Transforming Our Futures

In this podcast Simon Nicholson an Assistant Professor in the School of International Service Contact is interviewed by Nerina Finetto and Francis Sealey about climate change and whether we will be able to meet the target set by the International Panel on Climate Change to reduce carbon emissions sufficiently to keep temperature rise below 1.5 degrees by the end of the century.

We know climate change is happening and we will have to adapt but are the measures to mitigate climate change and its impact enough or do we need more drastic measures like geo engineering. And if we do how safe is that and what are the unintended consequences.

We also discuss how scientists communicate their concerns to both politicians and the general public so that the issues are understood clearly

The World Health Organization in collaboration with arts and entertainment influencers and public personalities as well as leading arts and cultural entities are launching #SolidaritySessions and #SolidarityShows to a global audience.

Art, alongside science, is the way we can make sense of this moment of uncertainty and isolation, through an expression of solidarity and love with family, friends, as a community, a nation or as a species.

Celebrity musicians are sharing #SolidaritySessions, powered by Global Citizen, which are live performances taped in intimate settings and offered for free on social media to help share important updates and guidelines, show solidarity and raise funds for emergency programs. Tune into the sessions by following hashtag #TogetherAtHome

We will be interviewing Lisa Russell who is a consultant/curator for the World Health Organization. Lisa is an Emmy-winning filmmaker, UN/NGO Storyteller and Artist Curator, 2x TEDx Speaker, Fulbright Specialist and Founder whose work lies at the intersection of arts, social justice and global development.

As the corona virus pandemic takes hold and social isolation affects so many of us then social networks become important as a means of contact and communication.

In this Podcast Francis Sealey discusses with Gary Kousoulou and Joy Cowley-Smith the vital importance of social networks as well as some of the pitfalls.

Gary is one of the founders of a large social network in North London called Loving Local and Joy runs another such network in the same area called Enfield Matters. Both have used their respective networks to keep people in touch with what is happening and also to galvanise volunteers. And both of them combined together have run regular online phone in videos so people can ask questions and express their concerns.

Social networks is where people go for help and advice as well as news about what is happening and so are an important focal point in a crisis like the one we are facing today and we discuss this with both Joy and Gary.

In this Podcast we interview Nick Dearden the Director of Global Justice Now - a democratic social justice organisation working as part of a global movement to challenge the powerful and create a more just and equal world. They mobilise people in the UK for change, and act in solidarity with those fighting injustice, particularly in the global south.

Today we face two existential crises the corona virus pandemic and climate change and both bring the need for global justice strikingly to the forefront. As these crises unfold although they will impact on us all, it is the poor and vulnerable that will be affected the most.

Ho do we in a world in crisis, where fear and concern often makes us inward looking, find solutions to provide justice for those who need it the most.

The is what we will be discussing with Nick and how Global Justice sets about championing the poor and disposed globally and with what success.

This is one the the webinars that we are doing as part of the “Conversations Across Borders Series” together with tracesdreams and involving a global audience.

In this Podcast we talk to Neil Woods who spent many years as an undercover cop seeking out drug gangs through the contacts he made with addicts.

It was a dangerous job and he was responsible for many arrests. However he came to realise that the more arrests that were made the more this crime increased. He felt there had to be a different approach to tackle the crimes around drug use.

In this Podcast we discuss Neil’s career as an undercover cop and how he became disillusioned with the effectiveness of that way of tackling the crime. We look at what he considers the alternatives that focus on denying the opportunities to criminal gangs and dealers.

In this Podcast we interview Robert Wickham the Bishop of Edmonton about Faith in the Community.

Today religion is playing a more important part in many people’s lives than it did a decade or so ago even though the number attending traditional churches has declined.

Why is this and how important is it that faith organisations engage with communities not to just to increase their numbers but because they want to confront some pressing social problems.

Bishop Rob is passionate about civil society playing a major part in tackling the issues of knife crime, youth violence, school exclusions and poverty. Bishop Rob studied at the university of Durham, where he studied geography, especially urban regeneration, and perceptual geography.

He has worked in some Parishes before becoming a Bishop that were some of the most deprived in the UK and has been involved in the food bank and credit union movement.

What then does religion play in a society that faces huge social and economic problems. This is what we will discuss with Bishop Rob.

In this Podcast we interview Nina Lewis of Platinum Performing Arts which offers vocational training for young people in stage productions giving them the industry experience they deserve.

Nina also believe that performing arts can play an important role in combatting youth crime and she will tell us about the work that they do to achieve this.

Here we interview David James Parker who believes that our international institutions are not fit for purpose in the present century. He believes they were created in a different epoch and times have now changed.

How do we reform them so they can deliver on crucial questions like climate change. James was a Parliamentary Research Intern for the Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP (when Hilary was the Cabinet Minister for International Development) and Research Intern for the leading think tank the Fabian Society. James has been a Policy Advisor for the Government on Energy and Climate Change.

This is part of the Conversations Across Borders series of interviews done by tracesdreams and GlobalNet21

In this Podcast we interview Melanie Smith about her campaign over a member of her church Madhi. - a gay Christian man from Iran currently being detained.

Melanie and friends feared that his life was at risk if he is forcibly deported. Madhi, after having been detained and tortured in Iran twice before escaping to Europe, was then homeless and abused in Germany before making his way to the UK. Here he met his partner, Ian, and started attending Melanie’s church.In the webinar

Melanie will tell us how this all happened, what she and others have done about it and the serious issues this raises.

In this webinar Podcast we interview Tolga Aramaz - a Councillor in Enfield and we discussed the Meridian Water development in Edmonton

He and other Enfield Councillors as well as many other Enfield residents have got together to set up, Meridian for Council Homes (M4CH).

They are a campaign group demanding that public land is used for the public good and that the council must build 100% council homes at social rent and that we provide 100% secure tenancies for all