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The European Union has no idea!

By on jan 8, 2014 in English | 0 comments

This piece was first published on OPEN Democracy 7/1 2013. Forget better communication or a radical change in its course of action: what the EU really needs is a big, bold idea to move forward. “If you think you lack words, what you really lack are ideas”. That is what I took away from a lecture by the father of framing, George Lakoff. I think about it every time I see the debate over the EU polarising into framing versus action. Take this exchange: some say the EU should just communicate better and others say it should act radically differently. It is really quite sad, because actions and framing can’t be separated and they both emerge logically from the ideas we pursue. That is why, when José Manuel Barroso is seeking guidance on where to go big and where to go small, he too should look to the level of ideas. If we have a clear idea about where we want to go, we can...

The European Dream is based on an ‘Equals around a table’- metaphor

By on dec 17, 2013 in English | 0 comments

This piece was first published in Social Europe Journal 28/11 2013. The EU – In need of a new narrative European Commission President José M. Barroso is searching for a new European Union narrative. As I have argued elsewhere, the EU needs a dream of the Martin Luther King Jr.-type if it wants to stay relevant for the European population. I agree with Barroso in seeing the EU’s lack of a positive vision as a threat to its democratic legitimacy by low public anticipation, participation and appreciation. Eurosceptics stand strong because the union has failed to arm its allies. At the moment the European Union is without a clear vision to mobilise and engage the public leaving its allies vulnerable to strategies of ‘divide and conquer’. The lack of vision gives rise to xenophobia, ethnic tension and conflicts between rich and poor. Yet the European dream has strong potential for a social...

Speech – Oil and Gas on the Green Scale

By on dec 15, 2013 in English, Speeches | 0 comments

I wrote this speech to Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Building, Martin Lidegaard to be given at Oil Gas Summit, Oil and Gas Denmark, Copenhagen, September 10, 2013. The speech was published in Vital Speeches International december 2013.    Oil and Gas on the Green Scale Almost every day I am asked by the media or ordinary citizens: How can Denmark, one of the most ambitious green front runners of the world, at the same time pursue to be an active and ambitious explorer and producer of oil and gas? And let me also start my keynote today by addressing that crucial question. In Denmark we don’t see the two ambitions as contradicting each other. We see them as preconditions to each other. In Denmark we have broad political backing for using the Danish resources of oil and gas to the largest possible extent. Denmark is an oil and gas producing country and we will use that to...

Taler din kommune – eller spilder den tiden?

By on dec 10, 2013 in Dansk | 0 comments

Artiklen blev først bragt i DKFs Kommunikatøren 10/12 2013 og er baseret på mit oplæg om taleskrivning på KLs Kommunikationsdøgn 1/11 2013 sammen med Herlev borgmester Thomas Gyldal Petersen (S). Bliv klædt på til at bruge taler mere strategisk med de nye folkevalgte. En professionelt skrevet tale viser, at man tager opgaven seriøst og respektere lytternes tid. Det er sjældent at vi har folks ubrudte opmærksomhed i 15 minutter. Talen er en kanal ligesom hjemmesiden, brochuren og de sociale medier – og den kan bidrage til kommunikationsstrategien. Den gode tale er mundtlig En tale skal formuleres som vi snakker sammen til hverdag. Det betyder at de taler vi skriver skal lyde som dem vi skriver dem for. Ikke som i ‘sådan snakker de altså’, men som i ‘sådan ville de ønske at snakke hvis de havde vores tid og vores kendskab til taler’. Derfor, lyt alt hvad I kan til...

Speech – The Green Light at the End of the Tunnel

By on nov 15, 2013 in English, Speeches | 0 comments

This speech was written for Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Building, Martin Lidegaard to be delivered at the Professional Lighting Design Convention, Copenhagen, Denmark, November 1, 2013.   The Green Light at the End of the Tunnel Climate change is already here, it will shape our future and it will force our economies to become sustainable. It will be a challenge for all of us – but also an opportunity. There is a green light at the end of the tunnel. The green light is the knowledge that we can combine sustainable with profitable and comfortable. We have the traditions, the technology and the creativity. All we need is someone to put them together. We can do that! And we have to do that! In Denmark we have a strong tradition of innovative lighting. In 1903 the Danish doctor and researcher Niels Finsen was awarded the Nobel Prize. He was a researcher in light and health....