What is The Future for Cities?

Fanni Melles
What is The Future for Cities?

WTF for Cities? is a platform to introduce and connect people who are actively and consciously working on the future of cities and to introduce research about the future of cities.

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

    300P_Urban Food Production with Adam Dorr, Nadun Hennayaka, and Simon Burt

    Are you interested in urban food production? What do you think is the difference between food production and agriculture? How can we retrofit urban infrastructure to produce more food in cities? This episode is a panel discussion where we investigate urban food production aspects. The panellists, Adam Dorr, Nadun Hennayaka, and Simon Burt talk about their vision for the future of cities, urban food production and agriculture, precision fermentation, retrofitting urban infrastructure, and many more. Adam Dorr is the Director of Research at the independent think tank RethinkX. He is an environmental social scientist and technology theorist whose recent RethinkX publications have focused on the disruption of the global energy sector by new energy generation and storage technologies, as well as the implications of the energy, transportation, and food disruptions for climate change. Adam regularly presents on stage, radio, podcasts, and television. He completed his MS at the University of Michigan’s School for the Environment and Sustainability and his PhD at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. Adam talked about the transformative technologies in episode 222. Nadun Hennayaka is a seasoned engineering and technology expert with over 20 years of experience, having collaborated with global leaders such as Apple and Microsoft. He holds a bachelor’s degree in information systems and business management from the University of Auckland and certifications from industry giants like Cisco and Microsoft. In 2017, he founded Gaia Project Australia to address climate change through renewable energy, ocean conservation, and advanced agricultural technology. By partnering with scientists, engineers, and global agencies, Nadun has spearheaded innovations like autonomous crop cultivation systems for Earth and space, demonstrating his commitment to sustainable solutions that advance environmental stewardship and transform the future of agriculture and technology. Nadun discussed the food ball and what can be produced in cities in episode 278. Simon Burt, an entrepreneur and co-founder, is dedicated to driving change through technology in agriculture. Passionate about environmentally friendly farming and carbon-neutral solutions, Simon excels in production management, stakeholder engagement, and sustainable practices. With 20 years of experience in founding and managing companies, he values the importance of strong teams in achieving success. Committed to hands-on involvement, Simon combines his love for farming and people to lead with purpose and create a lasting impact. His dedication to innovative, sustainable agriculture reflects his mission to leave a meaningful legacy in the sector. Simon described the importance of education for food production in episode 220. Connected episodes you might be interested in: No.182 - Interview with Ted Bauillieu about urban retrofitting No.274 - Interview with Richard Gill about transformative technologies No.299R - Validating the City Region Food System approach 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

    1h 4m
  2. 6 DAYS AGO

    299R_Validating the City Region Food System Approach: Enacting inclusive, transformational City Region Food Systems (research summary)

    Are you interested in urban food production approaches? Summary of the article titled Validating the City Region Food System Approach: Enacting inclusive, transformational City Region Food Systems from 2018, by Alison Blay-Palmer, Guido Santini, Marielle Dubbeling, Henk Renting, Makiko Taguchi, and Thierry Giordano, published in the MDPI Sustainability journal. This is a great preparation to our next panel conversation in episode 300 about urban food production with Adam Dorr, Nadun Hennayaka and Simon Burt. Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how we can improve urban food systems. This article presents the history and potential future of City Region Food Systems to allow cross-sector engagement and collaboration for better urban futures. Find the article through this link. Abstract: This paper offers a critical assessment of the value and utility of the evolving City Region Food Systems (CRFS) approach to improve our insights into flows of resources—food, waste, people, and knowledge—from rural to peri-urban to urban and back again, and the policies and process needed to enable sustainability. This paper reflects on (1) CRFS merits compared to other approaches; (2) the operational potential of applying the CRFS approach to existing projects through case analysis; (3) how to make the CRFS approach more robust and ways to further operationalize the approach; and (4) the potential for the CRFS approach to address complex challenges including integrated governance, territorial development, metabolic flows, and climate change. The paper begins with the rationale for CRFS as both a conceptual framework and an integrative operational approach, as it helps to build increasingly coherent transformational food systems. CRFS is differentiated from existing approaches to understand the context and gaps in theory and practice. We then explore the strength of CRFS through the conceptual building blocks of ‘food systems’ and ‘city-regions’ as appropriate, or not, to address pressing complex challenges. As both a multi-stakeholder, sustainability-building approach and process, CRFS provides a collective voice for food actors across scales and could provide coherence across jurisdictions, policies, and scales, including the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Habitat III New Urban Agenda, and the Conference of the Parties (COP) 21. CRFS responds directly to calls in the literature to provide a conceptual and practical framing for policy through wide engagement across sectors that enables the co-construction of a relevant policy frame that can be enacted through sufficiently integrated policies and programs that achieve increasingly sustainable food systems. Connecting episodes you might be interested in: No.220 - Interview with Simon Burt about the need for education about food No.222 - Interview with Adam Dorr about urban food production opportunities No.278 - Interview with Nadun Hennayaka about vertical farmingYou 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. Episode generated with ⁠Descript⁠ assistance (⁠affiliate link⁠). Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    17 min
  3. FEB 12

    298I_Carina Gormley, senior associate at the Centre for Public Impact’s Climate Change Initiative

    "[The city] is a system that is difficult to map, but it is evolving." Are you interested in allowing governments to fail? What do you think about systems thinking? How can we help governments be bold? Interview with Carina Gormley, senior associate at the Centre for Public Impact’s Climate Change Initiative. We will talk about her vision for the future of cities, sustainability, the role of governments, room for failure, and many more. Carina Gormley leads internal partnerships, culture and green initiatives at the Centre for Public Impact’s Climate Change Initiative. She’s at the forefront of urban innovation and climate action, and has guided over 25 cities in designing and implementing sustainable, community-driven solutions. Carina’s expertise spans systems thinking, human-centered design, urbanism, UI/UX, public health, and social equity, providing a holistic approach to climate challenges. Her academic background includes a Masters of Science in Environment and Sustainability Management from Georgetown University and a BA in Architecture and Urbanism. Carina’s work is dedicated to empowering local governments and their partners to create resilient, sustainable urban environments. She advocates for the use of AI in climate action and emphasizes the critical role of effective regulatory frameworks. Through her leadership, Carina fosters collaboration, innovation, and sustainable funding structures, ensuring that cities can meet climate goals and build a better future for their communities. Find out more about Carina through these links: Carina Gormley on LinkedIn @CarinaGormley as Carina Gormley on X Centre for Public Impact website Carina Gormley at the Centre for Public Impact Centre for Public Impact on LinkedIn @CPI_foundation as the Centre for Public Impact on X Bridging the Intention Gap - Carina Gormley on the Climate Confident podcast Does Regulation Really Matter? - Carina Gormley on the Reimagining Government Podcast Connecting episodes you might be interested in: No.165 - Interview with Michael Healy about smart city being the R&D department No.288 - Interview with Dan Hill about cities being knots No.294 - Interview with Eric A. Brimen about governments limiting their outreach No.296 - Interview with Sally Capp about governmental roles from the government's perspective 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

    53 min
  4. FEB 10

    297R_Harnessing social imagination in the era of the climate crisis (research summary)

    Are you interested in hallucinating to solve urban challenges? Summary of the report titled Harnessing social imagination in the era of the climate crisis by the Centre for Public Impact, published on their website. This is a great preparation to our next interview with Carina Gormley in episode 298 talking about the need for our collective imagination to solve the climate crisis, for example. Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see why our hallucination matters to solve urban crises. This project investigated how we might use social imagination to create new ractices and processes. Find the report through this link. Connecting episodes you might be interested in: No.057 - Interview with Amélie Uhrig about talking to climate crises No.177 - Interview with Amelia Gaskell about the younger generation's climate anxietyYou 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

    13 min

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WTF for Cities? is a platform to introduce and connect people who are actively and consciously working on the future of cities and to introduce research about the future of cities.

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