How to build peace in these troubled times? Conflict and violence are major drivers of poverty and suffering worldwide. Hear from Shamil Idriss, CEO of the world’s largest dedicated peacebuilding organisation, Search for Common Ground. Shamil describes the work of SFCG, the impacts of increasing polarisation and digital media, and the five attributes of a healthy society. And he gives tips for avoiding despair at the state of our world. Shamil’s recommendations for editorial content: POSSIBLE (by William Ury): HIGH CONFLICT (by Amanda Ripley): AIKIDO IN EVERYDAY LIFE (by Terry Dobson and Victor Miller): INTELLIGENCE SQUARED (podcast): SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND (www.sfcg.org). Please send feedback and episode topics suggestions to: collab@plantandfood.com

How to take public passion for something and focus it on a pressing issue? Collab chats with John Wroe, co-founder and CEO of Street Child United, which amongst other things runs an international tournament uniting teams of street children to play football and call for their rights to be realised. Hear John’s origin story about the NFP and his tips for working with sports stars, other celebs and funders.

What else will 2025 bring? Collab crosses to DC to speak with Raj Kumar, founding President & Editor-in-Chief of Devex, the media platform for the global development community. Raj breaks down the current turbulent times and identifies trends to watch in the coming year. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he is the author of the book "The Business of Changing the World," a go-to primer on the ideas, people, and technology disrupting the aid industry.

Want to land a job at a big UN agency? Collab is in New York to get some tips. Ann-Marie Wilcock has lived this dream for over 13 years. She has been in Nepal, Palestine and Pakistan with agencies like UNDP, FAO and MSF. Currently she’s at the UN as an Advocacy Manager. Along the way, to inspire and equip people to follow her footsteps, she’s created an excellent blog called Hit The Iron Bell.

It’s here! Collab presenter Phil Johnstone briefly describes this new podcast series about global trends in international development and humanitarian crisis response.