Shows
Fostering Our Earth 🌍#11 How does modular construction help solve the housing crisis? 🚧Have you ever wondered what it would take to turn an office building into housing? In this episode of Fostering Our Earth 🌍, we explore the exciting world of modular construction to address the pressing housing crisis with Candice Delamarre, co-founder of Kit Switch.Joined by co-host Shikha Srinivas, we discuss how Kit Switch’s modular design significantly speeds up the construction process, both for retrofitting existing buildings and for new buildings. A kitchen, for example, can be installed in just a day, minimizing disruption for tenants in existing apartment buildings undergoing renovation. This contrasts sharply with traditional renov...2025-04-1653 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍Live Read Along #3: It's Not That RadicalJoin me for my next live video in the app This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.fosteringourearth.com2025-03-2153 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍Live Read Along #2: It's Not That RadicalJoin me for my next live video in the app This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.fosteringourearth.com2025-03-1355 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍March Book Club Read along!Join me for my next live video in the app This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.fosteringourearth.com2025-03-0751 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍#10 Are we overlooking a major source of emissions in embodied carbon?🏗️Imagine you've built the perfect carbon-free home: zero-emission appliances, solar panels on the roof, and even the most sustainable materials you could find—beautiful reclaimed wood sourced from Oregon and granite countertops from Vermont. But here's the catch: even if your home runs on clean energy, it's not truly carbon-free. Why? Because of embodied carbon—the hidden emissions tied to the energy used to mine, manufacture, and transport those materials. From the granite countertops to the wood beams, every material has a carbon footprint long before it reaches your home.In this episode of Fostering Our Earth 🌍, we dive...2025-03-0358 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍#9 Climate Books and Podcasts to Inspire You 🫵🏾Future ancestors, welcome to season two!In this episode, Awoe introduces Shikha Srinivas, who will join Fostering Our Earth🌍 this season as a co-host for a few episodes. As young professionals working in the climate and sustainability sector, they share some of their favorite books and podcasts that motivates their work. Kick back and get to know us a bit, the jokes we like to make, and add these recommendations to your list. Please note that this episode was originally recorded in January 2024 but a lot of the content is timeless (until we end our cli...2025-02-0247 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍Season Two TrailerFostering Our Earth is back for season two! This year, we’ll continue exploring key concepts that will be necessary for our transition into a more sustainable and climate resilient future. Each month, join me and our various experts to discuss topics such as embodied carbon, modular design, food and land justice, resilience planning and so much more!Be sure to subscribe to Fostering Our Earth on Substack to stay up date and you can listen to the podcast wherever you want!~~Music by Pumpupthemind on Pixabay. This is a pu...2025-01-2501 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍2024 Election Reflection: An Inflection Point and What's the Plan Now?✅In this episode of Fostering Our Earth, Awoe is joined by Natalie Hernandez to reflect on Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 Presidential Election. They compare the emotional and political climate to 2016, discuss the Democratic Party's disconnect from its traditional base, and highlight the election's impact on environmental regulations, immigration, and the economy. Using their personal identities as a starting point, Awoe and Natalie share what they think this election means. With past Fostering Our Earth guests, Chris Asmar and Andrea Learned, also joining, the conversation emphasizes the importance and power of local community organizing, economic justice, and the interconnectedness...2024-11-1847 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍#8 Building Climate and Community Resilience with Natalie Hernandez 🌞In this episode, Awoe and Natalie Hernandez explore what climate resilience is, how we can assess and design for resilience and explains what resilience hubs are. In an increasingly climate-prone world, our need to develop resilience (both in our infrastructure and our communities) is higher than ever.Natalie Hernandez is a specialist in environmental policy and community planning. She currently holds the position of Environmental Project Manager at the Gateway Cities Council of Governments. She was previously a Director at Climate Resolve, where she managed the “Ready for Tomorrow” grant writing and rese...2024-05-2749 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍#7 Farm-to-Plate-to-Waste: Food in Climate Action with Lana Weidgenant 🍇In this episode, Awoe is joined by Lana Weidgenant, who works at the intersection of food systems, agriculture, and climate action, to discuss food systems, their impact on climate change, and potential solutions. We talk about food systems through the farm-to-plate-to-waste framework and some major issues including food/agriculture’s contribution to the climate crisis and food insecurity. Finally, Lana shares the role alternative proteins and policies can play in making a difference. ~~The books recommended in the episode are: Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie2024-02-1532 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍#6 Making Transportation Planning More Inclusive with Veronica O. Davis 🚇Happy End of 2023! This episode features Veronica O. Davis, author of "Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities." Veronica is currently the Director of Transportation and Drainage Operations in Houston, TX. In Inclusive Transportation, Veronica shares her experience in creating this active and reflective guide for readers to rethink how we design mobility systems in the name of equity and justice. In this episode, Awoe asks Veronica questions about meaningful engagement, power, and influence in decision-making and what systemic change can look like.If...2024-01-0133 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍#5 The Fight for Affordable Housing with Chris Asmar🏘️In this episode, Awoe interviews Chris Asmar, co-lead of the Urban Environmentalists' Illinois chapter. We delve into the topic of housing, discussing why it is challenging to build affordable housing and the characteristics of NIMBYism and YIMBYism. Cities face numerous challenges regarding housing and mobility, and organizations such as the Urban Environmentalists are working to address them by expanding transportation options beyond driving, promoting sustainable communities, and advocating for more affordable housing.Resources suggested in the episode: 🔦 Intersectional Environmentalist Toolkit for Environmental Justice Issues in Palestine 📰 The Urbanist 📰...2023-11-2454 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍#4 Shaping the Future of Urban Mobility with Jerome HorneIn this episode, I am joined by Jerome Horne, Manager of Communications for the Baltimore Red Line Project at MDOT MTA. Together, we explore what a sustainable mobility system for the future could look like. Our discussion covers a wide range of topics, from the technical aspects of mobility, such as the importance of running continuously and reliably, to the social components of mobility, with segments on unarresting mobility and meaningful community engagement.~Links + Lingo:Cities For People Not Cars | CuldesacUnpacking a Sustainable Mobility System 🚆🚃🚘 (beehiiv.com)2023-09-1442 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍GUEST FEATURE: Climate-Resilient Infrastructure with the SpaceshipOne PodcastIn this episode, Fostering Our Earth host, Awoe features as a guest on SpaceshipOne to discuss climate resilient infrastructure, sustainability, and equity. You can find SpaceshipOne’s podcast here and their Instagram here.~~Don't forget to subscribe to the newsletter here: Subscribe | Fostering Our Earth 🌍 (beehiiv.com)And follow the Instagram here: Fostering Our Earth 🌍 (@fostering.our.earth) • Instagram photos and videos This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access...2023-09-0321 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍#3 Empowering Communities Equitably: Sustainable Development in ActionThis episode explores how to transform and empower communities sustainably and equitably through public government in the face of the climate crisis with guest Saharnaz Mirzazad. Together, we embark on a thought-provoking conversation about governments' role in combatting climate change and building sustainable communities. Using "Transformative Climate Communities" as a model for inspiring change, we unpack the elements of sustainable community development and planning. Whether you are passionate about sustainable development, climate resilience or simply curious about the critical role of governments in shaping our collective future, this episode will provide invaluable insights and ignite a sense of hope...2023-08-0131 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍#2 Climate Influence 101: How You Can Make a Difference for the PlanetThis episode explores how visible individual action can make a difference in our fight for a more sustainable future. Joined by climate-media relations expert, Andrea Learned, we unpack what climate influence is, how we can demonstrate it, and the role it plays in mobilizing toward climate action. Whether you're talking climate with your friends and family, or especially if you're a leader in a position of power, displaying climate influence can help us "be the change we wish to see in the world."~~Andrea hosts Living Change: A Quest for Climate Leadership, a...2023-06-2638 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍#1 Sustainability in our Energy Systems: From Equity to PracticalityEnergy is crucial to our daily lives, powering everything from our phones to our homes. In this episode, Chris Rhie, an expert on urban sustainability and environmental management, joins me in discussing what sustainability means for our energy system. Chris shares his insights on how we can approach this complex issue from environmental, economic, and equitable perspectives while providing practical tips for you!~~Chris Rhie is a nationally recognized expert on urban sustainability and a former Associate Principal at Buro Happold in Los Angeles. His background in public policy, urban design, and environmental...2023-05-2934 min
Fostering Our Earth 🌍Fostering Our Earth: TrailerFostering Our Earth 🌍 is a podcast and newsletter that focuses on imagining and detailing a sustainable future that is equitable and just for all. Here, we explore the infrastructure, policies, lifestyles, and cultures necessary to achieve this sustainable future. The podcast host, Awoe, is an urban systems engineer from Ghana and Baltimore passionate about unpacking systemic injustice, facilitating discussion about the future, and inspiring action no matter how small. The podcast invites sustainability enthusiasts and beginners alike to explore how to build a better tomorrow by fostering our Earth today. This is a public episode. If you...2023-04-2302 min