Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement: Recent Episodes
Wayne Visser
Join me, Prof Wayne Visser, for inspiring conversations with leaders in the breakthrough movement to regenerate nature, society and the economy. Thriving is about going beyond sustainability to a net positive agenda of innovation and regeneration. Each episode is a dialogue with thought leaders and pioneering practitioners, capturing their perspective on the six great transitions to thriving: how to go from degradation to restoration of ecosystems, from depletion to renewal of resources, from disparity to responsibility in communities and workplaces, from disease to revitalisation of health, from disconnection to rewiring through technology, and from disruption to resilience in infrastructure and institutions. We also explore what kind of leadership are needed to create a thriving future, and how organisations can take action to integrate thriving into their strategies, products and services. This is not about false hope or blind optimism, but we actively focus on innovative solutions and positive tipping points for change. The podcast builds on the foundations of my bestselling book "Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement to Regenerate Nature, Society and the Economy." I look forward to having you join the movement for thriving and welcome your suggestions for who I should feature as invited guests on the podcast. Credits: Host: Wayne Visser. Podcast music: Amil Raja
My guest this week is Fritjof Capra, living systems theorist and bestselling author of The Systems View of Life. He discusses how:
- Systems thinking represents a shift from a mechanistic to an organic or network worldview
- Complexity theory brought a breakthrough in our understanding of living systems
- Living systems are self-organising networks with processes of creativity and regeneration
- Social systems are enabled by communities of practice, informal communication and culture
- Change agency happens by aligning with and reinforcing feedback loops through movements
Key links
The Capra Course (website)
The Systems View of Life (book)
The Environmentalist (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Sarah Langford, author of Rooted: Stories of Life, Land and a Farming Revolution. She discusses how:
- The UK’s policy of “public money for public good” is helping farmers to reclaim their role as stewards of the land
- We can learn lessons for transforming the food sector from farmers struggling with the transition to regenerative agriculture
- Reforming the agricultural system needs to simultaneously tackle public health, biodiversity loss and food security
- Livestock farming (and the diets that supports this) needs to change, but cellular agriculture and precision fermentation have challenges
- It is a myth that there is a trade-off between food production (yields) and nature conservation in regenerative farming
Key links
Sarah Langford (LinkedIn)
Sarah Langford (website)
Rooted (book)
Radical Activist (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Jed Emerson, Chief Impact Officer, AlTi Tiedemann Global and author of The Purpose of Capital. He discusses how:
- Impact investing, social return on investment, venture philanthropy, and blended value are related, reinforcing concepts and practices
- ESG investing is not a new idea or practice, going back at least to the Mennonite shareholder activism in relation to the Dutch East India Company
- The ethical investment movement has evolved from screened socially responsible investments and best in class approaches to ESG integration and impact investing
- ESG investment has reached a critical mass, but the business risk-based approach (single materiality) resulted in perceptions of greenwashing
- Stakeholder capitalism represents a shift in societal norms and expectations of business, but face significant resistance from incumbent vested interests
Key links
Jed Emerson (LinkedIn)
Blended Value (website)
AlTi Tiedemann Global (website)
The Purpose of Capital (book)
Mutualism (book)
Thriving (book)
I Like to Move It (poem)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Robbin Jorgensen, Founder and CEO of Women Igniting Change. She discusses how:
- “Listening tours” in Rwanda reveal inspiring women with resilience, innovation and creativity
- We need to work with men and change societal norms to create the opportunities for women
- Changing behaviours in companies is a systemic change that takes time and commitment
- Imposter syndrome is common among women and can be countered by solidary groups
- Men may need to “pipe down” sometimes to ensure that women’s voices are heard
Key links:
Robbin Jorgensen (LinkedIn)
Women Igniting Change (website)
Left to Tell (book)
Rwandan Women Rising (book)
Thriving (book)
Women of Africa (poem)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Erinch Sahan, Business & Enterprise Lead at Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL). In this episode, he discusses how:
- Incentives in business are working against planetary boundaries and social foundations
- Growth as a core driver of business is incompatible with doughnut economics
- We need to make the deep design of business regenerative and distributive
- Redesign must be at the level of purpose, networks, governance, ownership and finance
- New models of business (beyond B-Corps) and financial markets are emerging
Key links
Erinch Sahan (LinkedIn)
Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL) (website)
Doughnut Economics (book)
A Swirling Story (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Nicole Masters, Director of Integrity Soils and author of For the Love of Soil. In this episode, she discusses how:
- Farmers feel connected to the land, yet are destroying the living soil
- “Feeding the world” is a distribution problem, not a production problem
- Regenerative agriculture is a philosophy or paradigm, not a set of techniques
- The science of soil health and the movement of regeneration is still young
- Our inner and outer landscape need to be more connected
Key links:
Nicole Masters (LinkedIn)
Integrity Soils (website)
For the Love of Soil (book)
We Have Earth (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is David Harland, until recently the CEO (International) of the Eden Project, with its two biomes with a million plants and the world’s largest indoor rainforest. In this episode, he discusses how:
- The Eden Project shows “the art of the possible” in turning ecosystem degradation into restoration
- Buckminster Fuller’s “spaceship earth” concept and geodesic domes served as an inspiration for the Eden Project
- The Eden Project showcases the positive impacts of regeneration of nature, society and the economy
- End of life mining sites can become exemplars of nature restoration, social regeneration and economic resilience
- Education is crucial for demonstrating our dependence on nature and interdependence with nature
Key links
David Harland (LinkedIn)
The Eden Project (website)
Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth (book)
On the Brink (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Tamara Makoni, Founder and CEO of Kazuri Consulting. In this episode, she discusses how:
- Equality and equity are different – and why equity is more important for creating fair outcomes
- Discrimination often emerges unconsciously, for example through “micro-aggressions”
- Diversity and inclusion require investment of time and resources in order to make progress
- DE&I creates value for organisations and society, but this is not often quantified
- We need to learn the lessons of the salmon in order to confront social injustice
Key links:
Tamara Makoni (LinkedIn)
Kazuri Consulting (website)
What Works: Gender Equality by Design, by Iris Bohnet (book)
The Conversation: How Seeking and Speaking the Truth about Racism Can Radically Transform Individuals and Organizations, by Robert Livingston (book)
Thriving, by Wayne Visser (book)
This is the Way (poem)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Aneel Kumar Ambavaram is the Founder Director of the RESET (Regenerate the Environment, Society and Economy through Textiles) Cotton Program. In this episode, he discusses how:
- He made the transition from selling agricultural chemicals to leading regenerative agriculture
- Regenerative agriculture increases the resilience for small farmers in a climate damaged world
- Transformation is a process of linking back to the traditional wisdom of older generations
- Bringing diversity of crops and techniques back to farming is a key to success
- Mutual accountability in the value chain requires long term investment by big brands
Key links
Aneel Kumar Ambavaram (LinkedIn)
RESET Cotton Program (Instagram)
The Earth Turns (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Hanan Challouki, the Founder of Inclusified. In this episode, she discusses why:
- Inclusion goes beyond having the right processes to having the right culture
- Listening is as important as giving people a seat at the table
- Diverse teams are more productive and more creative
- Diversity is most needed – and hardest to embrace – in times of uncertainty
- Creating time and space for courageous conversations is needed in the workplace
Key links
Hanan Challouki (LinkedIn)
Inclusified (website)
Not what you see (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Ludvig Liljekvist, Global Strategy, Development & Innovation Insight and Foresight leader for Ingka Group (largest IKEA retailer). In this episode, he discusses:
- What “positive” means in IKEA’s People and Planet Positive strategy
- Why circularity remains challenging for a retail business focused on affordability
- How three “wicked” (entangled) problems are shaping possible, projected and preferable futures
- Why world building is a useful foresight technique for strategy
- How innovation needs to focus on resilience and regenerative design
Key links
Ludvig Liljekvist (LinkedIn)
Ingka Group Sustainability (website)
Change the World - Part 2 (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Audrey-Flore Ngomsik, CEO & Co-Founder of Trianon Scientific Communication and President of The Brussels Binder. In this episode, she discusses how:
- A more complex and dynamic world makes diversity more necessary to survive and thrive
- Incorporating diversity into targets and incentives is needed to make change happen
- Role models are important for breaking barriers and inspiring those that follow
- Diversity can drive better stakeholder engagement and commercial opportunities
- The business case for sustainability is a strategic choice that begins with leadership
Key links
Audrey-Flore Ngomsik (LinkedIn)
Trianon Scientific Communication (website)
The Brussels Binder (website)
What Lies Beneath (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Tino Chibebe, author of The Black Opportunity, Founders’ Associate at Azteq and Investment Committee member at Impact Shakers Microfund. In this episode, he discusses how:
- Impact investing can make a critical difference in tackling social and environmental challenges
- Afropeans are underrepresented in the venture capital and technology space in Belgium
- There is a bias against Black entrepreneurs, in part due to a lack of visibility and role models
- The “daughter effect” in venture capital underscores the importance of educating investors
- Diversity on investor teams and company boards is critical for changing the status quo
Key links
Tino Chebebe (LinkedIn)
The Black Opportunity (book)
A Place to Thrive (poem)
I Am An African (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Valérie Trouet, a palaeoclimatologist, Professor of Dendrochronology at the University of Arizona and Scientific Director of the Belgian Climate Centre. In this episode, she discusses how:
- Studying tree rings can give insights into climate change over the past 2,000 years
- There is evidence that climate change was a contributing factor to the fall of Rome
- Science needs the support of enabling government policy to turn insight into action
- Communicating scientific findings needs to generate consensus rather than division
- Dendrochronology allows us to compare extreme climate events, such as wildfires, over time
Key links
Valérie Trouet (LinkedIn)
Laboratory for Tree-Ring Research (website)
Tree Braille (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Bhupinder Bhullar, CEO and Co-Founder of Swiss Vault. In this episode, he discusses how:
- Data storage represents around 4% of global carbon emissions and $66 billion of e-waste
- Energy footprints and cybersecurity risk are especially high for genetic data storage
- Innovation has led to more than 10X reductions in energy consumption in data storage
- Lack of protection individual genetic data can compromise others who share hereditary genes
- Using DNA as a data storage technology has vast potential for archiving historical data
Key links:
Bhupinder Bhullar (LinkedIn)
Swiss Vault (website)
Ideas (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Nuria Chinchilla, the IESE Business School Professor of Leadership and Head of the IESE Chair on Women in Leadership. In this episode, she discusses how:
- Waste and pollution occur not only in the natural environment, but also in society
- Values are different from value, help us to go beyond a new mindset to a new heartset
- We need to challenge the view of employees as machines, resources or economic agents
- Participative purpose is key to changing the tyranny of management by objectives
- The keys to tackling discrimination against women are femininity, family and flexibility
Key links:
Nuria Chinchilla (LinkedIn)
IESE Business School (website)
Integrating Life (book)
Dying for a Paycheck (book)
Thriving (book)
Change the World (poem)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Jason Walters, Director of GlobeScan, who has overseen research among 11,000 people from 11 countries on biodiversity and business. In this episode he talks about:
- Why action on biodiversity is so far behind action on climate change – yet starting to gain traction in the past 2 years
- How only 2% of people believe nature is in a good or satisfactory condition, and 88% of experts find the situation alarming or catastrophic
- How most people are somewhat optimistic that we can make progress on protecting and restoring nature, but this needs a more integrated, inclusive and embedded approach
- How indigenous people bring a much-needed perspective on nature, challenging prevailing views on nature as a resource to extract or exploit
- Which sectors are leading and why the Taskforce for Nature-Related Financial Disclosures and Science Based Targets for Nature are cause for hope
Key links:
Jason Walters (LinkedIn)
Globescan (website)
Navigating the Nature Agenda (report)
Thriving (book)
Be An Optimist (poem)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Lucy Siegle, a British journalist, broadcaster and author of books on ethical living, including most recently Be the Ultimate Friend of the Earth. In this episode, she talks about:
- What the role of the media is in educating people on social and environmental issues – and how requirements for “balanced” reporting can be a barrier
- How the politicisation of media is slowing progress, while the public (and often business) is ahead of politicians on issues like climate change
- Why it’s important to bring a fun element (like quizzes) into media coverage and knowledge presentation on sustainability
- How documentaries and books on the fashion industry and plastic in the ocean have helped to build movements of change
- Why it is important to tell the stories of successful change that is happening in order to kindle the fires of hope
Key links
Lucy Siegle (LinkedIn)
Lucy Siegle (Guardian profile)
Be the Ultimate Friend of the Earth (book)
Turning the Tide on Plastic (book)
To Die For (book)
A Swirling Story (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Paul Hawken, environmentalist, entrepreneur, activist and author of the bestselling books The Ecology of Commerce, Drawdown and Regeneration. In this episode, he talks about:
- Why sustainability has become a “weasel word” and limited practice that we may be better off avoiding altogether
- How regeneration is different to sustainability – and is necessary to move beyond an extractive economy
- Why climate change will never be “solved” unless we protect and restoring life (biodiversity and natural systems) on earth
- How regenerative agriculture shows a pathway from a destructive industrial model to a thriving system
- Why regeneration represents one of the biggest opportunities for creating purpose and meaning in people’s lives
Key links:
Paul Hawken (website)
Project Regeneration (website)
Project Drawdown (website)
Earth Affirmation (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest week is Francoise Chombar, Chairwoman at MELEXIS and STEM Platform, and board member at AMS and Umicore. In this episode, she talks about:
- How technology can be a force for positive impact, but only if it is inclusive – and how inclusion is a driver for innovation
- Why diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) needs to become a societal and organisational habit to be effective
- What being a Steminist – a STEM feminist – means and why it is a crucial solution to economic and societal inequality
- Why diversity is not only about diversity of gender or ethnicity or other profiles, but also about diversity of perspectives
- How having the diverse role models, especially during education, is a key to increasing diverse participation in STEM careers
Key links
Francoise Chombar (LinkedIn)
Melexis (website)
STEM Platform (webpage)
If (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest week is Jon Khoo, Head of Sustainability (EAAA) at Interface. In this episode, he talks about:
- Why doing “less bad” is no longer a credible option and what becoming a restorative enterprise means in practice, in terms of ambitious strategy and regenerative design
- How Interface is learning to live zero, love carbon, let nature cool and lead the industrial revolution (the four elements of the Climate Takeback mission)
- Why changing the narrative on sustainability and climate action is critical to inspire and how innovation in nature can help us
- How new leadership is about democratisation: connecting to people and empowering them to be part of a meaningful change process
- What we can learn from indigenous communities, especially about perspectives on nature, experiences of resilience and practicing empathy
Key links
Jon Khoo (LinkedIn)
Sustainability at Interface (webpage)
Regeneration (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest week is Claudia Lee, a journalist and podcaster on sustainable food systems. In this episode, she talks about:
- How the food system needs to navigate the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, plastic and chemical pollution and food security
- Why tackling food waste is critical, with pioneering cases like Rice Inc in China; I also share my revolutionary idea to radically cut restaurant and hotel food waste
- The health benefits of plant-based diets and the environmental benefits of regenerative agriculture and cultivated (or cultured) meat
- The role of technology in making agriculture more sustainable, including indoor farming, precision agriculture and agro-bots
- Why genetically modified organisms (GMOs) may not all be bad and how they should be judged on their impacts
Key links
Claudia Lee (LinkedIn)
A Better Place (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Kumi Naidoo, Founding Chair at Africans Rising and former Secretary General at Amnesty International and Executive Director at Greenpeace. In this episode, he talks about why:
- Thriving requires a can-do attitude and intergenerational mentality that accepts that social and environmental justice is a struggle of a lifetime
- Framing climate change as an environmental issue was a strategic and tactical blunder of major proportions
- Environmental decline is not from lack of solutions, but rather lack of political will, appropriate economics and inclusive communication
- We need to get better at speaking to the heart, not only the head, including by turbo charging “artivism” and a culture of emergence
- The changes necessary will only happen when we scale societal movements that pressure business and politics to move further, faster
Key links
Kumi Naidoo (LinkedIn)
Africans Rising (website)
The Starfish and the Spider (book)
Thriving (book)
Africa Proud (poem)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Peggy Van Casteren, Head of SDG & Community Impact at J&J Benelux. In this episode, she talks about how:
- Sustainability is like a set of muscles in business, which need to be connected, exercised and strengthened
- The healthcare industry is evolving from a focus on curing sickness to early interception and prevention of disease
- Access to medicines relies on education, partnerships and technology (like drone delivery) to tackle global unmet needs for health
- Closing the gender gap in STEM2D (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, manufacturing and design) careers brings opportunities
- Diversity and inclusion stimulates creativity and innovation, with programs like Duo for a Job that works on refugee inclusion
Key links
Peggy Van Casteren (LinkedIn)
J&J Societal Impact (website)
Duo for a Job (website)
Because I Care (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Andrew Winston, co-author of Net Positive (with Paul Polman) and a globally recognized expert on megatrends and how to build companies that thrive by serving the world.
- How net positive – which means thriving by solving the world’s problems, not causing them – is different from what came before
- What the outside-in perspective – including the science-based targets movement – means for business strategy
- What companies like Unilever, IKEA, Patagonia, Mars, Microsoft, Google, and Stripe are doing to earn their recognition as pioneers in net positive
- Why partnerships and shifting societal norms are the key to making progress towards net positive – and achieving the scale of solutions that we urgently need
- What examples we see of tipping points that are seeding the net positive movement – including in clean tech and sustainable finance
Key links
Andrew Winston (LinkedIn)
Andrew Winston (website)
Net Positive (website)
Net Positive (book)
It's Time (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Kelly Price, who is Co-Founder and CEO of Agreed Earth. Kelly talks about how:
- Our current economic model looks a lot like cancer – and why systems thinking is a way to change our metabolism as a species
- Food security is a challenge of distribution rather than production – and how regenerative agriculture can “feed the world”
- We need to change the farmer’s business model – and get them out of the “weapons of agricultural war” business
- Chemical fertilisers – with the energy it takes to produce them and the nitrogen and phosphorous run off – are disasters for nature and climate change
- Regenerative agriculture can reduce farmers’ dependence on synthetic nitrogen input, saving them money, lowering their risk, and helping them get to net zero carbon
Key links
Kelly Price (LinkedIn)
Agreed Earth (website)
Farm (and Other F Words), by Sarah K Mock (book)
Chasing the Red Queen, by Andy Dyer (book)
Farm to Fork, by Joe Stanley (book)
Thriving (book)
Connected (poem)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Eddy Annys, who is Managing Director of Randstad Belgium and a former Olympic athlete. Listen to Eddy talk about:
- His experience as a world class high jumper, and how peak performance by world class athletes is only possible by having an enabling system
- Why ensuring that everyone has an opportunity for meaningful work remains a challenge – even in times and places of economic prosperity
- How we need to challenge historical stereotypes of difference – such as gender and ethnicity – that stand in the way of diversity and inclusion
- Why resilience has become a key competence as the world gets more fast-paced and complex – and how this links to the Good Work Goals
- How cobots (collaborative human-robot interfaces) are a new, hopeful trend – and why job automation is not necessarily to be feared
Key links
Eddy Annys (LinkedIn)
Randstad (website)
Sustainability@Work (report)
Behind the Veil (poem)
AMS Sustainable Transformation (website)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Charlie Curtis, who is Founder and Director of Progressive Agriculture Services and Head of Agriculture and Environment for the Cool Agriculture Alliance. Listen to Charlie talk about:
- How in developing countries offer many lessons on regenerative farming practices that can help to transform our food system in the global north
- Why our farms are like drug addicts that we need to wean off chemicals in the transition to regenerative agriculture
- How challenging the waste and inefficiency of current farming practices is key to freeing up the land we need for bringing back nature
- Why factory farming of livestock is cruel and unnecessary, and how there are alternatives that incorporate animals in a regenerative approach
- How we need to bust the myth that regenerative agriculture is more expensive or less productive than intensive industrial agriculture
Key links
Charlie Curtis (LinkedIn)
Never Too Late (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Antony Yousefian, who is the Founding Partner of ReFi Ventures and Advisor to Tech Nation. Listen to Antony talk about how:
- Conventional intensive agriculture is extractive, while regenerative agriculture is better for food security, resilience and health
- Innovation through regenerative agriculture can turn farming into a “hero industry” that reverses the destruction of nature’s ecoservices
- Early-stage investment and financial innovation (such as soil carbon credits) needs to help to fund the transition to regenerative agriculture
- AgTech (agricultural technology) can give us tools to measure nature’s services (like soil health and carbon cycling) and to quantify climate risks
- Cultivating micro-proteins is a hundred times more energy efficient than the current farming system and five times more efficient than cell agriculture
Key links
Antony Yousefian (LinkedIn)
ReFi Ventures (website)
Thriving (book)
Healers of the Earth (poem)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Virginie Helias, who is Chief Sustainability Officer at Procter & Gamble. Listen to Virginie talk about:
- Why the goal of thriving must be thriving for all people, not only for the few – and how innovation and collaboration are the key
- How licensing technology – such as digital watermarks to enable increased and improved plastic recycling – can help sustainable innovations to scale
- Why it is essential that employees are part of the thriving movement, most of whom now expect companies to help them achieve net positive
- How changing consumer behaviour is key, which requires creative communication, and increased performance and convenience of sustainable products
- What P&G’s new commitment to build a water positive future means, including restoring more water than is consumed during the use of its products
Key links:
Virginie Helias (LinkedIn)
P&G Lead With Love (webpage)
P&G Sustainability (webpage)
P&G Citizenship Report 2021 (report)
A Place to Thriving (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Douglas Tallamy, who is the T. A. Baker Professor of Agriculture at the University of Delaware, where he has authored over 100 research publications and has taught insect-related courses for more than 40 years. His bestselling books include book Bringing Nature Home, The Living Landscape, Nature’s Best Hope and The Nature of Oaks. Listen to Douglas talk about:
- How biodiversity loss is a silent catastrophe – and why you, me and everybody are nature’s best hope
- Why it’s important not to panic during a crisis; most often, we have the solutions and just need to implement and scale them
- How plant-insect interactions provide a clue to why native plants are necessary to support the food web
- Why talking about problems is not enough; people need to know that they can make changes where they live, where they work, where they play, or where they farm
- How movements and feeling that we are not alone in trying to make a positive difference is critical – like via Homegrown National Park
Key links:
Homegrown National Park (website)
Nature's Best Hope (book)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest his week is Micaela Rizo Patrón, who is general manager of Perú Sostenible, a network of over 70 companies, which represents the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in Peru. Listen to Micaela speak about:
- What the more chaotic conditions and informal systems of developing countries can teach us about creativity and resilience
- How disruption can highlight the importance of purpose, the power of interconnection and the necessity for clear metrics of progress
- Best practices from the hydro company Celepsa, which is helping Peru to deal with water stress in Lima, the second largest desert capital city (after Cairo)
- Dealing with patriarchy and inequality in society and business, especially by supporting entrepreneurial women to access finance and opportunities
- The importance of cultural diversity and taking sustainability inspiration from indigenous history, such as the 5000-year old sacred city of Caral
Key links
Micaela Patron (LinkedIn)
Perú Sostenible (website)
Sacred City of Caral-Supe (UNESCO website)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Mark Kramer, a Harvard lecturer and leading researcher, writer, speaker and consultant on strategies for social impact. He is best known as the co-author of seminal articles on creating shared value, collective impact, and catalytic philanthropy. Listen to Mark speak about:
- Why there is a synergy between successful companies and healthy societies, a message that is at the heart of creating shared value
- How start-ups, rather than large incumbent companies, are better positioned to lead the creative destruction necessary for a thriving revolution
- Why visionary CEO leaders are crucial but not enough, and how government has to play a much stronger role
- How capitalism is evolving to incorporate social and environmental impact and the valuation of companies
- What needs to change to make shared value and thriving a realistic alternative to the status quo and which companies are leading the way
Key links
Mark Kramer (LinkedIn)
FSG (website)
The ecosystem of shared value (article)
Creating shared value (article)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guests this week are Claire Maxwell, John North and Anders Aspling, who make up the leadership team of the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI). They speak about:
- The critical importance of building trust and holding courageous conversations that help us navigate the liminal space between extinction and hope
- Why freedom, stability, regulation and imagination are some of the prerequisites for creating fair societies and the ability to flourish
- How constant emergence is necessary for thriving to occur at the level of me (the self), we (the others) and all of us (the system)
- Why governance structures need guardians of values, who are custodians of the ethos and spirit of the organisation
- How globally responsible leadership is a question to live and grapple with, and the test of leadership is rooted in action
Key links
GRLI: Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (website)
Clare Maxwell (LinkedIn)
John North (LinkedIn)
Anders Aspling (LinkedIn)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Prof. dr Steven De Haes, Dean of Antwerp Management School. Listen to Steven talk about:
- Why shareholder-oriented business education can fairly be blamed for our previous global financial crises
- How self-awareness, global perspectives and societal consciousness are three pillars of responsible management education
- Why integrating sustainability into core business subjects is more important than separate sustainability degrees
- How technology innovation needs the guiding hand of societal purpose and organisational culture in order to effective
- Why walking the talk is the key to leadership for thriving, along with the necessity of dialogue to manage difficult paradoxes
Key links:
Steven De Haes (LinkedIn)
Antwerp Management School (website)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Frankie Fox, CEO and Co-founder of foodsquared.earth, and a founder on Cohort 2 of Carbon13’s Venture Builder for the climate crisis. Listen to Frankie talk about:
- How waste from industrial processes is a massive business opportunity for social and eco-entrepreneurs
- Why start-up venture incubators are critical for seeding and scaling innovation for tackling climate change
- How by-products of the food and drinks sector, such as grain from beer companies, can be turned into high value ingredients for other foods
- Why we can’t afford to charge a green premium for more sustainable solutions, or to compromise quality
- How the willingness of people to collaboration around issues that they have a passion about is a cause for hope
Key links:
Frankie Fox (LinkedIn)
foodsquared.earth (website)
Carbon13 (website)
Leap of Faith (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is David Lorimer, an educator and philosopher, program director of the Scientific and Medical Network and author of A Quest for Wisdom: Inspiring Purpose on the Path of Life. Listen to David talk about:
- How we can reframe education as “drawing out” rather than “stuffing in” – and why local action is a key to empowerment
- Why we have a vacuum of meaning in our modern society – due to materialistic science and consumerist culture
- How we can link science, spirituality and consciousness – and why having a living relationship with nature provides a clue
- How sustainability has enabled companies to carry on taking, rather than shifting to a balance of give and take
- Why we must move from technology-centred humans to human-centred technology and from a death economy to a life economy
Key links:
David Lorimer (LinkedIn)
The Scientific & Medical Network (website)
Synchronicity (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Niccy Kol, Brand and Impact Catalyst for Raddis Cotton, which is building the world’s first regenerative cotton value chain, and Ambassador for Waste2Wear. Listen to Niccy talk about:
- Why promoting recycled and recyclable textiles in a circular economy do not go far enough – and why natural fibres are better
- What it takes to create the world’s first regenerative cotton value chain – and four companies that are showing what’s possible
- Why it is crucial for brands to invest directly in farmer livelihoods – and to cut out the intermediaries wherever possible
- What certification brings in terms of benefits, but also why it acts as a barrier for small farmers to switch to regenerative organic agriculture
- Why creating a regenerative corporate value chain is more responsible than spending money on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities
Key links:
Niccy Kol (LinkedIn)
Raddis Cotton (website)
Giving Up (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Dr Ervin Laszlo, a philosopher and systems scientist, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, founder and president of the international think tank The Club of Budapest, and author, co-author or editor of 106 books, including The Upshift. Listen to Ervin talk about:
- Why we are at a chaos point in society – and how that represents a positive evolutionary opportunity
- What Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine and other great disruptions could mean from a systems change perspective
- How holism is a key organising principle in nature and society – and how this links to a higher purpose or spiritual force
- Why he is inviting us to join the upshift movement, a grassroots based international and intercultural movement dedicated to building a better world
- What hopeful monsters are – and why they are necessary antidotes to the forces of aggression and breakdown in society
Key links:
Ervin Laszlo (LinkedIn)
The Laszlo Institute of New Paradigm Research (website)
The Upshift: The Path to Healing and Evolution on Planet (book)
Complexity (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Indira Kartallozi, who is a founder Director of Sustainability Leadership Kosovo and co-director of the Kaleidoscope Futures Lab. Listen to Indira talk about:
- How her own journey as a refugee brought insights into individual resilience and the challenges of diversity and inclusion in society
- What is necessary to support migrants and refugees through their transition – and why ensuring dignity is so important
- Why, in supporting mental wellbeing, we must move beyond treating post-traumatic stress to enhancing post-traumatic growth and thriving
- How working with young people is key to advancing sustainability and social entrepreneurship, especially in developing countries like Kosovo
- What we can learn from the data-driven movement to tackle deforestation and to protect and regenerate forests in Kosovo
Key links:
Indira Kartallozi (LinkedIn)
Sustainability Leadership Kosova (website)
A Place to Thrive (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)
My guest this week is Professor Stuart Hart, who is the Steven Grossman Distinguished Fellow in Sustainable Innovation at the University of Vermont's Grossman School of Business, and author of "Capitalism at the Crossroads". Listen to Stuart talk about:
- Why thriving is a revolutionary agenda – and goes to the heart of the real purpose of the economy and capitalism
- The necessity to get beyond the business case for sustainability –- to the point where sustainability is the business
- How business education is at the root cause of our unsustainability –- and why we must creatively destroy the MBA
- Challenging shareholder primacy and ESG –- and redefining the value through initiatives like the long-term stock exchange
- What the motive force for the reformation of capitalism might be –- and how the conditions for a major shift are ripe
In the episode, the following books are mentioned:
- Capitalism at the Crossroads, by Stuart L. Hart
- Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement to Regenerate Nature, Society and the Economy, by Wayne Visser
Related websites include:
stuartlhart.com
uvm.edu/business
waynevisser.com
My guest this week is Leen Gorissen, founder of the Centre4NI and author of "Building the Future of Innovation on millions of years of Natural Intelligence". Listen to Leen talk about:
- What natural intelligence means --- and how it applies to business and government
- How termites and whales can help us to respond to climate change
- What shifting from a circular economy to a regenerative approach could mean
- How nature thrives on chaos -- and how some companies are applying this principle
- What we can learn from nature about rest, redundancy and resilience
In the episode, the following books are mentioned:
- Building the Future of Innovation on millions of years of Natural Intelligence, by Leen Gorissen
- Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement to Regenerate Nature, Society and the Economy, by Wayne Visser
Related websites include:
www.naturalintelligence.info
www.waynevisser.com
My guest this week is R. Edward Freeman, Olsson Professor of Business Administration at the Institute for Business in Society at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and the founding father of stakeholder theory. Listen to him talk about:
- Why the real business case is about creating stakeholder value -- and moving beyond trade-offs to synergies
- What we can learn about thriving from ancient and modern philosophers -- and why there's no such thing as an ethical leader
- Why he's a big fan of the short term -- and doesn't buy into the notion of the short-term versus long-term divide
- How we need to break from the grip of unhelpful narratives -- like the triple-bottom line and the invisible hand of the market
- Why creative imagination is essential to make capitalism work -- and how all have have a crucial role to inspire ourselves and others
In the episode, the following books are mentioned:
- Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, by R. Edward Freeman
- The Power Of And: Responsible Business Without Tradeoffs, by R. Edward Freeman
- Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement to Regenerate Nature, Society, and the Economy, by Wayne Visser
Related websites include:
darden.virginia.edu
waynevisser.com
My guest this week is Dame Polly Courtice, DBE, LVO, who is the Founder Director of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. Listen to Polly talk about:
- How her roots in South Africa shaped her thinking on sustainability -- and how issues of social justice remain close to her heart
- What has changed in the sustainability movement over the past 30 years -- and what we have to urgently focus on today
- Why so few leaders really understand systems thinking -- and how the principles of thriving can be like a lightening bolt of new consciousness
- Why sustainability is necessary but not sufficient as an agenda for change -- and how young people are refusing to accept the future we are offering them
- How moments of personal and professional crisis can bring clarity to the necessity for hope -- and what gives her hope now
In the episode, the following books are mentioned:
- The Top 50 Sustainability Books, by CISL and Wayne Visser
- Holism and Evolution, by Jan Smuts
- A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future, by Sir David Attenborough
- Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement to Regenerate Nature, Society and the Economy, by Wayne Visser
Related websites include:
www.cisl.cam.ac.uk
www.waynevisser.com
My guest in this week's inaugural episode, launched on World Environment Day 2022, is John Elkington, Founder and Chief Pollinator at Volans, author of Green Swans and widely hailed thought leader in the global sustainability movement. Listen to him talk about:
- Why he withdrew the triple bottom line (the 3Ps of people, planet, profit) 25 years after introducing it -- and then added 3Rs (you'll have to listen to find out what they are)
- Why he gave up science when he was 14 -- and then went on to write for New Scientist magazine
- Why he thinks we are still failing to grasp systems thinking -- and how nature may be our best teacher
- What he has learned about sustainability and thriving from science fiction -- and why Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Ministry for the Future" may be prophetic
- Why hope is our most precious commodity, and why sustainability has to be fun, engaging, educational and rewarding -- or else it's simply not going to work
In the episode, the following books are mentioned:
- Green Swans: The Coming Boom in Regenerative Capitalism, by John Elkington
- The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas Kuhn
- Holism and Evolution, by Jan Smuts
- Dune, by Frank Herbert
- Mars, by Andy Weir
- The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson
- The Water Knife, by Paolo Bacigalupi
- Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement to Regenerate Nature, Society and the Economy, by Wayne Visser
Related websites include:
www.johnelkington.com
www.volans.com
www.sustainability.com
www.waynevisser.com
Welcome to the Thriving podcast. This short description tells you what to expect in the coming episodes, which launch on World Environment Day 2022. Join me, Prof Wayne Visser, for inspiring conversations with leaders in the breakthrough movement to regenerate nature, society and the economy. We do not indulge in false hope or blind optimism, but we actively focus on innovative solutions and positive tipping points for change. The podcast builds on the foundations of my bestselling book Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement to Regenerate Nature, Society and the Economy. I look forward to having you join the movement for thriving and welcome your suggestions for who I should feature as a guest on the podcast. You can contact me via my website: waynevisser.com. Music credit: Amil Raja