Globalnet21

Seeking Global Well Being

In this Podcast we interview Tony Gaye a Professor from Loughborough University about the need for global wellbeing at a time of turbulent change.

Wellness and wellbeing are something we have discussed on here many times when we have discussed resilience, mindfulness and other ways of creating a positive attitude to life.

But how can we make wellbeing a global imperative at a time when many are thinking mainly of survival. This will be the focus of this interview where we look at how reflective learning and a goal orientated focus in life can create the conditions for a better world.

How do we scale up this approach to make it global and can it succeed when the odds against it are so huge.

This will be one of the interviews in the Conversation Across Borders series organised by GlobalNet21 and TracesDreams.

Going Hyperlocal With Little Free Pantries

In this Podcast we discuss the idea of the Little Free Pantry.

The Little Free Pantry is a grassroots project applying the Little Free Library concept to address hyperlocal food insecurity. Motivated individuals or groups provide small, watertight structures at their site of choice and coordinate stocking however they choose

Individuals and groups may provide direct support to The Little Free Pantry project in two ways. Purchase items when grocery shopping, find a location, and place items inside. Or start your own Little Free Pantry!

The original Little Free Pantry was conceptualised and piloted by Jessica McClard in the USA. An avid reader and runner, she browsed Little Free Libraries popping up along her run route and became intrigued by the concept and the fact it had become viral. Conceptually, Jessica believes “Little Free” structures speak to people because they create space for community, enhancing quality of life for neighbours, while also facilitating manageable, direct action toward intractable issues—literacy and food insecurity.

Jessica with be joined by Lara Mackie who has developed this idea in Southend and Maria Lee who has done the same in Chelmsford.

Adrija Biswas - From Disaster To Inspiration

In this Podcast we discuss with Adrija Biswas the theme of Gender and Equality.

Ardija is a survivor of 2001 and was there when two passenger planes were flown into the towers, ultimately bringing them down killing over 3,000. She says, “Those 45 minutes will remain with me forever, all trains and metro were halted and I could not travel back into New Jersey or to uptown NY into my university.

I witnessed employees wanting to return back into the burning building for work, mothers frantically looking for their daughters, husbands looking for their wives, team leads looking to collate their employees. I also saw burning bodies fall out of the windows and a Japanese woman next to me just stared in shock stating that it was her sister.”

She was also crowned as Mrs India UK Platinum 2019 in a Beauty Pageant.

Now holding a high position in an International Bank Ardija has found her inspiration in fighting for women’s rights across the globe.She is the “Ambassador of Peace” bestowed by the Universal Peace Federation United Nations.

She tells us,

“Being a 9/11 survivor, an innovator, a mother of two kids, having three degrees from three continents yet struggling through challenges, like losing the will to live at the lowest point and bouncing back and grabbing hope with both hands, makes me feel I have an inspirational life.”

Adrija is lovingly called “Queen of Hearts” by many women who feel she represents women from multi cultural backgrounds .She is an Inclusion and Diversity advocate, involved with CSR and UK Girls in STEM activities promoting women leadership, 50:50 gender balance as well as Mental Health awareness as a Mental Health Ally.

“She is also being the called the pride of Bengal who is already touching hearts and encouraging women to be brave, fearless and courageous.”

Born in India, the mother-of-two had a happy childhood in Mumbai.

Enfield - A Troubled Local Authority?

Enfield - A Troubled Local Authority?

Enfield Labour Party is split and this has caused some Labour Councillors to leave and form a group called Community First.

In this Podcast we interview two of these Councillors Dinah Barry and Derek Levy to find out why they left the Labour Party and why they felt the need to develop a new group - now consisting of four members.

What is it about Enfield that makes politics so toxic and how can it be mended or indeed can it be mended at all? And how can Enfield develop a leadership that is bottom up and collaborative rather than top down and somewhat dictatorial?

Does local government need reform so we move away from the Party silos and is indeed Enfield fit for purpose for the challenges facing our modern and troubled society.

An Interview With Maggie Brookes - The Prisoner’s Wife

In this Podcast we interview Maggie Brookes on her first novel “The Prisoner’s Wife.

Many will know Maggie as Maggie Butt as she has been an Enfield resident for many years and is well known for her poetry and has several publications to her name. She has now written her first novel based on a true story in World War 2 of love, imprisonment, escape and both the cruelty and humanity of those in what is an intriguing story.

It is a compelling read and it will be intriguing to hear why Maggie wrote it and the tragic story that inspired her to create a novel that will remain in the memory.

Living With Nature - Permaculture & Climate Change

In this Podcast  we interview Bernie Rees about how Permaculture can make a difference in living a sustainable life and tackling the twin but related problems of climate change and the decline in biodiversity.

Permaculture is a design approach based on understandings of how nature works. At its heart permaculture has three ethics:

• Earth Care
• People Care
• Fair Shares

This makes permaculture a unique toolkit that is used to design regenerative systems at all scales - from home and garden to community, farms and bioregions around the world.

We will talk over with Bernie what this actually means in practice and whether it is an individual approach or one that can be scaled up to make a real difference.

How can we work together to reduce global emissions by one billion tonnes a year?

In this Podcast Zaid Hassan and Lucy White discuss how groups of individuals can get together to help reduce carbon emissions through the gigatonne challenge

Averting dangerous climate change is imperative. While we know “what” should be done, there seems to be little clarity as to “how” to do it.

According to the science, global emissions need to peak and start declining by at least a billion tonnes of CO2e per year. If this doesn’t happen within the next decade we will likely see global temperatures breaching +3-6 degrees, leading to the catastrophic failure of key systems that we depend on for survival.

If you imagine the challenge of reducing a billion tonnes of emissions a year as climbing Mt Everest, how do we learn to climb such a daunting peak?

Networking Our Way To Global Collaboration

In this Podcast in our Conversations Across Borders series we interview Gill Tiney about her network to develop global collaboration in business, government and civil society.

The whole world over people are finding themselves disconnected, from themselves and their communities. The epidemic of loneliness is spreading. It is causing depression, anxiety and stress. As a society we are becoming more isolated.

Gill argues that collaboration is our natural state, it helps us to achieve more than we can alone, yet we struggle to build strong successful relationships that pull for successful collaborations.

We are restricted by a school system, negative media and society as a whole that pulls only for academic prowess and supposed success, we are challenged daily to understand our own limiting beliefs and triggers that prevent our ability to collaborate.

To this end Gill has set up Collaboration Global  - a physical and online community that identifies these issues and come together to free each of us from our limiting beliefs and show limitless opportunities.

Conversations Across Border is a Joint initiative of Tracesdreams and GlobalNet21 and will be streamed live on Facebook

REACT And Be Noticed

In this Podcast we interview Cellina Memola Daswell of REACT in Edmonton.

REACT is a community group that has grown to over 3,000 households and started originally as a neighbourhood watch scheme.

It has now expanded and represents a community that is in a deprived area of the Borough in Enfield, marginalised economically and suffering multi deprivation.

It is faced with a major development of their doorstep Meridian Water but are fearful that the homes developed there will be too expensive for the long standing local community. They also face the prospect of a new Incinerator on their patch and fear for the pollution it will cause and its adverse impact on climate change.

It is an interesting case study of a vibrant community that is organising itself to ensure it is not the forgotten part of Borough it which not is placed.

Better Streets, Green Spaces & Local Action

Join us in this Podcast when we will be interviewing Alice Roberts from the Campaign To Protect Rural England and the Better Streets Scorecard.

She will be discussing how the work she does is as relevant to urban as well as rural areas and also about her work to create better streets in London and the give a score to their achievements.