The Multi-Hazards Podcast

Can faith be a blessing rather than a distraction for communities? Can people of different beliefs work together toward the common good? Is social justice dead or are people rising up to better protect their communities, and especially the vulnerable? Check out: Keeping the Faith When All Hell Breaks Loose: Conversation with Shane Claiborne (Multi-Hazards Podcast S02 E12). On Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, etc.  Study Guide here, click on the top left where it says PDF: https://multi-hazards.libsyn.com/keeping-the-faith-when-all-hell-breaks-loose-conversation-with-shane-claiborne

Bio - Shane Claiborne

Shane Claiborne is a prominent speaker, activist, and best-selling author. Shane worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, and founded The Simple Way in Philadelphia. He heads up Red Letter Christians, a movement of folks who are committed to living "as if Jesus meant the things he said." Shane is a champion for grace which has led him to jail advocating for the homeless, and to places like Iraq and Afghanistan to stand against war. Now grace fuels his passion to end the death penalty and help stop gun violence.

Shane’s books include Jesus for President, Red Letter Revolution, Common Prayer, Follow Me to Freedom, Jesus, Bombs and Ice Cream, Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers, Executing Grace, his classic The Irresistible Revolution, and his newest book, Beating Guns. He has been featured in a number of films including "Another World Is Possible" and "Ordinary Radicals." His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Shane speaks over one hundred times a year, nationally and internationally. His work has appeared in Esquire, SPIN, Christianity Today, TIME, and The Wall Street Journal, and he has been on everything from Fox News and Al Jazeera to CNN and NPR. He’s given academic lectures at Harvard, Princeton, Liberty, Duke, and Notre Dame. Shane speaks regularly at denominational gatherings, festivals, and conferences around the globe.

British Columbia, Canada, is pioneering a new Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Hub, which includes Climate Change Adaptation (CCA). Disaster & climate risk expert Sahar Safaie is working with a team to make it happen! Find out how in this new Multi-Hazards podcast episode: Disaster Risk & Climate Adaptation Local & Global - Conversation with Sahar Safaie (Multi-Hazards Podcast S02 E11).  On Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, etc.  With Study Guide here on the top left where it says PDF: https://multi-hazards.libsyn.com/disaster-risk-climate-adaptation-local-global-conversation-with-sahar-safaie

Sahar Safaie's Bio

Sahar Safaie is the founder and principal consultant at Sage on Earth Consulting Ltd., operating from Vancouver, Canada. She specialises in disaster risk assessment and disaster risk management, with more than twelve years of experience in the public and private sector internationally.

Equipped with a strong technical background and years of exposure to the policy and governance challenges of disaster risk management in different countries, Sahar has a solid understanding of its critical components. The main areas of her expertise are multi-hazard risk assessments, risk data management, the use of risk information in disaster risk reduction (DRR) decision making and the design of action plans, and developing DRR strategies and linkages with climate change adaptation and sustainable development.

Her talents lie in the strategic analysis of complex systems and the development of consensus-based solutions, and these skills have always been recognised and utilised by her past employers and clients. She is a strong communicator, with a passion for people and a natural gift for building relationships based on trust and harmony.​

One of her recent projects while employed at the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) is the "Words into Action Guidelines on National Disaster Risk Assessment." Sahar designed the scope and structure of this particular guideline and managed its development by closely interacting with more than 100 international experts. She also co-authored the main body of the guideline, that is, a policy guidance on the process of designing and managing a national risk assessment.

Wonder what it's like to work in climate change mitigation at ground level? James Byrne is the Climate Change Coordinator for the City of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Job shadow with him on this episode, a lively discussion with host Vin Nelsen. Check out: Working in Climate Change at Ground Level: Conversation with James Byrne (Multi-Hazards Podcast S02 E10). With Study Guide: Click where it says PDF on the top left! On Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, etc. https://multi-hazards.libsyn.com/tackling-climate-change-at-the-local-level-conversation-with-james-byrne

BIO - James Byrne

Observing the state of the global climate deteriorating sparked in him a deep call to action. With the carbon clock persistently ticking away to unfathomable bleakness, he decided to engage and make this his life’s work. That decision led him to enroll and graduate from the University of Waterloo’s Master of Climate Change program. After graduating, he worked for Sustainable Peterborough in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, as the organization’s Climate Change Coordinator. He was primarily tasked with assisting eight rural townships and two First Nation communities in chronicling climate actions to date and assessing the levels of greenhouse gas emissions emanating from each community.

Presently he's the Climate Change Coordinator for the City of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. In this role, he monitors and evaluates the extent of greenhouse gas emissions being emitted from municipally-owned assets and from the broader community composed of residents and businesses. One key project he's currently working towards is establishing a city-wide home energy retrofit program. The goal of the program is to alleviate the extensive high energy demand of Peterborough’s older residential homes.

Lastly, his career aspirations are focused on making all municipalities in Ontario, Canada, more resilient to climate disruptions. This is coupled with decreasing the high-carbon lifestyles of residents and transitioning businesses to adopt climate-friendly business practices in communities. Achieving both goals will protect communities locally and aligns with the global climate justice movement. By 2050 he will know if he's succeeded or missed the target by a county mile. Wish him luck!

Alena Blanes is an example of a young Canadian who cares about the future She's heavily involved in the Zero Waste Movement, disposing of disposables and adopting reusables, despite the bait and switch of plastic companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Check out: Sustainability in the Age of COVID-19 & Beyond: Conversation with Alena Blanes (Multi-Hazards Podcast S02 E0Z).  On Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, etc.  With Study Guide: Click on the left where it says PDF: https://multi-hazards.libsyn.com/sustainability-in-the-age-of-covid-19-beyond-conversation-with-alena-blanes

BIO - Alena Blanes

Alena Blanes is a graduate of the University of Guelph-Humber’s Media Studies and Public Relations program. Originally from Coquitlam, British Columbia, she grew up deeply involved in sustainable initiatives in her school, home, and community. She infamously touts starting a recycling program at her elementary school when she was six. She later co-led her high school environment club and directed an initiative to build a greenhouse on school grounds.

She was named ‘Biggest Activist’ in her high school yearbook and continued exploring sustainable concepts throughout university. Alena was an active volunteer with Humber College’s Office of Sustainability and is the former Managing Editor at IGNITE Student Life where she wrote about topics including sustainability. She wrote her senior thesis on ‘Approaching Climate Change through the Lens of Millennial and Gen Z Social Media Users.’

Today, she is the Marketing and Communications officer at Shake Up the Establishment, a non-partisan, federally incorporated nonprofit promoting intersectional environmental literacy and political climate action in Canada. When she's not writing, she loves hiking, camping, and attempting to brew kombucha at home. | @alenablanes

We have no time to waste in preparing thoroughly for climate change. Insurance and other companies have it on their radar screen, so politicians and the public also need to get on board and secure our future against climate change-driven threats. Discover how we can do this here in this new Multi-Hazards podcast episode: Climate Risks, Lost Sleep & How to Take Action: Conversation with Dr. Blair Feltmate (Multi-Hazards Podcast S02 08). With Study Guide! On Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, etc.  Click on the left where it says PDF: https://multi-hazards.libsyn.com/climate-risks-lost-sleep-how-to-take-action-conversation-with-dr-blair-feltmate

Dr. Blair Feltmate's Bio

Dr. Blair Feltmate is the Head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, University of Waterloo.  Check out their website at https://www.intactcentreclimateadaptation.ca. Previous positions he has held include Vice President of Sustainable Development at the Bank of Montreal; Director of Sustainable Development at OPG; Partner in the Sustainable Investment Group/YMG Capital Management; and President of Sustainable Systems Associates. Blair has written textbooks on Sustainable Banking from the University of Toronto Press, and Aquatic Ecology published by CAB International. He is generally interviewed by the media 100-150 times per year.

Blair is a member of the Sustainable Finance Advisory Council of the Global Risk Institute. He is the Chair of the Adaptation Committee of the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices, at the Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). He is on the Advisory Board on Climate Change at the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) for the province of Ontario. He was the Chair of the Federal Government of Canada's Expert Panel on Climate Adaptation and Resilience Results, and also the Chair of the Electricity Transmission and Distribution Adaptation Standard at the Canadian Standards Association. He is the former Chair of Pollution Probe, and he was the Chair/Founder of the Sustainable Electricity Program at the Canadian Electricity Association.

As the planet heats up, where can people go? Learn more on this exciting episode: Increasing Migration Due to Climate Change: Conversation with Alex Randall and also awesome co-host Sarah Chang. On Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, etc.  With Study Guide - click on PDF: https://multi-hazards.libsyn.com/increasing-migration-due-to-climate-change-conversation-with-alex-randall

Alex Randall's Bio

Alex Randall is a leading specialist in the connections between climate change, migration and conflict. He is programme manager at the Climate and Migration Coalition. He has been working on issues around climate, migration and human rights for 15 years. He advises a number of key international agencies and governments on their responses to climate-linked migration and displacement. Alex has also served on the advisory group of the Nansen Initiative and Platform on Disaster Displacement.

Alex has written extensively on climate change and migration for the Guardian, Le Monde Diplomatique, New Internationalist, Prospect and numerous other outlets. He is the author of a number of book chapters focusing on the connections between climate change and the rights of refugees and migrants.

Alex is currently leading the course ‘Climate change and migration: predictions, politics and policy’. The course is the world’s first free online course focused on the politics and policy of climate migration.

Climate Action Leadership. Disaster and Emergency Management. Climate Resilience. How can we work toward a future that's not doom & gloom, but one that can inspire hope and action? Check out: Training Leaders for the Climate Emergency - Interview with Dr. Robin Cox. And be sure to check out the Study Guide for the program! Click on the top left where it says "Pdf" above the date!  https://multi-hazards.libsyn.com/training-leaders-for-the-climate-emergency-interview-with-robin-cox

BIO - Dr. Robin Cox, Royal Roads University

Summary Dr. Robin Cox is the program head for the graduate programs in Climate Action Leadership (Graduate Diploma; Master of Arts - awaiting final approval by BC government) and a professor in the Disaster and Emergency Management graduate programs of the School of Humanitarian Studies. Cox is also the director of the Resilience by Design (RbD) Research Innovation lab, a transdisciplinary research and educational outreach center that focus on building multigenerational climate action leadership and competencies. The goal of this center is to inform, inspire, and support the well-being of people and the planet in a changing climate, through research, education, and policy advising.

Experience Cox is an active researcher with multiple nationally funded research projects. She leads the Adaptation Learning Network (ALN), a three-year, $2-million project funded by Natural Resources Canada and the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. This project is building climate adaptation capacity with organizations, professionals, businesses, and communities through professional development training and networking. Cox is an experienced disaster psychosocial responder and researcher with expertise in individual- and community-level resilience and trauma.

Credentials Cox holds a PhD in Counselling Psychology from the University of British Columbia (2007) and held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, Simon Fraser University (2007). She received the Kelly Outstanding Teaching Award from Royal Roads University in 2016.

This global system is broken. We exploit nature and more vulnerable people. We allow a select few to secure wealth and power. Our destruction of the environment fuels climate change and disease outbreaks like COVID-19. What can we do? Give up, throw up our hands? How can we fight this broken system and ensure that we can somehow reduce the impact of the climate crisis? Find out some ideas how here: Sustainability & This Broken System We’re In: Interview with Brad Zarnett. With Study Guide! On Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, etc. https://multi-hazards.libsyn.com/sustainability-this-broken-system-were-in-interview-with-brad-zarnett

Brad Zarnett Bio

Brad Zarnett is Canadian sustainability strategist, writer and blogger. He is the President of the Toronto Sustainability Speaker Series (TSSS) which was founded in 2008 to showcase sustainability leadership and has since hosted more than 40 events.

After 12 years of consulting and promoting leadership in Corporate Sustainability Brad began to realize that the promise of a more sustainable world was not being delivered. He decided to take a closer look, and what he saw was disturbing. Brad’s current focus is to broaden the conversation as to why Corporate Sustainability (CSR), Impact Investing and Profit with Purpose has failed to live up to its promise and more importantly, what is the best path forward to ensure that we are able to pass along a functioning planet to our children. Brad has a Masters in Environmental Studies from York University in Toronto and you can follow him on twitter @bradzarnett or on Medium where he has been recognized as a top contributor in the Climate Change category, LinkedIn or by joining his email list.

Can Canada take a leadership role in the newly opening Arctic? Will we face institutional crises that are made even more apparent during this COVID-19 pandemic? Can we grow our population to 100 million and become a superpower rather than an impoverished, failed state facing annexation or vassal status? Can Canada take a leadership role in the newly opening Arctic? Will we face institutional crises that are made even more apparent during this COVID-19 pandemic? Can we grow our population to 100 million and become a superpower rather than an impoverished, failed state facing annexation or vassal status?  Find out these answers and more in this episode, The Canadian Arctic, 100 Million Canadians, and Canada as a Great 21st Century Power: Interview with Irvin Studin. Check out the Study Guide for the program! Click on the top left where it says "Pdf" above the date!  https://multi-hazards.libsyn.com/the-canadian-arctic-100-million-canadians-and-canada-as-a-great-21st-century-power-interview-with-irvin-studin

Irvin Studin's Bio

Irvin Studin is the President of the Institute for 21st Century Questions (a vision and strategy tank based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with activities around the world) and Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Global Brief magazine, a top-tier international affairs magazine with a heavy global readership.

He is also with the Chaire Raoul-Dandurand at the Université du Québec à Montréal, and has been a professor of public policy in leading universities in North America, Europe and Asia. He co-founded Ukraine’s Higher School of Public Administration (Kiev), and sits on the external advisory board of the Canadian Foreign Service Institute, Canada's diplomatic academy.

His latest book is called "Russia - Strategy, Policy and Administration" (Palgrave-MacMillan). He has several forthcoming books which will deal with strategic issues. Between 2002 and 2006, he worked for the Privy Council Office (Prime Minister’s department) in Ottawa, as well as in the Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in Canberra. A past Rhodes Scholar and Governor-General's Gold Medal winner, he was the first ever recruit of the Canadian government’s Recruitment of Policy Leaders programme, and a member of the small team that wrote Canada’s 2004 national security policy.

He was the principal author of Australia’s 2006 national counter-terrorism policy while on secondment in the Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (National Security Division). He consults (Studin Advisory Services Inc.), lectures and teaches around the world in a number of languages, and has written for publications ranging from the Financial Times to Le Monde, Vedomosti, the Globe & Mail, The Australian and the South China Morning Post. In a past life, he was a high-performance athlete - All-Canadian and captain on the York University men's varsity soccer team, two "Blues" with Oxford University's men's football/soccer team, and member of the professional Toronto Lynx Soccer Club (predecessor to Toronto FC).

The youth are rising up! The so-called "most apathetic generation" is becoming the most passionate generation. Fighting the legacy of Boomers, imperialists, white supremacists, police brutality, systemic brokenness and populists trying to turn back the clock, the young people are finding their voice, especially Sarah Chang, the youth activist from California, USA. Tune in for a most inspiring conversation. And check out the Study Guide for the program! Click on the top left where it says "Pdf" above the date! https://multi-hazards.libsyn.com/rising-youth-social-justice-the-refugee-crisis-interview-with-sarah-chang

Sarah Chang Bio

Sarah Chang is a recent graduate of San Jose State University, majoring in Global Studies and also specialising in Human Rights.

Despite her young age, she has a lot of experience at work, research, podcasting and travelling. In the Summer of 2019, Sarah travelled to Greece & Italy on a study abroad program, participating in international field reporting on the refugee crisis in Europe. Using creative nonfiction to retell the stories of the violations of human rights in those regions, as well as making the connections to the immigration crisis in America, she published many episodes of her podcast called “A Student’s Guide to the Refugee Crisis.”

From the tender age of 15, she spent almost 6 months in Kazakhstan to explore her personal identity and place in the world. She has travelled to South Korea numerous times in her life to connect the dots of her heritage to where she stands today. In 2014, she spent some time in Ecuador with Children International to witness what their charity was really doing for kids living in poverty. Later that year, she decided to go back to community college and give academia her all. In 2016, she began her time at San Jose State University focusing on Global Studies, with a minor in Human Rights, which she fully intends on using. Her website is www.journey2refuge.weeblysite.com