What Can We Do In These Powerful Times?

Iris Andrews is a co-creator of New Constellations , which exist to help people imagine and create better, more beautiful futures ( Twitter , LinkedIn ). Her background is over 15 years in the climate movement, for instance at Greenpeace and Purpose , plus a decade's yoga teaching and creating Nature Enquiries at the Quadrangle Trust , which will help people explore their relationship with na...

David Nabarro is Strategic Director of 4SD , which enables changemakers to be effective for equity, justice and regenerative futures in a complex, fast-changing world ( Wikipedia , Twitter ).  David was a practicing medical doctor and then went into a very distinguished career in international civil service. He was the UN Secretary General's Special Adviser on Sustainable Development and Clim...

Maggie Dugan ( Linkedin ) is Founder and Lead Facilitator at Inclusive Innovation , who "foster creative collaboration for sustainable development". Maggie has a history in creativity, whether in radio, writing or innovation. Our focus: how Inclusive Innovation is hacking the SDGs, using a creative process with a strong track record to bring people together in ways that come up with solu...

Paul van Zyl served as the Executive Secretary of South Africa’s post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission . Paul also co-founded the International Centre for Transitional Justice , an organization that works in over 40 countries that have endured massive human rights violations under repression conflict. Most recently, Paul co-founded The Conduit , which serves as a home for those commit...

Rosalie Nelson is the CEO of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship , whose mission is to "incubate solutions to global problems from Aotearoa New Zealand, and make a lasting positive impact on the world". (Full disclosure: I am an EHF Fellow.) Like Matthew in episode 13, Rosalie starts with her Pepeha , "a way of introducing yourself in Māori. It tells people who you are by sharing your con...

Martin Wright is a writer, editor, speaker, enthusiast, focused on stories of a hopeful future ( Twitter , Keynote speech at 2018 Global Good Awards ). He is currently chair of Positive News , "the magazine for good journalism about the good things that are happening:. I got to know Martin when I was working for Forum for the Future , and he was editor of Forum's magazine, Green Futures...

Rebecca Willis is a a researcher with twenty years’ experience in environment and sustainability policy and practice, at international, national and local level. She is Professor in Energy and Climate Governance at Lancaster University ( uni profile , personal website , Twitter ).  Her research group is Climate Citizens , which aims to "change how people engage with the creation of climate po...

Prof Paul Ekins is Professor of Resources and Environment Policy at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources within the Bartlett School Environment, Energy & Resources, Faculty of the Built Environment ( UCL page , Google Scholar , Wikipedia page ). His work focuses on the conditions and policies for achieving an environmentally sustainable economy, and he is an authority on a number of are...

Susan Harrison works with individuals and organisations to express themselves more fully as living systems ( LinkedIn , Twitter ). She held a number of senior NHS positions (including Head of Health and Homelessness across London) before retiring. As you will hear, she now applies her skills in various voluntary and consulting roles, mainly to the NHS and civil society. Now that she is retired, Su...

Julie Blane has a range of activities in impact investing professional focussing on integrating ESG into venture capital ( LinkedIn ). We speak on the strengths, and weaknesses, of impact investing, ESG and Venture Capital. Plus, If you are a lifelong learner, going into a new career is daunting, exciting, scary, thrilling, exhausting, and invigorating, and a whole bunch more. But it's never...

Matthew Jackson is serial entrepreneur from Aotearoa New Zealand ( LinkedIn , Twitter , Personal Website ). He is currently Founder and Commercial Director of Alimentary Systems , "a circular way to treat multiple & seasonal organic waste streams, that creates renewable energy. With an positive economic payback in 8 years." Matthew and I are both Edmund Hillary Fellows ('EHF&apo...

Mario Boccucci ( LinkedIn ,)  is Head of Programme Secretariat at the UN-REDD Programme . "The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) is the UN knowledge and advisory platform on the forest solutions to the climate crisis." We recorded on Wed 9 Mar, 2022. You will hear that Mario has an unri...

Prof Julia Steinberger ( Twitter , Wikipedia ) is Professor of Professor of Societal Challenges of Climate Change at the University of Lausanne . Her research examines the connections between resource use (energy and materials, greenhouse gas emissions) and societal performance (economic activity and human wellbeing), and she was a Lead Author for the IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report with Working Grou...

Denise Young (also LinkedIn , Twitter ) is a writer & sustainability communications consultant. She has a background in financial journalism, which she applies in her green finance & net zero newsletter The Zeroist .  Based in France, Denise grew up in Hong Kong with a mother from Shanghai and a father from Sydney. Thanks to this multicultural background, plus a career as a foreign corresp...

Margaret Hannah ( LinkedIn , Twitter ) is Director of Health Programmes of International Futures Forum (IFF). We spoke in early February, before Russia invaded Ukraine.  Our conversations covers public health, especially its psychological and social determinants, planetary health, and creating a different kind of human being to address the poly-crises. How can we have a population of all who have...

Rowan Conway ( LinkedIn , Twitter , UCL ) is Visiting Professor of Strategic Design at UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). Between 2019-2022 she worked with Professor Mariana Mazzucato to lead the Mission Oriented Innovation Network (MOIN) at IIPP , convening global policy-making institutions in a range of exploratory design projects focused on mission-oriented innovation and...

Ian Christie is Senior Lecturer in the Social Science of Sustainable Development at the Centre for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Surrey and with many associations in academia and the think tank world, not least the Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity ('CUSP') and the New Economics Foundation ('NEF'). This conversation took place in early Januar...

Dr Anna Birney ( LinkedIn , Medium , Twitter ) is Director of School of System Change and Global Director of Systems Change Learning at Forum for the Future . Our conversation was at the start of February 2022, and the connection wasn't great, so the sound is a little muddy. Apologies. Key quote: "If we teach system practices, we create the conditions for which society can continually ad...

Jon Alexander is an advertising executive turned social entrepreneur and writer.  In 2014, Iheco-founded the New Citizenship Project   with the mission: 'what if we saw people as citizens, not consumers?'. He has brought his experiences and insights together in a new book 'Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us'. This interview was recorded on 13 Jan 2022, just...

First interview with Ed Gillespie -- "father, inspirational keynote speaker and futurist". Also, co-presenter of The Great Humbling and John Richardson and the Futurenauts , director of Greenpeace UK , a facilitator with The Forward Institute , and involved with 12 or so. different, ethical environmental startup businesses -- or, as he puts it: facilitation, activism, and investment in b...

Simon Hampel is founder of SARSEN , which exists to 'greater connection, balance and harmony with ourselves and the world around us'. This interview was recorded in December 2021 (so before some big things like Ukraine). Key quote: "How can we wake up, grow up, and clean up in order to show up?" Links LeadersQuest "grows wise leaders for a regenerative future -- now"....

Hello! Here is the trailer for my new interview series 'what can we do in these powerful times?'. it covers: -Description. -Interviewees. -Format and questions. -Where the idea came from. -What next. Please do get in touch with any feedback, or suggestions on interviewees, on: -Email: powerfultimespodcast@gmail.com -Twitter: @Powerful_Times Twitter: Powerful_Times Website hub: here . Ple...