Greening Urban Futures Podcast

Ana Jones & Markku Wilenius
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Perspectives from multiple fields on urban change and probable futures of life in cities.

  1. 06/11/2024

    EP. 14 – The urbanisation of humanity, Technology and The Millennium Project: 25 Years On

    In this Episode #14 Jerome Glenn, the Executive Director of the Millennium Project, shares with us some of the trends and influences that are shaping the future of urbanisation.  Jerome mentions that the idea of “respect for the other” is extraordinarily important for peace in the future.  According to Jerome, the urbanisation of humanity is one of the strongest trends that there is.  In this interview, he explains some of the most significant accomplishments of the Millennium Project so far and talks about artificial intelligence influences on the social dimension and on individual self-actualisation. Jerome Glenn is the Executive Director/CEO at The Millennium Project, a global futures studies and research think tank stablished in 1996.  He is  the creator of the Futures Wheel method.

  2. 03/26/2024

    EP.13 – The Future of Cities: Smart and Carbon Neutral Turku 2029 with Minna Arve

    The city of Turku has ambitious targets, it aims to become carbon neutral by 2029.  On this episode, we had the pleasure to speak with Minna Arve, the Mayor of the City of Turku.  During our conversation, Mayor Arve explained to us Turku’s carbon neutral plans, the vision of the smart city and the ways in which Turku deals with uncertainty and rapid change in our digital age.

  3. 10/30/2023

    EP.12 - Urban Density, the 15-Minute City and the Transformation of Proximities

    EP.12 - Urban Density, the 15-Minute City and the Transformation of Proximities:   What are the real challenges for cities in the future horizon 2030, 2040, 2050?  In this episode, we speak with Professor Carlos Moreno about the need to reconsider the future of urbanisation to seek a new path. He talks about what has inspired the 15-minute city concept he pioneers, the purpose of proximities and the transformations he has observed in cities in Europe, Latin America and around the world. Professor Carlos Moreno is an Associate Professor and Scientific Director of the Chair “Entrepreneurship –Territory –Innovation” (IAE Paris -SorbonneUniversity). Prof. Moreno earned international recognition thanks to his major contribution and pioneer concepts: Human Smart City, 15-MinuteCity, 30-Minute Territory; bringing an innovative perspective on urban issues.

    37 min

  4. 11/17/2020

    From “Smart” City to Intelligent Communities-The Espoo Story

    EP. 11 – From “Smart” City to Intelligent Communities-The Espoo Story:  How can the structure of the city shape its future? In this episode, we have invited Päivi Sutinen, the Director of the City as a Service Development at the City of Espoo to share the Espoo Story with us and how the network structure of her city Espoo is supporting transformation towards a sustainable future. In our talk, Päivi explains the highly participatory approach that characterizes the city strategy and how relationships between nature, technology, people and urban planning (central axis) are shaping urban development.  Päivi also share with us the vision of Espoo as a “close to nature” green city. In Espoo, common values are strongly intertwined with how the city plans for the future.  On this, Päivi mentions how Espoo’s polycentric structure allows people from all areas a year-long access to nature areas for wellbeing.  Espoo is one of the fastest growing cities in Finland.  In the beginning of the 1950s, roughly 20,000 people lived in Espoo. Today, its population is roughly 272,000 people and the city is expected to reach 300,000 inhabitants by or before the year 2022 (City of Espoo). Link: City of Espoo.

    31 min

  5. 03/06/2020

    EP.10 – Cities Empowered by Systematic Futures Thinking

    EP. 10 – CITIES EMPOWERED BY SYSTEMATIC FUTURES THINKING: Sirkka Heinonen is a Professor of Futures Studies at the University of Turku and a member of the Club of Rome.  She has a long trajectory in the field of Futures Research working at the crossroads of futures and city planning, applying what is called a “Systematic futures thinking;” and long-term view for making a positive impact in the future. In our discussion, She, emphasises the importance of futures thinking as an approach: “We can enrich urban studies when we introduce different methods from futures studies.” Sirkka gives examples of interesting methods she has used and their significance in planning.  During our conversation, Sirkka also gives us her views on the future of green areas within her growing city-Helsinki. She talks about important linkages between human-nature intertwined with Finnish culture and her views on on the future of nature-related tradition. Important links

    36 min

  6. 03/06/2020

    EP.09 – The Civic City in a Nomadic World

    EP.09 – THE CIVIC CITY IN A NOMADIC WORLD: Charles Landry is an international authority on the use of imagination and creativity in urban change.  He created the concept of the Creative City in the late 1980s to help people and cities think, plan and act with imagination. Charles helps cities identify and make the most of their potential opening up the conversation about more desirable futures.  During our session, Charles talks about some of the key messages of his latest project, The Civic City in a Nomadic World aim to start the conversation about the promise of a different urban civilization.  According to Charles, everything emerging is one way or another, is connected to mobility and movement.  “More people for more reason than before, are criss-crossing the globe, from one city to the next in search of better work or life.”  Some of Charles’ research and initiatives include the Urban Psyche Test and the Creative City Index in collaboration with the City of Bilbao.

    47 min

  7. 01/19/2020

    EP.08 – Payments for Ecosystem Services in Urban Areas: The Case of Sydney

    In this episode we speak with Dr. Benjamin Thompson, a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Sydney to discuss the financing strategies and economic viability of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) in the context of urban settings.  In our session we discuss Ben's ecosystem services habitat restoration publication: Urban Ecosystems: A New Frontier for Payments for Ecosystem Services and dig deeper into the key considerations in terms of equity, and ecosystem disservices as potential difficulties when applying PES schemes in urban cores like the CBD of Sydney.

    25 min

  8. 10/08/2019

    EP.07 – New Pathways for European Cities and Towns, Bilbao City of Values

    What is a city without values? In this episode of the podcast we speak with Gotzone Sagardui, the Deputy Mayor of the City Bilbao to find out how Bilbao is planning to attain high levels of social progress and what is the next transformation the city will face. During our talk, she explains why Bilbao is focusing on values, what is called, Bilbao Charter of Values, and the importance of addressing issues of human rights in city planning.  According to Gotzone, Bilbao wants to be known as a social progress city where success is measured by the quality of life of the last citizen not the first. Looking into the future, Bilbao is inviting citizens to reflect on core values to drive urban inner change.

    30 min
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Perspectives from multiple fields on urban change and probable futures of life in cities.

Information

  • Creator
    Ana Jones & Markku Wilenius
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2024
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2019 Greening Urban Futures
  • Show Website
    Greening Urban Futures Podcast