Diverse Dialogues The Podcast

In the final episode of our mini-series, Whose Safety? Rethinking Public Space for Women and Girls, Kuljeet is joined by Daisy Froud, strategist in participatory design, Mayoral Design Advocate, and member of the steering group behind the GLA’s guidance on Safety in Public Space, Women, Girls and Gender Diverse People. This conversation explores what safety really means when we move beyond solutio...

In this second episode of our mini-series Whose Safety? Rethinking Public Space for Women and Girls, Kuljeet is joined by Bhav Ghedia, an East Londoner with a background in architecture, an advocate for inclusive cities, and a member of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s youth-led Elevate Board. Together, we unpack what safety looks and feels like in everyday life. Moving beyond design check...

In the first episode of this three-part mini-series, Kuljeet speaks with Dr Ellie Cosgrave and Gaia Crocella   from Publica CIC to explore what safety in public spaces really means for women and girls. Moving beyond assumptions, surveillance-led fixes, and design “quick wins,” this conversation unpacks the structural inequalities that shape how public space is experie...

Have you ever considered art as a powerful tool to readdress equity in public spaces? In this episode, we’re joined by Hanna Benihoud, an architect-turned-artist whose joyful, intentional public art is reshaping the way we experience our cities. Hanna shares her journey from architecture to establishing her own studio, and how her practice challenges tokenism in co-creation, reframes public art as...

Closing our mini-series on Waterden Green: Power, Place and Participation, I’m joined by Fenella Griffin, landscape architect, educator, and founding partner at Untitled Practice. This episode dives into what it takes to design spaces that genuinely reflect the lives of teenage girls, not just in principle, but in practice. Fenella speaks with clarity and care about landscape as mor...

In the penultimate episode of our first mini series, we are joined by the wonderful Beulah Taiwo Olawoyin, board member at Elevate Youth Group, and co-client on the Waterden Green project. This conversation is joyful, reflective, and deeply insightful. Beulah brings clarity and warmth as she shares her personal journey with Elevate, her perspectives on creating less male-dominated p...

In the third episode of our mini-series, Pedro Gil brings a powerful perspective, not just on the Waterden Green project, but as someone whose lived experience actively informs how he designs with, not just for, communities. We dive into how Studio Gil and the multidisciplinary design team   collaborated with young women and girls to co-create a more people-centric, inclusive space,...

In the second episode of our mini-series, we speak with Fahmida Nidhi, co-client on the Waterden Green project and now a board member at Elevate. We dive into how the co-clients shaped the project brief, took part in key decisions, and championed design that reflects the lived experiences of teenage girls. Fahmida shares powerful insights on building confidence, navigating adult-dominated spaces,...

In this first episode of our mini-series  Reflecting on Waterden Green: Power, Place, and Participation , Kuljeet is joined by former colleagues from the London Legacy Development Corporation; Ruth Lin Wong Holmes, Jen Anderson, and Nigel Dexter, to explore the story behind a groundbreaking public realm project in Queen Elizabth Olympic Park, East London. Waterden Green is more than just a ne...

In this short introductory episode, host Kuljeet Sibia shares the story behind  Diverse Dialogues, a podcast spotlighting voices and approaches that too often go unheard in conversations about cities, space, and development.  Drawing on years of cross-sector practice at the intersection of equity, the built environment, and social change, Kuljeet reflects on the urgent need to centre div...