The only point to raise questions is why the developers have chosen Android 5.1 Lollipop with Google Apps and Google Play Store as operating system. Sure there would have been alternate solutions…

You will find more information on the Story of Stuff website.

If you’re interested in human history in a broader context, more questions may pop up: Why have we stopped living as hunter-gatherers? Why and when did states evolve? Why did the Mayan and Greenland Viking Empires collapse but not Spain or China? Why did Europeans conquer native America and not the other way round? Why are most African countries notoriously poor while Europe and North America seem to be predestined for wealth? Is it because Africans are less bright than we are?

Jared Diamond, an American biologist and historian, has probed into these questions and gives surprising answers based on his broad knowledge of both natural sciences and society. His most famous books include: *

• Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
• Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
• The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?

His books have also been translated into German, but if you want to improve your English, I’d recommend the original versions.

* I don’t want to imply that you should use Amazon. Search for these titles anywhere else, and you may find better offers.

Here’s the CSR worksheet again. Match the underlined words in the text with the definitions below. Then use the words to fill gaps (on page 2).

When you’ve completed the task, check out the answer key.

BTW, the triple issue headline is just a pun. It’s because there are three tasks on the worksheet. The third task is to devise CSR principles for your enterprise, which we already did in class.

• is a way to describe responsibility in business. (Yvette)
• should help keep a balance between social, economic and environmental factors in business (Julian)
• is a system to evaluate companies and to provide employees with better social standards so as to promote understanding within the company (Kim, Lena, Andi)
• explains the responsibility of a company towards society, the environment and the economy (Stephan, Lara)

Our CSR principles

Clothes manufacturer (Julian, Vanessa W.)

• Better working conditions and payment
• Buy cotton from sustainable growing

Food producer (Yvette, Nga, Nadja)

• less plastic packaging
• produce more vegetables than meat
• flexible working hours for pregnant women

Coffee producer (Kim, Lena, Andi)

• support familiy farming
• provide appropriate payment
• farmers’ children should go to school
• use organic growing methods and fertiliser
• equality for men and women
• packaging should be made of recycled materials
• transparency for customers
• get a Fair Trade label

Organic sportswear (Cindy, Anna, Jan, Christopher)

• use healthy, organic materials without chemical additives
• working conditions (fixed working hours, minimum wage, workplace safety)
• no child labour
• get a certificate (Fair Trade, Organic Farming)

It is one thing to campaign against climate change and quite another to paint a compelling and engaging vision of a post-carbon world in such a way as to enthuse others to embark on a journey towards it. We are only just beginning to scratch the surface of the power of a positive vision of an abundant future: one which is energy-lean, time-rich, less stressful, healthier and happier. Being able to associate images and a clear vision with how a powered-down future might be is essential.

I like to use the analogy of inviting a reluctant friend to join you on holiday. If you can passionately and poetically paint a mental picture of the beach, the sunset and the candle-lit taverna by the sea, they will be more likely to come. Environmentalists have often been guilty of presenting people with a mental image of the world’s least desirable holiday destination – some seedy bed and and breakfast near Torquay, with nylon sheets, cold tea and soggy toast – and expecting them to get excited about the possibility of NOT going there. The logic and the psychology are all wrong. …

As a species with the creativity, adaptability and opposable thumbs that enabled us to create an Oil Age in the first place, we can be pretty certain that there will be life beyond it.

—Rob Hopkins: The Transition Handbook – from oil dependency to local resilience. Green Books, Totnes, UK, 2008. ISBN 9781900322188

In case you’re interested, there is also a short video of Leonardo DiCaprio’s speech on The Guardian’s website.

Here’s the Guardian’s 2013 call for entries:

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

© 2013 The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/gsb-awards)

You may download the transcript here.

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

Here’s the transcript of the interview.

Now that you’ve got some more experience with both English and business, it’s time to think about how these changes might be achieved.

Write 2-3 sentences to point out necessary actions to achieve the change you suggested.

Send your texts to me (dfuchs@hnee.de) as Word or OpenOffice files to get a written feedback. No PDFs!

 Grammar tip:

You can use conditional phrases using in order to … (um … zu) and … will have to / would have to (… muss / müsste):

• In order to reduce CO₂ emissions from agriculture, people will / would have to eat less meat.

If there’s a direct subject in your clause, it’s included with for:

• In order for agriculture to effectively conserve soils, incentives will have to be created to promote organic farming.