Sir Erik Dammann (born 9 May 1931 in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

) is a Norwegian

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, environmentalist and

government scholar Government scholar (Norwegian, ''statsstipendiat'') 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 Nor ...

. 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 v ...

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'', 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 A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

.''Utviklingsfondet'' (Store norske leksikon)
/ref> Dammann is also known for his stay on the island of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

, 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 spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

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 A grant is a fund given by an end entity grant – often a public body, charitable foundation, or a specialised grant-making institution – to an individual or another entity (usually, a non-profit organisation, sometimes a business or a local ...

. 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'' (together 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'' (together with Ragnhild Dammann) *2005 ''Contrasts, an account of a varied life'' (self biography)

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