Championing a Livable Future

When Fariel Salahuddin decided to go back to her home country of Pakistan, after an accomplished career working in the energy sector at the World Bank, she discovered that at least 21 million people didn’t have access to clean water. What they did have was a lot of livestock, or more specifically, goats. That’s when Goats for Water was born — an innovative initiative to trade goats for water in rural communities in Pakistan. Since then, Goats for Water has become one of the many projects Fariel leads as part of a thriving company which she has rightly named Uptrade.  At Expo 2020 Dubai, Fariel spoke about the importance of water, energy, and a barter economy.  This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet, and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Cherrie Atilano is an agriculture educator, farmer, and the founder and CEO of Agrea - a mission-driven farmer-first business launched in 2014 in the Philippines. Its mission is zero hunger, zero waste and zero insufficiency. And at the core of her vision is creating a system that dignifies and aims to eradicate poverty for farming and fishing families in the Philippines through capacity building and a farm school.   During Food, Agriculture and Livelihoods week at Expo 2020 Dubai, Cherrie discussed the importance of centering farmers as essential to the world around us, and of valuing their worth in society.   This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet, and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Noura Al-Neyadi is an Emirati documentary photographer whose passion for using powerful imagery to tell stories has taken her all over the world, including the North Pole. Her latest project is Eye Stories. At the height of the pandemic, Noura documented the heroic journey of 148 frontline healthcare workers, zooming in only on their eyes. For over three weeks, she visited five COVID-19 testing tents in Al-Ain and Abu-Dhabi and witnessed them work daily. This project hit home for Noura, because her own mother works in healthcare. And like many others all over the world, she couldn’t see her for months.    During Health and Wellness Week at Expo 2020 Dubai, Noura discussed the importance of photography as a tool to humanize those who may otherwise be just a number.    This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet, and produced by Kerning Cultures Network

Nisreen ElSaim has made it her life’s mission to champion climate action, on behalf of those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. She has managed to blend two worlds - those of youth-led grassroots movements and high-level policy dialogue - and as  the chair of the UN Secretary General's Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, has been turning heads with her powerful speeches. During Climate and Biodiversity Week at Expo 2020 Dubai, Nisreen discussed the importance of young people playing a leading role in shaping our response to climate change and salvaging the future of our planet. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet, and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Yusuf Omar has made it his life’s mission to promote storytelling as a vehicle for change, and to mobilize communities across the globe to shape their own narrative. After an accomplished career in journalism, Yusuf was disillusioned with traditional media. He felt the urge to innovate, and so he decided to co-found his own media initiative with his wife, Soumaya. They co-founded Hashtag Our Stories — a media company that aims to cut the middle man and go straight to citizen journalists..  During Global Goals Week at Expo 2020 Dubai, Yusuf discussed the vital role that storytelling plays to engage and inspire audiences to achieve impact. After the talk, we sat down with Yusuf to learn about how he thinks storytelling can increase the impact of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.   This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet, and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Richard Thanki, economist and computer scientist, has centered his tech startup Jangala around the question: how do we extend internet access to vulnerable populations? . Jangala, a UK based charity, enables internet access for people in need of urgent humanitarian aid, especially refugees. Jangala was featured during Expo 2020 Dubai's Travel and Connectivity Week, where Richard - as a child of refugees from Uganda - spoke about his connection to the topic of connectivity for all, and his firm belief that the future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed.    This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet, and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Where do we learn - beyond the four walls of a classroom? Well, Judit Polgar believes it is the black and white checkered board, with kings, knights, and queens.   Born in 1967, Budapest, Hungary, Judit grew up playing chess with her three other sisters and family from the age of four. At the age of 15, Judit became the youngest to achieve the title of Grandmaster in chess.    In this episode, we hear how the only female player in chess history made it to the top 10 in the men's (open) world rankings, and talk about her unrivaled achievements and the responsibility she has embraced through playing chess.   This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet, and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

What if art was used for good, as a means to create a smarter and more holistic society? Faouzi Khlifi, also known as “eL Seed”,  grew up in a modest social class in Paris, his father worked at a car factory and his mother was a nanny. Art wasn’t a part of his life, he just loved to draw.    Today, eL Seed is best known for fusing Arabic calligraphy with graffiti to paint colorful, swirling messages of hope and peace on buildings in Tunisia, Nepal and quite a few countries around the world.     During Tolerance and Inclusivity week at Expo 2020 Dubai, eL Seed joined a group of panelists to discuss the power an art piece has on a community and its ability to shape the society as a whole.    This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet, and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Kennedy Odede grew up in Kenya's Kibera slum, where he experienced first hand the devastating realities of life in extreme poverty. His experience led him to launch Shining Hope for Communities, or SHOFCO, an organization that impacts over 2.4 million slum dwellers across 17 urban slums in Kenya. Today Kennedy is one of Africa’s best-known community organizers and social entrepreneurs.    Kennedy is also one of the hosts of the “Inclusive Cities: Last Mile Delivery in Slums and Informal Settlements”, which was held as part of Expo 2020 Dubai. His entire life is an answer to the question: What does my community need?   This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet, and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Growing up in London in the 1970s, Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock always felt like she didn’t fit in. Space became her escape, she was fascinated by its limitless possibilities. Today, she is one of the leading space scientists and educators in the UK.  Dr. Aderin-Pocock is also the host of Space Week, at Expo’s Programme for People and Planet. For most people, the idea of space can feel remote, or even irrelevant, but for her, space exploration is vital to our understanding of the solar system, and can help shape a fairer, more sustainable world. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet, and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.