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Anders Monrad Rendtorff

On Time and Water
How to talk about changes bigger than language

During the next 100 years we expect to see a fundamental change of all the elements of water on our planet. Many glaciers will melt and the sea levels will rise at a faster rate than has been seen before. Acidification will bring the oceans to a pH level not seen in 50 million years. We could say that nature is not changing in geological speed anymore but entering human speed. This extreme shift is larger than any metaphor or any words or language we are used to. Just like the huge gravity of a black hole makes it invisible, you could say that this issue is so large that it swallows all words and meaning. Andri weaves a web of stories from mythology, to his grandmother’s honeymoon on Europe’s largest glacier, to our understanding of our intimate time. We are faced with the almost impossible task of cutting carbon emissions to zero in 2050 according to newest studies. The question is – are we too late to do something? What can actually be done in 30 years? We have found ourselves in the largest paradigm shift of our lifetime. What words can you use when the change is bigger than langauge itself?

What I Do

Anders Monrad Rendtorff is associate partner at the communication consulting company RelationsPeople. Also, Rendtorff is the head of communications for VL, The Danish Management Society, and network director in EGN, Executive´s Global Network. Rendtorff is a very experienced trusted communications advisor in some of the largest Nordic companies such as Ericsson, Telia, Coloplast, and Vestas. The long-standing experience as an inhouse communication advisor along with his current involvement in a network of 4000 leaders (VL Society) and 175 communications advisors (EGN network) give Rendtorff a valuable insight in the job profile of the trusted communications advisor as well as contemporary trends and challenges within the profession.

For many years, Rendtorff has been employed as an external lecturer at Copenhagen Business School at the Institute for Management, Society, and Communication. He has written a range of articles and is the co-author on a book on research communication.