biophilia

This week, we're speaking with Beth Sauerhaft, the Vice President of Programs at American Farmland Trust. If you've seen the 'No Farms, No Food' bumper stickers, you're familiar with AFT whether you know it or not. In her current role, Beth oversees all of the programming that helps American Farmland Trust achieve its mission of preserving farmland, protecting farmers, and promoting environmentally sound farming practices. Prior to joining AFT, Beth has worked in sustainability roles at EPA, the Department of Agriculture, and even Pepsico. We'll talk about corporate responsibility, the importance of farmland for combating climate change, and the practices that can help farmers (and the planet) thrive. 

Show Notes:

• Beth Sauerhaft, Vice President of Programs, PhD, American Farmland Trust
• Regenerative Agriculture is a System, Not a Single Practice, American Farmland Trust
• Farmland for a New Generation in New York, by Erica Goodman (American Farmland Trust)
• Farms Under Threat: Biodiversity and Agriculture, American Farmland Trust
• Cover Crops Create Resilient Farms and Landscapes, by April Ann Opatik Murray (American Farmland Trust)
• Women for the Land Initiative, American Farmland Trust
• Donate to American Farmland Trust and Help Save the Land that Sustains Us
• Get Your FREE ‘No Farms No Food’ Bumper Sticker
• Vote in the 13th Annual Farmers’ Market Celebration 

On this episode of Biophilic Solutions, we talk to Jacqui Patterson, the Senior Director of the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program, about why we cannot separate our fight for planetary health from the fight for racial justice. Why is race, even more so that socioeconomic status, the single biggest indicator for placement of toxic facilities in the United States? Why do we silo issues like public health, race, and climate, when they are so closely related? Why is campaign finance reform essential as we move toward a greener and more equitable planet? We’ll address all of these questions and more. 

Show Notes

• Environmental and Climate Justice (NAACP)
• At the Intersections by Jacqueline Patterson in All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, ed. by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson, 2020
• Just Energy: Reducing Pollution, Creating Jobs Toolkit (NAACP)
• 20 Things We Can Do to Advance a Just and Sustainable Planet by Jacqueline Patterson
• The Necessity of Harmony for a Sustainable Planet by Jacqueline Patterson (Humans & Nature), 2013
• Q&A with Jacqueline Patterson, director of the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program by Holly Bowers (Arcadia), 2021
• Move to Amend
• Democracy Initiative
• Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ): A home for white people working for justice

How do we build a biophilic movement? Halfway through our first season, Monica and Jennifer reflect on the lessons they have learned so far and bring it all back to our innate love of and need for nature. They’ll dive deeper into their own backstories and relationships with nature, discuss why biophilia is a useful way to reframe the environmental conversation, and explore the importance of consciousness raising when growing a movement. 

Show Notes

• Follow The Biophilic Institute on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook
• Prescribing Nature by Jennifer Walsh with Beth McGroarty (for the Global Wellness Summit
• I Lived in a Tent for 3 Months. It Changed Everything … In a Good Way by Jennifer Walsh (Medium)
• Serenbe

Follow Monica and Jennifer on Twitter

We spoke with Dr. Drew Lanham, a distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology at Clemson University and the author of the Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature, to discuss the intersection of nature, humanity, and race. How have the natural sciences progressed since Dr. Lanham first began in his career and what work is there still to do? Why are conservation and activism inextricably linked? And why is it impossible to separate the simple act of birding from systemic racism? We’ll grapple with all of these questions (and so much more) on our seventh episode of Biophilic Solutions.

Show Notes

• Dr. Drew Lanham, Distinguished Alumni Professor of Wildlife Ecology in the College of Agriculture, Clemson University 
• The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature (Milkweed Editions, 2017)
• 9 Rules for the Black Bird Watcher by J. Drew Lanham (Orion Magazine, 2013)
• Nine New Revelations for the Black American Bird-Watcher by J. Drew Lanham (Vanity Fair, 2020)
• What Do We Do About John James Audubon? by J. Drew Lanham (Audubon Magazine, 2021)

Fast fashion’s impact on the environment is well-known, but do you have to sacrifice style in order to protect the environment? Marci Zaroff, the founder and CEO of EcofashionCORP and a sustainable fashion pioneer, says absolutely not. Learn about the hidden impacts of the fashion industry, from the massive environmental and human toll to the microfibers that make their way into our food supply. We also talk to Marci about where the industry is headed, the shift in consumer expectations, and why she is optimistic about the future of fashion.

Follow Marci  on Instagram and check out her brands: Metawear Organic, Farm to Home, Seed to Style, and YES AND.

Show Notes

• Ecorenaissance: A Lifestyle Guide for Co-creating a Stylish, Sexy, and Sustainable World, by Marci Zaroff (2018).
• The 5 Levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Verywell Mind)
• The environment and economy are paying the price for fast fashion -- but there’s hope (Vox).
• Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)
• Farm to Home launches second collection with TENCEL™ Lyocell available exclusively at QVC (Textile World).
• The Outside View: Looking Back at 2020’s Balancing Act by Marci Zaroff (Women’s Wear Daily).
• The Outside View: The Cool Factor of Sustainability by Marci Zaroff (Women’s Wear Daily).
• The Textile Exchange | Creating Material Change

Through cutting-edge research, consumer education, and farmer training, Rodale Institute has been at the forefront of the organic movement for over 70 years, so we were thrilled to have the opportunity to sit down with their Chief Impact Officer, Jeff Tkach, to discuss all things agriculture. In this episode, we’ll dive into regenerative farming, the scalability of organic production, fostering a greater connection to the food we consume, and why human & planetary health starts with soil. Without giving anything away, there were multiple jaw-dropping moments during this interview; trust us, you don’t want to miss it!

Follow Rodale Institute on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Follow your hosts Monica Olsen and Jennifer Walsh on Twitter.

Biophilic Solutions is brought to you by the Biophilic Institute and the Biophilic Leadership Summit. 

Show Notes

• Rodale Institute Southeast Organic Research Center in Chattahoochee Hills, GA
• Regenerative Organic Certified™ led by the Regenerative Organic Alliance
• Shop Regenerative Organic Certified™ products at Patagonia Provisions
• Vegetable Systems Trial (VST), a side by side comparison of organically and conventionally grown vegetables.
• Help solve nutrition insecurity by checking out Wholesome Wave
• Bell & Evans U.S. Organic Grain Initiative - partnership between Rodale, Cargill, and Bell & Evans
• Regenerative Ag Could Sequester 100 Percent of Annual Carbon Emissions (Rodale Institute)
• Regenerative Organic Agriculture and the Soil Carbon Solution (Jeff Moyer, Andrew Smith, PhD, Yichao Rui, PhD, Jennifer Hayden, PhD).

Throughout the pandemic, people have spent more time indoors — and in limited locations — than ever before. This episode explores how our health and well-being are influenced by the built environment that we navigate in our daily lives. Experts discuss environmental psychology, biophilia, and a range of building types.

Featured guests include Craig Zimring, an environmental psychologist and director of the SimTigrate Design Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology; Bonnie Casamassima, an adjunct professor of interior design at the Savannah College of Art and Design and founder of Interweave People Place in Atlanta; and Emily Anthes, an award-winning science journalist and author of the recent book, The Great Indoors: The Surprising Science of How Buildings Shape our Behavior, Health, and Happiness.

Student Highlight: Catarina Sterlacci is a junior Human Health major at Emory University. She has a passion for how architecture, interior design, and the built environment influence and inspire our health. 

About COVID Chronicles

The COVID Chronicles covers a variety of public health topics intertwined with the pandemic, as reported by the students in the HLTH 385: Health & Science Podcasting class during the Fall 2020 and Fall 2021 semesters. Sponsored by Emory University’s Center for the Study of Human Health, the series includes interviews with experts in epidemiology, mental health, maternal health, and more. 

About Emory University's Center for the Study of Human Health:

The Emory Center for the Study of Human Health was developed to expand health knowledge and translate this knowledge to all aspects of life – for the individual and populations as a whole. The Center assembles the extraordinary faculty, researchers and thought leaders from across disciplines, departments, schools and institutions to bring this knowledge to Emory University students and inspire them to become leaders for the next generation in meeting challenges facing human health.

Follow Us:

Blog: Exploring Health

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For this week’s episode, we sat down (in person!) with Sarah Milligan-Toffler, President and CEO of the Children and Nature Network, an organization that is dedicated to increasing equitable access to the outdoors so that both children and the environment can thrive. In this episode, we discuss nature’s impact on brain development in early childhood, ways that we might reimagine the traditional schoolyard, and the historic barriers that have prevented  underserved communities from enjoying nature’s benefits. We also dive into the tools that city officials and engaged citizens alike can use to advocate for the rights of all children to play outside. 

Show Notes:

• About the Children & Nature Network
• Urban Nature: Promoting Nature in Cities, Children & Nature Network
• Creating Systems Level Change in Cities: A Toolkit, Children & Nature Network
• Advancing Equity in Children’s Connections to Nature, Cities Connecting Children to Nature (Children & Nature Network + National League of Cities)
• The Urgent Case for Green Schoolyards During and After Covid-19, by Sarah Milligan-Toffler and Richard Louv
• To Build a Healthier City, Atlanta is Opening its Schoolyards to Everyone, by Monica Humphries (Nationwell)
• Policy Spotlight: Georgia Creates Outdoor Learning Committee (National Caucus of Environmental Legislation)
• How the City of Grand Rapids Became a Leader in Connecting Children to Nature, by Alejandra Pallais (National League of Cities)
• We’re Here, You Just Don’t See Us, by Latria Graham (Outside)
• Register for Sum of Us: A Conversation with Heather McGee and Dr. Gail Christopher, presented by the Children & Nature Network (June 10, 2021 at 1:00pm).

What does it mean for a city to be ethical? To explore this thought-provoking idea, we spoke with Tim Beatley, professor of sustainable communities at the University of Virginia and founder of the Biophilic Cities network. In a new book proposal, Tim argues that we need to move away from a view of cities as purely legal and political entities and expand our definition to include the city’s moral obligations. Do cities have a duty to measure their impact beyond local boundaries? Should a city government consider the lives and wellbeing of future citizens? What ethical obligations do cities have towards local wildlife? How does nature (and crucially, access to nature) play a role in all of this? We’ll attempt to answer all of these questions and more on today’s episode of Biophilic Solutions.

Follow Tim and Biophilic Cities on Twitter.
Follow your hosts Monica Olsen and Jennifer Walsh on Twitter.
Biophilic Solutions is brought to you by the Biophilic Institute and the Biophilic Leadership Summit. 

Show Notes

• Biophilic Cities for an Urban Century: why nature is essential for the success of cities, by Timothy Beatley, 2020.
• The Bird-Friendly City: Creating Safe Urban Habitats, by Timothy Beatley, 2020.
• The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription For Long-Term Thinking, by Roman Krznaric, 2020.
• The Charter for Compassion
• Cully Park in Portland, Oregon
• South Mountain Park in Phoenix, Arizona
• Mayor Stoney announces 5 new green spaces in Richmond’s southside (NBC12)

In this episode, we sat down with Bill Browning, co-founder of Terrapin Bright Green and one of the green building industry’s foremost thinkers, to talk about bringing nature into the built environment and the science behind why it so effectively enhances human wellbeing. Using the 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design as our guide, we explore the ways in which architects, designers, and individuals can incorporate nature-based principles into their spaces and the wealth of possible positive outcomes, from improving workplace performance and productivity, producing a greater sense of calm, and even promoting a more charitable and sociable mindset. 

Follow Bill on Twitter.

Biophilic Solutions is brought to you by the Biophilic Institute and the Biophilic Leadership Summit. 

Follow your hosts Monica Olsen and Jennifer Walsh on Twitter.

Show Notes

• 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design: Improving Health and Wellbeing in the Built Environment, by William Browning, Catherine O’Ryan, and Joseph Clancy
• Nature Inside: a biophilic design guide, by William Browning and Catherine O’Ryan, 2020
• What is Biophilic Design? This Nature-Based Interiors Trend Promises Wellness by Lilah Ramzi for Vogue
• Biophilic Design: The Theory, Science, and Practice of Bringing Buildings to Life, by Judith Heerwagen, 2008
• Koo Teck Puat and Ng Teng Fong Hospitals, CPG Corporation
• The experience of nature: a psychological perspective, by Rachel and Stephen Kaplan, 2014
• View Through a Window May Influence Recovery from Surgery, by Roger Ulrich, 1984
• The rediscovery of the wild, ed. by Peter Kahn, Jr. and Patricia Hasbach, 2013
• Fractal Fluency: An Intimate relationship Between the Brain and Processing Fractal Stimuli, by Richard Taylor and Branka Spehar
• Prospects and Refuges Re-visited, Jay Appleton, 1984

To answer this question, we spoke with Dr. Phill Tabb, Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Texas A&M and the author of multiple publications on topics such as solar energy, green architecture and sustainable urban design. His most recent work, Biophilic Urbanism: Designing Communities for the Future, explores the tools to create nature-based urban environments that are climate positive, sustainable, and healthy. In this episode we discuss the five positive outcomes of biophilic urban planning, the factors at play when scaling biophilic principles from the individual to the community to the city-wide level, and we’ll dive into the mystery of ‘thin places.’

Biophilic Solutions is brought to you by The Biophilic Institute, creating a world in which individuals take local and global actions that nurture the living, social and economic systems that will sustain future generations. Learn more about programs, research and the Annual Biophilic Leadership Summit at biophilicinstitute.com

Today we reflect on the green spaces where we live.

Beyond parks and gardens, we sometimes find green spaces inside buildings, between buildings, on tops of buildings, in parking lots, and in places, we may not expect to find them.

When we do find them, we may not recognize them as green spaces, yet we experience the restful changes in mood these spaces were designed to create.

Today we get to learn from Sonja Bochart, LEED-accredited independent professional whose expertise is in interior design, health and wellness, and regenerative design.

LINKS

Sonja Bochart Wellbeing+Design

Sonja on LinkedIn

Sonja on Twitter (@sonjabochart)

TEDx - How Buildings Can Make Us Better

Project for Public Spaces

Biophilic Cities

Stephen R, Kellert

________________________

Producer: Tania Marien

Music: So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License; 

SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License.

View The Freelance Project Portfolio to learn more about Independent environmental education professionals and how they strengthen environmental literacy.

* Talaterra is an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Commissions earned support The Freelance Project.

Contact Us

Biophilia is the innate connection that human beings seek with the natural world. Join the growing biophilic movement to understand, elevate, and amplify biophilic solutions across a broad range of industries. How can we take local and global actions that nurture the living, social, and economic systems that will sustain future generations? Nature has the answers. Every other week, hosts Monica Olsen and Jennifer Walsh pose questions centered around finding common-sense solutions to some of society's biggest problems. They'll speak with experts in the growing field of biophilia and environmental research about everything from offsetting your personal carbon footprint to putting pressure on the corporations and policy-makers that can affect major, systemic change. We hope you'll join us on our biophilic journey. Subscribe, follow and listen today.

Biophilic Solutions podcast is brought to you by The Biophilic Institute, creating a world in which individuals take local and global actions that nurture the living, social and economic systems that will sustain future generations. Learn more about programs, research and the Annual Biophilic Leadership Summit at biophilicinstitute.com

Why you need nature in your daily life

If we understand our connection with nature, why have we built ourselves away from it? In the second episode of ‘Why on earth’, we uncover how our connection to the nature is rooted in our evolution, and why you may need more of it, for your benefit and the planet.

“We design zoos for animals better than we design buildings for people,” a quote by pioneer in the field of biophilic Judith Heerwagen. A view on architecture and design that stops many people in their tracks. 

With the expertise of Judith Heerwagen, today a researcher and faculty member at the University of Washington, we discover the roots of biophilic design and the connection between humans and nature. In this episode we shed new light on biophilic design and answer important questions like “Why is the connection with nature critical for your wellbeing?”, “Why is biophilic design not a standard practice in design?”, “How much nature do we require?” and “Why should we build habitats instead of buildings?”.

More information, questions or suggestions?
podcast@extremis.com

[3:00] The false separateness we've created between ourselves and nature: "If we can go back to the essence of how life works to align how we design our economy, our companies and our innovation strategies with how nature works, we'd all be much better off."

[5:00] Bringing natural intelligence and indigenous wisdom into our design: "We behave like we're isolated from nature, they behave like they're a part of nature."

[6:00] Giving a voice to nature in decision making: "Their decision making is built on interdependency, while ours is built on human superiority and we don't take into account all of the relations that are actually vital for our lives."

"As a citizen of the so-called 'developed' world, I wonder if we have developed the wrong things."

[8:30] Changing our relationship with nature starts with the language we use. Indigenous cultures see nature as a relation and don't use the "it" pronoun, just as we wouldn't call a pet "it."

[10:30] Nature filmmakers sometimes glorify the spectacle of a hunt, but it's not the main part of the story or even the most important part - "In your body, if you take away collaboration, you cease to exist. In nature, you more often see strategies to AVOID competition."

[13:30] Competition is the exception, rather than the rule. Cancer is fundamentally cells that have forgotten about the system...cancer is what happens when collaboration fails."

[17:30] Did we domesticate wolves, or did they domesticate themselves as a cooperative survival strategy?

[21:30] How diversity creates resilience - "WE are an ecosystem" - every human is made up of more non-human cells than human cells
"We're putting all of our focus on big technological interventions for the climate." Working WITH nature "would be so much easier, less risky and less costly to restore the planet. Not only would that be good for the climate, but it would be incredibly positive for the economy."

[26:30] "Bio-logical" - It only counts as an investment if it makes the world better off

[27:00] "Nature has been working with chemistry for billions of years. Imagine if our finest chemists understood how this worked and redesigned our products in nature's image" to be non-toxic for humans and for the planet

[32:00] Biomimicry - nature has already solved many of the problems we face today
-How sharkskin inspired a new surface that resists bacteria and viruses

[35:30] Building an organizational structure on the natural intelligence of bottom-up agility - using simple rules rather than top-down hierarchy
See Frederic Laloux's ReInventing Organizations here: https://www.reinventingorganizations.com/

[42:00] How to get started on the journey of natural intelligence
-Product-level, process-level, systems-level
-From de-generative to re-generative

Learn more and purchase the book here:
https://www.naturalintelligence.info/

or contact Leen through LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/leen-gorissen-86aa508/

Ray Gastil, Director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Remaking Cities Institute, joins the podcast, and Eric and Sloan discuss sustainable cities and species that are no longer extinct.

The ‘bucket-list’ experiences every traveller should do (at least once in their life).

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This week on The Farm Report, host Erin Fairbanks welcomes John Flahavan, the sixth-generation CEO of Flahavan's Irish Oats. The first family connection to the Flahavan’s name can be traced back to about 1785 when Thomas Dunn took over the mill. Dunn was the great-great-great-grandfather of John Flahavan who is the Managing Director of the company today.

After the break, we're joined by Meryl Williams, star of the forthcoming short film Biophilia. Meryl plays the lead role of Rachel, an herbalist/farmer who convinces her boyfriend to leave Brooklyn and make a go of farming on his family's abandoned sheep ranch, but things don't go well and she finds herself increasingly isolated under his controlling influence. When an animal dies under her watch, she is forced to take care of it alone and in so doing, grows a thicker skin.