What is The Future for Cities‪?‬ Fanni Melles

Are you interested in why bees matter for cities?

Summary of the article titled Why bees are critical for achieving sustainable development? from 2021 by Vidushi Patel, Natasha Pauli, Eloise Biggs, Liz Barbour, and Bryan Boruff, published in Ambio – A Journal of Environment and Society.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Simon Burt in episode 220 talking about bees and their connection to cities.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how bees contribute to sustainable development. This article investigates the threats of bee population reductions and the broader importance of bees to sustainable development beyond their role in promoting food security and biodiversity.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:


Bees play a crucial role in pollination, directly impacting food security, biodiversity, and sustainable agriculture by supporting the pollination of a wide array of crops and wild plants.
The decline in bee populations due to habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change poses a significant threat to their ecological benefits, highlighting the urgent need for conservation efforts to protect these vital pollinators.
Bees contribute to achieving 15 of the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), underscoring their broad importance beyond pollination to include economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainable development.

You can find the article through this link.

Abstract: Reductions in global bee populations are threatening the pollination benefits to both the planet and people. Whilst the contribution of bee pollination in promoting sustainable development goals through food security and biodiversity is widely acknowledged, a range of other benefits provided by bees has yet to be fully recognised. We explore the contributions of bees towards achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our insights suggest that bees potentially contribute towards 15 of the 17 SDGs and a minimum of 30 SDG targets. We identify common themes in which bees play an essential role, and suggest that improved understanding of bee contributions to sustainable development is crucial for ensuring viable bee systems.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:


No.101R - What we owe the future (book summary);
No.178R - Brighter: Optimism, progress and the future of environmentalism (book summary);

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Trailer for episode 220 - interview with Simon Burt, the co-founder of LB Agtech – the Location Based Agricultural Technology company. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, bees, urban food production, education about bees, and many more.

Find out more in the ⁠episode⁠.

Music by ⁠Lesfm ⁠from ⁠Pixabay⁠

"We need to actually able to see what's happening to be able to enhance forecasting for that location."

Are you interested in weather systems? What do you think about the science behind meteorology? How can we get better weather predictions?

Interview with Jane Bunn, founder and CEO of Jane’s Weather. We talk about her vision for the future of cities, a meteorologist’s journey, the science behind weather forecasts, and many more.

Jane Bunn is a qualified meteorologist from Melbourne with an infectious enthusiasm for talking about the weather. Jane is Founder and CEO of Jane's Weather, a platform that applies machine learning and artificial intelligence to the best performing global weather models along with hyper local observations, to produce specific weather forecasts for use in the decision-making process of commercial operations, in agriculture, energy, construction and other industries. Jane has over fifteen years of experience forecasting the weather in Australia and the US.

Find out more about Jane through these links:


Jane Bunn on LinkedIn;
@JaneBunn as Jane Bunn on X;
Jane's Weather website;
Jane's Weather on LinkedIn;
Jane Bunn on Youtube;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:


No.015 - Interview with Luke Housego about data management;
No.217R

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠@WTF4Cities⁠ or on the ⁠wtf4cities.com⁠ website where the ⁠shownotes⁠ are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠Lesfm ⁠from ⁠Pixabay⁠

Are you interested in how weather impacts our urban live?

Summary of the article titled Climate change and health in cities: impacts of heat and air pollution and potential co-benefits from mitigation and adaptation from 2011 by Sharon L Harlan and Darren M Ruddell, published in the Environmental Sustainability journal.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Jane Bunn in episode 218 talking about weather and its impacts on human health.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how climate change is affecting public health. This article investigates the combined effects of heat, air pollution, and climate change in cities, and explores potential health benefits of implementing mitigation and adaptation strategies in urban planning.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:


Climate change exacerbates health risks in urban areas, with heat exposure and air pollution identified as significant threats to public health.
Urban mitigation and adaptation strategies, including green infrastructure and efficient public transportation, can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and offer substantial health co-benefits.
Implementing these strategies faces challenges, including financial constraints and the need for multi-sectoral collaboration, underscoring the importance of continued research and targeted interventions to protect vulnerable populations.

You can find the article through this link.

Abstract: Excess morbidity and mortality related to extremely hot weather and poor air quality are found in cities worldwide. This is a major public health concern for cities now and looking toward the future because the interactions of global climate change, urban heat islands, and air pollution are predicted to place increasing health burdens on cities. The proposed mitigation and adaptation strategies in cities’ climate risk management plans may produce health co-benefits by reducing emissions and cooling temperatures through changes in the built environment. There are challenges, however, to implementing the plans and the most widely documented beneficial policy to date is the adoption of heat warning and air quality alert systems to trigger emergency responses.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:


No.069 - Interview with Dr Éva Kereszty about urban public health;
No.095R - Housing as a social determinant of health and wellbeing;
No.136R - An analysis of the legal framework influencing walking in Australia;
No.193R - Transforming our cities;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

Trailer for episode 218 - interview with Jane Bunn, founder and CEO of Jane’s Weather. We will talk about her vision for the future of cities, a meteorologist’s journey, the science behind weather forecasts, and many more.

Find out more in the ⁠episode⁠.

Music by ⁠Lesfm ⁠from ⁠Pixabay⁠

"What is my role in mitigating the climate impact?"

Are you interested in the donut economy of cities? What do you think about the city as the outside living room? How can we create proper density?

Interview with Sara Stace, urban shaper, strategic thinker and innovator of cities. We talk about her vision for the future of cities, land use and transport planning, donut economics, professional responsibility, and many more.

Sara Stace is a city shaper who thinks about the interplay between cities, land use and urban transport. She is WSP Australia's Regional Executive for Infrastructure Advisory providing advice on urban policy, economic business cases and decarbonisation. Over the past 25 years, Sara has worked for federal, state and local government, as well as the private sector. This includes six years as Director of National Urban Policy for Infrastructure Australia and leading walking and cycling strategy at Transport for NSW. She has written and co-authored 20 publications including for the United Nations and Australian Government.

Find out more about Sara and her thinking through these links:


Sara Stace on LinkedIn;
@sara_stace as Sara Stace on X;
Cities at WSP;
Sara Stace at WSP;
Sara Stace at Better Streets;
Doughnut for Urban Development - a manual (2023), by Hill-Hansen, Jensen et al, Danish Architectural Press,
Amsterdam City Doughnut | DEAL (doughnuteconomics.org)
Infrastructure Victoria | Victoria's cities must be more compact and….
Publications – Melbourne's challenges in the face of outer suburb growth (sgsep.com.au)
Our home choices (infrastructurevictoria.com.au)
Carbon budgets and new infrastructure development (decarbon8.org.uk)
Transport Sector Note on Applying the World Bank Group Paris Alignment Assessment Methods
Postgrowth City Podcast;

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:


No.182 - Interview with Ted Baillieu about professionals to speak up;
No.194 - Interview with Oliver Stoltz about giving streets back to pedestrians

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠ are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠