Françoise Bichai, Associate Professor from Polytechnique Montreal discusses the complexity, challenge and necessity of interdisciplinary collaboration and how we should adapt our centralised water infrastructure to support growing cities and adapt to climate change. We also delve into her current work on supporting the planning of green infrastructure. Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Starsky by Alex Keren (Check out more of his tunes over on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5vZ3lENfDLjkln8scBJ...
Jan 22, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 22
Danielle Dagenais, Professor in Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Montreal discusses her interdisciplinary journey from garden design to all things plants and how she is now tackling green infrastructure solutions for stormwater management and improving urban biodiversity in snowy Canada. Our conversation also unravels the paradox of nature and many myths surrounding the use of vegetation for providing stormwater management among other benefits. Podcast Intro/Outro S...
Jan 08, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 21
Belinda Hatt, waterways and wetlands research specialist at Melbourne Water and University of Melbourne, Australia, reflects on her journey through academia and practice around creating healthy waterways and her work on stormwater control measures or Water Sensitive Urban Design, in particular, rain gardens for water quality management. Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Breaking Sweat by Balloon Planet (Check out more of their tunes over at Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/balloon-planet ) Chapters: 0...
Nov 27, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 20
Anna Lintern, senior lecturer and head of the water group at te Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Australia, discusses how she has combined her passion for water, rivers and history in some 'forensic-esque' research using sediment core and other historical data sets. We also discuss the impact that such diverse and creative methods can have in supporting further environmental policymaking. Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Breaking Sweat by Balloon Planet (Check out more of their tunes...
Oct 16, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 19
Fritz Kleinschroth, senior research scientist at the Ecosystem Management Group of ETH Zurich reflects on various examples where human infrastructure and nature have collided, from the tropics to his own backyard in Zurich, Switzerland. We discuss the importance of reconciliation ecology going forward and how infrastructure can be planned to be more integrated with natural ecosystems. Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Breaking Sweat by Balloon Planet (Check out more of their tunes over at Soundcloud: ht...
Sep 11, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 18
Mohan Yellishetty from Resources Engineering at Monash University, Australia sheds light on the importance of minerals extraction and how we can undertake this sustainably. From fascination with Australia-India relations around cricket to growing up in the countryside in India, we discuss the life cycle of mines and the potential of 're-mining', rehabilitation and repurposing after their closure as a way to combat climate change and support the global economy. Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Breaking ...
Aug 28, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 17
Mattheos Santamouris, the Anita Lawrence Professor of High Performance Architecture at the University of New South Wales, Australia, discusses the impending overheating crisis due to global climatic change that we are facing, his outlook and perhaps the most urgent strategy for counteracting and adapting to it. Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Breaking Sweat by Balloon Planet (Check out more of their tunes over at Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/balloon-planet ) Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:11 Guest Intro...
Jul 31, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 16
Juan Pablo Rodríguez Sánchez, Associate Professor at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia shares how data scarcity is not a limitation, but rather, an opportunity for innovation in both the wastewater system and his current topic, nature-based solutions. We explore his passion for his country Colombia and career-long passion case study, Bogotá. Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Breaking Sweat by Balloon Planet (Check out more of their tunes over at Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/balloon-plan...
Jul 17, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 15
Janine Bolliger, senior researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) and lecturer at the University of Zurich discusses the deeper subtleties behind the term 'biodiversity' and her recent work on how light pollution affects non-humans, namely bats and insects. We also delve deeper into what needs to be done to make cities more ecologically sustainable in light of global biodiversity loss. Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Breaking Sweat by Balloon Planet (Check...
Jul 03, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 14
Veljko Prodanovic, a senior researcher at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Australia, discusses the intricacies of designing sustainable vertical greenery, which are thirsty, but, ironically, more beneficial in dry climates. We also touch upon how to design blue-green infrastructure to be 'culturally-inclusive' in order to build community ownership and stewardship as a way to drive uptake and implementation of new research outcomes in this field. Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Breaking Sweat ...
Jun 19, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 13
Dr. Liah Coggins, an environmental engineer from the University of Western Australia shares how she has created impact in the water industry with a simple piece of technology and the growing complexity that engineering research and education need to embrace if we want to create innovative solutions. Under the mentorship of our guest from Episode 11 and through her own experiences over the last decade, Liah has forged her own approach and career path that diverges from stereotypical academic to a...
Jun 05, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 12
Anas Ghadouani, professor in environmental engineering at the University of Western Australia, limnologist and overall advocate for collaborative learning and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals paints a picture of how he is constantly learning and embedding fun, entertainment and learning into his research and teaching work. We delve into a connected story around a range of topics from water quality in lakes to multidisciplinary work, teaching, ChatGPT and, of course, food! Podcast...
May 22, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 11
Daniele la Cecilia, a Maria Skłodowska-Curie Actions p ostdoctoral resresearch fellow from the University of Padova, Italy recounts his journey, combining his passions for water and food towards technological progress in agriculture. We cover the topic of plant protection products and new potential future pathways for agriculture, in particular the role of greenhouses that Daniele is now tackling as part of his ongoing research and with the interdisciplinary skill sets he has acquired along his ...
May 08, 2023•56 min•Ep. 10
Ana Deletic, professor in urban stormwater and Executive Dean of Engineering at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) shares her remarkable journey from former Yugoslavia to Australia in urban stormwater management, water sensitive urban design and urban nature-based solution technologies, good modelling practices, women in engineering and mentorship of young and aspiring researchers. Join me as I reconnect with my former PhD supervisor and relive some of the fun quirks of my own early resea...
Apr 24, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 9
Associate Professor Megan A. Farrelly, a human geography and the Associate Dean of Graduate Research from the Faculty of Arts, Monash University Australia, discusses her transition from the physical to the social sciences and 15 years of experience in urban water governance research. We delve deep into the institutional challenges that have surrounded the story and journey towards Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), the Australian term for nature-based solutions in Melbourne Australia. Megan al...
Apr 10, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 8
Dr. Abishek Narayan, research scientist at the Department of Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development (SANDEC) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science & Technology (Eawag) shares his journey through the rapidly evolving field of urban sanitation planning in the global south. From humble beginnings in engineering and rowing in his river in Chennai India to current uptake of the Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) philosophy, Abishek reflects on how and what kinds of integr...
Mar 27, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 7
Arya Arabshahi, an architect and territorial strategist discusses his take on the idea of citymaking - what we define as a city, what constitutes a city and how we should plan a city. We delve into the issue of a master plan and how learning from the past and thinking about future scenarios can lead to a palette of solutions rather than a set course for urban and territorial development. Based on his territorial projects that he has embarked on during his journey from Iran to London and, now, Br...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 6
Peter A. Vanrolleghem, professor in bio-engineering, environmental technology and urban water quality reflects on his journey from chocolate and spaghetti among others disciplines into the water sector. We explore how urban wastewater treatment is evolving to embrace resource recovery and digitalization and learn about the challenges of its planning, control and operation. Peter also offers some gems of wisdom from his incredible career to date including topics of mentorship, serendipity and the...
Feb 27, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 5
Sofia Boarino, an architect and musician specializing in urban soundscapes shares how she has been exploring the importance and necessity of acoustic design for our visually dominated society. We discuss four key projects that have shaped Sofia’s career to date, touching upon the sound design from a landscape, nature, technological and human perspective and some of her own personal experiences with the visual and auditory senses. Podcast Intro/Outro Song: bucolia by Birocratic ( http://birocrati...
Feb 13, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 4
Martijn Kuller, an interdisciplinary researcher and tennis enthusiast discusses his journey across the world in pursuit of better tools to support not only the planning of nature-based solutions in cities, but also early flood warning systems, the subtleties of coffee and enjoyments of travel. On this episode, we uncover the role of values, gut feelings and rationality in decision-making and how quantitative tools should be design to better support stakeholders in both the global north and south...
Jan 30, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 3
Scott Lloyd, an architect and founding member of TEN Studio in Zurich Switzerland has been exploring emerging themes in architecture and urban design through projects he has led and participated in across the globe. On this episode, we hear about Scott’s journey into architecture and his experience in designing housing to cope with rapid urbanization. Notably, we discuss the trending topic of ‘cohabitation’, which revisits the myth that humans are preeminent on the planet and should therefore be...
Jan 16, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 2
João Paulo Leitão is a researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science & Technology (Eawag) and lecturer at ETH Zurich working on data-driven flood models and urban water asset management. On this inaugural episode of the Grand Challengers Podcast, we discuss how João's Portuguese heritage has influenced his work and how he is using models and unconventional data sources to improve the way we understand historical urban development and potential future flood hazards in our citie...
Jan 02, 2023•55 min•Ep. 1
The Grand Challengers Podcast is a show about inspiring individuals who are stepping up to a variety of global challenges such as climate change, rapid urbanization, biodiversity loss and many more. Each episode centres around a guest from the cutting edges of the natural and social sciences, engineering, technology and design, who offers not only insight into their own passion and work, but also advice and nuggets of wisdom about their own personal journey. Podcast Intro/Outro Song: bucolia by ...
Jan 02, 2023•2 min0
