Alex was invited to give a talk on ocean stresses and their solutions as part of an intense two days of talks on a range of sustainability issues from agriculture, building and urban development to drinking water and the ocean. The meeting comprised of a series of excellent talks, many of which were extremely inspiring with respect to new models of how to live more sustainably from the international level to the everyday decisions made by an individual. Alex found the discussions around new forms of agriculture which were using methods such as no tillage to reinvigorate soils, absorb carbon and prevent erosion. Many of the listeners were shocked with respect to the state of the ocean but we identified many common factors leading to degradation of the Earth’s natural systems. Korea was very chilly at this time of year but the intellectual debate immensely stimulating and renewing. Alex left Seoul in the snow to move onto the next meeting in Japan!