We hear from Oonagh Duggan, who is the head of advocacy for the conservation of birds and their habitats at Birdwatch Ireland and is on the Steering Committee of the Environmental Pillar, and also from Easkey Britton, who is a prominent and highly skilled surfer, as well as an academic with a PhD in Environment and Society.

In this podcast we explored the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic, and of the general economic context in which lockdown is occurring, on young people. We heard from Jonathan Laszlo, a health care researcher living in Belgium; Tommy Hickey, a law graduate living in the Dublin area; and Amber Wilmott, an A-level student in southern England. David Somekh joined Caroline Whyte as co-interviewer. Topics discussed include the biggest challenges that young people in industrialised countries are facing, the things that governments could be doing better, and the most unexpected aspects of the lockdown.

This podcast features Feasta's summer intern, Nadia Hansen, interviewing Dundalk-based social worker Dr Washington Marovatsanga on cultural competence, enforced absence, the relationship between power and knowledge production, the problematic history and orientation of social work, and how a Global South philosophy of collectivism could help us to overcome the environmental and social challenges we're all facing.

David Somekh of the European Health Futures Forum interviews Stewart Wallis, Chair of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, about the need to change track economically so as to optimise societal well-being, and how such a change might be brought about.

Governments around the world are currently rethinking their approach to the economy and reflecting on their overall goals, and this is triggering many questions about how best to structure organisations, large and small, so as to improve our chances of achieving those goals. This podcast includes interviews with people at an international gathering organised by the NGO Metaphorum. They are working on applying the cybernetician Stafford Beer’s Viable Systems Model in different domains in order to help restructure organisations in a way that can maximise the autonomy of the people involved, ensure that vital needs are being met and enable easy communication. Projects range from the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to a community-based health project in the a UK town. Interviewees include Jon Walker, the co-author (with Angela Espinosa) of the book “A Complexity Approach to Sustainability”; Ian Kendrick, a strategic innovator; and Mike Bewick, a former senior advisor in the UK’s National Health Service.

We interview Manuel Grebenjak of the Stay Grounded network, and Professor James Faulconbridge, head of the Organisation Work and Technology Department at Lancaster University, about the future of tourism and business travel in the wake of Coronavirus - bearing in mind the need to urgently reduce travel's environmental impact - and the effects of the Coronavirus on the cultural norms associated with business travel.

We interview Dr Evelyn Forget who describes the social and health effects of a basic income trial carried out in Canada in the 1970s. Then, Paul Harnett and Laura Bannister make a case for a World Basic Income that would go to everyone on the planet, as a way to help counter the COVID-19 outbreak.

In this second podcast of our series Bridging the Gaps we hear a short talk by Anne Ryan on the concept of ‘enough’, from Feasta’s December 7 event ‘Living well in the face of climate and ecological crises’ (which was featured in our first podcast of this series). Then guest host David Somekh of the EHFF interviews two ethicists, Richard Turnbull of the Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics and Henk Den Uijl, policy advisor at NVTZ (Dutch society for board trustees in health and social care), with all three giving their reactions to Anne’s talk.

This podcast features recordings from a seminar organised by Feasta in Dublin on December 7 2019. Through a combination of interview-style conversation, presentation and small-group discussion, this event explored the mental and emotional toll of our increasing awareness of climate change and environmental destruction with a view to building up resilience, both personal and community. Speakers and interviewees included psychologist and Feasta trustee John Sharry, Feasta administrator Morag Friel, Extinction Rebellion activist Leontien Friel Darrell, sociology lecturer and Feasta trustee Mark Garavan, social activist and Environmental Pillar representative Theresa O'Donohue, and climate campaigner and journalist John Gibbons.

Revitalising Irish farming by FEASTA and EHFF