Local Futures Podcast

Creating the future our hearts know is possible – Rupert Read

Rupert Read is a highly respected activist and thought-leader, eco-philosopher, campaigner and self-described “recovering academic”, who has influenced public and academic opinion on issues like climate, genetic engineering, technological development and advertising to children. Rupert has (co-)authored books including ‘A Film-Philosophy of Ecology and Enlightenment’ and ‘This Civilization Is Finished’. He has been a spokesperson for the Extinction Rebellion movement and the UK Green Party, and now directs the Climate Majority Project.
 
In this episode, Rupert explores the possibilities for renewal and reconnection latent within the ecological, social and spiritual catastrophes of industrial modernity. He suggests we can, through the localization movement, simultaneously humble ourselves enough to address our civilizational predicament, while healing ourselves and nature. He calls us to take action at the level of human-scale groups and institutions to bring about the local future "our hearts know is possible", making a plea that we embrace this future through conscious choice, rather than being delivered to it through traumatic collapse.
 
To watch the video of this series, visit: Planet Local Voices interview series.
The music for this series is ‘Pines and Violet’, by Sky Toes.
 

Re-embedding ourselves in the community of life – Liz Hosken

Liz Hosken is the Founding Co-Director of the Gaia Foundation. For nearly 40 years, Gaia has been upholding indigenous wisdom and working with both indigenous and industrialized communities to restore their biocultural diversity. Inspired by decades of work with Amazonian peoples, Liz co-developed a three-year training in the philosophy and practice of Earth Jurisprudence, seeding the revival of Earth-centred consciousness, cultures and landscapes.
 
In this episode, Liz offers profound reflections on the need for deep reconnection with the web of life if we are to heal the wounds of industrial modernity. To move beyond hubris, reductionism and control, Liz suggests we need to decolonize our minds, remember humility, and re-embed ourselves in place, to become 'healing cells in the body of Gaia'. Pointing out how indigenous, land-based cultures can remind us of a more beautiful way of being, she offers practices like traditional seed saving as practical ways of re-indigenizing and re-localizing our cultures.
 
To watch the video of this series, visit: Planet Local Voices interview series.
The music for this series is ‘Pines and Violet’, by Sky Toes.

Connecting the circle: true progress and the cycles of time – Rutendo Ngara

Rutendo Ngara is a holder of indigenous African knowledge systems and a transdisciplinary researcher. She is a practitioner of a number of physical disciplines, including dance and yoga, and has represented South Africa as an international silver medalist in martial arts (Wushu/Kung Fu/Tai Ji). Rutendo serves on the boards of the Credo Mutwa Foundation, the South African Wushu Federation, and the ASSEGAIA Alliance for protection of sacred sites. She is also an electrical and biomedical engineer, and is pursuing a doctorate in Philosophy of Education. The quest for harmony and healing underpins her diverse endeavors.In this episode, Rutendo blends different ways of knowing and perceiving. She utilizes African concepts like Ubuntu and Sankofa as lenses through which to examine and critique western notions of progress, efficiency, time, and economics. With forays into the worlds of engineering, biomedicine and academia, she communicates a big-picture perspective on modernity, and raises questions about our collective past and future.
To watch the video of this series, visit: Planet Local Voices interview series.
The music for this series is ‘Pines and Violet’, by Sky Toes.

Suicidal growth & the future of sustainable economies – Andrew Simms

A political economist and environmentalist, Andrew Simms is at the forefront of the movement for a new economy in the UK and around the world. His books include Cancel the Apocalypse, Tescopoly: How One Shop Came Out on Top and Why it Matters, and Economics: A Crash Course. He is coordinator of the New Weather Institute, the Rapid Transition Alliance and the Badvertising campaign. He is also a fellow at the New Economics Foundation, and research associate at the Centre for Global Political Economy, University of Sussex.
In this episode, Andrew outlines why a shift from global to local is integral to his vision of a new economy. He shines an incisive light on the foundations of today's economy, exposing and interrogating ideas like "growth" through GDP, and exploring practicable alternatives. Brimming with informed optimism, he highlights the very real possibilities for economic change.
 
To watch the video of this series, visit: Planet Local Voices interview series.
The music for this series is ‘Pines and Violet’, by Sky Toes.

Mental health crisis: blame the system, not the individual – Eva Henje

Eva Henje is a neuroscientist, trauma therapist, and associate professor at Sweden’s Umeå university, specialising in child and adolescent psychiatry. Eva describes herself as mental health activist, because she’s passionate about raising awareness about the systemic reasons behind increasing rates of depression. She has created programs to empower and destigmatize young people with psychological suffering, and has helped develop alternatives to the current psychiatric diagnostic systems.
 
In this episode, Eva elucidates some of the profound connections between the economy we live in and our most intimate experiences of being human. Exploring the root causes of the widespread mental health crises, Eva shifts the focus from individual pathologies to societal malaise and the economic system responsible for it. She also lays out a path for people to shift from isolation and disempowerment towards community care, connection and, ultimately, activism.
 
To watch the video of this series, visit: Planet Local Voices interview series.
The music for this series is ‘Pines and Violet’, by Sky Toes.

Grassroots movements & initiatives are changing the world – Juan del Rio

Juan del Rio is a pioneer of the Transition movement in Spain, and the Co-Director of ECOLISE, the European network for community-led initiatives on climate change and sustainability. He is the co-founder of the Municipalities in Transition project, and the co-director of an inspiring new film about bottom-up initiatives in Spain called ALTERNATIVAS: Building possible futures.
In this episode, Juan opens our eyes to the plethora of community-led responses to social, economic crises and climate change, especially in the Spanish-speaking world, where models of transition are being adapted to diverse cultures and bioregions. He speaks about how this movement of alternatives is helping to bridge the divide between left and right, and he also offers advice on how the grassroots can and should collaborate with local governments.
 
To watch the video of this series, visit: Planet Local Voices interview series.
The music for this series is ‘Pines and Violet’, by Sky Toes.

Illusions of progress and their countertrends in Japan – Keibo Owia

Keibo Oiwa is a professor, cultural anthropologist, and a widely respected philosopher and organizer in Japan. He co-authored, with David Suzuki, a book about bottom-up movements for peace, human rights and environmentalism, called 'The Japan We Never Knew'. He is the founder of The Sloth Club – an NGO that promotes slow and sustainable living. The Sloth Club, coupled with Keibo's book Slow is Beautiful: Culture as Slowness, have fostered a new appreciation of rural life and a simpler way of living.
In this episode, Keibo offers us a portrait of a Japan moving in two different directions. He sounds the alarm about the cultural and spiritual devastation that has been a deeply tragic cost of Japan's pursuit of globalized development. But he also speaks of a widespread cultural resurgence – a movement towards regeneration, community and nature. He highlights cultural "keywords" that can be rediscovered in the Japanese cultural fabric, and which can be used as a guide for these emerging movements.
 
To watch the video of this series, visit: Planet Local Voices interview series.
The music for this series is ‘Pines and Violet’, by Sky Toes.

Localization: learning from indigenous communities – Thais Mantovani

Thais Mantovani is a young woman from São Paulo, Brazil, passionate about educationreform and eco-cultural regeneration. An alumnus of Schumacher College, she is the co-founder of EcoUniversidade, a Youth Climate Leaders fellow, a member of the Global Regeneration CoLab network, and a long-time collaborator of Local Futures. She studies and promotes localization and regeneration in Brazil.
In this episode, Thais encourages those trapped in the modern world to step beyond its ideological confines. She shares experiences of living local cultures in indigenous Amazonia, and gives examples of localization projects in the favelas of São Paulo. She calls out modern schooling as a tool of indoctrination, and highlights the importance of reweaving trust-based community relationships – not only for survival, but also for health and happiness.
To watch the video of this series, visit: Planet Local Voices interview series.
The music for this series is ‘Pines and Violet’, by Sky Toes.

Agrarian localism: becoming 'ecological protagonists' – Chris Smaje

Chris Smaje is an author, small-scale farmer, social scientist, and food system analyst. His work explores the current moment of vast change, as the dynamics of climate, energy, politics and natural ecosystems upend familiar assumptions about how the world is supposed to work. He’s written two books – ‘A Small Farm Future’ and ‘Saying No to a Farm-free Future’ – which are both grounded his belief that we need to develop low-energy localisms that give people the means to make practical and sustainable livelihoods.
In this episode, Chris explains how the organisation of food systems is ultimately an energetic question; one that, in the modern era, has been answered by an over-reliance on cheap fossil fuels. He argues that, in a future of lesser energy abundance and mounting crises, localised food systems will be vital for survival. Chris encourages an embrace of agrarian localism not only to avoid chaotic disruption, but also to bring profound and immediate benefits to people and planet. Local Futures is an international non-profit organization, dedicated to renewing ecological and social well-being by strengthening communities and local economies.
 
To watch the video of this series, visit: Planet Local Voices interview series
 
The music for this series is ‘Pines and Violet’, by Sky Toes.

Car-free cities, corporate control and the power of people – Debra Efroymson

Debra Efroymson (Bangladesh/USA) is a tireless advocate for policies that support public health, wellbeing and happiness. She is the co-founder and Executive Director at Institute of Wellbeing, Bangladesh, and is faculty at the Asian University for Women. While her particular interests lie in urban planning and transportation, her holistic perspective leads her to envision profound transformations in economics, governance, and society as a whole. 
In this episode, Debra calls into question things many of us take for granted – including how our cities are planned, how we get around, and what priorities shape development. She connects the idea of car-free cities to localization, and she explores the nitty gritty of policymaking and movement building, drawing on her personal experiences of David-and-Goliath struggles between activists and corporate power. 
 
To watch the video of this series, visit: Planet Local Voices interview series
 
The music for this series is ‘Pines and Violet’, by Sky Toes.