This is my third visit to Kazakhstan, which is pretty weird in and of itself. NGIN brings me to Kazakhstan to work with local entrepreneurs and then Vienna to attend UNIDO’s annual conference. Both are other-worldly in their own way. Getting “there” is anything but direct: four flights to Astana, three flights to Vienna, and three flights back to ABQ. Travel hint: the more flights to a destination the cheaper the trip.
I’m in Astana because NGIN is conducing a UNIDO Global Climate Innovation Program (GCIP) “National Academy.” This program puts local cleantech entrepreneurs through a 4-day bootcamp on how to be successful. We’ve helped over 1600 entrepreneurs from eight developing countries with GCIP during the past ten years. Perhaps the most surprising thing about GCIP is that there are any entrepreneurs at all in these far away places.
As I’ve probably said way too often, I believe the key to slowing climate change is to accelerate/leverage/boost/enable (pick your term) local entrepreneurs to get their cleantech innovations into market, no matter where they are. 99% of the world does not enjoy the entrepreneurial culture that fuels much of the U.S.’s economy and thus desperately needs programs like GCIP. While the innovativeness of these local entrepreneurs are generally a grade or two below Silicon Valley’s finest, they still represent real opportunities to de-carbonize their local economies.
One of the best things about this trip is meeting the local entrepreneurs. Universally upbeat and eager to learn, watching the transformation they undergo in just four days is remarkable and very gratifying. We met with entrepreneurs trying to build companies in waste management, recycling, fish production, oil field adaptation and organic fertilizers. While not likely candidates for becoming a Unicorn (a company with a $1Billion valuation before going public), several of them looked like they could build successful companies competing in their regional market.
Fascinating. The world is awakening to a new dawn...........I hope the revelations come quivckly enough to save the planet. Seems Freddy is doing a fair amount of "heavy lifting" as well. Gregg
I grew up during the Cold War, this area was called Soviet Central Asia, part of the old 19th century Russian Empire and off limits. We've just got back from two weeks in Uzbekistan and it was a revelation, clean modern cities mingled with UNESCO world heritage sites in Bukhara Samarqand and Tashkent. The latter was flattened by an earthquake in the '60's and rebuilt by teams from all over the USSR with wide tree lined avenues. The flip side was that Moscow needed cotton, which needs irrigation. The disaster of tapping rivers led to the Aral sea disaster. But it is an area of stark, almost Martian beauty well worth the long trek in a 4 × 4. Rather than looking to the west or east, it seemed that they are finding their own way, and good luck to them having spent two centuries as pawns in the "Great Game"
Fascinating. The world is awakening to a new dawn...........I hope the revelations come quivckly enough to save the planet. Seems Freddy is doing a fair amount of "heavy lifting" as well. Gregg
I grew up during the Cold War, this area was called Soviet Central Asia, part of the old 19th century Russian Empire and off limits. We've just got back from two weeks in Uzbekistan and it was a revelation, clean modern cities mingled with UNESCO world heritage sites in Bukhara Samarqand and Tashkent. The latter was flattened by an earthquake in the '60's and rebuilt by teams from all over the USSR with wide tree lined avenues. The flip side was that Moscow needed cotton, which needs irrigation. The disaster of tapping rivers led to the Aral sea disaster. But it is an area of stark, almost Martian beauty well worth the long trek in a 4 × 4. Rather than looking to the west or east, it seemed that they are finding their own way, and good luck to them having spent two centuries as pawns in the "Great Game"