To learn why, we interviewed William Ryerson, the Founder and President of Population Media Center, and touched on these topics: 

• Why making people into experts on sustainability or climate change through informational campaigns has little impact on changing their behavior
• Why real and fictional charismatic leaders can bring about change in communities and make it socially acceptable to adopt new norms
• How social norms work and how their perception influences our behaviors
• How serialized dramas can be used to change social norms on a large scale
• Why certain norms take longer to change than others and what needs to happen so they change permanently

William Ryerson is the Founder and President of Population Media Center. He has more than 50 years of experience working in the field of reproductive health, including three decades of experience with social and behavior change communications. 

Links:

• PMC’s Theory of Change Model and Why It’s Successful
• Population Media Center
• Soap Operas That Teach but Don’t Preach
• Stop Raising Awareness Already

In this eye-opening interview with Spahr, we discuss the challenges of reducing consumption and offer ideas for solving our ecological crisis. We touch on:  

• What sustainability really means
• Which countries are sustainable 
• How a sustainable lifestyle would look for 8 billion people
• Why it’s almost impossible to reduce your overall consumption even if you put in a lot of effort
• Why it’s complicated to shift the way entire governments and the global economy functions to reduce overconsumption
• How shortening the work week would help people and planet’s well-being 
• Why promoting smaller families is the most powerful and systemic strategy

Terry Spahr is a filmmaker, environmental activist, and the Executive Director of Earth Overshoot, a nonprofit that raises awareness about unsustainable population growth and consumption. In 2019, he produced 8 Billion Angels, a documentary film that exposes overpopulation as the upstream cause of all our environmental problems. 

Links:

• 8 Billion Angels (film)
• Earth Overshoot
• MVP Sustainability Map

In this interview with Rachel Bustamante and Diwigwi Valiente, we uncover:

• How the Rights of Nature movement is transforming our approach to nature
• How the Guna indigenous community in Panama perceives Nature
• Why recognizing Rights of Nature benefits both Nature and humans
• What role Indigenous communities play in safeguarding biodiversity
• How Rights of Nature are recognized and implemented worldwide

Rachel Bustamante is Conservation Science & Policy Analyst at Earth Law Center, which is building a force of advocates for Nature’s rights at local and international levels. They partner with local organizations to create new laws that recognize Rights of Nature to exist, thrive and evolve, including specific ecosystems, like rivers or the ocean. Rachel’s research and advocacy focuses on the intersections of biodiversity conservation, Ocean policy and global environmental governance and justice.

Diwigdi Valiente is an Indigenous climate activist from the Guna people in Panama, social entrepreneur and the Director of Tourism Planning and Development at the Panamanian Ministry of Tourism. He specializes in the blue economy, regenerative tourism and the rights of indigenous people. In 2020, he was selected as one of the 10 young leaders of the future in Panama. 

Links:

• Earth Law Center
• Community Toolkit for Rights of Nature
• Rights of Nature in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
• Harmony with Nature (UN’s website)
• Diwigdi Valiente’s Instagram

In this enlightening interview, three professional population activists — Phoebe Barnard, Florence Blondel and Stephanie Feldstein — share their thoughts on:

• Why talking about population is the right thing to do
• How to open up the conversation about the intersection of population, consumption, climate change and biodiversity loss
• What the situation of Ugandan women in rural areas looks like and why they want change (more gender equality and reproductive rights)
• The role women should play in the discussion about a sustainable population
• Why raising up the voices of men is exceptionally important too
• How Stable Planet Alliance, Population Matters and Center for Biological Diversity work to shift the dialogue and public policy about sustainable population
• The hopes of these three activists for future of our planet

Phoebe Barnard is a conservation biologist and global change ecologist who worked for 34 years in South Africa and Namibia on climate change, biodiversity, human ecology and behavior change. She is the cofounder and CEO of Stable Planet Alliance, a global coalition of respected organizations working to bend the curve on human population and resource consumption. She founded Girl Planet Earth, a global platform for women and girls to talk about population, hyperconsumption and planetary health.

Florence Blondel is a social change and environmental campaigner originating from Uganda. Florence started her career as a news reporter for Ugandan NTV where she covered sexual and reproductive health issues. After getting a degree in Population and Development from London School of Economics and Political Science she transitioned to the marketing world and since 2018, she has been working for nonprofit Population Matters, currently as Communications Officer. 

Stephanie Feldstein is the Population and Sustainability Director at the Center for Biological Diversity where she heads a national program that addresses unsustainable human population, overconsumption and the extinction of plants and animals around the world. Prior to this, Stephanie worked for Change.org, where she helped hundreds of people implement online campaigns to protect wildlife. 

Links: 

• Stable Planet Alliance
• Girl Planet.Earth
• Population and Sustainability Program of the Center for Biological Diversity
• Population Matters

In this interview about family planning, Wame Jallow and Kathleen Mogelgaard, touch on: 

• How to dismantle patriarchal opposition to contraception through couples counseling and education
• How to bridge community dialogue between providers and recipients of care, religious leaders, traditional leaders and policy-makers
• How comprehensive sexuality education for children and adults helps dispel myths  and misinformation about contraception
• Why offering a wide variety of contraceptive methods to everyone everywhere helps tackle side effects and lead to long-term use of family planning
• Ground-breaking examples of family planning in Botswana, Burundi, Kenya, Guatemala, and the Philippines
• What needs to be done so that women worldwide have universal access to sexual and reproductive health services

Wame Jallow is Vice President of International Programs at Population Media Center. She has over 20 years’ experience in global health-related programming in the areas of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, Hepatitis C, sexual and reproductive health, maternal and child health. Jallow is based in Botswana, from where she manages programs at the global, regional, and country levels, working within the civil society, public, and donor sectors. 

Kathleen Mogelgaard is President and CEO of the Population Institute, a nonprofit that promotes universal access to family planning information, education, and services. She has been involved in sustainability research and advocacy with the Population Reference Bureau, PAI, Oxfam, World Resources Institute, and UN Population Fund. 

Links:

• Population Media Center
• Population Institute

In this interview with Nandita Bajaj, Executive Director of Population Balance, we uncover: 

• What pronatalism is and how it manifests in our every day's lives
• What subtle and overt methods are used to manipulate people to have more children
• Who pushes these beliefs and who benefits from pronatalism
• Who is harmed by pronatalist pressures
• Where pronatalism is present (spoiler alert: everywhere!)
• Why pronatalism is the longest and most pervasive form of population control
• How people can challenge pronatalism and make more autonomous decisions

Nandita Bajaj is the Executive Director of Population Balance, where she also co-hosts The Overpopulation Podcast. Population Balance offers education and solutions to address the intersectional impacts of human overpopulation and overconsumption on the planet, people, and animals. As faculty with the Institute for Humane Education at Antioch University, Nandita teaches and researches pronatalism, anthropocentrism, human rights, environmental ethics, and overpopulation and their impacts on reproductive, ecological, and intergenerational justice. She also serves as the Advisory Board Chair for Stable Planet Alliance. Bajaj has Bachelor’s degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Education, a Master’s degree in Humane Education, and over 15 years of experience working in engineering, education, and non-profit management.

Links:

• Population Balance
• Pronatalism and Overpopulation Course at Institute for Humane Education
• The Overpopulation Podcast
• Stable Planet Alliance

In this revealing interview, we talk to two veteran environmentalists, William Rees and Richard Heinberg about:    

• What is Earth Overshoot and why we need to address overconsumption and population growth
• Why turning a blind eye on Earth Overshoot will make things worse 
• How we’re currently living through the most abnormal era in human history 
• Why perpetual economic growth is a myth and why we need to get rid of it 
• Why we need a smaller economy and a massive shift in lifestyles
• Why renewable energy is not as sustainable as we think and why it is not a solution to our current ecological crisis 
• How we can transform society by reorienting its values from economic growth to human well-being 
• Why we need a voluntary humane global population program 
• Why changing the global mindset about Earth Overshoot and getting involved politically is essential

Dr. William Rees is an ecologist, ecological economist, former Director and Professor Emeritus of the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning in Vancouver. He has authored hundreds of academic papers and popular articles on humanity’s (un)sustainability crisis. Bill is best known for originating and co-developing ecological footprint analysis (EFA) with Mathis Wackernagel and other graduate students. EFA is now widely used by scientists, businesses, governments, and institutions to monitor human demands on ecosystems and document population overshoot.

Richard Heinberg is Senior Fellow of Post Carbon Institute, and is regarded as one of the world’s foremost advocates for a shift away from our current reliance on fossil fuels. He is the author of fourteen books and hundreds of articles on society’s current energy and environmental sustainability crisis. His latest book is Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival. He has also delivered hundreds of lectures on energy and climate issues on six continents. 

Links:

• Global Footprint Network 
• Post Carbon Institute 
• 300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds 
• Richard Heinberg's website