Resilience Rising Podcasts

Shazre and Peter wrap up the series by asking Seth Schultz to reflect on some of the insights gathered from previous conversations. They ponder the challenges that climate change is posing to engineers and city planners, and the imperative to collaborate across sectors. Seth Schultz is the CEO of Resilience Rising and has spent nearly twenty years working closely and creatively with city leaders, the Clinton Foundation and major businesses to understand and adapt to the onrushing challenges associated with climate change. Music by Francois le Roux (The HA!Man), Johannesburg Edited and produced by Roman Svidran, Bratislava

Shazre and Peter talk with Verena Radulovic, who identifies some fundamental shifts in the way corporations should be, and are, integrating climate risk into their planning and strategies. Verena Radulovic spent 16 years as an environmental regulator with the US Environmental Protection Agency, pioneering the engagement with business around climate change. For the past three years she has been Vice President, Business Engagement at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) in Washington DC. Verena is also a passionate and accomplished photographer, who has often used her photography to tell inspiring stories of the environmental changes that are possible when affected people are placed at the centre. Music by Francois le Roux (The HA!Man), Johannesburg Edited and produced by Roman Svidran, Bratislava

Shazre and Peter speak to Jo da Silva DBE about pragmatic optimism and the need to focus on solutions, not problems. Jo da Silva is the Global Director of Sustainable Development at Arup, leading the firm's activities to address the climate, biodiversity and equity crises through creating safe, inclusive and resilient communities whilst safeguarding the planet. Jo earned global recognition as an engineer who has applied knowledge and design expertise to improve safety, promote inclusivity, and enhance resilience of communities, cities and infrastructure globally. She has also worked extensively in crisis and disaster contexts for non-governmental, UN agencies and multi-laterals. In 2007 she founded Arup International Development to enable Arup to direct technical excellence and creativity to improving human development outcomes in the global south. She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2021 in recognition of her contribution to international development. Music by Francois le Roux (The HA!Man), Johannesburg Edited and produced by Roman Svidran, Bratislava

This week Dr Debra Roberts issues a passionate call for knowledge brokers to help bring climate scientists closer to decision-makers in business and government. Professor Debra Roberts has spent the last three decades working at the science-policy-practice interface in the fields of biodiversity planning and management, climate change adaptation and mitigation and sustainable development and resilience at local and international levels. Her pioneering work has helped reduce vulnerability in human and natural communities, enhanced local level sustainability and resilience, created socio-economic development opportunities and driven institutional change. Professor Roberts currently heads the Sustainable and Resilient City Initiatives function in eThekwini Municipality (Durban, South Africa). In 2015 Prof. Roberts was a lead author of Chapter 8 (Urban Areas) of Working Group II’s contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). She was elected as IPCC Co-Chair of Working Group II (Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability) for the sixth assessment cycle (2015-2023). She is an Honorary Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in the School of Life Sciences and has been an advisor to the Global Commission on Adaptation, United Cities and Local Governments and the United Nations Secretary General’s 2019 Climate Summit. In 2019 she was included in a list of the World’s 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy. She currently holds the Professor Willem Schermerhorn Chair in Open Science from a Majority World Perspective at the Faculty of Geo-Information Science at the University of Twente. Music by Francois le Roux (The HA!Man), Johannesburg Edited and produced by Roman Svidran, Bratislava

In this week’s episode, Shazre and Peter are joined by Rachel Skinner CBE to discuss the role of systems-thinking for overcoming imperfect information. Rachel Skinner is the Executive Director for Responsible Business and Government Relations at Engineering Consultancy, WSP UK. In 2020, Rachel became the youngest president in the Institution of Civil Engineering’s 200-year history – and the second woman to ever hold the role. Rachel has authored, scripted and hosted publications and films on topics including “Shaping Zero”, “Making Better Places” on place-making and future mobility. In recognition of her services to infrastructure, Rachel was awarded a CBE in the 2022 New Year’s Honours List. In 2016, she was named by The Telegraph as one of the UK’s Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering. Music by Francois le Roux (The HA!Man), Johannesburg Edited and produced by Roman Svidran, Bratislava