Episodes
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Join us for the final episode of Season 2 of UNPOLLUTED, featuring Christopher Koch, a history and geography teacher at an international school in central Switzerland. Before stepping into the classroom, Chris worked on a research vessel as an environmental scientist and even spent some time as an entrepreneur working on various sustainable ventures.
In this episode, Chris reflects on his diverse life experiences and highlights the impact student projects at his school have had on the wider community and beyond, referring back to some of the past guests on UNPOLLUTED.
Most importantly, Chris shares his passion for student engagement with entrepreneurial projects and emphasizes the importance of hands-on skills for today's generation, helping them not only learn but understand how to solve problems in the real world. -
Tune in for this exciting episode as we chat with Alessandra Agnello, Investment Principal at ACE Ventures, a fund dedicated to leveraging venture capital to support climate technology companies. Alessandra shares her journey, explaining how her engineering background enhances her work and highlighting the transformative power of venture capital in driving global economic change.
She emphasizes the crucial relationship between her team and the founders they support, envisioning a future where creating value and improving the world are both achievable and synergistic.
Tune in to discover Alessandra's insights on the latest breakthroughs and the hottest topics in the climate tech space!
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Missing episodes?
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In today's episode, we sit down with Comfort Apeh Francis, a Nigerian changemaker and environmentalist. Comfort's journey is truly inspiring, spanning roles as a scientist in wastewater treatment and construction before shifting her focus to environmental advocacy.
Now, she is dedicated to decarbonization projects, climate education, and volunteer work with organizations like Scientists Rebellion and The Earth Prize. Join us to hear her fascinating story and learn about her success with her podcast, Climate Saturday! -
Join us for today's episode as we welcome Jane and Kabiesi from the Kokrobite Chiltern Center (KCC) in Ghana, West Africa. They share their inspiring journey, from their initial experiences in a small coastal fishing community to founding the children’s center dedicated to improving educational access and promoting long-term social sustainability.
Discover how KCC's initiatives extend beyond education. Learn about the recently opened Sankofa Center, a literacy hub built from over 50,000 PET bottles. This innovative center aims to teach sustainable techniques like bottle building, aquaponic farming, and mushroom growing. With ambitions to become a training hub for West Africa, Sankofa is set to provide the tools, resources, and expertise needed to accelerate sustainable development.
Find out more about KCC: https://www.kokrobitechilterncentre.org/
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In today's episode, we talk to Philip Roche, a mechanical engineer who tells us about AVA Cars. This unique organization is in the business of transforming gas burning vehicles into sleek, modern and sustainable electric ones. We also discuss The Earth Prize Defender, a car commissioned by The Earth Foundation Founder, Peter McGarry, to showcase all that the Prize and Foundation stand for.
Finally, we hear how that small scale work that AVA Cars is doing is informing the mission of their much larger parent company CoolPlanet in supporting the electrification of vehicles in the mining industry, with a huge potential for impact. Tune in to find out more!
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Join us as we talk to Shehlina Soomro, a hedge fund manager turned entrepreneur and founder of Saritoria, an online marketplace for pre-owned South Asian luxury fashion. The company’s laudable goals include democratizing access to high quality clothing and empowering individuals to participate in the global circular economy.
In our discussion, Shehlina walks us through the challenges and successes of starting her own venture, and reveals how she has built a company that contributes significantly to sustainability goals. -
Tune in for today’s exciting episode, where we’ll be hearing the story of ClientEarth, a UK based charity harnessing the power of the law to create systems change. Camilla Fitzgerald, a Philanthropy Manager at ClientEarth, tells us about the work the organisation does and even shares some of her favorite high profile cases. Camilla highlights how ClientEart helps build capacity within local communities globally, informing them of their rights and empowering them to defend against violations. Most importantly, we learn why ClientEarth’s work is meaningful to YOU, the everyday citizen.
Finally, we ask Camilla a great question from a past guest: what’s one small thing you would change about society? Listen in to hear her answer! -
In this week’s episode we chat with Natalie Schmitt, an Australian conservation biologist and founder of WildTechDNA, currently based at McMaster University in Canada. WildTechDNA, Natalie’s company, has developed a genetic test to help the scientific community learn more about and quantify rare and elusive animal species, facilitating citizen science around the world and hopefully providing valuable data to inform decisions around conservation.
Natalie tells us about her journey and the career that led her across the world and even recounts her experiences out in the field studying whales and snow leopards while working on her PhD! -
Listen to our conversation with Safa’ Obeid, recognised as the 2022 Educator of the Year by The Earth Prize competition. Based in Jordan at a UN Relief and Works Agency school, Safa’ tells us about her experience as an educator working with some of the brilliant students from The Earth Prize competition who came up with ideas to improve global sustainability.
Safa’ also shares her advice for incorporating sustainability into all facets of education, and has compiled a ‘climate education toolkit’ for teachers around the globe! -
In today’s episode we talk to Stephen Omukoko Okoth, the Kenyan Mentor of the Year from The Earth Prize 2023 competition. Stephen is a student of Economics, Business, and Politics at Oberlin College passionate about youth involvement in leadership as well as the sustainable use of our world’s limited resources.
In our conversation, Stephen emphasizes the importance of bridging capital and ideas, especially on the African continent, where individuals have brilliant ideas, but at times lack the financial means to bring them to fruition. Stephen is convinced that while an ecological crisis may be glaring in our eyes, we still have a chance to avert the worst outcomes by inviting more people aboard in the efforts to attain sustainability and carbon neutrality.
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Join us in listening to Chloe Luzar, an environmental science and law student from Macquarie University, Sydney and one of The Earth Prize 2023 Mentors of the Year, providing guidance to the youth participating in the competition. In 2022, Chloe was awarded the 2023 Australian Government New Colombo Plan Scholarship, a prestigious scholarship providing Australian students the opportunity to study and work abroad in the Indo-Pacific.
Chloe chose to work on the small pacific island of Tonga, a place rich in community and culture but suffering from the effects of extreme weather only exacerbated in the face of unprecedented climate change. She tells us about her experiences there, the troubles faced by the nation and how she is trying to help by working in natural disaster risk and management. Chloe notes her experience was life changing and asks a future guest: “What experience have you had that has completely changed your perspective on what it’s like to be sustainable?” -
Tune in for this exciting episode, as our host Matteo interviews Ben McKinley, Nicola Pohlen, and George Freiberg, three high school students from the International School of Zug and Luzern in Central Switzerland.
They tell us about the story of the Youth Forum Switzerland (YFS), a project initiated by a group of globally engaged students after attending the World Economic Forum in 2017. Their transformative experience inspired them to organize an event in the same spirit, with the aim of giving youth a voice in issues that will impact their future.
YFS 2024 involved 120+ students working together to host experts and changemakers as well as 900+ high school students from across the globe. In our conversation, we touch on the potential of YFS to involve youth in dialogue around sustainability and catalyze change in their local communities and beyond. -
In this episode, we sit down with Jeffrey Opoku, a fascinating Ghanaian changemaker passionate about practical applications of the Sustainable Development Goals. Being exposed to the issue of plastic waste from a young age, he developed a project designed at improving local sustainability education in his home setting.
Now a little older, he founded the Education for Adaptation Accelerator (E4AA), an organization working to make schools in the African continent 'green hubs of education’ focussing on the handling of plastic waste and ameliorating food systems. This journey has lead him to collaborate with movements like #BreakFreeFromPlastic and Beans is How, aimed at doubling global bean consumption by 2028.
Jeffrey shares his motto of implementing local solutions is to “build the bridges of partnerships” and “sow the seeds of collaboration”, emphasizing the importance of working directly with local communities. -
Come hear our interview with Pierfrancesco, a business student at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. He served as a mentor for The Earth Prize competition, supporting teenage students around the world develop impactful projects that benefit our planet.
In this episode, Pierfrancesco also tells us about his experience as a student exposed to the new narrative around business education, in which profit must at all costs be balanced with social and environmental outcomes. Having worked firsthand with the youth of today and the leaders of tomorrow, Pierfrancesco emphasizes his newfound optimism for the future. -
Tune in to our latest episode as we sit down with Peter McGarry and Angela McCarthy, the dynamic duo behind The Earth Prize. Peter and Angela dive deep into the making of the organisation, starting with the seed of inspiration from Peter’s daughter, to the development of The Earth Prize into the global sustainability competition it is today, having reached close to 10,000 teenage students across 2,000+ schools in 151 countries and territories. "If there is anything missing from The Earth Prize, what would it be?", Angela asks the UNPOLLUTED audience. Share your thoughts with us!
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Join us to discover the story of Cora McGarry, a 19 year old business and hospitality student. Cora’s participation in one of Geneva’s climate strikes inspired her father, Peter McGarry, an Irish entrepreneur, investor and extreme runner, to create The Earth Prize, a USD 200,000 annual sustainability competition for teenage students around the world.
Marching with thousands of others, she describes walking past her father’s office: “What I didn't know at the time, was that he was in the office, upstairs, looking out the window down at us, because we had disrupted one of their meetings”. Tune in to hear the full story! -
In today’s episode we meet Zlata Shama, the youngest member of The Earth Prize Youth Board. Zlata is a 14-year-old student at the International School of Geneva, and her passion lies in global issues, particularly sustainability, equity, and social interaction. She has actively demonstrated her commitment to these causes through various school initiatives, such as participation in the student council and the 9innovate project. Zlata's dedication extends beyond the classroom; since June 2022, she has been a Villars Institute Fellow, a solution-oriented nonprofit foundation working to accelerate the transition to a net-zero economy. She's currently enrolled in the Villars Institute & Minerva Project: Systems Leadership Program. In the summer of 2023, she was honored with a Youth Jury position at the FIFAD film festival. Outside of her impactful work, Zlata is also a nationally recognized dancer. Get ready to be inspired by her insights on our podcast!
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In this episode, we meet Dashel Myers, one of the newest Earth Prize Youth Board members, a junior at Fieldston School in the Bronx, whose extraordinary journey spans mathematics, technology, and activism. We touch on how Dashel has co-authored a mathematics textbook using Mathematica and serves as the Ambassador for Wolfram Research. He's also a leading member of the National STEM Honor Society's advisory council, focusing on SEO to enhance STEM accessibility. Dashel's entrepreneurial spirit shines as he founded an AI firm revolutionizing cybersecurity. He's an active supporter of climate-centric political campaigns and co-created the Organizing Resource Library (ORL) with NYU, dedicated to aiding disenfranchised communities. Dashel's future ambition lies in the metamathematics of macromolecule evolution. Join us to learn more about his inspiring journey and vision for the future.
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In today's episode, we sit down with the dynamic 17-year-old, Carlota Ferro. Hailing from Lisbon but now calling Geneva home, Carlota is not only a student at College du Leman, Switzerland, but also a fervent advocate for international causes. With a keen focus on inequality, discrimination, and sustainability, she wears multiple hats. As the president of a student group in her school, she spearheads fundraising for WATU, a charity dedicated to advancing education in Tanzania. Additionally, Carlota champions sustainability as the president of the CDL Environmental Association. Her drive took her to the Villars Symposium in 2022, collaborating with peers, educators, and the notable Norwegian food activist, Gunhild Stordalen. They united to champion the adoption of planetary health diets in educational settings. As she gears up to dive into politics, international relations, and social sciences in London next year, Carlota continues to inspire and drive change. Join us as we uncover her journey and aspirations.
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Welcome to today's episode, where we'll dive into the fascinating world of F1 in Schools with our guest, Erina. A dynamic 18-year-old from Malaysia, Erina has just graduated from SMK Seksyen 9 Shah Alam Selangor. Her passion is unmistakable – fusing economic growth and STEM development with innovative practices to minimize their environmental impact. Erina's leadership qualities have been prominent as she steered two teams, Keris Racing and ECOLEST9, to clinch victory in the Malaysia F1 in Schools National Finals in consecutive years, 2020 and 2021. Wearing the hats of both project manager and manufacturing engineer, she's showcased a range of skills that led her teams to qualify for the World Finals in both 2021 and 2022. Her team, ECOLEST9, made quite an impression at the 2022 World Finals in Silverstone, UK, securing the best pit display and best team identity awards. Join us as Erina shares her journey, the challenges, triumphs, and the innovation behind their award-winning project.
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