Fly Over The Grass

Fly Over the Grass #007 Marika van Santvoort on improving cocoa supply chains as a social entrepreneur

Marika van Santvoort is a consultant and social entrepreneur from the Netherlands specialising in cocoa, the raw ingredient of chocolate. Whilst working in conflict resolution in post conflict communities, Marika found herself working with cocoa farmers in Cameroon (West Africa). She noticed how the complexity and opaqueness of cocoa supply chains leaves cocoa farmers unfairly treated.  This experience began her career and life’s mission to shorten and improve supply chains between cocoa farmers and consumers. In tandem she has started several social businesses, the latest, Pacha de Cacao, is a healthy juice made out of the fresh pulp of the cacao fruit that up until now has been a waste product in cocoa production. In this episode Marika and I discuss the roots of her passion and dedication to one mission, and the tricks and tips behind successful solo social entrepreneurship. Check out her website movingcocoa.com as well as her latest venture pachadecacao.com. Music by Joe Bush

Fly Over the Grass #006 Anneke van Woerden on the importance of combining fun, learning and purpose in your job

Anneke Van Woerden is a creative facilitator living and working in Amsterdam. After exploring a number of career routes from Musicology and academia she found fell into the world of creative facilitation. From this she started a business called Unfold which supports people and organisations to collaborate more effectively and designed a programme that supports newcomers in the Netherlands into creative jobs. Now Anneke continues to disrupt the world of education and work at the University of Applied Sciences in Amsterdam, where she supports people doing social impact work to connect with the outside world, and vice versa. In this episode we talk about how difficult it is to describe a job that aims to blur boundaries as well as some important lessons around how to JFDI (Just F******* Do It!) Find more on her website annekevw.tilda.ws Links to things we mention on the episode: - Annekes first company - Unfold it medium.com/unfold-it - The organisation that supports newcomers to the Netherlands into creative jobs - Makers Unite makersunite.eu - Where Anneke currently spends most of her time - the Digital Society School at Amsterdam's University of Applied Sciences digitalsocietyschool.org Music by Joe Bush

Fly Over the Grass #005 Lisa Mandemaker on the role of design in developing the ethics of new technologies

Lisa Mandemaker is a social designer from the Netherlands. After completing a BA in Product Design and an MA at Londons Royal College of Art in Design Products, she has she continued her career in Amsterdam doing design projects centered around the effects, both intended and unintended, of emerging technology. She is interested in design as a tool for debate and makes impactful, topical work that starts conversations on the political, ethical and scientific aspects of emerging technology. Her most recent work has centered around the future of reproductive technologies and her creation of an artificial womb catapulted her into the public eye last year and landed her as one of the BBCs top 100 women of 2019. In this episode we hear from Lisa about how she rose to fame, the downsides of imposter syndrome and what it’s like to be a designer in a scientific field.  See all of Lisa's work on her website www.lisamandemaker.com. Links to things we chat about in this episode: - Waag in Amsterdam waag.org - The Next Nature Network nextnature.net - Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez - penguin.co.uk/books/111/1113605/invisible-women/9781784706289.html Music by Joe Bush.

Fly Over the Grass #004: David Smith and Sarah Holliday on fighting air pollution & environmental injustice

Miranda chats to two individuals who, through contrasting career paths, have both turned their attention to fighting environmental injustice in their local area. David Smith, a former marketing executive is a campaigner and air pollution activist raising awareness of the devastating affects of air pollution on children’s health. Sarah Holliday started her career developing solar technology, now she creates programmes that enable citizens to learn and take part in scientific research about environmental issues. Listen to their journeys and what drives them to do this work. Get in touch with Sarah: @smgholliday Get in touch with David: www.littleninja.co.uk [http://www.littleninja.co.uk]

Fly Over the Grass #003: Gul Rasool & Karisma Desai on shifting approaches to policy making

Karisma Desai and Gul Rasool chat to Miranda about their journeys into working for the UK Government; Karisma in the Ministry of Justice and Gul as a user researcher in the Home Office. They discuss finding their feet in such a big organisation, what they want to achieve in their work, and how they are contributing to changing the way that government designs and delivers outcomes for citizens.