Dr Dennis Meadows is Professor Emeritus in systems management and is former director of the Institute for Policy and Social Science at the University of New Hampshire and currently runs a Laboratory for Interactive Learning. Dr. Meadows is best known for being the co-author of the report Limits to Growth, which was written for the Club of Rome in 1972. He has been a Professor in three disciplines: Management, Engineering and Social Sciences, and has lectured in more than 50 countries. Dr Meadows has received many awards for his contributions to science, including the Japan Prize in 2009; which is awarded for original and outstanding achievements in science and technology that contribute to the prosperity of mankind.

Dr. Meadows gave a lecture at the University of Iceland 27 November 2013. The visit was organized by the University of Iceland and the Institute for Sustainable Development. Dr. Meadows discussed the need to revise the concept of sustainable development. According to Meadows the rich cannot expect to get increasingly more while the poor struggle to achieve the same standards. Societies based on market capitalism and growth of gross domestic product (GDP) cannot continue in the long run, because growth requires energy and scarce resources. Sustainable development needs to promote effective changes that occur with the participation of people and not by government coercion. We need to increase the resilience of communities and offer different solutions because no one solution fits all. It is important to network those who would want to lead these changes, and keep in mind that it will take a long time.

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