GoodGeist

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Episodes

128

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

EN-GB

About the show

A podcast on sustainability, hosted by Damla Özlüer and Steve Connor, brought to you by the DNS Network. Looking at sustainability issues, communications, and featuring global guests from a wide variety of sectors such as business, NGOs and government.

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60 recent

October 28, 2026Episode 3126 min

Sustainability: The Center of Gravity, with Hugo Straebler

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we sit down with Hugo Straebler, Consulting Director at the DNS agency Sidièse, to explore what's trending and shifting for business leaders and sustainability professionals, as the conversation shifts from headline-grabbing commitments to concrete decisions that survive contact with reality. We get into their Sustainability Outlook 2027 report which reveals modest optimism, and a clear centre of gravity moving towards climate adaptation, water constraints, asset resilience, and the ability to keep operating through disruption. Hugo explains why robustness is not caution, it’s the capacity to keep functioning while learning and adjusting. That same discipline shows up in sustainability communication too: proof should shape the narrative from the beginning, not be added at the end to rescue a claim. From there, we explore how to empower consumers for the green transition without falling into greenwashing or greenhushing, and why circular economy stories work best when they’re honest and genuinely desirable. We also tackle AI as a sustainability issue in its own right, from energy and water demand to jobs, skills, data governance, and accountability, with one big question at the centre: when does AI create enough value to justify its footprint? If you enjoy smart, clear conversations about sustainability strategy, ESG credibility, and communication that actually changes behaviour, listen in! Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.

October 21, 2026Episode 3030 min

Walk the Jaunt, with Hana Sutch

Send us Fan Mail Walking. Possibly the most underrated climate action we can take on any random Wednesday. We sit down with Hana Sutch, co-founder and CEO of Go Jauntly, to talk about how a walking app can make sustainability feel doable, local and even fun. Hana shares her own late start with walking, from growing up without much connection to parks and green space to discovering the mental and physical lift of simply getting outside. That personal change becomes a design brief: build inclusive, everyday wayfinding for city dwellers, parents with prams, beginners and anyone who does not see themselves in “hardcore hiking” culture. We get into what it really takes to build tech for good that lasts. Hana talks about early traction, grant funding, and the brutal realities of retention, distribution and getting people to come back after day 30. There is also a brilliant story of a tough meeting with Apple that somehow leads to a major App Store feature, a huge spike in downloads and the kind of operational chaos every startup secretly recognises. If you care about active travel, public health, sustainable cities, urban walking routes and nature connection, this one is packed with practical ideas. Subscribe, share the episode with a friend who “doesn’t have time to walk”, and leave us a review with the smallest change you could make this week. Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.

October 14, 2026Episode 2926 min

Project Ginger for Positive Change, with Lorna Fitzsimons

Send us Fan Mail When a talented person holds back for years, it’s rarely because they can’t do the work. It’s because nobody ever showed them the unwritten rules, the real gateways . In this episode we’re joined by Lorna Fitzsimons, former Labour MP, entrepreneur, leadership adviser, and now co-founder and CEO of Project Ginger, to talk about human agency. We get into The Pipeline, the leadership development work Lorna co-founded to help women progress into senior roles, including ethnically diverse women navigating tokenism, confidence pressure, and opaque assessment processes. Lorna shares what shifts when role models show up and say the quiet part out loud, and why many people already have the skills for the next job but not the map for how to reach it. From there, we dig into the most actionable concept of the conversation: sponsorship. A sponsor isn’t a mentor. They’re the person senior enough to advocate for you in rooms you won’t enter for years, and Lorna gives a practical method for finding and cultivating them. We also explore Project Ginger’s focus on human agency as a mental discipline, how incremental gains keep you moving through climate disruption and global uncertainty, and why agency matters even more as leaders steward agentic AI. Listen in, share it with a colleague, and leave us a review so more people can find Goodgeist. Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.

October 8, 2026Episode 2828 min

Millions Using & Building Junker, with Noemi de Santis

Send us Fan Mail Have you stood over the bin holding a piece of packaging and wondered, “Where does this actually go?” Well here's your answer! In this episode we're talking to Noemi de Santis, co-founder of Junker and the driving force behind DNA Ambiente, to unpack how waste sorting breaks down when rules change from one municipality to the next and information is hard to find at the moment you need it. We talk about how they built Junker from a citizen-first point of view: scan a barcode or take a photo, get clear disposal guidance based on your location, and close the gap between residents, councils and waste operators. Noemie shares how citizen contributions helped grow a massive packaging database, and why better data does not just measure behaviour, it actively improves it by showing what people struggle with most. Then we get into behaviour change and “nudge” with a brilliant real-world example where simple feedback stickers on bins sparked neighbour-to-neighbour motivation and helped lift separate collection rates fast. We also explore what Junker’s search data can teach eco-designers about confusing materials, from textiles to electronics and multi-layer packaging, so products become easier to recycle before they ever reach the household. Listen in to get straight to the heart of how tech can fuel a circular economy! Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.

September 23, 2026Episode 2728 min

Good Design for Good Growth, with Laura Casali

Send us Fan Mail Design is not a “nice to have” creative extra. It is a £136.7 billion part of the UK economy, it supports 2.27 million jobs, and it quietly shapes how we live, buy, travel, heat our homes and interact with public services. In this episode we sit down with Laura Casali, Head of Communications at the Design Council, to get behind the numbers and ask the bigger question: if everything that is not made by nature has been designed, what are we designing our way towards? We explore the latest Design Economy report and the surprising shifts inside it, including how 80% of designers now work outside traditional design industries and how roughly half of the workforce is in digital design. From there we move into good growth: growth that improves outcomes for people and places while respecting planetary limits. Laura explains the Design Council’s Design for Planet mission and the Skills for Planet work, rooted in a hard truth that 80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined at the design stage. We talk about the skills gap, the power of the brief, and why commissioners of design must upskill alongside designers. You will also hear concrete examples, from giving nature a seat on the board to collaborative retrofit models for social housing, plus a brilliant future-leaning story involving beavers, flooding and a newspaper from 2050. So if you care about the 'good' in good design, have a listen! Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.

September 9, 2026Episode 2625 min

Cultivating The Future: Kelp Farming with Jorunn Skjermo

Send us Fan Mail Kelp is having a moment, but not for the reason most people think. It grows astonishingly fast, builds huge biomass, and pulls carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere as it grows. So far so good - the hard part is making sure that carbon does not simply bounce straight back into the carbon cycle. In this episode we talk to Jorunn Skjermo, Senior Research Scientist at SINTEF, to unpack what seaweed-based carbon removal could look like in the real world and what has to be true for it to deliver genuine climate positive outcomes. We start with the basics of kelp farming and then focus in on SINTEF’s Seaweed Carbon Solutions work around offshore Norway. Jorun explains why offshore sites can be more productive, how nutrient-rich currents drive growth, and what the team learns when they move beyond sheltered waters into harsher conditions. We also talk about the ocean itself: how kelp farms can create habitat for crustaceans and fish, how large-scale seaweed farming may reduce local acidification, and where optimism about ecosystem restoration meets the limits of ocean warming and pollution. Then we get practical about permanent carbon storage, look squarely at the awkward truths on claiming negative emissions, and explore solutions like reusing steel, electric vessels, and using excess heat from other industries, plus a provocative idea about repurposing retired oil rigs. If you love climate tech, ocean science or the wonderful world of seaweed, this is an episode for you! Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.

August 5, 2026Episode 2535 min

Climate of Culture, with Utku Güven and Samuel Rubin

Send us Fan Mail Climate progress is not blocked by a lack of science, it is blocked by the stories we tell, about what matters and who belongs. In this episode we sit down with Samuel Rubin, co-founder of Entertainment + Culture Pavilion, and Utku Güven, co-founder of Esmiyor, a purpose-driven design studio, to make the case that culture isn't adjacent to climate policy; it is a delivery system for climate action. We unpack the Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement and why it took so long for the world to state the obvious about fossil fuels. From there, we dig into the Culture Global Stocktake: a decentralised, collaborative effort to address the “cultural gap” in climate frameworks and to show how arts, entertainment, cultural heritage, and creative industries connect to mitigation, adaptation, finance, and capacity building. Along the way we talk climate communication, misinformation, polarisation, and shifting narratives and then we get practical. Heatwaves are a clear example of climate risk, and cultural infrastructure can help cities cope right now. Museums and galleries can operate as accessible cool zones, protecting both people and priceless collections. We also look at the uncomfortable internal work the sector must do: consolidation and monopolies, unequal power, labour impacts, patriarchy, and the need to challenge endless growth thinking so creativity stays humane, diverse, and sustainable. If you care about sustainability, climate policy, creative leadership, and culture-based climate action, this conversation will give you language, examples, and a sharper framework to act. Have a listen. Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.

July 29, 2026Episode 2426 min

Fleets of the Future, with Darren Ragheb

Send us Fan Mail Your car? Probably one of the least efficient things you own. It costs a fortune in materials and carbon to build, then spends most of its life parked outside doing absolutely nothing. So what happens when mobility stops being an object we own and becomes a service we use, and what if that shift could finally make the circular economy real in transport? In this episode we chat to Darren Ragheb, Principal Strategic Programmes Manager at CPI, to explore his emerging idea of regenerative autonomous fleets: networked self-driving vehicles designed not only to get people from A to B safely, but to regenerate value through smarter maintenance, remanufacture and material recovery. We talk about why fleet ownership changes accountability, how sensors and AI can predict failures and schedule repairs, and why circular design becomes an economic driver when operators are responsible for the whole lifecycle. We also get practical about the EV transition. Batteries concentrate high-value critical materials, which can strengthen the business case for recycling and reuse, but real repairability still matters. We talk right to repair, insurance pressures and why design decisions can either enable a thriving repair network or lock it out. And finally we're onto what cities, manufacturers and policymakers need to do next, plus the data layer like digital product passports and dynamic life cycle analysis that can track material flows at scale. Listen in to our exploration of future mobility! Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.

July 22, 2026Episode 2331 min

Natural Catalysts, with Reem Asil and Alison Coburn

Send us Fan Mail So here's a big challenge: only 4.5% of staff in UK environmental charities identify as Global Majority, despite Global Majority people making up 18% of the UK working-age population. That gap is a signal that something deeper than recruitment is broken. To achieve diversity in the environment sector we need to go much, much further. We sit down with Alison Coburn from Common Purpose and Reem Asil, co-founder of Makani Cambridge, to talk about Natural Catalysts and why changing representation in environmental leadership means changing organisational culture, power and the unwritten rules people are expected to follow. We trace how Natural Catalysts is co-designed, starting with research and listening to Global Majority leaders with lived experience of racialisation, then bringing senior leaders into the design so the responsibility for change does not fall on marginalised people alone. Along the way we unpack the practical blockers that keep the sector homogenous: informal entry routes like unpaid internships, role requirements that overvalue technical ecological credentials, and the reality that many jobs sit outside diverse urban centres. We also get honest about what it feels like to be an environmental leader during a climate and biodiversity crisis, while carrying burnout, scarcity and constant pressure. Alison and Reem share why their programme is built to create connection and peer learning, using a trauma-informed, anti-oppressive approach that helps people unlearn “power-over” habits and practise shared power across teams and organisations. Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.

July 15, 2026Episode 2231 min

Flying Over the Limits, with Denise Auclair

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we sit down with a guest from last year, Denise Auclair, Head of the Travel Smart campaign at Transport and Environment in Brussels, to explore new research that links the growth of air tourism to rising housing rents across Europe. The headline is hard to ignore: in countries facing intense aviation-driven arrivals, unchecked growth could push rents up by as much as €250 a year on average in the coming years, on top of increases already felt. We follow the chain reaction from cheap flights to overtourism, then into the housing market and everyday budgets. Denise explains how the impacts are not shared fairly: renters and lower income households take the hit first, while property owners benefit from rising values. We also look at who captures tourist spending in the hospitality sector, why real wages can lag even as visitor numbers climb, and how investment can be pulled into property at the expense of more productive parts of the economy. Then we widen the lens to the bigger contradiction. Governments are still planning airport expansions while aviation remains a major source of tourism emissions and while destinations face heatwaves, water stress, wildfire risk, and public services stretched thin. Rather than a neat “growth story”, we’re left with tough questions about limits, liveability, and what sustainable tourism policy should prioritise. And we finish with a clear set of options: connect aviation policy with tourism strategy, pause expansion where destinations are already saturated, shift demand towards rail travel and domestic tourism, and build credible national plans for aviation decarbonisation. Have a listen! Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.

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