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Transforming Tomorrow

The Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business

Sustainability is a key consideration for any contemporary business, from biodiversity to modern slavery, seabeds to factory floors. Transforming Tomorrow guides you through the complex, ever-changing and often exciting (yes, really!!) world of sustainability in business.

Alongside members of the Pentland Centre, international research experts, and business leaders, we cover the theory and practice of mainstreaming sustainability into purposeful business strategy and performance.

Whether you are leading change in your business, or just want to know more about how space weather, human trafficking or architecture may influence the future of sustainability, Transforming Tomorrow is the show for you.

Taking you through it all, hosts Jan and Paul bring insight, perspective, and more than occasional disagreement to their topics.

Professor Jan Bebbington is the Director of the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business at Lancaster University. Jan is an expert on accounting, benchmarking (to her co-host’s annoyance), and how business and sustainability intersect. She loves nature and wants to protect it – and hopes she can change the world (ideally for the better). She is also motivated to address inequality wherever it is found and especially to eliminate forced, bonded or child labour. Transforming Tomorrow is one small step on that quest.

Paul Turner is a former sports journalist who now works promoting the research activities in Lancaster University Management School – a poacher turned gamekeeper as his former colleagues would have it. He has always been interested in nature and the natural environment – it comes from growing up in Cumbria – and has been a vocal proponent of the work of the Pentland Centre since joining Lancaster University. He does not like rankings and benchmarking, and is not afraid to say so.

Join us every Monday to uncover new insights and become a little more inspired that you can make a difference in sustainability.

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S3 · E49
Friday · 33 min
Global Tipping Points 2026: AI and HI
We cannot expect the technology of tomorrow to be better than the humans of today. So, if we want Artificial Intelligence and other tech to be better, then we need to improve as people. Dr Cornelia Walther, from our hosts the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, joins us at the Global Tipping Points 2026 Conference at Sunway University to discuss AI’s links to tipping points, and to the future of humanity. The complexity of AI makes it hard to know what’s to come, but Cornelia stresses the technology can be both good and bad. The problem is it operates on the garbage in, garbage out principle, when we need it to work on a values in, values out basis. If we want to see that change, we must alter our priorities. As the last of the analogue generations, living through the move towards a time of hybrid intelligence (HI) – mixing natural intelligence and AI – we consider the effects on our brains of delegating previously everyday functions to the phone in our pocket or the computer on our desk. Will it lead to us all having robot partners?! We find ourselves asking, how can we avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and take advantage of AI as a force for good? This episode was produced in conjunction with the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, hosts of the conference.
S3 · E48
Thursday · 33 min
Global Tipping Points 2026: The Power of a Good Story
We know language is key to getting the message across on climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and tackling global tipping points. So what do we need to talk about? Said Faisal is an advisor on disaster risk management, and the former Executive Director of the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Centre. He is also one of the MCs for the Global Tipping Points 2026 Conference at Sunway University. As such, he has been in the perfect position to take in all the discussions and get a view of the whole picture. He joins us – with his Jerry Maguire references but without his rap group – to talk the importance of messaging, the need for business to look beyond profit, the power of a critical mass of people in moving us towards positive tipping points, and whether the Global South message has been ignored in the past and how important it has been to hear that voice at GTP 2026. We stack up logic, emotion and belief alongside climate, disaster and sustainable development, and take a ride across the whole conference agenda, from nature to culture and religion. This episode was produced in conjunction with the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, hosts of the conference.
S3 · E47
Wednesday · 29 min
Global Tipping Points 2026: Positive Tipping Points
Not all tipping points are negative – and not all of them relate to the climate. So, what are positive tipping points? And how about social tipping points as well? Dr Steve Smith, Research Fellow at the Global Systems Institute and Green Futures Solutions at the University of Exeter, knows the answers. Steve was a lead author on the 2023 and 2025 Global Tipping Points reports, and is a leader in the field of positive tipping points for several years. He is with us at the Global Tipping Points 2026 Conference at Sunway University in Malaysia to explain the concepts to us. We’ll find out about how positive tipping points might come about, what is needed for them to gain traction, and just how little of a country’s population is needed to get firmly behind an issue to affect real change. Steve will tell us about the drivers and barriers to change, the importance of groups of businesses to progress, and the role of keystone actors, and the technological, societal and environmental factors that come into play. This episode was produced in conjunction with the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, hosts of the conference.
S3 · E46
Wednesday · 28 min
Global Tipping Points 2026: Finance and Governance
How can we build infrastructures to be climate and nature resilient? Do we sometimes focus too much on safeguarding and not enough on improvements when it comes to action? In the third part of our series from the Global Tipping Points 2026 Conference at Sunway University in Malaysia, we are joined by Professor Erik Berglöf, Director of the House of Governance and Public Policy at Stockholm School of Economics, to look at the importance of governance and finance, and the nature of planetary health. We discuss the role of positive tipping points, how governance can encourage a tip over in the right direction, the importance of nature as critical infrastructure for all life on earth – and the global economy – and the need to enforce laws if they are to have an effect. We also look at how business, but most importantly nations, value nature, and the importance of placing a financial value on it if companies are to treat it seriously. This episode was produced in conjunction with the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, hosts of the conference.
S3 · E45
Tuesday · 28 min
Global Tipping Points 2026: Nature and Business
How does nature fit into the tipping points framework? With so much focus on the climate in debates, nature can be forgotten. In the second part of our series from the Global Tipping Points 2026 Conference at Sunway University in Malaysia, Tamara Singh, of The Nature Conservancy, joins us to talk about how business and nature fit together, where she has seen good practice in her work across many countries, and how finance fits into this dynamic. We discuss whether business is always the bad guy when it comes to tackling planetary challenges, what it can learn from nature, and how it can be valued on the balance sheet. This episode was produced in conjunction with the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, hosts of the conference.
S3 · E44
Monday · 26 min
Global Tipping Points 2026: An Introduction
What are the global tipping points? What are positive tipping points? How can the world work together to stop one and produce the other? We are at the Global Tipping Points Conference 2026 at Sunway University in Malaysia to investigate these questions and many more. In this introduction to a special mini-series produced in conjunction with conference hosts the Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University, we look at the key issues being discussed by figures from government, academia, business, NGOs and many other groups and organisations. We will explain the key concepts, outline our initial impressions from the opening sessions, and look ahead to the future. Over the course of this series, we will speak to figures from across the conference on a wide range of topics. Keep an eye on the Transforming Tomorrow feed as episodes will land while the event is ongoing.
S3 · E43
August 3 · 34 min
From Climate Change to Politics, Ideas, Ideals, Badgers, and more
As we wrap up season three of Transforming Tomorrow, we consider how the vast range of subjects out guests have brought into the studio are and attempt to tie these topics together. This brings us to issues of politics and the law, Artificial Intelligence, and the experiences of businesspeople and researchers that ties them to their subjects. Join us on a journey that takes us from courtrooms to boardrooms, government chambers to war zones, cotton fields to refugee camps, and it is amazing to see how things fit with each other, and how quickly change can come. We discuss the optimism and determination of our guests to make a difference, how personal experiences drive them, and how the compassion they have directed their work. We see how ideas and ideals have come together, think about what the next year might bring, and wonder some more about the next generation and rethinking how things work. Plus, can Jan pick out the ringer from a list of topics to have been discussed on the show over the last 12 months – the answer is not badgers, but is it the Moomins, Kevin Bacon, Logan’s Run or shampoo? And, to show us that things really are always changing, since recording this episode, Donald Trump has brought up his desire to control Greenland once again! We suspect we will be mentioning his name again in seasons to come.
S3 · E42
July 27 · 36 min
AI as a Force for Good in Modern Slavery Reporting
We’re not the biggest fans of Artificial Intelligence on Transforming Tomorrow, but are our minds about to be changed? We are ready to discover how AI is being used to make a positive difference in the world of sustainability. Dr Mahmoud Gad, from Lancaster University Management School, returns to the show to talk to us about his work developing an AI platform that can analyse companies’ modern slavery statements both accurately and quickly. We find out what UK businesses need to do when it comes reporting and mitigating modern slavery in their operations and supply chains; what has changed over recent years as Mahmoud and his colleagues have worked in the area; and learn all about the AI platform he has been building – and why his team has done it. This podcast highlights the limits of the existing manual processes for reading and analysing reports and how the time such analysis takes limits the number of reports that can be analysed for any given study. We examine interpretation bias by both people and AI when it comes to such analysis. We also find out the importance of how the AI platform is built as well as who builds the platforms. Plus, Paul shocks Jan, Mahmoud and himself with AI’s description of their dazzling careers and achievements. Why is Paul irked today? And why does one of Jan’s colleagues never want to work on analysis with her again?!? Details of Mahmoud’s project can be found here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/data-science-and-artificial-intelligence/about-us/news/funding-for-lancaster-team-to-develop-ai-tool-to-improve-modern-slavery-reporting The platform he talks about is here: https://www.antislaveryintelligence.co.uk/ And evidence from a 2022 review of modern slavery reporting in the UK is in this report: https://media.frc.org.uk/documents/FRC_Modern_Slavery_Reporting_Practices_in_the_UK_2022.pdf Episode Transcript
S3 · E41
July 20 · 35 min
The Psychological Threat of Climate Change
It’s easy to let climate change get us down. To allow political tide of anti-sustainability rhetoric to carry you away. But while it is easy to feel despondent from time to time, it is important to feel safe when expressing your emotions. To help us, Dr Nadine Andrews, an Honorary Researcher here at the Pentland Centre, and a facilitator of climate and eco psychology processes, brings her expertise to talk us through the mental and psychological toll climate change can take on us. We consider how the urgency of climate change can hit us; learn about psycho-social factors and how they affect us; talk about the values-action gap and where that fits in terms of behaviour on sustainability; look at climate change as a psychological threat, and how that manifests in each of us. Nadine tells us about her work studying sustainability professionals, and how they would suppress their beliefs in the workplace, how they revitalise themselves, and how it could all lead to burnout. Is it inevitable that the more we know about climate change, the more emotionally affected by it we will be? Nadine gives us the evidence from her work with climate assemblies, and how members felt after their involvement – and after the Scottish government responded. Plus, we get out the thesaurus to consider vitality, well-being, hope, optimism and thriving in a sustainability context; put negative emotions in the bin in favour of difficult emotions; remember to think about non-human people; and ask if is Paul undercharging for his therapy sessions? Read about Nadine’s work with climate assemblies here: https://doc.your-brochure-online.co.uk/Lancaster-University_FiftyFourDegrees_Issue_16/22/ Recent research on climate concern can be found here: https://www.lrfoundation.org.uk/news/global-concern-about-climate-change-reaches-record-high And this is a resource for understanding the values action gap: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value-action_gap Episode Transcript
S3 · E40
July 13 · 46 min
Entrepreneurship as Survival and Empowerment
How can marginalised people find a new identity through entrepreneurship? How do women help their families survive in foreign lands by undertaking new endeavours? And all of this when ‘most of all, they just want to go home’. Dr Sophie Alkhaled, Director of the Academy for Gender Equality and Social Justice Research in Organisations in Lancaster University Management School, joins us to talk about the lives of refugees in camps and communities outside their homelands, and how women there have discovered business to help their families live. She tells us how her personal life experience and heritage shaped her interest in both refugees and gender equity, from seeing her mother prohibited from driving in Saudi Arabia, to living under the Assad regime in Syria, and travelling to refugee camps that are home to her countrymen and women. We find out how millions of Syrians were forced to flee their homeland, how entrepreneurship takes hold in unexpected places, and how women came to reimagine what an entrepreneur and business leader is as they try to make sure they have food on the table. Sophie tells us how entrepreneurship is a means of survival and empowerment for these women; how their Syrian products can keep national identity and pride alive among the refugees; how in many cases the money from these businesses was the only thing ensuring that refugees could eat and pay rent; and we talk about how refugees can leave a country with war or famine and move to another with difficulties of its own. We also look at the Academy and its work on gender equality in business schools and beyond. This takes the discussion into business realms and countries all around the world, and Sophie talks about the importance of being a hopeaholic when it comes to seeing changes around gender equality. Plus, why did Jan leave New Zealand? How bad are the All Whites football team if someone who played for Barrow once represented them? And is Paul dead inside? Find out more about Sophie and her work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/people/sophie-alkhaled Read about her research on Syrian women refugees here: https://doc.your-brochure-online.co.uk/Lancaster-University_FiftyFourDegrees_Issue_17/26/ And this is where you can discover the Academy for Gender Equality and Social Justice Research in Organisations: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/research/research-initiatives/gender-equality/ Episode Transcript
S3 · E39
July 6 · 54 min
Responding to Humanitarian Crises
There are always humanitarian crises somewhere in the world. We just don’t know about all of them. Lancaster University’s Dr Nonhlanhla Dube, an ‘accidental humanitarian’ turned expert humanitarian logistician, joins us to fill in the gaps in our knowledge on the humanitarian sector, particularly on refugees. We think about how we learn of humanitarian crises around the world, how our knowledge can be limited by what the media in our home countries reports on, and where there might be ‘hidden’ issues in parts of the world we do not think about – including Noni’s home country of Zimbabwe. We learn what events trigger a humanitarian effort and how long-term issues can tip over to require larger and more immediate responses; consider the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 and its effects on 2.3 million people in many countries around the Indian Ocean; and look at how ‘CNN disasters’ can affect why some funding appeals are more successful than others. Noni tells us about examples of good practice in response operations, how long-term planning is essential, why adapting tents according to your needs plays such a key role, where refugees comes from, how some people can spend most of their lives in a refugee camp, and what individuals and businesses can do to help when a disaster happens. And we discuss problems and challenges with disaster responses; where good intentions can go wrong; why local people and their needs and perspectives can be ignored by international organisations; and the impact of aid cuts because of political shifts worldwide. Read about Noni’s work on improving emergency response efforts for refugees here: https://doc.your-brochure-online.co.uk/Lancaster-University_FiftyFourDegrees_Issue_19/34/ An example of organisation that supports people at times of disaster is Doctors without Borders: https://msf.org.uk/who-we-are Rawls’ veil of ignorance is explained here: https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/veil-of-ignorance Episode Transcript
S3 · E38
June 29 · 41 min
Farming and Carbon: An Update
Step into the Transforming Tomorrow time machine, as we head back to look at the work between Lancaster University and Lake District Farmers on working towards net-zero meat production. Dr Laura Giles – now studying for another doctorate at the University of Dundee – brings us up to date on the final outcomes of a partnership that looked at carbon stocks in farm soil and carbon accounting across several holdings in Cumbria. We find out what work on to complete the project, what lab analysis of soil samples revealed about carbon contents of soil, and just what we mean when we talk about carbon in soil. Laura tells us about the varied benefits of having more carbon in the soil, from food production to flood prevention; shares the results of the surveys, and how they varied across farms; and warns against the belief in a universal cure-all for problems. We consider how past farming practice has made a difference to the land, and what this might mean for current landowners; discuss the importance of caring for the land, but balancing change with the impact on the farming system; raise a smile at the pride farmers have in the quality of their soils; and see how the project has raised awareness of just what soil carbon means to Lake District Farmers’ customers. There is time to look at other effects of less intensive farming, including the benefits to biodiversity; consider the nutritional quality of meat produced on these same farms; and realise that judging on carbon footprinting alone is not always the best idea. Plus, what’s scarier – a sheep or a cow? And why? Do sheep from different countries share a common personality and a universal language? Are cows cold-blooded killers? And other important questions from the world of farming. Watch a film summarising the findings of the Knowledge Transfer Partnership here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/research/research-enterprise-services/knowledge-transfer-partnerships/case-studies/lake-district-farmers-case-study/ The background on the project can be found here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/pentland/activities/cross-cutting/transition-and-transformation/lake-district-farmers-ktp/ And to listen to the previous podcasts on this topic, connect here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3AVTRXxixXpldapfTZvCCoyzvCzSDyB9 Episode Transcript
S3 · E37
June 22 · 37 min
Waste in the Textile Industry
How much waste is produced then your clothes are manufactured? And it there anything that can be done to reduce that? The Pentland Centre’s Dr Madiha Ahmad joins us to talk about her PhD research at Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh, which involved looking at sew-free techniques that dramatically reduce fabric wastage. Madiha tells us about textiles in her Pakistan homeland, where it is an $18bn industry, and we go in-depth on how fibres become yarn becomes fabric, spanning global supply chains and representing a more complicated process than you might imagine. We learn about the lifecycle of fibres as they become fabrics and garments; about issues of over-consumption, fast fashion, and landfill, but also how waste is created when a garment is produced; and about the many technicalities of weaving. Madiha reveals the many layers of sustainability that need to be considered, and how knowledge and practice in this area can be part of a company’s international competitiveness. We talk about fabric waste, and how this is both a natural part of the standard manufacturing process but also something that could be tackled with a different weaving method – one that will have you checking how many seams you have on your clothing. We even take the concepts of sew-free and see how similar ideas can be applied in aerospace. Plus, Jan tells us about being raised to be a farmer’s wife; Paul objects to Jan’s suggestion he doesn’t think about how and where his clothes are made as he reveals he is made in Egypt on this particular day; and the horrible idea of square scones rears its ugly head. Here is a handy outline of how textiles are manufactured: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_manufacturing If you want to understand more about weaving, see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weaving And if you want to listen to our previous episode on the Uzbek cotton industry, this is the place: https://pod.fo/e/3cf0a4 Episode Transcript
S3 · E36
June 15 · 53 min
Understanding Citizens’ Assemblies
What do the public think about climate change? How do they think governments should act? These are the people who will often be most affected by policy and action, so how do we find out their views? This answer may lie in citizens’ assemblies. Dr Andy Yuille, is an interdisciplinary qualitative social scientist (!) from the University of Manchester. He takes us through citizens’ assemblies and their role in creating understandings about people's thoughts about the environment and government policy, and how they show that members of the public can take informed, positions on difficult policy decisions. We encounter the concept of deliberative mini-publics, and how they can reflect the broader population to ensure views of assemblies reflect those of the public at large; discuss where and at what level climate assemblies operate; and understand how they are formed and operate, and the disqualifying factors for taking part. Andy tells us about his interest in how major decisions that affect the environment are made and his work on the Our Energy Futures panel; we look at the polarisation of society and how this affects matters; and how assemblies might be a way to build trust in government. What actions do governments take on assembly recommendations? Do assembly members ever find out why their suggestions are (or are not) taken up? And can these assemblies be considered a successful initiative? Plus, what do people think about changes to energy usage and demand? How do they think businesses should adapt? Did Jan behave in school assemblies? What are human assembly plants? And what is a sociologist? The UK Parliament has an introduction to citizens’ assemblies: https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/committees/climate-assembly-uk/about-citizens-assemblies/ Here are some examples of past citizens’ assemblies: https://tinyurl.com/pastcitizensassemblies More details about the assembly Andy talked about can be found here: https://www.edrc.ac.uk/research/projects/public-support-and-engagement-for-low-energy-futures/ Episode Transcript
S3 · E35
June 8 · 43 min
Regional Development, Inequalities and Entrepreneurship
How can businesses – and business schools – have a positive effect on their regions? And do we need to reconsider the connections between us all? Ellie Hamilton is Professor Emerita at Lancaster University Management School, with a lengthy background in entrepreneurship and working with businesses. She is also the co-author of a new book, Rethinking Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, with former Lancaster colleagues Dr Rhiannon Pugh and Dr Danny Soetanto. Ellie joins us to talk about how we need to focus on the role of universities as anchor institutions in their communities; the evolution of entrepreneurship as a concept; how regional development is seen as addressing regional inequalities – but how the focus on economics can be too great; and We consider how sustainability can be a key part of both entrepreneurship and regional development, and mull over the need to break stubborn habits; shine a light on place-based and community-based entrepreneurship that is embedded in a region; and emphasises the importance of context in any region (be it geographical or institutional) to successful development. The importance of the input from indigenous people in planning for change comes to the fore once more; a cog model of policy shaping research shaping engagement shaping teaching shaping policy is discussed; and Ellie looks to what the future might bring. Plus, Ellie tells us about becoming an accidental academic and how to properly enjoy retirement; Jan struggles to spell entrepreneurship – but can blame the French; and Paul laments the treatment of medieval polar bears in the Tower of London. See Ellie’s new book here: https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/rethinking-entrepreneurship-and-regional-development-9781802201437.html For more information on Lancaster University’s entrepreneurship research, see here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/our-departments/entrepreneurship-and-strategy/research/ Episode Transcript
S3 · E34
June 1 · 48 min
The Net Zero Healthcare Mission
How can healthcare achieve net zero? Where do sustainability considerations stand in the long list of priorities for England’s National Health Service? And could your anaesthetic be better for the planet? Dr Cliff Shelton, a consultant and professor in anaesthesia and perioperative medicine in the NHS and at Lancaster University Medical School; and Dr Fanny Burrows, Senior Lead on Net Zero Research and Innovation in the Greener NHS Programme for NHS England (which means more than painting the walls), are two people who can provide the answers to these and many other questions. We learn why the NHS in England has committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2045, what the implications are of this goal, and how patient care will be affected and even improved by the actions necessary to reach it. We look at how research and innovation can help healthcare sustainability, what changes have already been made, how waste can be and has been cut, and why some anaesthetics can be bad for the environment. Cliff and Fanny talk to us about why patients should not feel responsibility for the carbon footprint of their care; how other health services around the world are following the UK’s lead; the realities of net-zero surgery; and attitudes to net zero among NHS staff generally. Plus, Jan relives long-jumping and rollerblading trauma; Cliff tells us about inadvertent stockpiling of laughing gas; and stuffed badgers make a welcome (albeit brief) return. Find out more about NHS England’s approach to net zero here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/2022/07/B1728-delivering-a-net-zero-nhs-july-2022.pdf And this is how things look after five years: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/five-years-greener-nhs-progress-forward-look/ This is an explainer on what net zero means for anaesthesia: https://www.bjanaesthesia.org/article/S0007-0912(20)30547-X/fulltext Read Cliff’s work on identifying and mitigating nitrous oxide waste: https://associationofanaesthetists-publications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ftr/10.1111/anae.16211 And the resultant national consensus: https://rcoa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/2024-07/Consensus%20statement%20on%20removal%20of%20pipeline%20nitrous%20oxide.pdf Net zero versus carbon neutral distinctions are discussed here: https://www.carbonneutral.com/news/carbon-neutral-vs-net-zero Episode Transcript
S3 · E33
May 25 · 48 min
How To Be a Socially Responsible Company
What can companies do to better look after their workers? What makes an ethical employer? And how can businesses do more to care for their communities? These are all things we consider as we welcome Brett Mendell, Managing Director of Thomas Kneale & Co Ltd. Brett leads a company that pays the Real Living Wage, that is employee owned, and that takes its responsibilities to decent work and sustainability in all its forms seriously. He tells us what it is like for a business to have purpose, people, planet and profit at the heart of their operations – recognising the need for profit while respecting their values and impact on those around them. We find out what it takes to win the King’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development – even if we are no clearer on whether Brett makes the king’s bedsheets; why they are still pushing to do more; and what the benefits are for workers being part of an employee-owned company. We uncover the differences between the Government’s Living Wage, and the Real Living Wage, and why Thomas Kneale and Brett see such value in the latter for themselves and their employees; find out how businesses and local government can work together to implement better employment practices; and consider the importance of combined efforts to eliminate modern slavery from supply chains. Plus, is there a cotton controversy in the bedding industry? Are silk sheets reserved solely for the Playboy mansion? And whose bed(ding) are you sleeping in tonight? Find out more about Thomas Kneale here: https://www.thomaskneale.co.uk/ And about employee-owned companies in the UK here: https://blog.shorts.uk.com/list-of-employee-owned-companies This is the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter: https://www.gmgoodemploymentcharter.co.uk/ Episode Transcript
S3 · E32
May 18 · 41 min
Prioritising Planetary Health
Health is not just about us as individuals. It’s about the whole planet. It’s time we think about health on a worldwide scale. Professor Jemilah Mahmood is Executive Director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at our old friends Sunway University, in Malaysia. As a medical professional who has helped deliver 15,000 babies(!), she knows healthcare from the personal level. But she also has decades of experience managing crises in health, disaster and conflict settings. Jemilah talks us through her career and how watching a woman stranded with her newborn baby in a tree above crocodile-infested floodwaters in Mozambique led her to focus on equity and justice, helping those affected by conflict and disasters. She tells us about the concept of planetary health – and the similarities and differences to the one health agenda; the role of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health as a ‘think-and-do-tank’, which includes experts from across multiple disciplines; and how those who make the least impact on the environment are often those worst affected by the changing climate. We look at the links between planetary health and the planetary boundaries; the concept of Return on Value, rather than Return on Investment; the importance of planetary health concepts in a university education; and the world-leading National Planetary Health Action Plan in Malaysia, and how it aligns economic growth with environmental resilience and societal well-being. Plus, Paul reveals strongly held beliefs on brown rice; Jemilah emerges as a proponent of the living to eat mentality; Jan questions her energy levels; and we look at the power of optimism, agency and the next generation. For more on the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, see here: https://www.sunwayplanetaryhealth.com.my/ This is the Malaysian National Planetary Health Action Plan: https://www.akademisains.gov.my/nphap-full-report/ And see what it takes to move from return on investment to return on values here: https://sunwayuniversity.edu.my/sites/default/files/documents/2025-06/roi_rov_prospectus.pdf Episode Transcript
S3 · E31
May 11 · 41 min
Do You Know Your Employment Rights?
At a time when employment rights in the UK are evolving all the time, we look at how and why. Alice Martin, Head of Research at the Work Foundation thinktank at Lancaster University, joins us to talk about the Employment Rights Act of 2025, and why it is important for you if you are in a job, seeking a job or looking to employ someone. We look at the key issues around job insecurity, how this ties in with workers’ rights, the protections that are in place – and that are still needed – how health impacts working lives, and the struggles of finding jobs in an increasingly competitive (and restricted) market. Alice tells us how workers’ right have (and have not) changed over the years; what the Employment Rights Act does – and aims to do; what the Fair Work Agency (and fair work) is; and how the Act ties in with flexible working, unfair dismissals, and statutory sick pay. And we look at what might come next, how employers might look to circumvent some powers of the act through using gig workers, the need for working lives to be sustainable and not lead to burnout, and the potential for AI to help workers, not just take their jobs. Plus, do academics really like to complain all the time? Are employment tribunal PDFs really that interesting? And if there is no such thing as a zero-hours contract, then why do we hear so much about them?! Find out more about the Work Foundation here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/work-foundation/ Read a short piece from Alice on the potential future of workers’ rights: https://doc.your-brochure-online.co.uk/Lancaster-University_FiftyFourDegrees_Issue_25/18/ Discover the Fair Work Agency here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/fair-work-agency The example of a regional approach to ensuring decent work that Jan mentioned from Manchester can be found here: https://www.gmgoodemploymentcharter.co.uk/ And this report (produced through a partnership between the UK Government and the Pentland Centre) presents an evidence summary of effective prevention and detection of labour exploitation: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69d4d224019a4faf2745b385/decent_work_a_review_of_evidence_for_effective_prevention_and_detection_of_labour_exploitation.pdf Episode Transcript
S3 · E30
May 4 · 38 min
When Scientists Become Activists
Can you be a scientist and an activist at the same time? Where do you draw the line between being a detached expert and stepping on the front lines of climate change protests? Dr Samuel Finnerty, from Lancaster University’s Department of Psychology, joins us to discuss individual and group climate change activism from social and psychological perspectives. Sam explains how his background in anthropology, cognitive science and psychology brought him to have an interest in activism, and how and why scientists become involved in these activities. We learn about the shape of modern-day climate change protests, including Insulate Britain, Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil in the UK; what it means to be disruptive in this activism; the importance of media coverage to their cause – and what this coverage looks like; how the public react to acts of civil disobedience; and if they might ever be counterproductive. We look at how have systems around the world have reacted to disruptive protests; the frustrations scientists feel in wanting to get their messages across; how academics can remain objective if they are also activists; whether the public can still trust researchers if they take these strong public stances; and consider potential comparisons with scientists speaking out on environmental issues and those who used to endorse alcohol or smoking. Paul wonders if Jan would have fitted in with Father Ted’s protest marches, we consider the difficulty of getting academics to agree on anything, and ask if you don’t have a white lab coat, are you still a scientist? For a summary of Sam’s work, see here: https://theconversation.com/how-climate-scientists-balance-the-tension-between-research-and-public-protest-new-study-274916 and here: https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000828 His co-authored research paper on Just Stop Oil that he mentions is here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44168-026-00347-5 And his research profile is here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/sci-tech/about-us/people/samuel-finnerty Episode Transcript

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