John Thackara is a writer, curator and professor who develops design agendas for ecological restoration, urban-rural reconnection, and multi-species design. He curated the celebrated Doors of Perception conference for 20 years, first in Amsterdam and later across India; he was commissioner of the UK social innovation biennial Dott 07, and the French design biennial City Eco Lab; and in 2019, he curated the Urban-Rural expo in Shanghai. His last book was How To Thrive In the Next Economy: Designing Tomorrow’s World Today. Here we discuss...Why more information about the climate crisis just won’t cut it anymore How designers can experiment with the presence of microbial lives in their cities The phenomenon of weed watching and why it’s gone viral Celebrity hen and mango farmers in China who have broken down the rural-urban divide Placefulness as a doorway into caring How a giant consulting firm could better design their employee sustainability programme (hint: it involves having real tasks to do) Ecosystem restoration camps and place-based summer schools The failings of snazzy car insulation made from mycelium And more ;) Episode Website Link Show Links: John’s website  Design for Multi Species Cities  Regenerative Empathy Paper Sugi ProjectBack to the Land Summer School Urban Rural Connection in China Internet of natureLook out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes. Photo Credit: Jason Klassi via Getty Images Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock, Ellie Kidd Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.