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We start our new series of episodes looking at meat farming in the UK’s Lake District by meeting the Lake District Farmers organisation.
Jan and Paul travel to Ulverston – or Oolverston as Jan would have it – to meet LDF Head of Purpose and Sustainability Phil Scott and find all about the organisation and its work with farmers across the county of Cumbria.
LDF work with a network of around 50 farmers who have native breed cattle, sheep, and pigs to process and selling high-quality meat. But how do they work together? How does this network benefit the farmers involved? Why do top chefs in London want their products? Why are they working with Lancaster University – and how? And what are the challenges facing the Lake District’s fell farmers?
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Over the next six weeks on Transforming Tomorrow, we will be taking a deep dive into the Towards Net Zero Meat Production project.
This is a collaboration between Lancaster University - including the Pentland Centre - and the Lake District Farmers organisation.
Jan and Paul will be speaking to experts in Lancaster, the Lake District Farmers, and farmers in Cumbria (on their farms) to find our more.
Take a sneak peek here.
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Fehlende Folgen?
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Professor Henrik Österblom, Director of the Anthropocene Laboratory at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, comes to the podcast with possibly the best job title so far.
Henrik is one of Jan’s favourite super-scientists, and he joins Jan and Paul from Stockholm. But just what does Anthropocene mean, and how does it tie in with sustainability?
How is the world changing due to human activity? How have we affected the behaviour of animals – do frogs really eat lightbulbs? What are the empirics of hope? Are there positive signs that we can tackle the challenges we face? How does art and creativity fit into sustainability science? And just what is Henrik’s favourite seabird (and Jan and Paul’s)?
Find out more about the Anthropocene Lab and its work here: https://www.anthropocenelab.se/
And you can discover the Sounds of Science book Henrik talks about here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780443152672/the-sounds-of-science
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We’ve discussed modern slavery on a global scale before, but now Dr Divya Jyoti joins Jan and Paul to bring the issue closer to home.
Divya’s research has taken her to the factory floor, and to the city of Leicester – where there were once claims of 10,000 people living in modern slavery – and has led her to shine a light on left-behind people, those often-forgotten people in our societies.
What has Divya learned from her work in Leicester? What have been the effects on the city of the allegations and investigations? Have people paid enough attention to the impacts on the communities?
Find out more about Divya’s work on modern slavery in the fashion industry here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/spotlight/modern-slavery/
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In 2023, around 6.8 million people in the UK were in severely insecure work – little over a firth of the working population. Work Foundation Director Ben Harrison dials in from London to discuss the issue.
Ben tells Jan and Paul about how the Work Foundation works as it tries to influence policy across the UK. He covers issues of flexible working, how economic changes in recent years have affected working patterns, and the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic.
What are decent and insecure work? How does the Work Foundation’s Insecure Work Index function, and what does it tell us? Are particular groups and parts of the country more affected by insecure work? What responsibilities do employers have towards their employees during times of financial hardship?
Discover more about the Work Foundation’s research and activities on insecure work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/work-foundation/our-work/insecure-work/
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Dr Joanne Larty joins Jan and Paul to enlighten them on her work with businesses in Cumbria on sharing best sustainability practice.
Through Project INSPIRE, Joanne and her team are speaking to pioneering companies across Cumbria to discover how they are tackling sustainability challenges, how it ties into the history and landscape of the county, and how their practices can be spread.
What issues do business face? How can they move to a new way of operating? And, most importantly to Paul, how do you really pronounce Furness, and why does everyone get it wrong?
Discover more about Joanne’s work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/people/joanne-larty
Read more about Project Inspire here: https://doc.your-brochure-online.co.uk/Lancaster-University_FiftyFourDegrees_Issue_19/14/
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Find out what we have for you on upcoming episodes.
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Matt Healey talks Jan and Paul through his journey from an outdoor education professional to becoming a PhD researcher looking at our connections with nature.
The UK has the lowest connection with nature in Europe, and Matt’s work encompasses how we each appreciate nature in our everyday lives, the importance of considering nature from a non-human-centric perspective, the value of nature, and the importance of connecting with nature from a young age.
Plus, find out how connected to nature are Jan and Paul?
Read more of Matt’s work on ‘Taming the Green Monster’ here: https://doc.your-brochure-online.co.uk/Lancaster-University_FiftyFourDegrees_Issue_17/47/
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Professor Alona Armstrong returns to give Jan and Paul a whirlwind tour of the work that takes place across the Lancaster Environment Centre and the Energy Lancaster research centre.
Discover the work of Energy Lancaster here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/energy-lancaster/
And find out about the research taking place in Lancaster Environment Centre here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lec/research/
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Energy Lancaster Director Professor Alona Armstrong takes Jan and Paul on a wonderful journey into the world of solar power, which continues to outperform predictions for its output and effectiveness.
How many solar parks are there in the UK (clue, it’s not seven or 300)? How can solar parks affect biodiversity? How long do solar plants last? How do floating solar farms work? How many homes can a solar plant power? And did Paul really do the maths to answer that question so quickly in his head?
All these questions and more will be answered – and we discuss if you could wear solar powered clothes?
Discover the work of Energy Lancaster here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/energy-lancaster/
And find out more about Alona’s research here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/energy-lancaster/about-us/people/alona-armstrong
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Pentland Centre Research Associate Lauren Thornton wants to talk to us about trust.
Specifically trust frameworks and trust affordances – explaining how and where people can trust data, and to what extent; why different people will trust different things – and the challenges of building trust with the right audience.
How does this all fit with sustainability data – especially given the uncertainty over how sustainability can be achieved, and that some people will try to twist data for their own means; and what is translucent reporting, and why might it be better than transparency?
Plus, Jan uses the word ‘groovy’ in a totally non-ironic sense.
Discover more about Lauren’s work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/people/lauren-thornton
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Dr Di Wang dials in from Sydney, Australia, to talk to Jan and Paul about his work on sustainability reporting and materiality.
Di talks about his experience of interviewing more than 200 businesses on their understanding of materiality – a concept that underpins reporting and which will be explained in the podcast. He explains why companies take part in greenhushing – and explains why he thinks the practice is only likely to increase. He also introduces us to the concept of brownwashing.
And Pauls’ brainwashing is complete, as the word ‘benchmarking’ comes into his head unprompted.
Find out more about Di’s work and research interests here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/people/di-wang
And you can see Di’s paper on Sustainability Reporting and Materiality here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4687038
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Find out what we have coming up on the next few weeks of Transforming Tomorrow,
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What is leadership? And what makes a good leader?
Dr Marian Iszatt-White heads to the studio to talk with Jan and Paul about her perspective on leadership and management – as well as her time working in the oil industry.
Marian discusses what authentic leadership is – and why we should or should not be authentic; how leaders address sustainability issues; where stewardship and accountability fit in; and the importance of teaching on how future leaders can be shaped by programmes such as Lancaster’s MBA.
Find out more about Marian’s work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/people/marian-iszatt-white
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What are wicked problems? How about clumsy solutions? And where does post-normal science fit in?
In tackling issues such as climate change, scientists and researchers face complicated scenarios that are not easily explicable, with problems that are not always solvable in a clean fashion. Jan explains the development of post-normal science as a way of addressing huge modern (wicked) problems such as climate change, how there is not always a definitive answer to every question, and why uncertain (clumsy) solutions are better than none at all.
Why is being uncertain a good sign? Why do we all need to be open to changing our minds? If we don’t rely on facts for solutions, does this lead to a post-Truth future? Do we need to involve more people from beyond science in drafting solutions? Can a solution to a wicked problem ever be permanent? We cover all these questions, and more.
Find out more about the Cynefin Framework here: https://thecynefin.co/about-us/about-cynefin-framework/
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Paul’s head is going to explode as another new word to the English language is introduced to the podcast.
Law PhD researcher Camilo Cornejo Martinez returns to talk to Jan and Paul about the importance of both local and global attitudes, actions and policies towards climate change.
Discover more about Camilo’s work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/law/people/camilo-cornejo-martinez
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The law won’t let Jan and Paul get away that easily!
Another member of Lancaster University Law School, PhD researcher Camilo Cornejo Martinez, comes into the studio with the unprompted assurance that he is not an accountant.
Camilo talks about his background as a practising lawyer in his home country of Chile; the different attitudes and approaches – legal and otherwise – to the environment and sustainability between Chile, the UK, and other countries; environmental courts; just transitions; and the rights of nature, and giving nature a voice.
Discover more about Camilo’s work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/law/people/camilo-cornejo-martinez
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The law has caught up with Jan and Paul!
Dr Rafael Savva, from Lancaster University’s Law School, promises he won’t sue us, but will recording the podcast turn him into a supervillain?
Rafael talks to us about corporate governance legislation; the differences between hard and soft law – and how they apply to corporate responsibility; the potential conflicts between environmental regulation and seeking profit; the power of shareholders; socially responsible investing; and the importance of defining sustainable development in order to shape future legislation.
Discover if Paul and Jan would make good Law students – and whether Jan has any memory of her prior education in contract law.
Find out more about Rafael’s work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/law/people/rafael-savva
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It’s time to talk politics! And discover the Blue Economy – and how it varies around the world.
Dr Celine Germond-Duret steps into the studio to speak with Jan and Paul to discuss how people and business connect to the coast and the sea (including fish and chip shops); why an exact definition of the blue economy is hard to find; the politics and resources of the oceans in different countries; and the balance between economics and the environment in sustainable development.
Find out more about Celine’s work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/ppr/people/celine-germond-duret
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Find out what's coming up in new episodes of Transforming Tomorrow over the coming weeks.
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