In the Lunch Lecture Friday February 26, Etienne Gernez will talk about the project "One Step Beyond" that he worked on last summer. The project aims at discovering and sharing ways for people to live a richer and more sustainable life. The talk begins at 12.10 in the cafeteria of the University Centre and is open to all.

Originally from Normandy (France), Etienne is a maritime engineer based in Norway, where he works with ship operators to help them use less fuel to run their ships. He is currently on a leave from his job to study at the CMM master program at the University Centre of the Westfjords. He spent the 3 months of the summer 2009 travelling through Norway, Sweden and Denmark to harvest and document some recipes for a richer lifestyle with the project "One Step Beyond", www.onestepbeyond.org.

When asked about the project Etienne describes the journey it took him on with these words:

 

"Climate change, peak oil, global warming, depletion of resources, sustainability, green washing. What's in it for me? How does that relate to my everyday life?
I hear around me from people who are concerned, some who are not, some who take action, some who don´t.
What should I do in this mess?
I got enough of threats - Al Gore, the Age of the Stupid, of skeptics. This is all nonsense and anyway we can´t do anything to change the situation - . So I started a quest for optimism, ideas, recipes, heroes, and inspiring stories.
I discovered that it´s not a new problem and that it is all about how we want to live our lives. I discovered people who refused to be passive, and saw it as the unique opportunity to think, experiment, exchange ideas and bring more content to their lives.
This presentation relates this journey and aims at sharing the lessons learned on the way to a richer life."