The IMPERATIVE Podcast

Ben Shread-Hewitt, climate researcher and geopolitical analyst, joins Craig Applegath to argue that climate change is no longer a future threat but a present reality reshaping politics, economies, and the built environment. The conversation covers three urgent topics: Derailment Risk, the idea that escalating climate impacts can actively undermine mitigation efforts; the Overshoot Era, where societies must simultaneously manage impacts, cut emissions, and strengthen resilience; and why fairness is not optional but a core resilience strategy. Ben is co-creator of the documentary podcast Overshoot: Navigating the World Beyond 1.5°C and author of the Geopolitical Climate newsletter. His research sits at the intersection of climate science, geopolitics, and systems risk. This conversation is essential listening for anyone designing, planning, or building for a world where climate disruption is a permanent condition.

Mike Andrade is the CEO of Morgan Solar and a real veteran of the solar industry. In this episode, Mike talks about everything from his start at IBM, to his views on hydrogen, carbon capture, and of course what he’s doing to promote Canadian cleantech and manufacturing. This is our first episode in a new series that we are calling Twenty-First Century Cleantech. For regular listeners, you’ll remember that we introduced Connor Reed a couple of episodes ago in episode 27. In this new series, Connor is going to be bringing stories focused on clean technologies through conversations with business leaders, entrepreneurs, researchers, and anyone who is leading the energy and carbon transition. In our first episode we are talking to Mike Andrade about Canadian cleantech disrupting the oil & gas incumbents. More specifically, we’re talking about solar. Mike has more than 30 years experience working with dozens of the best-known tech firms, launching hundreds of products, and he’s had a ringside seat for global technology disruption events – everything from IBM in the early 90’s to Blackberry and now distributed solar. He was part of the founding management team at Celestica –a multinational electronics manufacturing services company headquartered here in Toronto, Ontario - and during his time there Mike experienced first-hand the challenges of growing a global tech company in a highly competitive environment. Mike believes that climate change is the defining issue of our generation and that technology is part of the solution, but that it’s also going to be a disruptive event for Canada. So, in addition to his role as CEO of Morgan Solar and investor in multiple early stage cleantech companies, he is active in advisory roles with the government on manufacturing, innovation and clean technology. I hope you enjoy our conversation! -------------------- You can read more about this podcast in the podcast’s Show Notes. Please Support this Podcast: The Twenty First Century Imperative podcast relies entirely on user support. If you find it valuable please consider supporting us by becoming a patron at our TFCI Patreon Page. And we now have a new TFCI Online-shop, with all the proceeds going to cover our production costs! And It has some great products for you! We have organic, fair-trade t-shirts and hoodies, as well as non-toxic BPA-free coffee containers, with great graphics! So, if you like the podcast, please think about helping us out by buying a t-shirt, hoodie or mug for you (and one for each of your friends!!!)

In this episode I talk with Connor Reed, about the launch of a new segment on this podcast that we’re calling “Twenty First Century CleanTech.” In this segment, that will air every other month, Connor will be interviewing leading entrepreneurs, researchers, and business leaders who are breaking fresh ground with innovative new Clean Technologies that could be important tools for helping us to transition to a zero-carbon economy. This is a project that Connor and I are very excited to be launching, and I’m thinking you will also enjoy hearing from a new voice with a fresh perspective. Connor is currently an Associate with Reshape Infrastructure Strategies in Toronto where he is responsible for low-carbon development strategy. He is a one of those rare individuals who likes to get deep into the weeds on analytical engineering problems, BUT who can also pull up to look at a problem from 30,000 feet. Connor’s professional focus is on advancing district scale energy solutions to facilitate innovative, resilient, and sustainable urban development. Even though he spends his 9-to-5 mostly thinking about green buildings and green cities, he also tries to stay on top of anything and everything related to decarbonization -- from Nuclear Fusion to Carbon Sequestration. You can think of this episode as a prequal to the Twenty First Century CleanTech launch, which we plan to be a reoccurring segment. In this first episode Connor and I talk about his passion for podcasting, what types of CleanTech stories he will be exploring, who he will be interviewing, and who he hopes to interview in the future. We will also be hearing a few clips some of the upcoming interviews that Connor has lined-up. I hope you enjoy our conversation! -------------------- You can read more about this podcast in the podcast’s Show Notes. Please Support this Podcast: The Twenty First Century Imperative podcast relies entirely on user support. If you find it valuable please consider supporting us by becoming a patron at our TFCI Patreon Page. And we now have a new TFCI Online-shop, with all the proceeds going to cover our production costs! And It has some great products for you! We have organic, fair-trade t-shirts and hoodies, as well as non-toxic BPA-free coffee containers, with great graphics! So, if you like the podcast, please think about helping us out by buying a t-shirt, hoodie or mug for you (and one for each of your friends!!!)

In this podcast I talk with Taylor Davis about being a green entrepreneur and how he sees "conscious capitalism" as a means to make much needed environmental changes in the world, and his belief that we will be able to solve the key challenges posed by climate change. We also talk about Taylor’s plans for launching a podcast, what gives Taylor hope and keeps him going when things look dark, and what advice he would offer listeners about what they can do to be part of making a difference in meeting the challenges of the Twenty First Century Imperative. Taylor is an experienced entrepreneur and innovator with a strong track record for creating, and brining new products to market. As early as grade 11 he started an e-commerce store during his comm-tech class, and then, while studying neuroscience at Dalhousie University from 2007 to 2010, he began designing and selling cognitive nootropic supplements, as well as launching an asphalt maintenance company to pay back his student debt. Early in his career Taylor used software, digital strategies and his experience in contract manufacturing to create new asphalt maintenance and paving products. He joined Shopify as employee 132 in 2013 to test-drive the 9-to-5 work-week but was drawn back to innovating within his own businesses. In 2018 he became accredited for scientific research and development in green infrastructure technology and is a Funded NRC-IRAP Scientist. Taylor is currently the CEO of PurePave Technologies, and the President of Smart Green Cities Inc. Endlessly curious, fascinated by the power of new technologies, and the transformative influence of the internet, Taylor is passionate about advancing material sciences and software that improve the environmental quality of cities, and reduce the escalating impacts of climate change. Apart from the fact that Taylor is such an interesting person and successful entrepreneur, I wanted to interview Taylor because of his passion for harnessing business as an engine to tame climate change. Indeed, if our species is actually going to be able to pull back from the brink of climate disaster, not only will we have to have scientists and policy makers providing solutions, but we will also need to enlist the energy and resources of the commercial world. Here I think Taylor is a great role model, and in today’s podcast we explore his philosophy of “conscious capitalism,” where good ideas come from, important lessons from his experience starting and leading a company manufacturing a stormwater and flooding mitigation system, and what he thinks are the greatest opportunities for moving the needle on addressing the challenges of climate change. ------ You can read more about this podcast in the podcast’s Show Notes. Please Support this Podcast: The Twenty First Century Imperative podcast is ad-free and relies entirely on user support. If you find it valuable please consider supporting us by becoming a patron at our TFCI Patreon Page.

In this episode, I talked with Lliam Hildebrand about his inspiration and reasons for founding Iron+Earth; the huge opportunities to transform the dying fossil fuel industry workforce into a renewable energy workforce; the opportunities and challenges for policy to drive large-scale social change; and about the “Prosperous Transition Plan” that Iron+Earth is now rolling out, that, if implemented, could transform Canada’s workforce, businesses, infrastructure, and environment to meet the demands of a future net-zero economy. We also talked about what gives Lliam hope and keeps him going when things look dark, and the advice he would offer listeners about what they can do to be part of making a difference in meeting the challenges of the Twenty First Century Imperative. Lliam is the founder, and now Executive Director, of Iron+Earth, a not-for-profit NGO led by Alberta oilsands workers committed to both re-training oil industry workers for new jobs in the rapidly emerging renewable energy industry, and to engaging in, and advocating for, renewable energy development to create an energy future they can proud of. Lliam led the creation of this organization during the spring of 2015 when oil prices started to fall. Oil sands workers were losing their jobs, and the need to diversify Alberta’s energy grid was on everyone’s mind. As Lliam notes, “We founded Iron+Earth as a platform to engage in renewable energy development issues, and to empower us to advocate for an energy future we could be proud of creating.” Since its inception, membership has grown to include workers from a variety of industrial trades, including boilermakers, electricians, pipe fitters, ironworkers, and labourers. You can read more about this podcast in the podcast’s Show Notes. Please Support this Podcast: The Twenty First Century Imperative podcast is ad-free and relies entirely on user support. If you find it valuable please consider supporting us by becoming a patron at our TFCI Patreon Page.

In this podcast I spoke with Henry Gordon-Smith, the founder and CEO of Agritecture an urban agriculture consulting firm. Henry has become the world’s go-to expert in urban agriculture: from community gardens to high-rise high-intensity hydroponic agriculture. I thought Henry would be a good person to talk with about the Twenty First Century Imperative, and specifically about the importance of developing local food supplies to counter the increasing impacts that climate change is having on our industrial food system. In 2011, Henry started Agritecture.com, a media platform covering the news, business, and design of how agriculture integrates with the built environment. Following that, in 2013, Henry co-founded the Association for Vertical Farming, and then in 2014, he started Agritecture Consulting, an urban agriculture consultancy assisting over 126 clients in 26 countries including entrepreneurs, multinational companies, architecture firms, municipalities, and educational institutions. Most recently, in April 2020, Henry's team launched Agritecture Designer, the world's first online urban farm planning software. In all his pursuits, Henry says he is motivated by achieving triple bottom line success – success that is measured by its positive impact on people, the planet, and profitability. In this podcast interview, I had a wide-ranging conversation with Henry about the challenges and opportunities for urbanizing food production; where aquaponics fits in; new techniques and technologies, and what gives Henry hope in the face of the enormous climate change challenges we face. You can read more about this podcast in the podcast’s Show Notes. Please Support this Podcast: The Twenty First Century Imperative podcast is ad-free and relies entirely on user support. If you find it valuable please consider supporting us by becoming a patron at our TFCI Patreon Page.

In this podcast episode, in place of our typical interview format, you will hear the keynote presentation I gave to the American Institute of Architecture StudentsConference in December 2019.This presentation sums up the key ideas that I have been exploring with our podcast guests over the past two years, as well as background research for those interviews. For all of you who have been following the science of climate change, you will know that this will be no ordinary decade! It will most probably be the last opportunity our species has to pull back from the brink of climate change catastrophe, and hopefully save ourselves, and the rest of the biosphere, from run-away global warming. The good news is that we now have all the tools and technologies at our disposal to stop global carbon emissions if we decide to do it! And we’ve done this before. We did it in the Second World War, in 1940, where in 2 years under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the United States instituted their “Arsenal of Democracy” program, and went from producing no planes, no tanks, and no arms, to producing hundreds of thousands to supply all the allies in their fight against Nazi Germany and then Imperial Japan. However, instead of gearing up to produce planes, tanks, and guns, we will need to build millions of photovoltaic panels, thousands of wind generators, and plant billions of trees. It is no exaggeration to say that we now need to be making serious preparations for an all-hands-on-deck, heroic, last-ditch effort to save ourselves, and the biosphere as we now know it from global warming catastrophe. From what we are hearing from the most knowledgeable and expert climate scientists, we have ten years – and possibly less, depending on how the quickly the global warming positive feedback loops accelerate the warming process – to stop emitting CO2 into our atmosphere, and to find ways to reduce existing atmospheric concentrations of CO2. In this keynote presentation I lay out how we can most effectively do this, and I introduce what I have called the “Architects N.E.W. D.E.A.L.” – an acronym for the seven key things that I think architects, engineers, and planners can do to make a significant contribution to this effort. ------ You can read more about this podcast in the podcast Show Notes. Please Support this Podcast: The Twenty First Century Imperative podcast is ad-free and relies entirely on user support. If you find it valuable please show your support by becoming a patron at our TFCI Patreon Page.

Aaron Myran is the founder and director of Future Majority, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to amplifying the collective voice of young Canadians, and through Future Majority, it’s pretty clear to me that Aaron is going to have a BIG impact on Canada’s future! In this episode I talked with Aaron about how he ended up as a political organizer; the role he sees for the Future Majority organization in helping to engage the youth vote in the upcoming Canadian Federal Election; the critically important role of an engaged young electorate in meeting the huge environmental challenges we now face; and what advice he would have for someone setting out to make a difference. You can read more about this podcast in the Show Notes. Please Support this Podcast: The Twenty First Century Imperative podcast is ad-free and relies entirely on user support. If you find it valuable please consider supporting us by becoming a patron at our TFCI Patreon Page.