A Gardener as a Cultural Actor, with Jacques Soignon

A Gardener as a Cultural Actor, with Jacques Soignon

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2258149/fan_mail/new] A greener city is not just about planting more trees. It is about making nature easy to reach, hard to ignore, and emotionally meaningful in everyday life.  In this episode we chat to ecologist and horticulturalist Jacques Sognon, former director of Green Spaces and Environment for the City of Nantes and vice president of France’s Conservatoire for Special Plant Collections. We explore how Nantes evolved from “a city of a hundred gardens” into “the city in the garden”, building a connected network of parks and routes through a major green master plan. Jacques shares why continuity, patient delivery, and opening up connections between green spaces can shift a whole city’s identity, and how public participation grows when green infrastructure feels like a shared cultural project. We also get practical with the biophilic cities 3-30-300 rule, tree canopy cover targets, and the case for cutting back unnecessary hard surfaces. From heatwaves to the hidden lessons a snowfall can reveal, we talk climate adaptation, urban biodiversity, and nature-based solutions that improve health, comfort, and everyday movement. Listen in to our story of the city in the garden!  Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.

Nature Is Growth, with Anusha Shah

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2258149/fan_mail/new] Nature is infrastructure, and we keep paying the price for forgetting it. In this episode we’re joined by Professor Anusha Shah of Plan for Earth, as she launches the Nature Is Growth campaign, a rallying cry for the built environment, to stop treating nature as a constraint and start treating it as an engine of climate resilience, public health and long-term prosperity. We get practical about what changes minds: measurement, money and proof. Why do we fund highways without debate, yet hesitate to fund wetlands, trees and healthy catchments that reduce flood risk and cool cities? We talk natural capital accounting, biodiversity net gain and the Dasgupta Review, plus the need for economic models that go beyond GDP and take ecological tipping points seriously. Just as importantly, we explore how evidence and stories must travel together if policymakers, investors and industry leaders are going to act at speed. Then Anusha helps us  tour the places already showing what nature-positive infrastructure looks like at scale: Singapore’s shift to a “city in nature”, Rotterdam’s climate-adaptive water squares, Scandinavian parks designed for extreme rainfall, and the UK’s Eden Project as proof that regeneration can drive jobs and tourism.  It's a world tour exploring how #NatureIsGrowth so please do have a listen!  Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.

Telling the Transition Story, with Gamze Çelikyılmaz

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2258149/fan_mail/new] In this episode we're chatting to Gamze Çelikyılmaz, Vice Chair of Climate Academy Global and a long-time climate change policy specialist, to make sense of where the global energy transition actually stands and why the picture is so uneven across regions.  With Gamze we go from the big global picture to the local human reality of a just transition. For communities built around coal mines, power plants, oil and gas, the challenge is not only replacing jobs but also protecting health, preserving dignity, and rebuilding tax bases, institutions and social networks. Gamze explains why there is no such thing as a 100% just transition, yet also why delaying change is not fair either, and how practical measures like reskilling, upskilling, worker protections and long-term governance can keep the process as just as possible.  Along the way we dig into examples that show what works in practice: Germany’s Ruhr region and Spain’s Bilbao, plus reflections on the UK’s own history and the emerging energy transition zone in Aberdeen. A recurring theme is storytelling, because successful transitions create a new identity that people can own, not just a list of projects on a spreadsheet.  So if you care about climate action, climate policy, fossil fuel phase-out, clean energy jobs and what a fair transition really means for real places, listen in! Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.

The Climate Barometer, with Susie Wang

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2258149/fan_mail/new] Has the public has “moved on” from climate change as some commentators might like us to believe? The data tells a different story. We sit down with Dr Susie Wang, climate and environmental psychologist and co-founder of Climate Barometer, to unpack what UK voters and MPs actually think about net zero, renewable energy, and climate action, when you track attitudes over time instead of chasing one-off headlines. Susie tells us that at worst climate concern is plateauing, not plummeting and that there exists a major perception gap, with both the public and politicians underestimating how much backing exists for net zero and for local clean energy projects like onshore wind and solar, plus the grid upgrades needed to make them work. We also explore why “NIMBYism” is often overstated, what eco-populism can look like in Green politics, and how a focus on fairness, trust, and everyday local issues can strengthen climate communication without constantly shouting about climate targets. Well worth a listen if you want to tune into where people's heads are at on climate!  Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.

A Garden in the Sky, with Jason Williams

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2258149/fan_mail/new] Is your balcony the most overlooked piece of green space in your life? It might also be the easiest place to start changing how you feel, day to day. We sit down with Manchester garden designer Jason Williams, known online as The Cloud Gardener [https://cloudgardeneruk.co.uk/], who lives in an 18th floor apartment and turned a glass-fronted, south-facing balcony into an oasis that’s part pantry, part wildlife stopover and part mental health reset. Jason shares the  learning curve of balcony gardening and container growing: why “normal” gardening tips often fail in high-rise microclimates, how heat build-up can push temperatures 10 to 15 degrees above street level, and how choosing plants for your space stops the cycle of disappointment. We get into what he grows, how flowers affect yield, why flies can be underrated pollinators, and how small ecosystem thinking, right down to balcony ponds and organic feeding, makes a big difference. We also explore the National Trust's Sky Gardening Challenge [https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/gardening-tips/sky-gardening-challenge-2026], now open across the UK, including the One Pot Power category that helps complete beginners start with a single container and build confidence. Jason explains why simple, positive communication matters when climate headlines feel bleak, and how balcony gardens become deeply personal spaces where people reconnect with nature at home.  Listen in, and picture yourself in Jason's balcony oasis!  Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.