Our heroes

Welcome to Monocle’s annual round-up of 20 people who we think deserve a bigger stage. We cover diverse professions from shoe designers to politicians because we believe it’s not only the grand scale that matters, but the little life-affirming things too.
Most unwanted

Welcome to Monocle’s annual round-up of 20 people who we think deserve a bigger stage. We cover diverse professions from shoe designers to politicians because we believe it’s not only the grand scale that matters, but the little life-affirming things too.
A better blueprint

Welcome to Monocle’s annual round-up of 20 people who we think deserve a bigger stage. We cover diverse professions from shoe designers to politicians because we believe it’s not only the grand scale that matters, but the little life-affirming things too.
Dungaree diplomats

When a flood devastates Uganda or an earthquake strikes Pakistan, Germany’s THW gets some of the first aid workers on the ground. Mostly volunteers, they are part of Germany’s soft power arsenal.
Rainbow warrior

In the first of a series on World Cup players, nations and managers, Monocle looks at South African Matthew Booth. He’s an unlikely poster boy for the tournament but his tough tackling and marriage to a top black fashion designer mean he has the popularity and power to unite the nation.
Where next?

From Israel’s new museum district to Poland’s secret economic hotspot via Armenia’s favourite mountain, Monocle runs the rule over five places you should keep an eye on in 2010.
On the money

How come some nations’ banks glided through the global banking crisis unscathed? Do we even need money? But what if it’s forged? Three writers deposit their accounts.
From coal to cool

Thanks to its excellent universities, international transport links and super bright, skilled workforce, this former mining city in Germany’s Ruhr valley has been transformed into a hive for hi-tech firms.
Leaders of the pack

Identifying a gap in a market is the easy part; creating a pioneering company to plug that gap requires a bit more skill. We present five firms that have found their niche and done the hard work too.
Calm down, dear

Slow media might sound like a contradiction in terms but here we celebrate three media companies playing the long game, sticking to their guns and using their individuality to their advantage.
Double vision

While trends come and go in the art world, gallery owners Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers have been nurturing artists for 26 years. Their old fashioned approach has paid off and they are the ones to watch in 2010.
Spark life

The world is going electric in a bid to combat environmental change and energy dependency. For once this Christmas, batteries are included.
Cobble it up

Along with clean hospitals and punctual buses, our cities should have a cosy feel to them. Let’s hear it for warm street lighting, pristine parks and cobbled back alleys.

2010 / Global

To your health

What does 2010 hold? Monocle’s biggest issue to date looks at who should be in the spotlight, who should take a bow, and which companies are the ones to watch – all with a healthy dose of optimism.

We’ll start with a warning. As this is our biggest issue ever, we’ve commissioned and designed it so you don’t need to feel compelled to finish it in a single sitting. Of course you’re more than welcome to if you’re without other distractions on a flight from Helsinki to Bangkok or Mexico City to Madrid, but when we sat down to think about how you might spend your holidays, we wanted to create an edition that you’d return to frequently to revisit a quote, linger on a photo or source a web address.

With our eyes fixed firmly over the horizon, our editors, correspondents, photographers and illustrators have been busy penning essays, capturing subtle expressions, committing heads of state to film and working up solution driven manifestos. For our second annual “20 Who Need a Bigger Stage” feature we’ve asked our lighting director to focus his spot on a diverse mix of people who we think deserve more air and ear time in the years ahead – see page 28. At the same time we also did an office and bureau-wide poll to nominate five who should exit the world stage as swiftly as possible.

While we don’t deliberately set out to commission our editors and writers to submit overly optimistic copy, we think by the time you get to the back cover you’ll have been introduced to a host of creators, NGOs, leaders, policies and brands that are not only changing or maintaining their environments and markets, but also offer up inspiring examples to evolve, mould or simply mimic.

Since we launched, we’ve championed the company that favours quality and service over hollow double-digit growth, governments that use their power gently, but persuasively, individuals who want to create sustainable businesses rather than flash in the pan brands aimed at gullible suitors and moving at a more considered, elegant pace versus a sweaty sprint.

Over the next 200-plus pages, we learn lessons in good (and not so good) management in our Expo on page 195, question what’s going on in Michelle Obama’s garden in our essays starting on page 51, help you with your Christmas shopping list on page 187 and make you all warm and toasty with a special cosiness index on page 170. Cheers to a prosperous 2010.

To your health

Our heroes

Most unwanted

A better blueprint

Dungaree diplomats

Rainbow warrior

Where next?

On the money

From coal to cool

Leaders of the pack

Calm down, dear

Double vision

Spark life

Cobble it up

Forecast 2010: Transport

Forecast 2010: Politics

Business briefing

Arts surgery

Fashion Briefing

What next

Small but beautiful

From red to green

Talking shop

Architecture/Design Briefing

King of the hill

Go with the flow

Homeward Bound

Inventory No. 29

Expo 29: How I Govern

Observation

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