Welcome to Open World Café

Yes, it's official, we now have Open World Café in Rio de Janeiro! A meeting of minds at The Maze!

Not for the feeble hearted!

I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend in Rio. Initial calls revealed that hotels were both fully booked and expensive, so I called The Maze, a place I had known about for a few years but never managed to visit, let alone live at, being quite famous as a movie set (a Snoop Dog music video, "The Incredible Hulk" with Edward Norton and most recently… Continue

Replanting a Rainforest is now in its fourth month of planting, and before the rains stop we will manage to get another 500 saplings into the ground at Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza - today. "We" are many people; almost too many to mention; it's Marcos Croce and Silvia Barretto, owners of Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza, their children, their many fantastic employees and partners, neighbours who they inspire and have given them inspiration, it's the people of the local communities of Igaraí and Mococa… Continue

I have not written in almost two months. I have been thinking. And I have been reading.

I have been thinking about trees, and people, and our environment. I am now reading: “Collapse – How Societies Choose To Fail Or Survive”, by Jared Diamond. In his book the author provides a number of examples of present and past civilizations, some successful, others which have disappeared. Easter Island in the Pacific is one; long considered a mystery but now with clear signs of how this civilization faile… Continue

It's the last Saturday before Christmas and snowflakes are falling outside Open World Café while I watch the still ongoing plenary session of the COP15 Summit in Copenhagen. Delegates from 192 nations have been meeting without breaking since yesterday Friday December 18, officially the last day of the summit. Negotiations at lower levels have been ongoing for two years, and with delegates and ministers in Copenhagen for two intensive weeks.

I was in Copenhagen last Sunday and Monday together wi… Continue

As I sit in my room no. 1 of the quaint Pousada Dona Zilah, a family owned and run inn located in the trendy Jardim district of São Paulo, a two story building surrounded by 10 to 15 story apartment blocks.

It’s raining and about 17 degrees in the Brazilian high summer (with usually 30+ degrees). Two days ago it rained and six people died (and three are still missing), mostly in favelas, the shanty-towns that were washed away by the storm. In one hour it rained as much as usually in one month.… Continue