Fariya Sharmeen is a Research Scientist and Associate Professor at KTH Stockholm, working with travel behavior modelling, social network analysis and urban transformation.We talk about:-how your social network and life events determine your travel behavior -from research data to having an impact in daily life, faster-tech advancements and more cooperation between decision makers in cities-the Bicification project in Istanbul, Tallinn, Braga - rewarding people for cycling-human scale citi...
In this episode of Collective Choices we talk about the BIG change that everything else depends on.Dr. Jennifer Hinton is an ecological economist, sustainability researcher, educator and book author. She has worked with the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Lund University, Stockholm University and The Schumacher Institute. Her research focuses on the not-for-profit economic model.We talk about:- why we urgently need a new economic model as a way forward for society- thinking outside the box...
As we re-discover the importance of local communities, a Helsinki based startup proposes a tool for basically everything regarding information and communication in a city or a neighborhood. Or any location, actually.I talked to Superhood's founder, Markku Mehtälä, about this modern agora:- it's a social discovery hub for all things local- it aggregates local information sources, solving a major communication problem for cities- you follow a location instead of other persons- it only allows lo...
Marianne Weinreich joins me for Ep 10 of Collective Choices. She is Co-founder and Chair of the Cycling Embassy of Denmark, manager of the Danish Mobility Network and Market Manager Global Smart Mobility at Ramboll.We talk about:- how transport connects us all- how the mobility focus is moving from cars to people - why the bicycle is so special- gender and transport: differences between men and women in patterns of mobility- why storytelling matters- what kind of city do we want? We migh...
Collective Choices Ep 9 was recorded in Stuttgart, Germany, at the Urban Future conference. My guest is Simon Zimmermann, founder of SOLARBAKERY, the world’s first provider of fully equipped, mobile and energy independent container bakeries.We talk about:- how the idea was born- what does a solar bakery have to do with a school?- when businesses have the well-being of people as a final goal instead of profit- the technical details: solar panels, kilowatts and other bits- special bread ma...
This episode of Collective Choices was recorded in Stuttgart, Germany, at the Urban Future conference. My guest is Carlos Moreno, scientist and professor at Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris. He developed the 15 Minute City concept a few years before it became highly publicized during the pandemic. We talk about:-the six essential functions that a city should provide for a good quality of life -why do we need to commute?-the zoning system and the architectural influence of Le Corbusier, who ...
Ep. 7 of Collective Choices was recorded in Uppsala, Sweden, with Marie Pellas, mobility expert and winner of the Traffic Award for 2023.We talk about:- how do you win a traffic award- living an (almost) car free life with kids- how the size of a city, its design and the options available influence travel choices- you need infrastructure to change behaviors, but you have to feel the change before you know you want it- how politicians are open to build new infrastructure, but not to prioritize...
Ep 6 was recorded in Copenhagen with Mikael Colville-Andersen: urban planner, activist, host of the TV series The Life-Sized City and the author of Copenhagenize - The Definitive Guide To Global Bicycle Urbanism.He's also behind the Bikes4Ukraine initiative.We talk about:-Copenhagen, of course, but also Barcelona, Paris, Brussels, Montreal and others-cycle chic and the arrogance of space-the better choice between a dumb city and a "smart city"-what are modern cobblestones and sponge parks-the...
Episode 5 of Collective Choices was recorded in the Carpathian Mountains, in Transylvania, Romania. Christoph Promberger is the executive director of Foundation Conservation Carpathia.We talk about:-the story behind the biggest national park Europe will soon have-fighting the government and the timber mafia-what do you do when you receive a forest-why a conservation project would have a hunting association and would sponsor a football club-why Romania should be your next eco-tourism destinati...
Staffan Widstrand is an award winning nature photographer, book author and National Geographic explorer. He has traveled the world and has been involved in many conservation efforts, including Wild Wonders of Europe.We talk about:-how we don’t take logical decisions-the power of images-when air travel is good for nature-nature conservation in the last decades through the eyes of a photographer-mountain gorillas feeding people-Europe the wild-how humans changed their attitude towards animals i...
Episode 3 of Collective Choices was recorded in Oslo, Norway. Kari Anne Solfjeld Eid is a User Experience designer and founder of Whee!On the discussion menu:-how to create a cargo bike subscription service-transportation on human scale-skiing vs cycling in Oslo-why winter cycling with an e-bike is so much better than you assume-why car sharing needs cargo bikes-never shame people for not using the bike sometimes-the cities cannot be friendly to both cars and people, they have to choose-...
Tove Blomgren is a Creative Director at SALLY - Future Manifestation Lab in Stockholm, Sweden.We talk about:-the cone of plausibility-the insanity of our current reality-seeing the future then traveling back to the present to implement it-how to share the vision of a preferable future so that people want it-the preferable future of food and transportation-the desire to move vs. the desire to get somewhere-the 15 minutes access -citizens assemblies-social tipping points-going beyond compe...
Welcome to the first episode of Collective Choices! Lars Strömgren is Vice Mayor for Transport and Urban Environment in Stockholm, Sweden. We're talking about:- why transport solutions also include decreasing transport, not just facilitating it- the time when Stockholm had more cyclists than Copenhagen- electric boats as buses - winter cycling- what the recent EU resolution to adopt a cycling strategy means- summer streets and play streets- how city planning is a bit like Hamle...