This month, we want to know how research that explores the past can help us to better understand the present, and maybe even predict the future.

Approaching the past through uniquely innovative methods, host Christoph speaks to three researchers at The Bartlett: Professor Mike Batty, Emeritus Professor of Planning and Chair of The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Dr Katherine Curran, Associate Professor at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage, and Dr Judy Stephenson, Associate Professor in economics and finance of the built environment at The Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management about how they study and interrogate the past to help us solve the problems we face today.

From digital data and mapping to the heritage of plastics to the history of labour markets and construction in England, we're trying to answer the question: how can we use the history of materials and the history of people to build a better future?

Access transcript: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/transcript-looking-backwards-look-forwards