The Conversation

What role are women playing in providing solar power and ensuring that vulnerable communities have access to cheaper and cleaner energy? Kim Chakanetsa talks to an electrical engineer working in the US and Nicaragua, and a Nigerian entrepreneur.

Anna Bautista is vice president of construction at GRID Alternatives, a large non-profit solar company that works with low-income communities across America and in Nicaragua. Her career as an electrical engineer started in the private sector where she worked as a site supervisor, trainer, and design and installation technician on residential and commercial PV (photovoltaic) projects.

Olasimbo Sojinrin is the chief operating officer of Solar Sisters, an enterprise selling solar powered lamps and electrical appliances to women living in off-grid communities across Africa. Growing up in Nigeria, her life was dictated by power outages, so she decided to empower other women by finding sustainable and affordable solutions to the energy problem.

Producer: Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Anna Bautista, courtesy Anna Bautista. (R) Olasimbo Sojinrin, courtesy Olasimbo Sojinrin)

Kim Chakanetsa discusses the wonders of the sky with two world-renowned astronomers.

Dr Ewine van Dishoeck is a Dutch astronomer and chemist who has been involved with the development of the James Webb Telescope, the largest optical telescope in space. A professor of molecular astrophysics at the University of Leiden, her work in researching the potential existence of water in space could help find answers to the biggest questions, including whether life is possible on other planets.

Dr Catherine Cesarsky is an Argentinian and French astronomer. Her research in astrophysics has included the composition of galactic cosmic rays and how stars are formed. As president of the Square Kilometre Array telescope project she’s directing an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope.

Produced by Emily Naylor and Alice Gioia

(Image: (L) Dr Ewine van Dishoeck, credit Katinka Baehr. (R) Dr Catherine Cesarsky, credit EPFL/SKACH/Severin Bigler.)

After lockdowns, gig cancelations and a long and painful period for those in the industry, this year has seen the return of a full festival season around the world and millions of people have been making the most of it partying and dancing in vast crowds to live music and DJ-sets.

Beatriz de la Pava is joined by two female DJ/producers from Denmark and Colombia to talk about creating a sound and vibe that brings thousands of people to dance as one.

Rosa Pistola is hard to miss. Hailing from Colombia yet dubbed the Madonna of Mexico City, she mixes high energy reggaeton and sensual ballads to encapsulate the soundscape of her adopted city. Her mission is to celebrate the sounds of the Latin underground with the entire world, including Fabric in London on the 9th of December.

Manda Moor is a Danish-Filipino DJ and producer based in Paris. Her productions and DJ sets are somewhere between techno and house and she’s spent much of her summer performing on the party-island of Ibiza.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

There are many reasons people cut back on travelling once they have children - the cost for one, and the extra luggage! Beatriz de la Pava talks to women from Lithuania and the United States about bringing children along for a life of travelling adventures.

Sunshine Abou Bakar describes herself as ‘an ochre obsessed mom of two’ who blogs and updates her social media followers about sustainable journeys under the name of African Boheme. Her moto is ‘Children are going to throw tantrums no matter where you are, might as well deal with the tantrum 30,000 feet in the air en route to paradise’.

Jurga Rubinovaite describes herself as the chief adventure planner for her family holidays with her husband and three sons. Born and raised in Lithuania she now lives in Belgium where she blogs about her travels on her site Full Suitcase. Featured in Lonely Planet travel guides she also works with brands and holiday destinations – she says her aim is to help other families plan dream trips to create unforgettable memories.

(Image: (L) Jurga Rubinovaite with her husband and children, courtesy of Jurga Rubinovaite. (R) Sunshine Abou Bakar, credit Sunshine Abou Bakar.)

Nearly half of the world’s population lives in an area that faces water scarcity for at least a month every year and one in three people globally do not have access to safe drinking water. Today we meet two women who are working on solutions to cope with droughts.

Smita Kurup is a scientist at Rothamsted Research, a non-profit organisation based in the UK. She leads research in seed developmental biology and has been working on developing drought-resilient and more sustainable rice crops.

Produced by Alice Gioia

(Image: (L) Jimena Puyana, courtesy of UNDP Colombia. (R) Smita Kurup, credit Alasdair Cross.)

Throughout history, women have been fearlessly taking up arms and waging war, but the stories of female fighters tend to be forgotten. That is changing, with more female warriors taking centre stage in films and TV series. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women committed to bringing these stories into the limelight.

Produced by Alice Gioia

(Image: (L) Cathy Schulman, credit Getty. (R) Caroline Henderson, credit Karina Tengberg.)

Despite being more likely to be concerned about climate change women are less likely than men to buy an electric car, or to say that they plan to. But they could be key to driving growth in the industry. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to women from US and India about driving change and innovation in electric vehicles.

Linda Zhang is the chief engineer responsible for leading the team delivering an all-electric version of Ford’s F-150 pickup truck, the best-selling pick-up truck in the world. Linda was born in China, she moved to the US as a child and followed her father to work at Ford where she’s been now for 26 years. The F-Series has 16.6 million trucks on the road in the US where it’s the country’s best-selling vehicle. The all-electric version was released 26 April 2022.

Sulajja Firodia Motwani is CEO of Kinetic Green, a company based in Pune in India which specialises in electric three-wheelers and scooters. She says the industry is a vibrant one that offers huge opportunities for women.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Linda Zhang, credit Linda Zhang. (R) Sulajja Firodia, credit Sulajja Firodia.)

Climate change is having a devastating impact on the North and the South Pole – melting glaciers and endangering the local wildlife. Kim Chakanetsa meets two women who are monitoring these changes closely.

Hilde Fålun Strøm is an explorer and citizen scientist based in Longyearbyen, the world’s northernmost town in the Norwegian arctic. Hilde and her expedition partner, Sunniva Sorby, run Hearts in the Ice, a project raising awareness about climate change. In 2020 they became the first women-only team to overwinter in the High Arctic, where they gathered data for climate change research.

Dr Irene Schloss is an Argentinian biologist based in Ushuaia, the world’s southernmost city. She is a principal investigator with the National Council of the Research of Argentina, for the Instituto Antártico Argentino and the Austral Center of Scientific Research. She holds a PhD in biological oceanography and for the past 25 years has been monitoring the impact of climate change on plankton and other marine life in Antarctica.

Produced by Alice Gioia

(Image: (L) Hilde Fålun Strøm, credit Catherine Lemblé. (R) Irene Schloss, credit Jeremías Di Pietro.)

Fake news can have harmful consequences for those who believe it - but why are women often the target of disinformation campaigns? Kim Chakanetsa meets two experts to discuss how disinformation affect the lives of women around the world.

Produced by Alice Gioia

(Image: (L) Hannah Ajakaiye, credit Monsuru Tiamiyu. (R) Paulina Ibarra, credit Rosario Oddo.)

Flamenco is a complex Spanish artform that includes music, singing and dancing. People often associate it with expressive female dancers - but what role do women actually play in flamenco?

Rosamaria Kostic Cisneros is a Spanish-Serbian-American dancer, sociologist and dance historian. Her family is of Roma origins and her mother taught her how to dance flamenco at a very young age. Rosa is a team member of the dance and Flamenco sections for the RomArchive, an international digital collection promoting and preserving Roma arts and culture, and a researcher at Coventry University’s Centre for Dance Research.

Produced by Alice Gioia

(Image: (L) Rosamaria Kostic Cisneros, credit Koko Zin Photography. (R) Caroline Planté, credit Hervé Leblay.)