Sir Erik Dammann (born 9 May 1931 in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

) is a Norwegian

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, environmentalist and

government scholar Government scholar () is a position awarded by the Parliament of Norway upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education and Research and funded directly over the state budget of Norway. The position can be "for li ...

. He is mostly known for founding of the Norwegian-based organization, The Future in Our Hands (''Framtiden i våre hender''). In 1982, he was awarded the

Right Livelihood Award The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob vo ...

for "challenging Western values and lifestyles in order to promote a more responsible attitude to the environment and the third world". In 2011 he was knighted by The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav,the highest civilian honour conferred by Norway.

Biography

He is educated within advertising. Dammann's book ''The Future in Our Hands'' raised social and environmental questions and put them in a much larger perspective than until then had been the norm. Inspired by the interest for this book, in 1974 he initiated ''

Framtiden i våre hender Framtiden i våre hender is an idealistic organization in Norway that advocates green consumption and resource justice. The Norwegian name literally translates to The Future in Our Hands. The organization is critical of the ever-increasing consum ...

'', today a world wide organisation with thirty partner organisations over the globe. In 1978, the organization established The Development Fund (''Utviklingsfondet''). In 2003, The Development Fund established a youth-based affiliate, Spire.''Utviklingsfondet'' (Store norske leksikon)
/ref> Dammann is also known for his stay on the island of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

, described in the book ''With four children in a palm hut'' (1968), and also for starting the movement Project Alternative Future and Forum for System Debate. His book ''Behind time and space'' (1987) was described as the first introduction of

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

philosophy in Norway. In advertising in the early 70’s he contributed strongly in the introduction of the orange “S” as a square in the logo for Co-op Norway. In 1982 he received The Right Livelihood Award, "...for challenging Western values and lifestyles in order to promote a more responsible attitude to the environment and the third world." Since 1988 Dammann has been a recipient of a Lifetime Government grant. His books have been translated to nine languages.

Bibliography

*1966 ''Truls and Tone the Magician, an adventure in reality'' *1968 ''With four children in a palm hut'' *1972 ''The Future in Our Hands'' *1972 ''Adoption?'' *1976 ''New lifestyle, and then what?'' *1977 ''The parties at separation point'' (with Jacob Bomann-Larsen) *1979 ''Revolution in the affluent society'' *1980 ''You decide!'' *1981 ''Free thoughts'' *1982 ''Talofa Samoa!'' *1987 ''Behind time and space'' *1989 ''Money or your life!'' *1998 ''Kidnapped'' (with Ragnhild Dammann) *2005 ''Contrasts, an account of a varied life'' (autobiography)

References

Other sources

*''The Big Norwegian One Volume Encyclopedia'' Kunnskapsforlaget (Knowledge Publishing. 2006)

External links

The Future in Our Hands homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dammann, Erik Norwegian male writers Norwegian environmentalists Degrowth advocates Writers from Oslo 1931 births Living people