ONLINE Jan 17: Open semester start-up lecture with Alan AtKisson “Sustainable Development: How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going”



Warmly welcome to CEMUS open spring semester start-up lecture with Alan AtKisson, Assistant Director-General, Sida, “Sustainable Development: How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going”!


When: Monday January 17 at 18.15-20.00

Where: Moved online.

How: Online via Zoom: https://uu-se.zoom.us/j/62319834776 Meeting ID: 623 1983 4776


Alan AtKisson, Assistant Director-General, Sida

Photo: Fredrik Persson

Role at Sida
Alan AtKisson serves as Assistant Director-General of Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and leads the Department of Partnership and Innovation. The department manages grant portfolios and programs related to Sida’s work with capacity development, civil society, academic research, development finance and guarantees, business and the private sector, institutional investors, other bilateral donors, and Swedish government agencies. Alan also leads Sida’s work with development-related innovation. He has over 30 years of international experience in the field of sustainable development, working in a wide variety of leadership and advisory positions, and is the author of several books on sustainability practice, capacity development, and change management.

Additional personal information
Prior to joining Sida in 2018, Alan worked principally as a senior advisor and consultant in the field of sustainability, sustainable development, and transformative change. He has advised national and local governments, leading global companies, international initiatives, global NGOs, and the United Nations Secretariat. At the UN, Alan was involved in the early planning for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, among many other assignments.

Alan has led or co-founded several pioneering organizations and civil society initiatives, starting with “Sustainable Seattle” (1990), a globally recognized and widely replicated model for promoting urban sustainability with indicators, innovation, and stakeholder engagement. Alan later developed tools and methods for sustainability learning, planning, and professional training that were documented in his books and adopted by schools, organizations, and training programs around the world. These contributions include the “Sustainability Compass,” the “Pyramid” training workshop, the “Amoeba” method of change-agent skills development, and the “VISIS Method” for sustainable development planning.

Alan also previously served as Executive Director of Earth Charter International (a civil society initiative founded in 1992 by Maurice Strong and Mikhail Gorbachev among others); Executive Director of a US-based economic think-tank called Redefining Progress; President of the Balaton Group, a pioneering global network of sustainability and systems researchers; and advisor to the President of the European Commission on science and technology issues.

In 2013 Alan was elected into the International Sustainability Hall of Fame for his numerous contributions to the development of sustainability as a profession. He lives in Stockholm.


This event is part CEMUS +30 anniversary celebration during 2022, read more at: www.cemus.uu.se/cemus30