SDG Talks

Deya Ward is a zoologist, filmmaker and speaker who is passionate about the natural world and conservation of natural ecosystems. Having completed her masters degree in wildlife filmmaking two years ago, Deya has worked at the BBC on David Attenborough’s landmark series Seven World’s One Planet and is now working with another production company on a wildlife series produced for Netflix.  Although Deya is an advocate of all wildlife, her hero is the orangutan, and she spent 8 months living with these animals in the jungles of Borneo where she also picked up her impressive Idonesian skills.

#Begins at 08:00 minutes

Film : ‘The Lost Person of the Forest’ a film by Deya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1BjqViv0HU&t=15s

Bbc palm oil article: Written during my time at the BBC working on Seven Worlds One Planet: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1Wbwgx6HCMbF8SrnSTMt08b/palm-oil-how-you-can-save-asia-s-jungles

Tree app: https://www.thetreeapp.org

George monbiot articles: ‘Climate Breakdown article archive: https://www.monbiot.com/category/climate-change/”

Forest 500: Online ranking of 500 leading deforestation drivers https://forest500.org

Championing Change - Episode 1 Deya: https://vimeo.com/328875463 (I mentioned some of these anecdotes in the podcast!)

Edited by Kitty Mccargo-Walklate and Ben Tulloh, [email protected].

Sustainable Farming is not a myth.  In fact, we have the capacity to grow more, eat healthier and live in harmony with mother earth… if we are willing to change our practices.  In this SDG Talks, you will hear from sustainable agricultural specialist George Chapman on a range of topics around sustainable farming. 

George is a 24 year old Australian that grew up on a Tea Tree farm and developed an interest in agriculture at a young age. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security and works as a graduate fellow for the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. George has a strong interest and passion for regenerative agriculture and has helped develop a demonstration farm on his family's farm in Kenya (www.ololofarm.com) where they aim to educate and train Kenya’s youth in regenerative, organic agriculture. He was selected as a Global Changemaker in 2019 and as a co-creator and host of the Young Changemakers Podcast series.  George hopes to share the pivotal role of youth in creating positive social and environmental change.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-chapman/ 

Young Change Maker Podcast Series: https://www.global-changemakers.net/podcast

In this SDG Talks podcast we hear more about Corina Shika Kwami's journey and experiences working on infrastructure, health and tech projects from over 10 countries around the world. Corina comes from a broad background, and has recently completed here PhD in Civil, environmental and geomatic engineering from the University College of London, focusing on innovations in the governance of water utilities and infrastructure in Colombia. With a unique set of STEM and arts experiences, Corina strives to influence social change and drive the development of sustainable cities and communities. 

The discussion closes with Corina sharing her experiences as firstly a talent (17'), then facilitator of the following UNLEASH innovation labs (2018', 19') and finally at this year's Covid-19 hackathon.

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corina-shika-kwami-phd-668147a/

In this SDG Talks podcast we will explore the "forgotten SDG 16" through positive storytelling with Kasha Slavner.  By sharing stories of people who have triumphantly overcome adversity, we can learn about what it means to make the world a better place despite all obstacles. 

Kasha Sequoia Slavner started The Global Sunrise Project which is multi-award-winning GEN-Z documentary that creates positive impact media. Kasha is a recognized global youth leader, Kim Phuc Peace & Diana Award recipient, 10x UN Youth delegate, UN Solutions Summit youth adjudicator, and one of the Voices of SDG16+. She uses her storytelling platform to conduct educational outreach, screenings, exhibitions and workshops to inspire & empower youth civic action for the Sustainable Development.  Her documentary, The Sunrise Storyteller, has travelled to 60+film festivals and won 28 awards including the Ron Kovic Peace Prize and the Eva Haller Women Transforming Media Award.

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kasha-sequoia-slavner-64b83a70/

Movie Trailer: https://vimeo.com/207300702 

Sunrise Storyteller website: http://thesunrisestoryteller.com/

Global Sunrise Project Website: https://www.theglobalsunriseproject.com/

In this SDGTalks we turn the tables on one of our hosts, Kevin Sofen, and discuss his journey and social enterprise Wristponsible, an organisation which raises financial capital and social awareness for water projects aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.  You will hear about how Kevin approaches water projects and discuss the specific water opportunities in Flint.  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-sofen/

Wristsponsible: https://wristsponsible.com/ 

Flint Water Opportunity: https://youtu.be/tcG628XJN-4

Who is Wristsponsible: https://youtu.be/KjAut-ichok 

In this SDG Talks with Kelsey Zlevor, we discuss urban planning, the impact of COVID-19 on public spaces, and how the urban framework plays a significant role in the UN SDG 2030 roadmap.

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kzlevor/

Kelsey Zlevor’s understanding of the role of place-- where we live, work, and play -- stems from her multidisciplinary background education in Environmental Science and Master's of Community and Regional Planning.  Kelsey currently practices at Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture and Planning in Oregon with expertise in land use and parks and recreation planning, and consulting for public sector clients.  She serves as chair of the City of Eugene's Sustainability Commission to help craft innovative environmental policy recommendations to City Council.  She was recently appointed to the Middle Housing Model Code Technical Advisory Committee for the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, an entity developing landmark statewide housing code that enables increased housing density on single-famly lots: the first of its kind in the United States.

In this episode with Sayanti Sengupta we discuss the ripple effects around climate change and the small actions individuals can make to have a positive impact on the macro environment.

Sayanti Sengupta, based in Berlin, is currently finishing her Master thesis on how social protection can help in climate adaptation. After her first masters in water management in Mumbai, she worked across slums and villages in India to help people get access to safe water, menstruation and sanitation facilities. She has worked as a consultant to the Red Cross Climate Centre, Bread for the World, and ITAD, and is passionate to work in the intersection between SDG6 and SDG13, bringing climate and water management together. She is also an English editor and coordinator for 17 goals magazine.

Her solution from UNLEASH to bring sustainable hygiene products to females in India can be seen here.

In this podcast with Radhika Ralhan we discuss key collaborative actions that are required to scale up SDGs, SDGs in Indian Context, how the private sector is contributing to advance the SDGs agenda, and why we can’t keep writing fancy reports without action.

Radhika Ralhan is a Global Impact Young Leader from India, awarded by the prestigious Atlas Corps Fellowship 2020. She is a sustainability systems expert, with a decade long work experience of driving the SDGs agenda by curating innovative SDGs Drivers Forum, leading one of its kind research on Assessing the SDGS in Indian context. She has been appointed by the Government of India, Bureau of Indian Standards, as a drafting expert to formulate the first of its kind CSR Standards that are aligned with SDGs. She is based in DC and is working with Collaborating for Resilience (CoRe).  The Collaborating for Resilience is an international organization working in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America to strengthen equitable environmental governance in interconnected resource domains and landscapes by fostering institutional innovation, and strengthening local development processes with an aim to create resilient communities.

To connect with Radhika please visit her LinkedIn and review the below links to learn more.

Linkedin Profile 

Radhika interview by UN SDSN on SDGs

SDGs Drivers Forum 

Forums on Sustainability 

Camilo Huneeus Guzmán is an industrial Chemical Engineer with international experience in engineering, public policy and emergency response.  Camilo currently works at United Nations Development Program within water management and focuses on water innovation and transboundary water management.  Camilo was a graduate teaching fellow at Yale University and you can learn much more about his past experiences via the links below:

Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camilohuneeus/

Digital Transformation and the Promise of AI: https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/digital-water-transformation-the-promise-of-artificial-intelligence-7d88fb07e79b?source=friends_link&sk=c8930e2de01808ac9385d8ec353e3b3e 

Airs of Innovation https://medium.com/@PNUDperu/airs-of-innovation-policy-and-science-in-action-7b2b36f42c22 

Water and Climate Change https://environment.yale.edu/blog/2016/12/water-and-climate-change-the-first-water-day-at-a-cop/ 

Copss and Oceans: https://www.latercera.com/noticia/calentamiento-global-4/ 

How to protect our soils: https://www.emol.com/noticias/Tecnologia/2017/12/05/886092/Desde-el-compost-hasta-dejar-crecer-el-pasto-5-tips-para-cuidar-el-suelo-en-su-dia.html

Humans Water Solutions : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmZczvC1Mzc

Luke Barbagallo’s mission is to be an active participant 
in a collective journey towards social, economic and environmental sustainability. He is driven by an inquisitive nature and an unwavering commitment to realizing a better tomorrow. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukebarbagallo/)

Luke believes that strong community engagement and agency is the key to successful and sustainable communities, and I’m passionate about connecting local change-makers with government and private business in order to facilitate long term and meaningful change in our communities.

Currently, Luke leads Partnerships & Programs @ Pollinate Group.   Pollinate Group empowers women as leaders of change to distribute household products, such as solar lights and cooking appliances, that improve health, save time and save money for the world’s most neglected communities. https://pollinategroup.org/

In November 2019 Luke participated in UNLEASH 2019 with a focus on SDG 13 - Climate Action.  He solution called Canary can be found here: https://unleash.org/solutions/canary/

Other relevant links about Luke’s past work can be seen at the links below:

-https://www.pedestrian.tv/money/social-consciousness-career/

-https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/all-news/2020/jan/rmit-alumnus-finds-his-calling-helping-disadvantaged-in-india-an

-https://www.rmitlaunchpad.com/profiles/177-luke-barbagallos-journey-to-social-enterprise