Jan Kattein, Director of collaborative Jan Kattein Architects, discusses a circular building with 60% reused materials, built by 3000 volunteers. They highlight sourcing timber from Epping Forest, flexible design to suit available materials, and the future of sustainable architecture.

Kent Jackson is Design Partner at Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM) and leads the designs of a wide range of scales and typologies across the globe. Passionate about improving the future of planetary health, Kent is also a leader of SOM’s Climate Action Group, advancing the firm’s commitment for all active work to be net zero whole-life carbon by 2040. James Woodall is Sustainability Lead at SOM and was a co-editor of the LETI Climate Emergency Design Guide – a groundbreaking publication shaped by over 100 leading design professionals. The guide continues to be referred to as best practice in delivering net zero carbon buildings. Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM) is a global architecture, engineering and urban design practice, responsible for some of the world's most famous landmark buildings.In this episode we discuss SOM's target for all their projects to be Whole Life Net Zero Carbon by 2040 and their ambitions to promote regenerative design. Learn more about SOM here: https://www.som.com/See the companion blog post on Substack.- - -Get 10% off Course: Sustainability Essentials for Built Environment ProfessionalsSubscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter Contact Ross Website Linkedin

Steve Sanham established Common Projects in 2021: a development company led by a purpose to put people and planet at the heart of its decision-making. Steve has an extensive and proven track record in the built environment, specialising in urban regeneration and in using development’s power to deliver better outcomes. Common Projects finances and delivers complex and game-changing development projects in London and the South East with a strong focus on sustainability and social outcomes.Common is currently delivering two large, complex London sites: the redevelopment of a 1960s ‘utopian’ complex into a community-facing housing scheme for Croydon, retaining and enhancing the original buildings alongside an upcycled community pavilion and garden; and the creative masterplannning of a large former gasworks in the centre of Wandsworth to deliver 650 mixed tenure homes, along with a new creative hub for the music community of south west London.In this episode we discuss:An environmental and social approach to housing developmentThe connection between the climate crisis and housing crisisZodiac Court redevelopment in CroydenWandsworth Gasworks masterplan This is part 1 of my conversation with Steve. In part 2 he gives me a tour of the Zodiac Court construction site and we get more into the details of this project. Part 2 will only be available on this Substack blog, so make sure to subscribe to get access to that and the newsletter.Click here to see the companion blog post on Substack.Learn more about Steve and Common Projects: https://common-projects.co.uk/- - -Get 10% off Course: Sustainability Essentials for Built Environment ProfessionalsSubscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter Contact Ross Website Linkedin

Sean McCormack is a consultant Vet, the Chairperson of Ealing Wildlife Group, and an incredibly knowledgeable nature conservationist and educator based in west London.  This episode is part 2 of our conversation where we get into more detail on: The practicalities of reintroducing beavers to an urban parkManagement of urban natureRewilding vs nature restorationThe importance of partnerships and collaborationI also got the chance to speak with Elliot Newton and Ben Stockwell of Citizen Zoo, who are also involved in the beaver reintroduction at Paradise Fields. Listen out for their voices towards the end of this episode.See photos of the locations being rewilded at the companion blog post: Substack blogLearn more about Ealing Wildlife Group: https://ealingwildlifegroup.com/- - -Get 10% off Course: Sustainability Essentials for Built Environment ProfessionalsSubscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter Contact Ross Website Linkedin

Sean McCormack is a consultant Vet, the Chairperson of Ealing Wildlife Group, and an incredibly knowledgeable nature conservationist and educator based in west London. In this episode we discuss his work to rewild urban London by reintroducing harvest mice, beavers and (eventually maybe) water voles while supporting native predators like falcons and owls in the city. It’s a really positive and inspiring story of how a community and a local government are working together for the good of nature. We also discuss how reintroducing beavers will mitigate flooding in the local area and advice for others interested in urban rewilding and nature conservation.Sean was very generous with his time and we ended up talking for 2 hours, so this episode is part 1 of that conversation. Part 2 is coming soon!See photos of the locations being rewilded at the companion blog post: Substack blogLearn more about Ealing Wildlife Group: https://ealingwildlifegroup.com/- - -Get 10% off Course: Sustainability Essentials for Built Environment ProfessionalsSubscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter Contact Ross Website Linkedin

Nate Hagens is a systems thinker and educator focused on a concept he calls The Great Simplification. He has spent the last 20 years studying the systems we live in like energy, ecology and economics. He teaches at the University of Minnesota and speaks widely on these topics, including on his youtube channel called Nate Hagens and his podcast called The Great Simplification.We discuss:The Great Simplification and what that means for citiesWhat the end of fossil fuels means for the worldThe importance of scenario planning for the future of citiesWhy electric vehicles and renewables are not the answer to climate changeWhy a post-growth economy is inevitable in the coming decadesWe discuss some ideas for what post-growth cities might look like. I will follow up with an episode of more ideas, inspired by this conversation with Nate.Nate is extremely honest and clear about the direction he sees the world going. Some of you listening will likely disagree with his conclusions and may even feel defensive. Of course we're all free to disagree with each other, but I urge you to keep an open mind and consider seriously what he says and follow up with the resources in the episode description. He goes into these ideas in a lot more depth on his youtube channel and podcast, which are really worth checking out.More of Nate's content:https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/https://www.youtube.com/@thegreatsimplification- - -Get 10% off Course: Sustainability Essentials for Built Environment ProfessionalsSubscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter Contact Ross Website Linkedin

Climate change is here and now cities and communities must adapt for safety, health and quality of life. In this episode I discuss a useful model for thinking about climate adaptation in three levels: resilience,  transition and transformation. I also provide some examples and ideas for bringing adaptation thinking into the work of urbanists.Relevant episodes:#68: Urban Rewilding#59: Why cities need Transformational Adaptation and what it could mean for urban ecosystems#38: Dr Morgan Phillips - Climate Adaptation  BibliographyThe ideas in this episode were largely inspired by the book Adaptation to Climate Change by Mark Pelling. Blythe et al. (2018) The Dark Side of Transformation- - -Get 10% off Course: Sustainability Essentials for Built Environment ProfessionalsSubscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter Contact Ross Website Linkedin

This episode is a conversation with Tara and Lanre of Gbolade Design Studio, sustainable architects and urban designers based in London. Reflecting on their 5 years in practice, we discuss a range of topics and projects including:City-shaping with masterplans and design codesRetrofitting existing buildingsZero carbon and regenerative designCommunity-building and co-creating with communitiesInnovation in design, including the use of AITheir recent exhibition, ‘Breaking Ground’, and contribution to the Venice Biennale 2023See the companion blog post for images of the projects we discuss. Learn more about Gbolade Design Studio here: https://www.gboladedesignstudio.com/- - -Get 10% off Course: Sustainability Essentials for Built Environment ProfessionalsSubscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter Contact Ross Website Linkedin

What is urban rewilding? Can it be done in cities? Is anyone doing it? In this episode, we explore:History of the rewilding conceptCurrent best practice in rewildingHow rewilding can be applied to citiesCase studies of active and passive rewilding in urban areas around the worldCompanion Blog Post - See visuals of the stuff we talk about plus sources and bibliography. Corrections:We made a few small errors in this podcast. Around 24:00, Giulia says Sequoia tree seeds come in 'pine nuts' when she meant to say 'cones' (you can see how her mind was working...). Around 40:00, Ross says Rewilding Enfield is along the River Lea, when it is actually on the other side of the Borough in Enfield Chase (sorry, Londoners...). - - -Get 10% off Course: Sustainability Essentials for Built Environment ProfessionalsSubscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter Contact Ross Website Linkedin

This episode is a conversation with Jane, Lydia and Tom of architecture and urban design studio DSDHA. We discuss their research project 'Towards Spatial Justice: A guide for achieving meaningful participation in co-design processes'.We explore what co-design really means, why it’s important and how they have applied co-design processes at their projects: White Horse Square in Wembley Park, London and the extension of the British Library.Learn more about DSDHA here: LinkDownload the Towards Spatial Justice research report here: LinkSee images of the projects we discuss on the Substack companion post: Link- - -Get 10% off Course: Sustainability Essentials for Built Environment ProfessionalsSubscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter Contact Ross Website Linkedin