Pippi Longstockings — now 65. Photo: Marjon Kruik/Flickr
On November 26, 1945, Astrid Lindgren’s first book about the young heroine Pippi Longstockings was published. So as of today, November 26 in the year of 2010, Pippi turns 65 — standard retirement age in Sweden.
Pippi, I have to admit that I don’t know what you’ve been up to since I read you as a kid. Am unsure if you still wear odd socks, if you still use the floor as a baking table, maybe you still wash your hair with egg yolks? Did you beat your old man in arm wrestling yet? Or have you found other causes by now?
One thing I’m almost sure about, though. This Swedish gal won’t rest on her laurels like most people do at 65. She’ll stay uncompromising and free, regardless of age.
According to studies made by the Swedish Institute, Sweden is not very well-known in India — one of the reasons why the competition was initiated. Sara Aulin, First Secretary at the Embassy of New Delhi, says that one of the keys to getting attention in India is to create a distinct Indian tie in everything. The Embassy saw the opportunity to take a closer look at Swedish innovations. They chose photography as their medium because it’s an including art form that can easily be spread and shared by many, regardless of geographic location.
The winning photograph “Acceptance of Technology Irrespective of Age” , by the photographer Barkath Ali Khan, featured the Bluetooth.
And here are some other photo interpretations I really like.
Lord Krishna On Line shows the innovation of Cell Phone Systems Photo: Joydeep Mukharjee.
Dr. T. Sunder interprets the Swedish innovation the Safety Match.
The power of innovation keeps the world moving forward. Some ideas seem quite insignificant at first, but turn out to have a huge impact and contribute to a better world. Ever heard of the Peepoo bag? Even though you may not need it in your everyday life, it’s an innovation with the potential to change the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
The Peepoo bag is a single-use, biodegradable bag that can be used as a toilet that you can carry with you. Two to four weeks after use, the treated feces has been transformed into a high-value fertilizer, a much sought-after commodity in developing countries. Such a simple idea somehow, and now it’s been developed into a revolutionary innovation.
The Peepoo concept was invented by Swede Anders Wilhelmson in 2005, and a group of researchers and other interested persons have been involved in developing the idea. Since October 2010 the Peepoo bag has been on sale in Kenya, and because of its life-changing potential in developing countries where toilets are scarce it’s been in the media around the world. Al Jazeera published the video below on April 22, 2010.
But the world is not only full of great innovations, but also of great actions. Inspired by the likes of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo — people who unselfishly fight for a better world — we decided to pick a few Swedish non-profit organizations as our own Nobel Peace Prize “nominees.”
In the article “Sweden.se nominates alternative Nobel Peace Prize winners” freelance writer Cari Simmons introduces the equality agency Rättviseförmedlingen; the anti-bullying organization Friends; the Swedish Network of Asylum and Refugee Support Groups, FARR; and the parent patrol group Farsor och morsor på stan, who on a voluntary basis walk the streets of Stockholm late at night looking after teenagers. Inspiring Swedish organizations doing a fantastic job — and giving me a bad conscience for not doing more myself…
While hoping for more great innovations and great actions to make the world a better place, me and my bad conscience will go and watch a movie.
Actually Sweden in you pocket is not far away. Earlier this year we launched the blog you’re now reading. Still some polishing left to do (please let us know what you think!), but at least we make some progress—one step at the time. The blog CMS (content management system) we’re using is WordPress, which makes it easy to install new plugins that makes the portal even better. If you have a smart phone your experience is something like below. To the left a mobile version or template and to the right the blog if you turn that function off (actually there’s a slider in the mobile template footer, so you can easily do it yourself) and blog is there out of the box sort to speak. Still looking ok, right? It’s partly because we’re on a mission to nuke flash on or websites and it’s going pretty well. The top navigation on both Sweden.se and this blog is now built-in HTML5. Sweden.se/watch is also in pipeline, so mobile film is around the corner.
Mobile blogs.sweden.se in an iPhone, using a mobile template to the left and Safari to the right.
If you’re still reading I would like to mention the RSS-feeds. They have had somewhat of a revival lately and they’re pretty much involved in everything that makes out the web of today. Below you se how our RSS feed can look. Actually the design it’s up to you, depending of the reader of your choice, but the point is that blogs.sweden.se is available however, whenever and wherever you want (even offline on a plane). Check out the “RSS feed for this page” link in the blog header and add it to your RSS reader (ie reader.google.com). Are there any improvements to make? Let us know!
…is Sweden.se’s very own outlet of individual opinion. We all work at the Swedish Institute in Stockholm, with our offices right next to the Royal Palace in the Old Town. But what is said here does not necessarily represent the views of the Swedish Institute.
