Collective Choices

Doru Oprisan
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Bimonthly

Our future is based on our choices. The ones we make as individuals and also the ones we make as groups, countries and as a species. A peaceful and plentiful future is only possible if we agree on making sustainable choices together. Collective Choices is a podcast that aims to explore both possible solutions to some of our current issues and also the process of reaching agreements for the common good. As more and more people live in cities, these are the key centers that define economic models, political decisions, consumer behavior and mindset shifts with all the eventual global consequences, so we will talk quite a bit about how we can improve life in urban spaces. I am Doru Oprisan, a radio journalist and photographer who loves to ride his bicycle in Stockholm, Sweden. 

  1. Sep 30

    Ep. 17 - How Language Changes Systems with Marco Te Brömmelstroet

    Marco Te Brömmelstroet is a professor of Urban Mobility Futures at the University of Amsterdam and founding member of the Lab of Thought. We talk about: - the importance of language when we want to change systems - the problem with subsystems - how we always have a hard time imagining anything different from the present, even though the current (failing) systems are very new  - how our behavior is based on the system that was created for us - human rights in cities - connecting more dots - children's health and access to streets, for example. - involving more people in the discussion, solving more issues - not allowing only one system to crowd out the other ones, especially not a deadly one - how we tell our children to be responsible and not die. - the killer coffee machine - geofencing for cars - avoiding simple conversations in search of clarity The Lab of Thought: https://thelabofthought.co/ This episode was recorded during the Sweden’s National Cycling Conference in Stockholm, 25-27 August 2026. Thanks Stockholms Stad and Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner for having me. Collective Choices is a podcast by Doru Oprisan, exploring sustainable choices for a better future and the process of agreeing on those choices. Thanks for listening and sharing! Get in touch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doruoprisan/ www.doruoprisan.com

    Ep. 17 - How Language Changes Systems with Marco Te Brömmelstroet

  2. Sep 19

    Ep. 16 - How Paris transformed itself, a look behind the scenes

    Charlotte Guth is the former Head of the Cycling Mission for the City of Paris and has overseen lots of the changes that have made Paris a very different city from the congested metropolis that it was a few years ago. A long journey from possible to enjoyable.   We talk about: - starting from "Paris will never be a cycling city" - is the bike even a legitimate means of transport? - the surprising times when the right wing was pro cycling - big ambitions, but how do you build fast in a congested city? - shifting from patchy infrastructure to functional network and high quality - why moving cars is easy for engineers, but moving bikes is hard - bike lanes as political statements - what is not yet done? - planning for heatwaves, challenges - more cyclists, but who exactly?  - how it feels to cycle in Paris  The picnic reference is about the movement that started in Brussels with the "Picnic the Streets" protest on June 2012 in Place de la Bourse: https://bral.brussels/en/artikel/picnic-streets-ten-years-later-0 This episode was recorded during the Sweden’s National Cycling Conference in Stockholm, 25-27 August 2026. Thanks Stockholms Stad and Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner for having me. Collective Choices is a podcast by Doru Oprisan, exploring sustainable choices for a better future and the process of agreeing on those choices. Thanks for listening and sharing! Get in touch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doruoprisan/ www.doruoprisan.com

    Ep. 16 - How Paris transformed itself, a look behind the scenes

  3. Sep 8

    Ep. 15 - The Best Cycling City In The World with Herbert Tiemens

    Herbert Tiemens works as a Senior Policy Advisor for the City of Utrecht and he has been involved in many of the transformations that the city has seen in the past couple of decades. He also works with the POLIS network of European cities and regions. We talk about how Utrecht became the best cycling city in the world and a few other things: - cycling vacations - long term vision for cycling - initial opposition and long time reactions to change - commuting inside vs outside the city - traffic lights and a reason for the beg button - fast lanes for e-bikes and the 3rd wave of cycling infrastructure - building the biggest bike parking facility in the world and navigating it - using cycling to increase train travel - being indifferent to oil prices - car free neighbourhoods, planning challenges and advantages - the future of cycling developments in the Netherlands and elsewhere - the need for “conflict” in the city This episode was recorded during the Sweden’s National Cycling Conference in Stockholm, 25-27 August 2026. Thanks Stockholms Stad and Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner for having me. More about cycling in Utrecht: https://copenhagenizeindex.eu/index.php/project/utrecht/ Collective Choices is a podcast by Doru Oprisan, exploring sustainable choices for a better future and the process of agreeing on those choices. Thanks for listening and sharing! Get in touch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doruoprisan/ www.doruoprisan.com

    Ep. 15 - The Best Cycling City In The World with Herbert Tiemens

  4. Jan 28

    Ep 14 - Mobility Hubs with Rebecca Karbaumer

    What is your city even doing if it's not doing Mobility Hubs? Rebecca Karbaumer is an expert for Shared Mobility and Mobility Management at the Department of Transportation in Bremen, working to create more sustainable, liveable and socially equitable cities. We talk about Mobility Hubs, a very powerful idea perfected in Bremen, now finally becoming mainstream: - what is a mobility hub and what super powers does it have? - keeping the modern lifestyle without losing anything - how come Bremen has been doing this for so many years? - the few occasions when people change their mobility behavior - the super-bonus: mobility hubs and housing affordability - do people really want parking spaces?  - what about cycling? - how it feels to have absolute freedom of choice - future challenges and political frustration *This episode was recorded in December 2025 in Bremen, Germany. More about Bremen's Mobility Hubs: https://mobilpunkt-bremen.de/ The Share North Square project and The Low Car Diet Podcast: https://www.interregnorthsea.eu/sn2 Housing Europe: https://www.housingeurope.eu/ Collective Choices is a podcast by Doru Oprisan, exploring sustainable choices for a better future and the process of agreeing on those choices. Thanks for listening and sharing! Get in touch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doruoprisan/ www.doruoprisan.com

    Ep 14 - Mobility Hubs with Rebecca Karbaumer

  5. 02/09/2024

    Ep 13 - Urban Research Moves Into The Fast Lane with Fariya Sharmeen

    Fariya Sharmeen is a Research Scientist and Associate Professor at KTH Stockholm, working with travel behavior modelling, social network analysis and urban transformation. We talk about: -how your social network and life events determine your travel behavior  -from research data to having an impact in daily life, faster -tech advancements and more cooperation between decision makers in cities -the Bicification project in Istanbul, Tallinn, Braga - rewarding people for cycling -human scale cities and the equation of space -the importance of having an interactive experience in our cities -how building a city around the bike reinforces the social fabric -flexible transport vs scheduled transport -what’s the future of mobility in cities from a researcher’s perspective -improving awareness about the different options available -mobility hubs, the freedom of not having to own every type of vehicle you’ll ever need -how our preference for routines impairs our choice making abilities *This episode was recorded in June 2023. About the Bicification project: https://marketplace.eiturbanmobility.eu/best-practices/braga-accelerating-the-modal-shift-through-gamification-and-rewards/ Collective Choices is a podcast by Doru Oprisan, exploring sustainable choices for a better future and the process of agreeing on those choices. Thanks for listening and sharing! Get in touch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doruoprisan/ www.doruoprisan.com

    Ep 13 - Urban Research Moves Into The Fast Lane with Fariya Sharmeen

  6. 10/23/2023

    Ep 12 - What's Next After Capitalism with Jennifer Hinton

    In this episode of Collective Choices we talk about the BIG change that everything else depends on. Dr. Jennifer Hinton is an ecological economist, sustainability researcher, educator and book author.  She has worked with the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Lund University, Stockholm University and The Schumacher Institute. Her research focuses on the not-for-profit economic model. We talk about: - why we urgently need a new economic model as a way forward for society - thinking outside the box when you're in the box - the influence of the cold war trauma on the global economy - capitalism vs communism, the false choice and the common mechanism - why democracy is being rejected - what to do with profit - why are people locked in the current view, supporting a system that hurts them - the myth of the free market - the common economy and the elite economy - Buddhist economics  - the role of fear - the cost of wealth for the rest of us - successful not-for-profit companies - why growth is not that great and shrinking is good - how to make the transition - changing the meaning of success  - gaining value and meaningfulness  - will the young win this time?  - carbon coins - the purpose economy - limits to profit and pay gaps Dr. Jennifer Hinton's website: https://www.relationship-to-profit.net/ Collective Choices is a podcast by Doru Oprisan, exploring sustainable choices for a better future and the process of agreeing on those choices. Thanks for listening and sharing! Get in touch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doruoprisan/ www.doruoprisan.com

    Ep 12 - What's Next After Capitalism with Jennifer Hinton

  7. 09/21/2023

    Ep 11 - Is Superhood The Future Tool For Communities? with Markku Mehtälä

    As we re-discover the importance of local communities, a Helsinki based startup proposes a tool for basically everything regarding information and communication in a city or a neighborhood. Or any location, actually. I talked to Superhood's founder, Markku Mehtälä, about this modern agora: - it's a social discovery hub for all things local - it aggregates local information sources, solving a major communication problem for cities - you follow a location instead of other persons - it only allows locals to post and discuss, reducing the noise and increasing involvement, while outsiders can follow a location - it creates an informed community that is more engaged and better connected to the authorities that manage the area - it is a bulletin board for local businesses and entrepreneurs, enabling them to easily find an audience More about Superhood: www.superhood.com This episode was recorded in Stuttgart, at the Urban Future conference.  Collective Choices is a podcast by Doru Oprisan, exploring sustainable choices for a better future and the process of agreeing on those choices. Thanks for listening and sharing! Get in touch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doruoprisan/ www.doruoprisan.com

    Ep 11 - Is Superhood The Future Tool For Communities? with Markku Mehtälä

  8. 08/24/2023

    Ep 10 - How Men And Women Move In Cities with Marianne Weinreich

    Marianne Weinreich joins me for Ep 10 of Collective Choices. She is Co-founder and Chair of the Cycling Embassy of Denmark, manager of the Danish Mobility Network and Market Manager Global Smart Mobility at Ramboll. We talk about: - how transport connects us all - how the mobility focus is moving from cars to people  - why the bicycle is so special - gender and transport: differences between men and women in patterns of mobility - why storytelling matters - what kind of city do we want? We might have more ideas in common than we think. - you need to have the basics in a city and you get what you design for - the arrogance of the auto industry - how different countries view cycling issues differently This episode was recorded in Stuttgart, at the Urban Future conference.  Cycling Embassy of Denmark: https://cyclingsolutions.info/cycling-embassy/ Ramboll: www.ramboll.com Collective Choices is a podcast by Doru Oprisan, exploring sustainable choices for a better future and the process of agreeing on those choices. Thanks for listening and sharing! Get in touch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doruoprisan/ www.doruoprisan.com

    Ep 10 - How Men And Women Move In Cities with Marianne Weinreich
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About

Our future is based on our choices. The ones we make as individuals and also the ones we make as groups, countries and as a species. A peaceful and plentiful future is only possible if we agree on making sustainable choices together. Collective Choices is a podcast that aims to explore both possible solutions to some of our current issues and also the process of reaching agreements for the common good. As more and more people live in cities, these are the key centers that define economic models, political decisions, consumer behavior and mindset shifts with all the eventual global consequences, so we will talk quite a bit about how we can improve life in urban spaces. I am Doru Oprisan, a radio journalist and photographer who loves to ride his bicycle in Stockholm, Sweden. 

Information

  • Creator
    Doru Oprisan
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    17
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Collective Choices
  • Show Website
    Collective Choices