Highly interesting for my research purposes, but highly demanding, especially when dealing with some burn out symptoms = memory loss. Shot below of street art that brought cheer 

January art workshop with my nephew #taidehalli

Value the social impact perspective in this program! Great meet in February

Keynes on the reform of capitalism (notes for school)

"As Chick and Dow (2013) have recently maintained, Keynes sees not only love of money, but the criterion of profit itself, as a problematic issue of capitalism...

Keynes saw capitalism as an economically efficient system—or, more precisely, an ‘indispensable’ (JMK/A/2/6; also reported in O’Donnell, 1992, p. 809) economic system that has to be efficient—which is however ‘morally objectionable’ (ibid.).  His critique rests on the concept of money fetishism. The problems raised by capitalism, in this vision, have to do with the instincts it tends to promote, that obstruct the way towards the resolution of the economic problem. Capitalism is in fact primarily responsible, in positive, for our coming gradually but incessantly closer to a destiny of abundance and leisure. But it is also profoundly unjust, in Keynes’s vision, and causes bad instincts like the ‘sanctification of saving’ and the tendency to ‘sacrifice the present to the future’ without being sure that the exchange is worthwhile (reported in Skidelsky, 1992, p. 21)...".

Elaboration on Keynes

"Keynes’s view of ethics is an Aristotelian ethics of virtues (see Carabelli, 1998; Carabelli and Cedrini, 2011), which concerns the whole conduct of human life. Like Aristotle, Keynes believes that a good life is a life worth being lived: a moral life made up of friendship and affiliation, which are endowed with intrinsic worth. Yet, human flourishing (eudaimonia) cannot materialize in the absence of certain material and institutional preconditions….

The benefit of a successful struggle against the economic problem will accrue only, he observed, to those who ‘believe at all in the real values of life’ (CW 9, p. 327), who ‘can keep alive, and cultivate into a fuller perfection, the art of life itself and do not sell themselves for the means of life’ (p. 328)...

A society that is solving the economic problem requires, in Keynes’s view, a new, ‘religious attitude to life’ (to use Skidelsky’s words), one built around new values. Can capitalism survive Keynes’s desired revolution in values? Liberal in character, Keynes’s desired society is inspired to a new form of socialism, as O’Donnell (1992) rightly points out. ‘Keynes’s general position was that socialism should follow the example of liberalism in modifying its ideas and policies to adapt to changed historical conditions’ (ibid., p. 782). A ‘practical’ (CW 20, p. 475), pragmatic socialism, a form of ‘liberal socialism’ (CW 21, p. 500) with new, revolutionary values—knowing that the transition from the old to the new society might be ‘catastrophic’ (‘An Examination of Capitalism’, JMK/A/2/3; also reported in O’Donnell, 1992, p. 808).

Source:

Anna M Carabelli, Mario A Cedrini, Great Expectations and Final Disillusionment: Keynes, ‘‘My Early Beliefs’’ and the Ultimate Values of Capitalism, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Volume 42, Issue 5, September 2018, Pages 1183–1204, https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/bey017

Think tanking over the years

2014

Our Slush Helsinki 2016 Tech & Flourish Side Event, with very special guest Dr. Arto Salonen 

2018

2015

Not organized by us, but by the One Initiative: Nordic Impact Business Summit 2019. Episode 1 of upcoming podcast recorded here, where yours truly had the pleasure to also serve the exclusive impact startups as a China market business developer

Technology for Good

Exclusive opportunity for discussions at the China - Finland Business Association Annual Ambassador's Lunch held at the lush Kämp Hotel (association member event). In his speech the ambassador referred to recent US actions as "ping pong diplomacy". Yours truly proposed that China and Finland could together provide global leadership on investment into "technology for the common good"

Beautiful!

10 years of charting our way!

It all began with ponderings over this piece of Scripture: 

Each of you should not only look to your interests, but also the interests of others. 

...and continued to the exploration of themes on how to conduct balanced business. Here is an excerpt from 2014, an intro to a wonderful Think Tank Tea -series on ecosocial wellbeing created together with a special friend and supporter who prefers to remain unanominous.

Balance masters chaos! The reform of the global financial architecture takes place from the bottom up. For me, revolution in this context is about acting in the opposite way as that which has poisoned this global financial architecture; the opposing force of solitary greed is communal generosity. 

My way of making a change in the marketplace has been to sow the seed of generosity when possible. At a time in my life where I had very limited resources, I asked myself the question of what is a resource that I can share? What I had was, tea. And so I began sharing the tea, the main idea being: I share my tea to bring people together, and as everyone comes together and shares - life knowledge or other resources, maybe the jam- we are all enriched!  

My adventure of exploring what it means for a business to function in a degrowth economy is only beginning, but one key lesson that I have learned is that much value can be created with very little. It is this story that is continued by the upcoming Think Tank Tea- event series. 

Snapshot. October 17 @ the office

"The world economy is changing. Alternative investments are becoming mainstream"
-Mandatum Life Magazine

Podcast intro finished!

The role of the podcast is to provide snapshots of one cultural mediator's journey into the fresh field of impact investing

Upcoming 純怡Media podcasts exploring the relationship of virtue, tech and paradox management. We define "paradox management" according to Dr Elaine Karsaklian, who writes “Paradox management is inherent in the Chinese culture” and “Change is motivated by the internal tension between two opposing forces”. She writes about the land of paradox management (China) in which "development, coherence, and consistency (has been created) out of instability, chaos, and contradiction".

Taking this perspective, Chunyi ventures into the fascinating field of social impact investment, analysing its development via Nordic-China comparisons. She applies paradox management lens, embracing difference positively and sifting for the essence of that "internal tension" between opposites... with the ultimate mission of smart contradiction management in order to build partnerships for the UN 2030 sustainable development goals  - targeting goal number 17.

(Source referred to above: Karsaklian, Invisible Negotiator in the Land of Paradox Management). 

(Memory Lane) Can you feel the love? Slush China is launched succesfully in 2015, Zhongguancun Beijing

Video from the archives! Beijing Slush China team after-afterparty

-A night to remember -

Late Summer Highlights - Charting Social Impact Initiative at Helsinki Fashion Week

My Helsinki Fashion Week Best Dressed Award goes to the gentleman on the right

September Highlights

Study notes on topic: Keynesian economics, China and the global financial crisis

Returning to readings in global political economy.
Link to "Mainly Macro" blog below 

"Trade collapsed in the winter of 2008 around the globe, without exception. This was very bad news for China. Whereas exports had been around 35% of GDP in 2007, they fell to around 25% of GDP in 2009. That is a big hole to fill, and if it wasn’t filled, there was a chance that Chinese growth would collapse completely with damaging knock on (multiplier) effects to the rest of the economy. Above all else, China feared the political consequences of the unrest widespread unemployment would bring.

As Tooze recounts, China’s reaction was swift and bold. In November 2008 it announced a stimulus package of public spending worth 12.5% of GDP. (The Obama stimulus package, by comparison, was around 5% of GDP.) “Over the days that followed [the announcement], across China, provincial party meetings were hurriedly convened …” Within a year 50% of the stimulus projects were underway. Some of this stimulus paid for what Tooze describes as “perhaps the most spectacular infrastructure project of the last generation anywhere in the world”, the Chinese high speed rail network. Monetary policy was also relaxed.

In 2008 as a whole, before the stimulus and hardly touched by the collapse in world trade, Chinese GDP grew by 9.6%. In 2009, when GDP in the advanced countries fell by 3.4%, Chinese growth was 9.1%. The stimulus package had filled the whole left by collapsing Chinese exports...

China... was not part of the global banking network that caused the GFC. But the US and UK stimulus programmes could and should have been larger. Those close to the action tell me that the UK was running out of things to spend more money on in 2008/9, but I cannot help think this amounts to a failure of imagination: it is not as if UK infrastructure is great, there are no flood defence projects left to do etc. Above all else China’s example tells you what a huge mistake 2010 austerity was."

mainly macro: How China beat the Global Financial Crisis: If you were hoping for something on yesterday’s interest rate rise, I can only direct you to the leader in the FT today which says: “Ther...

August Update: In the study

After some "off grid" explorations, it has come time for this adventurer to return back to her world politics graduate studies at Helsinki University! The program combines international relations, peace mediation and global political economy - how sweet is that!

June 2019

At Nordic Impact Business Summit

supporting selected startups with their possible China ventures. 

The Old Stock Exchange, Copenhagen

Organized By The One Initiative