Inner Green Deal - the human dimension of sustainability.

Can AI be wise as well as intelligent? We sit down with Wakanyi Hoffman , co-director of the Inclusive AI Lab at Utrecht University, to discuss the questions AI designers might consider as this technology becomes ever more present in our daily lives. Wakanyi reflects on how growing up in community and close to nature shaped her worldview, and how AI can draw on indigenous wisdom to address today’s...

In the West, resilience often means “bouncing back” - by yourself. An entire industry has been built around this. In Africa, it means “standing together.” This episode brings together two inspiring women, each offering a unique perspective on how we build both individual and collective resilience - and what it means to move from self-care to shared care. In this conversation: How African communiti...

How should we measure progress - by what we produce and consume, or by how people and nature are doing?  Dr. Julia Kim , a physician and systems thinker, discusses Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness (GNH) as an alternative to GDP, and shows how inner development - including her contemplative and spiritual practice - provides the human foundations for translating that vision into policy, institution...

It started with a dream, a tractor, and a piano—in the middle of the Egyptian desert. Nearly fifty years later, SEKEM stands as one of the most compelling examples of how inner development can reshape entire systems. We speak with Helmy Abouleish , CEO of  SEKEM and steward of a vision first brought to life by his father and carried forward through decades of shared leadership. What began as a bol...

What sustains an activist when defiance alone isn’t enough? We sit down with Davin Hutchins , senior campaigner at Greenpeace International, to explore what happens when a movement known for bold resistance also makes space for inner development. Davin shares how hope, courage, and nature connection have shaped his own path - and why, especially in moments of political backlash or overwhelm, the m...

This first episode of the season explores the question why inner work matters for NGOs and funders—and their efforts to change systems. We consider concrete examples of the linkage between inner-led change and systemic change but also discuss how to overcome obstacles in today's time of uncertainty, polarisation and funding cuts.   Our guide in this discussion is Luis Camargo, founder and director...

Welcome to a new season of the Inner Green Deal podcast. In this season, we turn our attention to the role of inner development in NGOs and other impact organisations—at a time when many are navigating deep uncertainty, political pressure, and increasing resource constraints. We’ve seen incredible commitment and creativity across the sector. And yet, in the face of today’s complexity, many NGOs an...

We sat down with Daniel Christian Wahl to talk about the nature of regenerative cultures and what the world might look like if that were the dominant model for our societies.   Daniel Christian Wahl originally trained as a biologist before going on to study holistic science and completing his PhD in Design for Human and Planetary Health. He is an educator, consultant and author committed to shapin...

If marketing is a key driver of behaviour that leads to ecological overshoot, can it be used to reverse it? Each year, we collectively use up more resources than the planet can regenerate. A new paper names the human behaviour crisis as the driver for this ecological overshoot and analyses the role of marketing.   Tamsin Walker sat down with Phoebe Barnard who co-authored the paper to discuss the...

We are welcoming Nipun Mehta, founder of ServiceSpace, a global movement that touches millions of people through the merging of volunteerism, technology and the gift-economy . Tamsin spoke to Nipun about the potential and far-reaching impacts of an unexpected act of kindness. Not only for the recipient, but for oneself, society and the world at large. Nipun set up ServiceSpace after quitting his f...

The language we use to talk about things shapes our perception of the world. The more we use certain terms, the more entrenched our perspectives become. What if we started describing things in a new way? Tamsin Walker sat down with Inez Aponte to talk about how different ways of measuring success can lead to a more connected and ultimately healthy experience of life. Both for people and planet. In...

In this episode, originally recorded during the 2020 elections, Inner Green Deal co-founder Jeroen Janss spoke to Bryan Welch, leading publisher on sustainability, former CEO of mindful.org and committed rancher from Kansas. He asked Bryan how he felt about the prospect of a second-term Donald Trump presidency and what a contested election means for America. Knowing the system from the inside, he...

Despite the importance of resilience, many myths continue to exist. In this episode we take a deeper dive and explore the nature of resilience and how to cultivate it collectively. Our guest is Chris Tamdjidi , co-author of The Resilient Culture and co-founder of Awaris , a global consulting and training company. Tamsin Walker spoke to Chris about where resilience comes from, the benefits of being...

In this very short episode following the European elections, we offer a pause to reflect on the divisions revealed by the elections and invite you to join us for a short exercise. While the knee-jerk reaction might be to seek distance from 'the other side', could that ultimately lead to deeper polarisation? In this special episode, we introduce a brief exercise based on the work of Emma Stenström...

We only need to walk down a street, open a browser or turn on the TV to understand that we are being addressed as consumers. But what if behind that narrative, there were another waiting to step into the limelight and reshape the communities and countries in which we live? Jon Alexander, author or Citizens, Why the Key to Fixing Everything Is All of Us , argues that there is. He calls it the citiz...

We talk to Li An Phoa, founder of the charity Drinkable Rivers about her work towards a world with waterways so clean that we can sip from their banks.   Her mission started in 2005 when she canoed the full length of the Rupert river in Canada, drinking fresh water from it as she went. When she returned there just three years later, she was met with a different picture. The water had been polluted...

Living within us all, imagination has no small role to play in rethinking the world of today and tomorrow. But how do we harness its phenomenal power? That is the question at the heart of this month's episode of the Inner Green Deal podcast.    Phoebe Tickell, founder of Moral Imaginations and former scientist, talks about the importance of imagination to bring us closer in relationship with the w...

What is the future without Resilience? In this month's podcast we ask Daria Nashat (she/her) how resilience can be cultivated to benefit not only individuals but also communities, societies and the planet.    Daria, a Resilience and Leadership trainer, talks about how to strengthen our resilience, what the role of stories and community is in cultivating resilience and what she means with the power...

In a world where exploitation of natural resources is commonplace, the idea of granting rights to entities such as rivers is as abstract as essential.     In this month's episode, we explore the rights of nature with Mihnea Tănăsescu, a political ecologist who has spent many years immersed in the issue.     He is a research professor at the University of Mons in Belgium. His current work focuses o...

In this end-of-year edition we talk food with Mick McEvoy. Originally from Ireland, he lives and works at Plum Village, a Zen Buddhist community in France established by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh more than forty years ago.    There, he mindfully manages the Happy Farm, which grows seasonal organic food for its community and the thousands of guests who travel there annually to take part in retreat...

If stories shape our reality, how can we all become better storytellers? We ask Astrid Nierhoff, a passionate and seasoned storytelling expert.  Her academic research around the interplay between imagination and reality led her to co-found StoryAtelier, a non-profit that uses the power of stories as the basis for deepening understanding on individual and community levels.  Inner Green Deal host Ta...

We welcome Carlos Alvarez Pereira, Vice President of the Club of Rome, who talks about change, complexity and the human dimension of transformation.     Carlos started out studying aerospace engineering and teaching applied mathematics before founding a research institute specializing in modelling complex systems and big data applications. And it is this interest in and affection for systems think...

We are excited to share the inspiring story of Jan Artem Henriksson, Executive Director of the Inner Development Goals. He talks about his Ukrainian roots, the role of inner development in his life and the immense resonance of the Inner Development Goals.    Jan is a man who wears many different hats. Besides co-founding two companies, he is a Stockholm School of Economics Executive Education facu...

In this episode, we are welcoming Jamie Bristow. He is the former director of the Mindfulness Initiative, a policy institute which was born out of a mindfulness teaching programme in the British Parliament.  Though he is still involved with the initiative, his main focus is now on sustainability work across various organisations. We spoke to him about his journey, the role of mindfulness in politi...

In this episode our guest is Thomas Legrand. He is the lead advisor for the Conscious Food Systems Alliance (CoFSA) convened by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  The initiative focuses on the role of inner development to support the ecological and social transition of the food and agriculture sector.     We spoke to Thomas about the importance of community building, his recent book...