Shall you trust your intuition and when? Should you take a prescribed medication is X%? How to distinguish facts from fakes? Can algorithms make better decisions for you? To what extent and when you should or not rely on artificial intelligence assistants? Do bigger and more complex models help economists make better predictions and implications about the world? What is the difference between risk and uncertainty and how this difference should shape your decisions?
In this episode, I discuss these and other questions with Gerd Gigerenzer. Gerd is a German psychologist, director emeritus of the Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition (ABC) at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, director of the Harding Center for Risk Literacy, and vice president of the European Research Council (ERC). Gerd is the author of multiple books, including popular science books, about risk literacy, how to make decisions in uncertainty and intuition.
Gerd Gigerenzer | Max Planck Institute for Human Development (mpg.de)
Welcome to the Harding Center for Risk Literacy | Harding-Zentrum für Risikokompetenz
Ted Ed: Why people fear the wrong things
Amazon.fr - Calculated Risks: How to Know When Numbers Deceive You - Gigerenzer, Gerd - Livres
HOW TO STAY SMART IN A SMART WORLD: Gerd Gigerenzer: 9780241567432: Amazon.com: Books
Amazon.com: The Intelligence of Intuition eBook : Gigerenzer, Gerd: Kindle Store
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00:00 Introduction
01:31 Defining Intuition and Its Importance
03:10 The Interplay Between Intuition and Deliberate Reasoning
04:36 The Validity of Intuition in Expert Domains
10:23 Challenging the Flawed Perception of Intuition
23:42 Replacing Paternalism with an Appreciation of Intuition
33:28 The Effectiveness of Heuristics in Decision-Making under uncertainty
41:05 Complex Models and AI in Decision-Making
43:33 Heuristics vs. Complex Models in Uncertain Environments
49:32 Understanding Technology and Being in Control
52:34 The Importance of Risk Literacy
01:05:36 Misunderstanding Relative Risks in Health Decisions
01:18:19 The Need for Better Education on Risk Literacy
Climate change is bringing significant changes to peoples’ lives and threatening existence of certain cultures. Summers become hotter, countries face more floods and with larger impacts, island countries risk disappearing due to sea level rise, etc. We hear more often about the need to spend more money on adaptation measures to get prepared to changing conditions and reduce death toll of extreme climate events. Where do countries stand in terms of preparedness? What are the true barriers to efficient adaptation measures? Do we have all necessary technologies and solutions to address climate risks? How much money do we need and do we spend enough on adaptation measures?
In this episode, I discuss these and other questions with Sourav Kumar Biswas, Landscape planner and spatial analyst with 13+ years’ experience in urban planning, climate adaptation, territorial economic strategy, blue economy, resilient infrastructure, and leveraging nature-based solutions at site and metropolitan scales. Sourav has worked in multiple countries: from Republic of Marshall Islands (Oceania), India, Nepal, Afghanistan, China, to North and South America. Sourav explains how nature-based solutions can help countries get prepared for climate change, compares their cost and efficiency with traditional, so called “grey”, solutions, discusses the importance of the focus on local solutions specific to context not only of a country but even municipality, identifies main institutional barriers to effectively manage adaptation measures, and much more.
Urban design | Spongecollaborative
The episode is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
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00:00 Introduction
03:06 Understanding Adaptation to Climate Change
13:00 Nature-Based Solutions for Resilience
21:42 Implementing Nature-Based Solutions in Chennai
31:30 Proactive Management of Ecosystems in the Face of Sea Level Rise
35:45 Challenges and Future Directions
37:09 Shifting Financing Towards Adaptation
39:01 Nature-Based Solutions vs. Gray Solutions
44:45 Capacity Building and Institutional Reform
50:00 The Role of Multilateral Institutions
56:37 Changes Needed in Academia
01:07:01 The Importance of Long-Term Thinking and Collaboration
01:13:32 Two most inspiring books
People naturally simplify the world to make it easier to understand and make decisions. Economists create models that help governments and other economic agents make informed decisions. At which point economic models stop being just models and start defining the way we look at the world? How much economic models with their focus on GDP growth and liberal markets contribute to the problem of climate change and other environmental problems? Do we need to change the economic paradigm to be able to solve these problems? Can pricing of carbon emissions or biodiversity be part of the solution? What is the role of nature in the economic models and how economic profession should evolve to fit better the changing world?
In this episode, I talk with Romain Svartzman, Research Fellow at Bocconi University (Institute for European Policymaking) & Senior Executive Fellow at SDA Bocconi whose research focuses on developing scenarios of ecological transition including relationship to nature, geopolitics of critical metals and reforms of the international monetary and financial system, and assessing their economic and financial implications. We discuss all these questions regarding the development of the economic thinking and the role of nature in the economics. At the end of the episode Romain suggests a list of books on how economists can think better and beyond simple profit maximization paradigm.
(10) Romain Svartzman | LinkedIn
The episode is available on Google podcasts / YT Music, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
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Like the episode, Subscribe to the podcast and Share it around if you like it. It will help the others to learn about it. Share your views and suggestions by writing to me at scgrowpodcast@gmail.com The podcast reflects only my own views.
00:00 Introduction and the Importance of Interdisciplinary Dialogue
04:02 Challenging the Mainstream View of Economics
10:57 Methodological Individualism and a Market-Based View of the World
19:02 The Role of Nature in the Current Economic Paradigm
31:43 Nature as an Externality in Mainstream Economics
33:39 The Limitations of Carbon Pricing
41:13 Towards a Holistic Approach to the Ecological Transition
41:38 Balancing Global and Local Approaches
45:16 The Importance of Systemic and Structural Changes
52:41 The Role of Ecological Economics
59:18 Moving Beyond GDP: Alternative Indicators
01:05:03 Challenges and Opportunities for Young Economists
Listen to the episode to know what real-life problems were solved by replacing policemen by clowns in city streets.
When you hear about creativity, do you think it is a particular quality that is reserved for artists? How creative would you consider yourself in your everyday life and at work? Do you necessarily have to write books or do painting in order to be creative?
Creativity is an inner quality of each human being. Creativity is like a muscle, it can be trained. Creativity helps us find original solutions to difficult problems, and it may be the needed tool to solve climate change and other societal challenges.
In this episode, I talk with Stephen Boucher, CEO of Dreamocracy, a public-interest serving consultancy that promotes "collective creativity for the common good" as well as founder and manager of NGO “Smarter Together”. Stephen has more than 25-years of experience in policy and politics. He is an ardent advocate of creative approaches in public policies and helping change makers become more creative. With Stephen, we discuss what is creativity, how everyone can nourish and nurture their creativity, how public policies need to become more creative to be able to address current challenges. Stephen generously shares practical information, resources and tools that one can apply to think more creatively in individually and collectively.
(15) Stephen Boucher | LinkedIn
Collective Intelligence for stronger democracy - Smarter Together (smarter-together.org)
The Routledge Handbook of Collective Intelligence for Democracy and Go
Hope Matters – Greystone Books Ltd.
The episode is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
Follow me on Instagram: Sustain_Change_Grow
Like the episode, Subscribe to the podcast and Share it around if you like it. It will help the others to learn about it. And think about sharing your views and suggestions by writing to me at scgrowpodcast@gmail.com
The podcast reflects only my own views.
00:00 Introduction
01:27 The Role of Imagination in Solving Climate Change
20:27 Understanding Collective Intelligence
22:56 Exploring Collective Creativity and Creative Thinking
32:30 Creativity in Public Affairs and Administration
33:30 Inspiring Stories of Creative Solutions
35:44 The Creative Solutions to traffic delinquencies in Bogota, Colombia
38:12 Characteristics of Creative Solutions and the Importance of Timeliness
43:38 The Four Phases of the Creative Problem-Solving Process
45:05 Divergent and Convergent Thinking in Creative Problem-Solving
49:19 Identifying Creative Strengths with the Foresight Test
54:03 The Three Key Ingredients for Creativity
Clean energy investment must reach $4.5 trillion per year by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5°C according to the International Energy Agency report. That’s a significant amount of investment, though this reflects about 4.5% of the world GDP. While the technology for renewable energy exists and the capacity keeps growing, this energy still poses difficult questions. Renewable energy is still expensive and requires significant initial investments. The respective roles of markets and governments are important to speed up the transition to cleaner energy, and sole market approach may not work or at least not quick enough as required by the climate emergency. On the other hand, the use of renewable energy poses serious questions regarding other planetary boundaries, and electrification of all energy use may not be possible or optimal.
In this episode, I talk with Mario Samano, an Associate professor of Economics at HEC Montreal who works on regulation and market competition in energy markets, including renewable energy and we discuss all these questions regarding renewable energy, where markets can help and where there are their limits. Is energy transition feasible and what market mechanisms and government interventions are needed to achieve the transition?
The episode is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
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Like the episode, Subscribe to the podcast and Share it around if you like it. It will help the others to learn about it. And think about sharing your views and suggestions by writing to me at scgrowpodcast@gmail.com
The podcast reflects only my own views.
00:00 Introduction
01:03 The Importance of Energy and Types of Energy Sources
08:17 Renewable Energy and its Benefits
13:35 Challenges of Intermittency and Feasibility of 100% Renewables
21:51 The Levelized Cost of Electricity and Comparing Energy Sources
29:43 Storage Solutions in Renewable Energy
33:09 Concentrated Solar Power and its Challenges
34:09 Concentrated Solar Power and Energy Storage
36:04 Challenges in the Energy Network Infrastructure
37:02 Transporting Renewable Energy to Cities: The Transmission Line Problem
39:55 Government Intervention and Regulation in the Renewable Energy Industry
51:24 Sustainability of Renewable Energy: Considering Environmental and Social Costs
Can money be a force for good? Can investments bring well-being and empowerment? You would think that’s exactly what investments should normally do. Unfortunately, in the current liberal market economies investments very often extract benefits for investors, or capital holders, while people and communities as well as the nature suffer. However, there exist investors who are looking for making good with their money, favoring benefits for the society and environment over financial return. This is called Impact Investing.
In this episode, I talk with Tom Adlam, an Impact Investing Expert with over thirty years progressive financial and investment experience, predominantly in East and Southern Africa. Since January 2023, he has been working on an advisory basis on a range of impact investing-related assignments, including the Global Steering Group for Impact Investing (GSG), Palladium International, Ecorys, and Agri-Frontiers.
We discuss with Tom what exactly Impact Investing is, what challenges such investors face, and how Impact Investing can become a mainstream. While the idea of impact investing seems very attractive, there are multiple challenges on its way.
The episode is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
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Like the episode, Subscribe to the podcast and Share it around if you like it. It will help the others to learn about it. And think of sharing your views and suggestions by writing to me at scgrowpodcast@gmail.com
The podcast reflects only my own views.
Got a question about heat pumps? Never heard about it previously?
In this episode, my guest Tom Gosling will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about heat pumps. To start with, heat pumps is a solution to reduce carbon emissions related to heating. As you may know, heating relies mostly on gas and sometimes on coal. Heat pumps use electricity but much more efficiently than electric heating and thus much cheaper.
Tom will unveil some myths about heat pumps and will explain that heat pumps work well in cold winters too! Heat pumps can be used for heating as the name suggests but also for cooling. What a nice feature during our burning summers, isn’t it?
There are barriers on the spread of heat pumps, and Tom will discuss at length policy implications to make heat pumps more affordable and installation speed up to the required level to address climate change.
Tom Gosling is a seasoned board adviser with 20+ years of experience in corporate governance and responsible business, including 15 years as a Partner at PwC. In 2020, Tom decided to pursue a portfolio career. Now he is an Executive Fellow at London Business School and the European Corporate Governance Institute. He works on issues related to corporate governance, responsible business, and sustainable investing. In 2019, Tom started took a pledge to reduce carbon footprint of his family by half in ten years. He shares his journey on his website which I highly recommend to visit for more details and inspiration.
You can listen to the previous episode (#20) with Tom on middle class approach to decarbonisation.
Tom’s blog about his experience to install a heat pump
https://www.tom-gosling.com/blog/this-has-to-get-easier
The episode is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
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The podcast reflects only my own views.
#heatpump, #sustainability, #decarbonisation, #climatechange, #sustainablelifestyle
Wondering how these three topics are related?
My todays' guest is Miyoko Schinner.
Miyoko founded and lead until 2022 a $ 260 million brand of vegan cheese, called Miyoko Creamery. To a large extent, Miyoko re-invented vegan cheese and made it popular in the United States. What is key is that Miyoko is a true defender of animal rights and undertakes multiple actions to remove animals from the food chain, from producing delicious vegan cheese to generously sharing her recipes, to founding non-profit organisations for the animal cause.
Current western food traditions based to a large extent on consumption of meat and dairy products lead to a lot of adverse effects such as up to 25% of total human-generated greenhouse gas emissions, animal suffering due to the way animals are treated in industrial farms, human health problems such heart diseases and diabetes. Eating animal products in quantities currently consumed is absolutely unsustainable. As Miyoko argues this is a very recent human history, while old history knows very different examples such as an 8-century long Japanese vegan society.
We will also talk about many other topics such as history of vegan diet, how venture capital or financial system in general can influence the food system, barriers for transition to low-carbon economy in the agriculture, or simply relationship between work-efficiency-diet and happiness.
Miyoko’s LinkedIn profile if you are interested in reaching her out regards Vegan Style Brand
https://www.linkedin.com/in/miyoko-schinner-6a47204/
Miyoko’s YouTube channel for easy vegan recipes:
https://www.youtube.com/@thevegangoodlifewithmiyoko
3:25 – Queen of vegan cheese
5:20 – Creation of first vegan cheeses
7:45 – Processed cheeses mostly consumed in the US contain no milk
11:00 – SAD – Standard American Diet and plant-based movement
13:35 – Changing a habit of eating cheese in Europe; vegan cheeses in France and Italy
14:55 – Evolution of food and eating habits
17:23 – Where is money in food production
18:57 – The role of investors in shaping the economy and the food system
22:00 – Miyoko creamery development: the story of becoming an international brand
26:15 – Multiple regional brands as an alternative to national and international brands
27:27 – Smaller VC market in Europe: a curse or a blessing
30:40 – Is there too much of innovation…
31:24 – What should we be thinking about if we want to change the world
32:45 – Are there more vegans today than thirty years ago?
35:10 – People have been eating plant-based food for thousand years
37:37 – We could make peasant food look sexy
38:13 – Everybody is an impact investor today
40:25 – The right to use word “butter” for vegan products
43:49 – Vegan diet is sufficient for human health
47:17 – Leading non-profit organisations for animal rights
50:50 – LEAP organisation: Leaders for Ethics, Animals and the Planet
52:14 – Converting farms into growing crops
53:37 – Dairy farmers and ranchers are having hard times to meet their needs
56:03 – We need government programs instead of investors
56:30 – Aka Steve Jobs’ departure from Miyoko Creamery
58:28 – New projects
1:00:25 – Creating Vegan Lifestyle Brand
1:00:40 – YouTube Channel for cooking vegan at home
1:05:45 – Getting back to the kitchens and restoring eating together habits
1:12:48 – Book recommendations
1:15:00 – Historical traditions of eating vegan food
1:15:55 – Japan was vegan for 800 years
1:17:13 – To get in touch with Miyoko
New episode is published every second Tuesday. It is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
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The podcast reflects only my own views.
#vegan, #vegancheese, #climateaction, #sustainability, #animalrights
Food constitutes the most intimate relationship between us and nature. Though the food that we eat now can be almost called unnatural. Yes, it is full of calories but very poor in nutrients. And we can just imagine what effect has this unnatural food on our health. The way this food is produced has a huge negative effect on nature, climate and biodiversity. Luckily, solutions exist.
Today, I am talking to an amazing woman, an entrepreneur who was curious to ask questions about the way her supply products were produced. After digging deeper into the problem, she found a new business opportunity and launched a company that benefits people, both consumers and producers, but also nature and biodiversity.
And that’s what we are going to talk today about: how food can be good for you and for nature. We also touch upon financing issues for regenerative agriculture and insetting credits (not to be confused with carbon offsetting credit).
Marcela Flores is a founder of Tierra Foods company that is inspired by the indigenous knowledge to produce highly nutritious food while also reducing carbon emissions, restoring biodiversity and valuing local communities.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcela-flores-98547223/
Book recommendations from the Episode:
Isabella Tree “Wilding” and Jim Collins “From Good to Great”
1:50 – How it all started. Growing business from the kitchen
3:30 – First realizations of how food is grown
4:00 – Alternative options to grow food
5:30 – What regenerative agriculture is
6:00 – Problems with the current agriculture practices
13:30 – Windscreen effect
14:30 – Value of the insects
16:10 – High concern about the environmental problems but hope is present
17:12 – Success of the concerted effort to solve ozone layer problem
18:10 – Tierra Foods’ approach helps reverse biodiversity loss
19:02 – Trees create rain: the magic of nature
19:50 – Tierra Foods’ business model. Agroforestry is key
21:00 – Natural carbon absorption capacity of nut bread trees (Brosimum Alicastrum)
21:50 – Edible nutritious seeds from the trees
23:15 – Reforestation with maximum benefits
23:50 – Scientific approach to measure and reporting nature and climate benefits
24:18 – Carbon insets
25:10 – Helping companies to reduce emissions from their supply chain
26:20 – Carbon insets vs carbon offsets
27:29 – What about biodiversity credits?
28:00 – Bio-economy: Working with living forests and indigenous people
29:30 – Just pay and decent work for people
30:54 – Getting inspired from indigenous people
33:47 – Collaboration with academics
34:31 – Uptake by large food corporations of the proposed solution
36:00 – Low-carbon transition: learning by doing and by failing
37:39 – Science-based targets for companies
42:18 – Beware greenwashing
46:40 – The role of finance
47:10 – Regenerative agriculture neither riskier nor more expensive but it takes time for transition
48:20 – Need for blended finance to support the transition
52:20 – Personal vs corporate responsibility
55:10 – Venture capital seeks quick money and not suited to finance the transition
57:20 – Struggles of a female entrepreneur
1:00:20 – Two most inspiring books: Isabella Tree “Wilding” and Jim Collins “From Good to Great”
New episode is published every second Tuesday. It is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
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L'economie qui cherche a croitre sans cesse, le business qui cherche a avoir de plus en plus de profits, les consomatteurs qui cherchent a consommer de plus en plus, et tout cela en epuisant des resources naturelles et en d’etruisant la planete. Est-ce que cela a du sens?
Comment on peut re-penser notre facon de produire et de vivre? Quel est le role du business et de chacun d’entre nous dans la transition?
Dans cet episode, j’ai le plaisir d’acceuillir Pierre Pointard, un entrepreneur a impact, fondateur de la companie Rutabago, un animateur de 2tonnes, un associe de Team for the Planet et simplement une personne qui cherche a re-penser sa facon de vivre pour avoir plus de sens, plus de satisfaction et moins d’impact sur l’environment.
Pierre partage son histoire passionant de l’entrepreneriat, de la creation de Rutabago - la companie de box repas bio, les defis et le succes d’une companie qui vise a faire mieux et a faire differement. On discute avec Pierre ce qui est derriere le label Bio, pourquoi il vaut mieux eviter de manger des tomates en hiver. On touche aux jeux serieux comme 2tonnes ou Fresque du Climat et l’importance de parler autour de soi du changement climatique et de la transition. Et bien sur, on parle de Team for the Planet - une association pour promovoir et financer des solutions pour la planete.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pierre-pointard/
Pour calculer ton imprint carbon: https://nosgestesclimat.fr/
Pour s’inscrire a l’atelier de 2tonnes: https://www.2tonnes.org/
Pour s’inscrire a l’atelier de Fresque du Climat: https://fresqueduclimat.org/
New episode is published every second Tuesday. It is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
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2:07 – Creation de la companie de box repas bio Rutabago
6:00 – L’agriculture biologique chez Rutabago
7:19 – Circuit cours et des produits moins transformes
8:15 – Gouvernance et collaborateurs
8:55 – Entreprise sociale et solidaire
10:02 – Entrepreneur vs Entrepreneur a impact
12:35 – Mission des entreprises
14:16 – Le role du capital et des benefices
19:00 – Nouvel age de l’humanite
21:13 – La publicite et le besoin de se faire connaitre par une jeune entreprise
25:55 – L’agriculture biologique, la philosophie et le label bio
32:50 – Accompagnement des petits producteurs avec la philosophie
35:46 – Des serre chauffes avec de l’energie verte
36:30 – Regle a trois: sobriete, efficacite, substitution
38:24 – Si pas l’energie, c’est d’autre limites que l'on va toucher
39:36 – Resoudre le probleme de l’emballage
41:50 – Impact de la viande
44:44 – Changer des habitudes et traditions
45:35 – Accompagnement de la transition et changement
47:55 – La suite de Rutabago apres 2022
51:45 – Apres-Rutabago pour Pierre
52:48 – Animation de l’atelier de jeu serieux 2tonnes
55:34 – 2 tonnes, il s’agit de quoi?
57:03 – Est-ce que les individus devraient agir pour reduire l’impact?
58:20 – Messages cles de 2tonnes: principaux axes d’action
1:01:55 – Le role des citoyens pour reduire l’impact
1:03:00 – L’emploi et les actions pour reduire l’impact
1:05:10 – Le succes des jeux serieux
1:08:30 – Eco-anxiete
1:09:10 – Imaginons un meilleur monde
1:11:20 – Team for the Planet
1:13:20 – Le business, commencait-il a penser plus a l’impact positif?
1:14:25 – Financement des projets de Team for the Planet
1:21:15 – Defis des entreprises a impact
1:22:00 – Ralentissement: Nouvelles reflexions par rapport a la vie personnelle
1:25:45 – Redefinir le travail 1:31:40 – Deux livres pour les entrepreneurs
What is wildlife and why it matters?
Elephants, tigers, monkeys, gibbons, bears and multiple other big and small species. This is all wildlife. According to the WWF, in about 40-50 years, we have lost about 65% of the wildlife. The situation is dangerous all over the world with animals being poached and killed due to wild animal trade and nature-human conflicts. But animals are also withdrawn from their natural habitat and mistreated for tourism and entertainment purposes. Multiple organizations of wildlife protection, conservation and re-wilding are fighting to protect beautiful species around the globe from extinction.
Each of us can be a force for good because every now and then we interact with wildlife as tourists. And it is important for us to know how to make this interaction the most beneficial for both sides.
How to be a respectful tourist? How to contribute to the protection of the Wildlife while on vacations? How to choose an ethical center for wildlife? What are the dangers that wildlife is facing in Cambodia and South-East Asia? Who is a binturong?
With today’s guest Alicia Northcott, we will discuss these various issues as well as we will have a look behind the scenes of the Wildlife Alliance Rescue Centre in Phnom Tamao, Cambodia.
Alicia is a Care for Rescued Wildlife Tour Programme Coordinator at Wildlife Alliance in Cambodia. She organises and facilitates tours of the wildlife rescue centre and release station as well as operates online fundraising and communications. She has a BSc in Animal Biology at the University of Gloucestershire in England. Alicia is passionate about post-rescue wild animal rehabilitation and science communication.
https://www.wildlifealliance.org/wildlife-phnom-tamao/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-northcott-270639142/
New episode is published every second Tuesday. It is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
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2:06 – Typical day in the Phnom Tamao Rescue center
3:35 – Main work at the rescue center: rescuing from illegal wildlife trade
4:35 – Size and reasons behind the illegal wildlife trade
6:00 – Tigers are extinct in Cambodia; reintroduction project
9:35 – Tragedy of pangolins
11:50 – Snares as a weapon against wildlife
14:50 – Elephant Chouk and his prostatic leg
15:48 – Rapid rescue team: behind the scenes
17:56 – Releasing animals into the wild
20:47 – Human-wildlife contact-conflict and wildlife protection actions
23:35 – Community-conservation support
25:30 – Sustainable tourism with examples of ethical centers
33:31 – Elephants: no riding
38:04 – Costs of conservation, funding needed and tourists’ experience
45:15 – Fundraising campaigns, sponsoring animals
49:05 – Benefits and Dangers to wildlife from social media activity
53:17 – Who is Binturong?
55:23 – Alicia’s personal story
58:15 – Travelling around South-East Asia
1:00:25 – Every day motivation
1:02:11 – Book recommendation
Forests play an essential role for humanity by providing a wide range of ecosystem services. To name just few, forests clean the air, filter water supplies, control floods and erosion, sustain biodiversity and genetic resources. Standing forests are powerful carbon sinks, but cut them and they will become carbon emitters.
Currently, forests all over the world are in danger, putting in danger the wildlife that inhabits it, and the humanity itself that relies on it.
While individually we may lack resources to protect endangered forests, we can plant our own, tiny forests that bring huge benefits to the environment.
In this episode, we will talk a lot about forests with my guest Nikolaus Tarouquella-Levitan. What is the difference between a forest and a plantation? Who is Sebastiano Salgado? What is a tiny forest? How tiny forests help with biodiversity? and how one can grow her or his own tiny forest in a place as small as a backyard?
Nikolaus is a filmmaker. He has two decades of documentary expertise around the globe. He made films about the beautiful and endangered Amazon, Portuguese speaking Africa, Greenland and Mongolia. He worked for large public European TV broadcasters like ARTE, ZDF, ARD, DW, and BBC, but also as a director for NGOs like WWF and Greenpeace and governmental development agencies like BMZ and GIZ. Recently, Nikolaus started a foundation in Poland to plant tiny forests, to enrich intercultural exchange and to speed up green transition.
Donation page of the foundation: https://gogetfunding.com/rozwarowo/
Fundacja Perspektywa | Facebook
Website: Fundacja Perspektywa (fundacja-perspektywa.org)
Absolutely inspiring talk by Shubhendu Sharma: https://www.ted.com/talks/shubhendu_sharma_an_engineer_s_vision_for_tiny_forests_everywhere?language=en
Video lectures how to plant tiny forests by Mr Sharma: Trailer | Forest Creation Tutorials | English - YouTube
New episode is published every second Tuesday. It is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
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3:37 – Forests at the center of the movie-making career
5:03 – Forests around the world: they role in human life
5:58 – Forests vs monoculture plantations
9:03 – We have forgotten how healthy forests look like
10:00 – Amazon flying rivers and their relationship to agriculture
14:00 – Indigenous people
15:00 – We are part of the nature
18:16 – Nature – human conflict
19:10 – Solutions to the seeming conflict
21:02 – Summary of the problems with forest around the world
23:12 – Nikolaus’ cultural projects
24:43 – Planting tiny forests in Poland
28:04 – Concept of a tiny forest
31:15 – Community’s perception of the tiny forest project
38:15 – Main struggle: money
43:15 – We feel more connected and united
43:55 – Learning from first indigenous people with Internet
45:25 – We have to learn to live with forests standing
45:45 – Agroforest system
48:00 – About Sebastiao Salgado
52:00 – Future plans for Nikolaus’ foundation
59:45 – People in Poland are close to food production but sometimes they forget their connection to nature
1:03:40 – Agriculture: producing food for humans not for animals
1:05:25 – I used to be a huge meat eater
1:06:10 – Influencing the community in a kind way
1:11:00 – What inspires Nikolaus
We don’t like seeing waste around us and, particularly, in the nature. At the same time, our modern way of living leads to production of more and more waste that we have difficulty to cope with, as an example, just think about ubiquitous plastic packaging that we are so familiar with. Waste is a big and complex problem for any country, but for a developing country the challenge is even greater. In the absence of waste management provided by the state, local solutions such as burning or throwing waste in rivers can be detrimental to both human health and nature.
In this episode, we discuss with Souksaveuy Keotiamchanh problems of waste in Laos, about the importance of coordinated actions from government, business and people. We also talk about Zero waste Laos organisation that grew from Facebook page to 80-people organisation just in 4 years, about how to attract donors and build relationships with government to reach a common goal.
Souksaveuy Keotiamchanh is a founder of Zero Waste Laos organization that aims to promote sustainable waste management in Laos and to advance environment and sustainable development objectives. Souksaveuy previously worked as a senior associate for solid waste management with Global Green Growth Institute, or GGGI, in Laos. Souksaveuy has multiple years of experience in waste management and also holds a master degree in Environmental Engineering and Management from Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand.
https://www.zerowastelaos.org/
https://www.facebook.com/Zerowastelaos.Org
New episode is published every second Tuesday. It is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
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Nature gives us everything, from shelter to food for our bodies, to pleasure and healing for our mind. Forest bathing is a simple way of connecting with nature and benefiting from it to feel better both physically and mentally.
Next time you are in the forest, just take some time to be aware of the environment, of observing trees and feeling the life in them. As simple as it sounds, serious scientific research behind forest bathing practices shows that effects are very tangible.
In this episode, we discuss with Olga Terebenina what the forest bathing is about, what exactly science says about its health benefits, and, furthermore, how forest bathing can help create and foster change in people towards more sustainable lifestyle.
Olga Terbenina is a director and founder of The Forest Bathing Institute that promotes Forest Bathing. They have led hundreds of woodland sessions for the general public, charities, media, government departments, the NHS, health care professionals and world experts in nature medicine & therapy. A scientific approach is a core value for the Forest Bathing Institute. The Institute already collaborates with several universities in the UK to confirm and expand Japanese findings of effects of forest bathing on human health.
https://m.youtube.com/@theforestbathinginstitute5891
In her talk, Olga makes references to the following articles
TFBI peer-reviewed paper on the benefits of forest bathing: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/3/1380
TFBI peer-reviewed paper on forest air chemistry: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/1/92
TFBI on BBC Sounds People Fixing the world - The healing power of forests: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0dy6c51
Books suggested by Olga:
Forest bathing by Qing Li
Earthing by Clinton Ober, Stephen Sinatra and Martin Zucker
New episode is published every second Tuesday. It is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
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The modern society consumes too much, certainly much more than needed. This focus on acquiring material things entails environmental problems but it also stiffens our life and diverts our attention from things that really matter and make us happier like relationships and experience.
In this episode we discuss with Stephanie Severian sustainable minimalist lifestyle, how to declutter, how to consume less, how to incorporate new habits despite being busy and how this new behaviour benefits your life.
As Stephanie puts it, sustainable minimalism helps you to work smarter not harder.
Stephanie is the author of Sustainable Minimalism and host of the top-rated podcast by the same name. After blogging about her personal journey toward a simpler, more eco-friendly lifestyle, she was inspired to help others create intentional lives centered around both simplicity and sustainability. She uses her platform to demystify the tenets of eco-minimalism with kids including eco-friendly decluttering practices, conscious consumerism, and low-waste living.
https://www.facebook.com/SustainableMinimalists
Books suggested by Stephanie:
The big fix by Hal Harvey and Justin Gillis
Slightly greener by Tonya Harris
New episode is published every second Tuesday. It is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
Follow me on Instagram and share your views, suggestions and critics by writing to me to scgrowpodcast@gmail.com
Have you ever thought of the footprint you leave on the Earth, the carbon footprint? In this episode, Tom Gosling talks about his experience to compute and halve his family’s carbon footprint in ten years. He shares easy wins and how to overcome the difficult bits. We go through various aspects of life, from food to air transportation and sustainable investments; and we turn my stones in this conversation.
Tom Gosling is a seasoned board adviser with 20+ years of experience in corporate governance and responsible business, including 15 years as a Partner at PwC. In 2020, Tom decided to pursue a portfolio career. Now he is an Executive Fellow at London Business School and the European Corporate Governance Institute. He works on issues related to corporate governance, responsible business, and sustainable investing. In 2019, Tom started took a pledge to reduce carbon footprint of his family by half in ten years. He shares his journey on his website which I highly recommend to visit for more details and inspiration.
https://www.tom-gosling.com/blog/a-middle-class-approach-to-decarbonisation
Books suggested by Tom:
How bad are bananas? by Mike Berners-Lee
Making Climate Policy Work by Danny Cullenward and David G. Victor
New episode is published every second Tuesday. It is available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
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Please share your views, suggestions and critics by writing to me to scgrowpodcast@gmail.com
There is an intricate relashionship between climate change and human psychology. First, though not primarily and regularly mentioned, climate change is having and will have even stronger impact on human well-being and mental health. Second, despite a general appreciation and positive effect of nature on most people, there is a lack of true connection with nature and lack of concrete actions to protect nature. Finally, climate change has a capacity to completely derail our lifestyle in unforeseen ways but most people still resist to lead the change to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
These are the questions and controversies that I am discussing with my guest Prof. Susan Clayton in this episode.
Dr. Susan Clayton is a professor of psychology and the environmental studies at the College of Wooster. Susan is a conservation psychologist, interested in understanding and promoting a healthy relationship between humans and nature. She also works on the implications of climate change for psychological wellbeing and was a lead author in the 6th assessment report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Prof. Clayton has written multiple books and articles on topics of psychology and climate change, as well as conservation psychology. https://wooster.edu/bio/sclayton/
Sustain Change & Grow podcast provides informative and inspiring discussions about climate change and sustainable habits. It shares powerful insights from guests in a range of different fields, from entrepreneurship, activism to psychology, that will help bring the needed changes in your life, to achieve conscious and sustainable success with your pursuits. New episode is published every second Tuesday.
It is also available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts and YouTube.
Please share your views, suggestions and critics by writing to me to scgrowpodcast@gmail.com
Dilyara Salakhova, PhD, is sustainable finance expert. Passionate about topics related to nature, climate change, sustainable lifestyle, as well as consciousness, Dilyara dedicates this podcast to raising awareness of climate change, and enhancing listener’s capacity to change and excel in their life.
Biodiversity has often been mentioned recently, particularly, with respect to the unprecedented loss of biodiversity, called the sixth mass extinction of species on Earth that is driven by human activity. What is the biodiversity? What threat to humanity comes from the loss of biodiversity? What role nature plays in our everyday life? How cut of Amazon forests in Peru affects people’s lives in Europe or the rest of the world? What is the role of environmental activists in preserving nature and what threats they face?
These are the questions that we will discuss with my guest in today’s episode.
Sandra Fernandes-Osores is an environmentalist from Peru. She majored in the science of life and then moved to the jungle of Madre de Dios, to help save wildlife, preserve the rainforest, aid local communities, and raise awareness about the importance of saving nature. 11 years ago, Sandra co-founded Amazon Planet for Tourism and Conservation, a sustainable luxury resort in the middle of the rainforest to bring people from all over the world to experience nature. Sandra is also active in several conservation projects that the resort Amazon Planet helps to fund. https://www.amazonplanetperu.com/home
Books suggested by the guest:
Gaia by James Lovelock
12 ultimate hacks to your spiritus awakening co-authored by the guest Sandra Fernandes-Osores
Sustain Change & Grow podcast provides informative and inspiring discussions about climate change and sustainable habits. It shares powerful insights from guests in a range of different fields, from entrepreneurship, activism to psychology, that will help bring the needed changes in your life, to achieve conscious and sustainable success with your pursuits. New episode is published every second Tuesday. It is also available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts and YouTube. Please share your views, suggestions and critics by writing to me to scgrowpodcast@gmail.com
Dilyara Salakhova, PhD, is sustainable finance expert. Passionate about topics related to nature, climate change, sustainable lifestyle, as well as consciousness, Dilyara dedicates this podcast to raising awareness of climate change, and enhancing listener’s capacity to change and excel in their life.
Welcome to the Sustain Change Grow podcast. This podcast is for you - whether you feel worried about climate change and wondering how you can contribute to protect nature and the planet, or maybe you want to exercise more, reduce sugar consumption, or watch less series on Netflix. Powerful insights from guests in a range of different fields, from entrepreneurship, activism to psychology, will help you bring the needed changes in your life, to achieve conscious and sustainable success with your pursuits.
About the guest
Moritz Morgenroth is a software developer and entrepreneur who has co-founded multiple start-ups backed by his software agency Twigbit. With their latest company 2zero, Moritz and his team are now fully focussed on greentech and software driven sustainability. The 2zero platform enables companies and municipalities to promote sustainability and well-being as a part of their culture through education, gamification, initiatives, and partnerships.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/moritz-morgenroth-3a8246170/
About the host
Dilyara Salakhova, PhD, is a research economist working on sustainable finance, financial stability and interconnections for more than ten years. Passionate about topics related to nature, climate change, sustainable lifestyle, as well as consciousness, Dilyara dedicates this podcast to raising awareness of climate change, and enhancing listener’s capacity to change and excel in their life. For more information and any enquiries, please visit: https://salakhova.com/
Climate change brings significant losses to the economies and financial systems. These losses can come with disasters such as wildfires and floods where infrastructure and property are destroyed or damaged. Other disasters like heatwaves and droughts can affect river levels and water transportation, reduce harvest or impact people’s health and productivity. Such losses can put significant pressure on the economies and financial systems. Can we assess them? Can we prevent or prepare for them? What measures are taken by governments to reduce the impact? Can we assess the efficiency of these measures? How much money needs to be invested to alleviate or avoid these losses?
These are the questions that we will discuss with my guest in today’s episode. Sahil Shah is a tech and sustainability entrepreneur from UK. He is also a researcher and a modeller of economic impact of disasters. He is a food security expert and a co-founder of several companies. His latest company Tipping Frontier focusses on modelling financial risks stemming from climate change and conflicts and allows assessing various policy interventions and necessity in investments to improve financial resilience. Sahil is an honorary research fellow at the University of Madison-Wisconsin, working in the food/energy/water nexus, a fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington DC. He also contributes to working groups of the World Bank’s Famine Action Mechanism and the Chatham House Food and Land Use round table.
Books recommended by the guest: Atmosphere of hope: solutions to climate crisis - by Tim Flannery
The art of happiness - by Dalai Lama
Sustain Change & Grow podcast provides informative and inspiring discussions about climate change and sustainable habits. It shares powerful insights from guests in a range of different fields, from entrepreneurship, activism to psychology, that will help bring the needed changes in your life, to achieve conscious and sustainable success with your pursuits. New episode is published every second Tuesday. It is also available on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts and YouTube.
Please share your views, suggestions and critics by writing to me to scgrowpodcast@gmail.com
Dilyara Salakhova, PhD, is sustainable finance expert. Passionate about topics related to nature, climate change, sustainable lifestyle, as well as consciousness, Dilyara dedicates this podcast to raising awareness of climate change, and enhancing listener’s capacity to change and excel in their life.