I know you will be sympathetic: a euclid board meeting on a Friday evening. Perhaps less so when I tell you it is in Venice!
Pre board preparation you might say; and there are a few contentious issues to discuss. It is always fascinating to observe the cultural interplay between our board members- the approach of the swedes versus the french, the albanians versus the italian and so on. You realise how important it is to use language carefully for although our meetings are conducted in the world lingua franca ( english) it is easy to cause difficulty through misunderstandings over language.
The beauty of this city is indescribable though many have tried; and January is a great month to be here. Few tourists yet clear blue skies. Great deals on hotels! We meet in the European Centre for living technology on San marco Square and then Prof David Lane, attached to said,takes us to his favourite venetian restaurant for post board discussion . But my day started with Mass in the Basilica of San Marco- around the supposed but venerated body of said Saint and a visit to my favourite venetian chirch, Santa Maria del Miracoli, a masterpiece of the Italian renaissance. And lunch!
Euclid has come far in a few years. Now well established with the European Commission we are seen as one of the key stakeholders on civil society finance and how to develop social finance and innovation. In particular my director Filippo Addarri is a familiar figure in the many and long corridors of power in Brussels. Better known than even the Secretary General; but then long Brussels corridors are not exactly my thing. Long may that continue! Now for culture...
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