The Grand Challengers Podcast  By  cover art

The Grand Challengers Podcast

By: Peter Marcus Bach
  • Summary

  • In the face of climate change, urbanization, population growth and many other grand challenges that our world faces, many inspiring individuals are stepping up to tackling these challenges in their own unique ways. Hear the passionate story of inspiring guests, which I interview on each episode. We learn about how their journeys along the cutting edges of science, engineering, technology and design has shaped them as a person, all while are creating new solutions and ways of thinking for an uncertain future. Each episode offers nuggets of advice for aspiring young professionals who want to make our world a better place.

    © 2024 Peter Marcus Bach
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Episodes
  • #30 - Tobias Baur: From tropical Singapore to Europe - the "ABC Waters" of sponge cities and climate adaptive design
    Jun 3 2024

    Tobias Baur, Professor in Landscape Architecture at the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (OST), Rapperswil and former partner at Studio Ramboll-Dreiseitl, sheds some light on Singapore's Active, Beautiful and Clean Waters Program, the country's journey in water management, and how sponge cities have evolved from stormwater to climate adaptation in recent years in Asia and Europe. We discuss the important role that interdisciplinary and multi-sectoral collaboration played in ensuring a successful renaturalisation of an urban stream in the flagship Bishan Ang Mo Kio Park project and the challenges going forward.

    Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Starsky by Alex Keren (Check out more of his tunes over on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5vZ3lENfDLjkln8scBJ8mW)

    Chapters:
    0:00 Intro
    1:59 Guest Intro and Reflections on Singapore
    5:04 Early inspiration for water in landscape design
    9:00 Singapore's early water management leadership
    12:15 The ABC Waters Programme
    15:46 The Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park Project
    27:20 Tobias' other projects around Singapore
    31:58 Back in Europe and comparisons with the tropics
    36:14 Sponge Cities in Switzerland
    40:06 The role of the landscape architect and designer
    42:34 Q&A Start
    42:54 What inspires you?
    44:10 Key event, person, book
    44:40 If you had a magic wand?
    46:16 Biggest challenge in career to date
    48:20 Time management
    50:00 Advice for young researchers
    51:05 Where can people reach you?
    51:36 Final Message
    52:02 Outro

    Detailed shownotes over at: petermbach.com/podcast for more in-depth information about each episode.
    Join the community over at: linkedin.com/company/tgcpodcast and let's connect across the world!

    Subscribe and listen to the podcast (and do please leave a review/rating) on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts from.
    Your subscription/follow will greatly help the show grow and reach a wider audience.

    Hosted by Peter Marcus Bach (www.petermbach.com), follow me on:

    • X (fomerly Twitter): @petermbach
    • Instagram: @petermbach87
    • Subscribe to my channel on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/PeterMarcusBach/
    Show more Show less
    53 mins
  • #29 - Katrin Pakizer: Grassroots movements, policy instruments and timing for transforming water, biodiversity and underground management
    May 27 2024

    Katrin Pakizer, Research Associate from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science & Technology (Eawag) joins us to discuss how to create transformative change and to transition cities towards more sustainable natural resources management from the lenses of water infrastructure, biodiversity and all the many infrastructures and resources beneath our feet. We look at the challenges that we are likely to face in future in these areas due to climate change and what changes have to happen in institutions if we want to succeed in being more sustainable.

    Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Starsky by Alex Keren (Check out more of his tunes over on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5vZ3lENfDLjkln8scBJ8mW)

    Chapters:
    0:00 Intro
    1:59 Guest Intro and fascination with Lichen
    5:58 What came first, social sciences or nature
    7:55 Katrin's journey to decentralized water systems
    14:42 Creating transformative change 1: Grassroots movements
    20:28 A 101 on housing cooperatives in Switzerland
    23:17 Creating transformative change 2: Policy instrument mixes
    28:41 Creating transformative change 3: Timing and sequencing
    40:39 Katrin's current endeavours in biodiversity
    45:16 Underground resources governance
    52:35 The road ahead for Katrin
    54:10 Q&A Start
    54:30 What inspires you
    56:55 If you had a magic wand
    59:22 Key moment, book, person
    1:01:24 Biggest challenge to date
    1:07:23 Time management
    1:12:10 Advice for young researchers
    1:14;32 Where can people find you
    1:15:00 Final message
    1:15:22 Outro

    Detailed shownotes over at: petermbach.com/podcast for more in-depth information about each episode.
    Join the community over at: linkedin.com/company/tgcpodcast and let's connect across the world!

    Subscribe and listen to the podcast (and do please leave a review/rating) on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts from.
    Your subscription/follow will greatly help the show grow and reach a wider audience.

    Hosted by Peter Marcus Bach (www.petermbach.com), follow me on:

    • X (fomerly Twitter): @petermbach
    • Instagram: @petermbach87
    • Subscribe to my channel on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/PeterMarcusBach/
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 17 mins
  • #28 - Alexa Delbosc: A social psychology toolkit for changing transport planning, built environment and future mobility
    Apr 30 2024

    Alexa Delbosc, Associate Professor at the Monash University Institute of Transport Studies, Australia demonstrates how social psychology concepts and thinking can be applied to transport planning. We explore a variety of topics including dehumanization of cyclists, changing lifestyles of millennials, the impact of the pandemic on transport, work from home culture, the built environment considerations, egocentric anchoring in planning and new ways of thinking about the city, especially with the uptake of micromobility.

    Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Starsky by Alex Keren (Check out more of his tunes over on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5vZ3lENfDLjkln8scBJ8mW)

    Chapters:
    00:00 Intro
    1:59 Guest Intro and Ornithology
    4:53 From animal behaviour to human behaviour
    7:56 Cars vs. Cyclists
    10:03 The Dehumanization Scale
    12:00 Addressing the contested road space
    16:25 Millennials and changing perceptions of the city
    23:54 The pandemic and its impact
    26:53 Work from home culture and transport
    29:46 Impact of the built environment and the third space
    31:32 Egocentric anchoring and other key social psychology concepts
    35:07 New ways of thinking about cities
    36:42 Is collective design the solution?
    40:00 New challenges in micromobility
    43:39 Where is transport planning heading to?
    46:47 Diversification of transport
    50:26 Q&A Start
    50:43 What inspires you?
    52:52 Key event, person, book
    53:31 If you had a magic wand?
    55:42 Biggest challenge in career to date
    57:30 Time management
    1:00:21 Advice for young researchers
    1:01:50 Easter Egg: Alexa’s D&D Campaign
    1:03:28 Where can people find you?
    1:04:06 Final Message
    1:04:30 Outro

    Detailed shownotes over at: petermbach.com/podcast for more in-depth information about each episode.
    Join the community over at: linkedin.com/company/tgcpodcast and let's connect across the world!

    Subscribe and listen to the podcast (and do please leave a review/rating) on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts from.
    Your subscription/follow will greatly help the show grow and reach a wider audience.

    Hosted by Peter Marcus Bach (www.petermbach.com), follow me on:

    • X (fomerly Twitter): @petermbach
    • Instagram: @petermbach87
    • Subscribe to my channel on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/PeterMarcusBach/
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 6 mins

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