Wind Power: What We Can Learn from Denmark

 

Read this on Wind Power and Electric cars project.

World Run II approaching Jordan

Don’t say that Danes are not ambitious (or crazy). A young guy Jesper Kenn Olsen wants to run around the world – 40.000 kilometres on foot. But he has done it before – almost. On the first world run he ran the distance of 26.232 km, running from west to east across the (mostly) northern hemisphere. But the World Run II is the ultimate ultra running distance ever challenged.

This time the route takes its beginning at the northernmost point in Europe, Nordkapp in Norway and continues down to the southernmost tip of Africa, Cape Agulhas in South Africa. The route back north starts out from Punta Arenas at the southern tip of South America and leads to Newfoundland in Canada, at the north-western tip of the North American continent.

The run is tracked live by GPS and there is a very informative website about the World Run II with live coverage.

Jesper and some of his fellow ultrarunners are now approaching Jordan through Syria and the Embassy was asked to provide info on visa requirements for entering Jordan. I certainly hope that everything at the border will go smoothly – a detour could be quite complicated.

I understand that Jesper is looking particularly forward to running through Jordan and other Muslim countries as he mentions in his latest report:

The urgent tasks being visas for Syria, Jordan and Sudan. Obtaining a visa to run straight through Sudan will indeed be a challenge on level w. the daily running by Sarah and I ourselves – but running in this region is a chance to give a positive image of Danish respect also for muslim values and a Great Challenge !!

If anybody would like to cheer on Jesper when he enters or runs in Jordan please check his webpage. And if anybody would like to join him running I am sure he would appreciate it very much.

Local runners and ultrarunners are encouraged and welcome to take part in the stages of the run and thus also become part of the World Run 2 ! We will enjoy the company very much and will try to give a ‘runners perspective’ of the world, its countries and continents

This is not a political run, but a celebration of the Earth and the possibilities it gives when difficulties are overcome!

The daily distance is between 20 and 90 km.

European Union Press Award for Jordanian Journalists

The European Union Commission in Jordan has launched a prize competition for the best journalistic investigative report on a social or economic issue in Jordan.

The award is meant to encourage Jordanian journalists to raise controversial issues and examine them in depth in order to contribute to a change in perception or policy. It is intended to be an annual award – so start researching for next year’s prize.

The competition is open to articles published in a Jordanian Daily, Weekly or Monthly newspaper or Magazine or in a Pan-Arab daily publication OR the online Press. Only articles written by Jordanian journalist can enter the competition. And for this first reward the article should have been published between Jan 2007 and Oct 2008. The winners of this first prize will be announced in April 2009.

Read more on this site.

The next ”Man on the Moon” Project

Imagine a World free from climate change.

Imagine a World free from wars fought over Oil.

Imagine a World free from smog.

Imagine a Green World.

It’s a dream. But for a dream to come through you need a vision and then a plan. 

This weekend the Danish Prime Minister Mr. Rasmussen in his capacity as leader of the Liberal Party launched his vision. It is a vision that according to Mr. Rasmussen should deal with interconnected economic challenges, security issues and climate change at the same time. The point of departure is his concern about the world’s addiction to fuel.

High and fluctuating fuel prices tend to destabilise the world economy. Fuel can be used as a malign instrument in foreign and security policy. And the use of fuel for energy is creating climate change, which again is a challenge to the global economy and security.

Mr. Rasmussen asks us to consider the massive technical advances since the first Ford T automobile to today’s most sophisticated cars. One thing has remained unchanged. Its energy source. It was fossil fuel then. It is fossil fuel today. So what is needed is a new industrial revolution – a green market economy.

For Denmark, the leader of the liberal party’s vision is a society free from fossil fuels. A Denmark that is totally free from the use of fossil fuels as Oil, Gas and Coal. According to Mr. Rasmussen this is a gigantic challenge and it will take a long time to turn into reality. But as he says: Every journey starts with the first step.

I personally find this vision very intriguing. It is as far as I know not yet a confirmed policy of the Danish Government, nor of the Parliament. It is a vision that probably demands broad consensus on the political level and in civil society in order to materialise. Even if Denmark should succeed in becoming fossil fuel free it would not save the world (probably not even Denmark for that matter) from the consequences of climate change nor from economic instability or security concerns. But if other countries (apart from the usual suspects USA, Germany, Japan etc. I am also thinking about a country like Jordan), that share the same concerns, would follow suit then we might see this as our generation’s “Man on the Moon” project.

I can easily imagine that this is a topic that will be discussed intensely by NGOs and civil society in the run up to the Global Summit on Climate Change one year from now in Copenhagen.

When/if more material in English on a “Fossil Fuel Free Denmark” becomes available I’ll try to post it here.

So far there is this short article.

And of course President Kennedy’s famous “Man on the Moon” speech from 1961, the introduction paragraph is remarkable.

Eradicating Torture

We have the Karama Battle, we have the Karama Border Control and now we have the Karama Project. All three are about security – but very different kinds of security. Whereas the two first is known to most Jordanians the K-project is new. It was launched today in Amman.

The purpose of the Karama project is to eradicate torture and prevent ill-treatment of prisoners and other people in Jordan that are deprived of their liberty.

I think it is proactive of the Jordanian authorities to engage openly in this cooperation. It must and should be applauded. It is another taboo that is being broken. Already last year Jordan took an important step in amending article 208 in the penal code and prohibited torture as defined by the relevant international convention. An as yet outstanding issue appears to be the level of punishment for committing torture, but this is none the less – together with the Karama project – a step in the right direction.

The main Jordanian partner in the project is the Public Security Directorate together with different police, prison and prosecution services from both Jordan and Denmark. The world renowned Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT) is the project managing partner. I stress that this is a partnership, and a partnership that should be to mutual benefit for both countries.

Some of the main results from the project should be:

1. Law enforcement personnel have gained increased capacity to deal lawfully with persons deprived of their liberty and cases of torture and ill-treatment

2.  Relevant state and civil society institutions have gained increased capacity to gather evidence and document torture and ill-treatment.

3.  A national coalition of state institutions and civil society organisations has been established and works jointly to prevent torture and ill-treatment in Jordan.

I had the honour to address the participants in the project this morning. There were a couple of things I wanted to emphasize: 

“…One of the key priorities in the Danish foreign and development policy is to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights.

As we all know, human rights are the very pillars that any independent, impartial and effective criminal justice system is built upon. 

Bearing this in mind, Denmark seeks to develop the respect for human rights in close cooperation with our partners. We work in partnership with Jordan in many other areas, but we are particularly proud to have Jordan as a partner in the human rights field…”

“…While Denmark seeks to promote all human rights, there are a few focus areas that rank particularly high on Denmark’s human rights agenda. One of them is the eradication of torture…”

“..There is no doubt that the road towards the full incorporation of human rights into the criminal justice sector is a long and winding one. However, the journey will definitely be easier with a companion. The final outcome of our reform efforts will certainly be greater if we make use of our respective professional experience and expertise.

It is my firm belief that our partnership within the criminal justice sector can be of mutual benefit to both our countries. The key to our success is two-fold: 

One the one hand, success requires an open and constructive dialogue and cooperation, and on the other hand it requires progress, visible progress on the ground…”

This was of course just the launch of the coming two years of intense cooperation on an important Human Rights issue. I will be looking forward to report back to you on progress and results in the coming months.

Jordan Times article on the project.

The opening speech in full.