The SEI Podcast Series

This episode of the SEI Podcast Series brings together powerful voices from Voices of Restoration: First Nations Leadership from Around the World , an event spotlighting Indigenous leadership in environmental care. Featuring First Nations leaders from across the globe, the conversation centres on place‑based knowledge, cultural responsibility, and the enduring connections between communities and C...

In this episode of the SEI podcast series, the Sydney Environment Institute and the Sydney Policy Lab hosted a panel discussion with leading resilience practitioners and community advocates to explore ways that universities can activate their people, networks, expertise, resources, and infrastructure to strengthen local resilience and launch the Becoming Familiar Faces: How Universities Can Become...

In this episode of the SEI podcast series, explore the power of storytelling in offering new ways of seeing, feeling, and understanding our relationship with the living planet. This event featured a conversation between Professor Thom van Dooren and fellow experts and collaborators, celebrating Prof van Dooren’s Biophilia Award and delving into the vital role of storytelling in addressing ecologic...

The 2026 Iain McCalman Lecture was delivered by Dr Rebecca McNaught as she shares lessons from the ground-up of communities stepping up in extraordinary ways in response to climate disasters. Dr McNaught explores what it means to move beyond a disaster response mindset toward a vision of proactivity and well-being in the face of compounding disasters. See the presentation here: The 2026 Iain McCal...

In this episode of the SEI podcast series, hear from leading voices on feminist approaches to climate change, Professor Astrida Neimanis and Dr Jennifer Mae Hamilton. This event explored feminist practices for climate change, focusing on weathering, embodied experience, inequality, and collective care.    Timestamps:   00:50 - Welcome by chair Natali Pe...

Unpack the growth paradigm and hear from thinkers reimagining economies built around well-being, climate justice, and living within planetary boundaries.   This event is part of SEI’s  Climate Justice Series.  This panel series brings together leading thinkers and practitioners to explore the urgent intersections of climate action, equity, and systemic change. Timestamps: 00:50 - We...

‘Nature positive’ is everywhere but what does it really mean? In this instalment, hear expert insights on its use in policy, conservation, and finance, and who stands to benefit.   This event is part of SEI’s  Climate Justice Series.  This panel series brings together leading thinkers and practitioners to explore the urgent intersections of climate action, equity, and systemic chang...

In this instalment of the SEI Podcast Series hear from leading environmental figures to explore models of more-than-human governance, drawing from Indigenous knowledges, creative and legal practices, and innovative research.   This event is part of SEI’s  Climate Justice Series.  This panel series brings together leading thinkers and practitioners to explore the urgent intersections...

In this instalment of the SEI Podcast Series, hear from leading voices as they discuss Australia’s urgent climate, housing and energy challenges, exploring solutions through inclusive decision-making, First Nations leadership, and innovative design to drive sustainable, equitable change for all. This event is part of SEI’s  Climate Justice Series.  This panel series brings together leadi...

In this instalment of the SEI Podcast Series, discover how nature-based solutions can be integrated into urban and coastal planning to build resilience and improve ecological health whilst balancing competing demands for land use. Learn from successful projects, understand the challenges, and explore practical strategies to implement these solutions at scale. This event will be an exclusive previe...

The 2025 Iain McCalman Lecture was delivered by Dr Mitch Gibbs as he reflected on his journey as an Indigenous researcher, exploring how collaboration with First Nations communities can transform environmental research. How can trust, collaboration, and co-designed strategies transform our relationship with the environment, fostering genuine Caring for Country in practice? Timestamps: 00:50 - Welc...

As climate change accelerates, Pacific Island nations face the twin challenges of increasing climate vulnerability and financial constraints that limit their ability to invest in resilience and recovery. This podcast will explore what a just and effective climate finance system could look like in the next decade and the structural barriers that must be overcome to achieve transformative change. Th...

As climate change intensifies, Pacific Island communities are facing profound losses of land, livelihoods, cultural heritage, and ways of life. How can Pacific-led solutions shape just responses to loss and damage? This podcast was recorded as part of the Climate justice and loss and damage in the Pacific conference. Timestamps: 00:50 - Introduction 05:14 - Discussion of Pasifika Network Loss and...

As climate change intensifies, Pacific Island communities are facing profound losses of land, livelihoods, cultural heritage, and ways of life. How can Pacific-led solutions shape just responses to loss and damage? This podcast was recorded as part of the Climate justice and loss and damage in the Pacific conference. Timestamps: 00:50 - Introduction 05:15 - Foundational principles of multi-species...

In this instalment of the SEI Podcast Series, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development Professor Surya Deva unveils his Climate Justice: Loss and Damage report, just days after its presentation to the UN General Assembly. Professor Deva presents a climate justice framework with four pillars: mitigation, adaptation, remediation, and transformation, underpinned by 12 human rights principles...

In this instalment of The SEI Podcast Series, renowned scholar Kyle Whyte will share his experiences serving the Biden administration, environmental justice organisations, and Tribal nations. In one of its earliest moves, the Biden Administration made a historic commitment to advancing environmental justice, significantly increasing federal programs, funding, and public awareness on the issue. Thi...

In this instalment of The SEI Podcast Series, hear from experts from as they explore if valuing nature economically can lead to responsible environmental stewardship or if it undermines its innate value. Can we balance the financial valuation of nature with ethical stewardship, or do market mechanisms risk commodifying what is inherently invaluable? Timestamps: 00:50 - Welcome and introduction 6:2...

In this instalment of The SEI Podcast Series, hear from experts as they explore the potential of nature-based solutions, like wetlands and mangroves, in acting as climate buffer infrastructure. They will share new findings from SEI’s project Examining climate buffer projects in the Philippines and feature other case studies from Australia and the Pacific, that address how justice and biodiversity...

Experiencing a disaster is often the catalyst for communities to realise the importance of being prepared, particularly when people have been forced to rely on each other in the absence of outside help. This vignette highlights how some local communities have since formed grassroots resilience groups to ensure that recovery, climate adaptation and preparation for future disasters occurs at the loc...

During and after disasters, social media platforms become critical communication tools that enable the sharing of information, linking of donations and volunteers with those who need assistance, and help local groups to coordinate recovery activities. This vignette highlights how social media can aid small or remote communities who find themselves beyond the reach of government, emergency manageme...

Community-led actions are enabled through their ability to draw on local networks, skills and knowledges to respond swiftly and flexibly in times of crisis. This vignette describes how a family drew upon their ‘everyday’ networks around work, school, sports and their neighbourhood to organise response and recovery support across multiple floods. ‘Stories are the Toolkit’ is a vignette series that...

Disaster-affected communities frequently emphasise the need to ‘know your neighbours’ – know who they are, what their needs and plans may be and what skills and resources they have. This vignette demonstrates how for some communities this takes the form of warden or street facilitator networks; people who understand the lay of the land, can serve as a point of contact for advice and organise stree...

Flood-affected communities do not remain idle when the need is urgent. This vignette covers one way in which community members organised a system of tracking and coordinating boat rescues to save lives and to minimise the substantial risk taken by those on the water.  ‘Stories are the Toolkit’ is a vignette series that illuminates community-led action. The stories are based on interviews with...

In recent years, communities across New South Wales have faced catastrophic bushfires and floods. These have been described as ‘unprecedented’ in their scales and as ‘the new normal’ due to climate change. In many respects, these disasters have had compounding impacts as people endure them one after another and concurrently with other crises – an ongoing global pandemic, disruptions to supply chai...

In this instalment of SEI's four-part Climate and Biodiversity Crises Series , in partnership with  Henry Halloran Trust , an expert panel will discuss how concepts of multispecies justice can inform planning for nature-based solutions, striving to rebalance the relationship between human development and the environment.   Timestamps: 00:53 - Welcome and introduction 11:49 - How does mul...