Climify

This is an edited version of the live Aug. 5 panel featuring all of the season five guests.

Take a break from your daily grind and join Climify host Eric Benson for an energizing conversation that redefines what it means to be hopeful in the face of the climate crisis. Featuring a dynamic panel of changemakers — Ann Therese Genari, Jenny Morgan, Kate O'Neil, Cate Mingoya-LaFortune, Cynthia Leung, and Dr. Dana Fisher — this event invites you to explore the power of climate optimism not as blind hope, but as a courageous commitment to action.

Together, we’ll unpack...

Welcome to another great crossover episode where we introduce you to another podcast you should follow and listen to. This time it’s High Tech High’s Unboxed Podcast hosted by Alec Patton.

In this episode, Alec talks to Partners in School Innovation CEO Derek Mitchell and Executive Director of California Academy of Sciences Scott Sampson about what “regenerative education” is, and why the world needs it right now.

We are excited to bring you another great podcast crossover with the Hey Change Podcast hosted by season 5 guest Anne Therese Gennari.

A Climate Optimist’s Guide to Sustainable Living

Join Anne as she brings new life to the Hey Change Podcast and kickstart Season 5 with Mr. Climate Optimism himself - Charlie Sellars!

Charlie Sellars is the director of sustainability at Microsoft and, most importantly, the author of the newly released book What We Can Do: A Climate Optimist's Guide to Sustainable Living.

His book pulls from his experience at Microsoft to...

In this final episode of season five, Eric Benson talks with sociologist and American University Professor Dr. Dana Fisher for a frank conversation about the current state of climate action and our political and social futures.

Dr. Fisher introduces her compelling idea of “apocalyptic optimism” and explains why grassroots activism, community resilience, and embracing your anger are key to driving real change, as it’s a “perfectly wonderful time to be shrill.”

From pandemic revelations to personal awakenings, Dr. Fisher shares stories and strategies that will inspire both seasoned climate advocates and curious newcomers. Tune in to learn...

Join host Eric Benson for an inspiring and emotional conversation with climate leader Cynthia Leung as she shares her journey from being moved by An Inconvenient Truth to making real change in the energy industry. This episode is packed with powerful insights on how to align your passion with your career, overcome challenges like impostor syndrome, and take meaningful action in the face of climate despair.

Discover how concepts like "radical acceptance," social and emotional currency, and the "states of tragic" can empower you to stay hopeful and effective. Learn practical tips on mentorship, community building, and th...

Can small steps lead to big climate wins? In this episode, host Eric Benson chats with Cate Mingoya-LaFortune, author of Climate Action for Busy People, about how everyday choices can drive meaningful change. They explore why thinking local matters, how communities spark climate momentum, and how understanding the systems behind climate policy can empower even the busiest among us. With practical tips and real-world examples this conversation is a down-to-earth guide to making climate action part of your daily routine—no cape required.

Trigger Warning: This conversation contains content on suicide.

Host Eric Benson speaks with Tech Humanist Kate O’Neill to explore how technology, empathy, and bold thinking can spark real climate action. From strategic optimism to future-ready solutions, Kate shares powerful insights on bridging AI, tech, and sustainability. Whether you're in climate, tech, or just want to make a difference, this episode will leave you energized and ready to act.

Join host Eric Benson for a powerful conversation with author Jenny Morgan, whose new book Cancel Culture and Climate takes a bold look at the fractures within the climate movement. Jenny shares her personal journey—facing binary thinking, cancel culture, and the urgent need for a new kind of empathetic dialogue. Together, Eric and Jenny explore how kindness, curiosity, and honest conversation can bridge divides and spark real climate solutions. Tune in for an inspiring discussion about healing divisions and moving the climate movement forward with courage and connection.

Join host Eric Benson for a powerful conversation with author Jenny Morgan, whose new book Cancel Culture and Climate takes a bold look at the fractures within the climate movement. Jenny shares her personal journey—facing binary thinking, cancel culture, and the urgent need for a new kind of empathetic dialogue. Together, Eric and Jenny explore how kindness, curiosity, and honest conversation can bridge divides and spark real climate solutions. Tune in for an inspiring discussion about healing divisions and moving the climate movement forward with courage and connection.

Host Eric welcomes Anne Therese Gennari — TEDx speaker, educator, author, and self-proclaimed climate optimist. Together, they explore Anne's inspiring journey toward embracing and promoting climate optimism.

From the importance of inner growth and spiritual transformation to taking practical, grounded action, Anne shares how we can shift our mindset in the face of climate challenges. They explore how slowing down, avoiding the trap of toxic positivity, and tapping into imagination and regeneration can fuel real change.

If you’ve ever wondered how to stay hopeful and motivated in the climate movement, this episode is for you. Tune...

In this season, we explore the duality of climate action by addressing our collective hope for a sustainable future while acknowledging the skepticism, grief, and challenges that come with it. Join our six amazing guests as we discuss meaningful ways to maintain hope and also hold space for grief in our fight against climate change.

In this special episode of Climify, host Eric Benson chats with C’pher Gresham, co-founder of the very first DC Climate Week. They dive into how the event got started, what kind of speakers and activities you can expect — from garden tours to job fairs — and the lessons C’pher learned along the way. They also talk about why community involvement and working across political lines are so important for real climate action. Tune in for a behind-the-scenes look at DC Climate Week and pick up some tips on how you can bring a Climate Week to your own communit

Welcome to another fantastic crossover episode! This time we have the amazing podcast “Made for us” hosted by Tosin Sulaiman.

Made For Us is an award-winning podcast for anyone who’s curious about how to design for inclusivity. Join us each week for conversations with founders, designers, product inclusion leaders and other creative minds who are challening the status quo of how everyday products are designed. Each episode will bring you insights from people who've spent years thinking, perhaps even obsessing, about how to develop products or build companies that are inclusive from the start. In 2024, they were a...

This episode is our special holiday gift to you! Happy holidays! In fact, it’s all about you. Shi, an energy economist (and an avid Climify fan) was selected amongst many listeners like you to be featured on our program to talk all things Climify and, of course, climate action.

Joining Shi and Eric are awesome members of the Climify team (Bhavna and Jacqui) to discuss Shi’s climate work and solarpunk dreams. Throughout this forty minute conversation, Shi reflects on her journey from studying oil and gas markets to promoting sustainable living, solar for all, and the...

In this episode, Jackie, Bhavna, and Adam join Eric to discuss their journey of creating season four of Climify. Each reflects on the challenges and successes of planning an action-based podcast and shares what inspired them from the guest interviews. The episode also explores future directions for Climify including more audience participation to further the impact on climate action and systemic change.

This is a special three-part series for season four that you suggested to our listeners! We’ve entitled it “Changing the System - Back to School.” All of our guests and organizations in this special series want to impact climate in the classroom or through the school itself (think renewable energy!) We hope you enjoy this bonus series as it came from you – our listeners!

In this third episode of our Back to School series of Climify, Eric welcomes Stevie Bales and Zoë Edington as they discuss the New Wave Research Project, a Climate Designers initiative aimed at integr...

This is a special three-part series for season four that you suggested to our listeners! We’ve entitled it “Changing the System - Back to School.” All of our guests and organizations in this special series want to impact climate in the classroom or through the school itself (think renewable energy!) We hope you enjoy this bonus series as it came from you – our listeners!

In this second episode of the series, Eric Benson welcomes Tish Tablan from Generation 180 to discuss how to “be the spark” to help install solar on your school. Tish shares her journey into sustain...

This is a special three-part series for season four that you suggested to our listeners! We’ve entitled it “Changing the System - Back to School.” All of our guests and organizations in this special series want to impact climate in the classroom or through the school itself (think renewable energy!) We hope you enjoy this bonus series as it came from you – our listeners!

In this first episode of the series, Eric talks with representatives from College to Climate, an organization founded by students and recent graduates that aims to empower young people to pursue careers in clima...

In this episode of Cimiify, Eric welcomes Thais Mantovani, co-founder of Eco-Universidade, to discuss her journey from a career in marketing to becoming a regenerative strategist and educator. The episode delves into the impact of globalization on local cultures, emphasizing the need for localized solutions and education to foster systemic change. Mantovani shares insights from her holistic science studies at Schumacher College, her work with indigenous communities, and the importance of embracing diverse worldviews and education for sustainable transformation.

After the interview, design researcher Jacqui Himmel joins Eric to unpack the episode providing the most important calls...

In this episode of Cimiify, Eric welcomes Scott Boylston the graduate coordinator of the Design for Sustainability program at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Scott shares his expertise on systems thinking, the importance of community engagement in design, and highlights various impactful projects, including Repurpose Savannah. The discussion underscores the role of education in fostering environmental and social justice, providing a rich resource for designers aiming to effect long-term systemic change.

After the interview, design researcher Bhavna Bhavanishankar joins Eric to unpack the episode providing the most important calls to action from the discussion...

In this episode of Cimiify, Eric welcomes Michelle Moore, a distinguished climate policy expert and former federal environmental executive under the Obama administration. Michelle shares insights from her journey growing up in rural Georgia to impactful roles in national climate policy, including reducing the government's energy bill by $11 billion. The episode delves into her motivations rooted in community and faith, her work with the non-profit Groundswell to promote community power and clean energy projects in underserved areas, and the importance of values-based system change. Michelle's philosophy of 'doing well by doing good' and her latest book, Rural Renaissance, are...

The guests in our commercial series, are experts focused on how our collective system is organized. We’re not talking about which produce to pick at the grocery store – although these lifestyle choices are critical. Our guests in this second series play pivotal roles in the organization of our society, disrupting the economy at the institutional level and changing how products are imagined and created.

In this episode of Climify, Eric welcomes Dr. Tanya Beer, a seasoned stage designer and senior lecturer at Queensland College of Art and Design, Griffith University (Australia), to discuss her innovative approach to s...

The guests in our commercial series, are experts focused on how our collective system is organized. We’re not talking about which produce to pick at the grocery store – although these lifestyle choices are critical. Our guests in this second series play pivotal roles in the organization of our society, disrupting the economy at the institutional level and changing how products are imagined and created.

In this episode, Eric talks with Lynnette Widder, an architect and professor at Columbia University, about changing the system through the built environment. They explore the impacts of energy efficiency, the power of c...

The guests in our commercial series, are experts focused on how our collective system is organized. We’re not talking about which produce to pick at the grocery store – although these lifestyle choices are critical. Our guests in this second series play pivotal roles in the organization of our society, disrupting the economy at the institutional level and changing how products are imagined and created.

In this episode, Heike Petersen shares with Eric her multicultural global journey in creating her cradle-to-cradle sustainable, biodegradable, and hypoallergenic yoga fitness brand, Wellicious. The discussion sheds light on the challenges of the...

The guests in our commercial series, are experts focused on how our collective system is organized. We’re not talking about which produce to pick at the grocery store – although these lifestyle choices are critical. Our guests in this second series play pivotal roles in the organization of our society, disrupting the economy at the institutional level and changing how products are imagined and created.

In this episode, Leyla Acaroglu shares with Eric the importance of systems thinking and circularity for designers, along with the generational and cultural challenges of implementing it in the workplace. She also give...

Series 1: Lifestyle as Systems Change

The guests in our lifestyle series are all “walking the walk.” They have integrated climate consciousness into their everyday lives and ways of being. For these experts, climate action is not a discrete choice, but an intrinsic part of their lives. From them, we can learn how to transform our own practices and mindsets to be mores sustainable and future-focused.

In this episode, Michael Reynolds, the founder of Earthship Biotecture, shares his extensive journey in architecture and sustainable housing with Eric. He discusses the faults of how we currently build and...

Our third crossover episode with Brands for a Better World Podcast!

Beyond simply being delicious, food can be a means to start conversations, cross cultural divides, and even inspire social change. In this episode of Brands for a Better World, you’ll hear from Alison Cayne, Founder of NYC-based Haven’s Kitchen, about how she combined her passion for cooking with her desire to change people’s lives for the better and turned it into a purpose-driven career. Join us as we delve into the social impacts of our food systems, why home cooking is good for our he...

Series 1: Lifestyle as Systems Change

The guests in our lifestyle series are all “walking the walk.” They have integrated climate consciousness into their everyday lives and ways of being. For these experts, climate action is not a discrete choice, but an intrinsic part of their lives. From them, we can learn how to transform our own practices and mindsets to be mores sustainable and future-focused.

In this episode, Haleemah Sadiah shares with Eric her journey as a climate activist and designer. She discusses how she uses systems thinking in her life and work, her participatory desi...

Series 1: Lifestyle as Systems Change

The guests in our lifestyle series are all “walking the walk.” They have integrated climate consciousness into their everyday lives and ways of being. For these experts, climate action is not a discrete choice, but an intrinsic part of their lives. From them, we can learn how to transform our own practices and mindsets to be mores sustainable and future-focused.

In this episode, Kobi Naseck shares with Eric his journey as a climate activist and community organizer and how all of us can find a place in the climate justice move...

In this episode, Emma Askew shares with Eric why and how, at 22, she founded Earth Minutes, an organization that specializes in environmental communication and on a mission to drive the future of environmental thinking and learning. Emma details her definition of a system (and how to change it), sustainable design tips, and why putting your hands in the dirt regularly can help your mental health. She argues (with science to back it up) that purposeful time in Mother Nature will not only help your health, but give you more clarity about why better coexisting with her will help us...

Our Second Crossover Episode with Climate with Kiama! As we are one week away for the launch of the next season of Climify, we thought it would be nice to continue to provide climate education and action through the work of some of our friends. So today, we invited a kindred spirit podcast Climate with Kiana to our platform to share climate solutions through a framework of joy and justice. The host of Climate with Kiana is Kiana Michaan, a renewable energy professional and climate justice organizer based in New York City.

We're excited to let you know that season four of Climify is recorded and ready for launch on June 13th, 2024. This season, we're doing things a bit differently, which we feel will make the program more inspiring and actionable. The theme for this season is “Change the System.”

Climate change can be quite an overwhelming issue. There are so many things to be worried about and they seem to be happening all at once. This can make us feel anxious or depressed, sad, or apathetic. How can one person make a real difference? The truth of the matt...

Climify Producer Cam Burkins rejoins Dr. Melinda Adams to go deeper into her life and work. In particular, this episode explores solastalgia (or climate anxiety) and soliphilia (cures or mitigation methods against that anxiety). Melinda shares Traditional Ecological Practices that provide hope for our collective future, which will surely be Matriarchal!

How do we learn from the land and its lineage?

In this special bridge episode, Dr. Melinda Adams—Indigenous scholar, ecologist, and cultural fire practitioner—explores how place-specific, Indigenous-led practices are the key to stewarding and restoring our shared lands. Dismantling the rhetoric of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), Adams teaches a more actionable approach to controlled burning—Humble Fire—that reframes fire as a “more-than-human relative,” from which we must actively listen and learn. This “storytelling on the land” calls us to defer to Indigenous ways of being in our interventions and return to the land, assessing how our ancestor r...

Our First Crossover Episode with TILClimate from MIT!

As we are on hiatus this winter planning yet another amazing season of Climify, we thought it would be nice to continue to provide climate education and action through the work of some of our friends. So today, we invited a kindred spirit podcast produced at MIT - TILClimate to our platform to share what they know about materials. The host of TILClimate is Laur Hesse Fisher, the Program Director at the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative.

In this crossover episode with TILClimate, Laur, and Elsa Olivetti dive...

What is Life-Centered Design? What is Life-Centered Systems Thinking? Are they different? Are they better than Human Centered Design? And most importantly, how do we design with all life in mind?

Michelle Fehler, Charlene Sequeira, and Jeroen Spoelstra join Eric in this final “back-to-school” episode which we hope, inspires you to learn more about the merits of life-centered design. The guests today all argue that life-centered design and systems thinking are a needed transition away from human-centered design (HCD) and design thinking. We are nature, not separate from it. So we need to consider more than just us i...

What? I’m an amazing climate leader? Yes, you are.

Lis Best (Girls Club Collective) and Nivi Achanta (Soapbox Project) join Eric to share their journeys as climate leaders empowering women to be their “own secret weapon” for change. Both Lis and Nivi understand that women are fantastic leaders when they can channel their frustrations, concerns, hope, creativity, culture, anxiety, and/or dreams to encourage action through collaboration and, in turn, elevate those involved into leaders as well. We can all be the helpers. If you want to live your best life and surround yourself with good genero...

How can you be a role model to inspire climate action amongst your friends, family, and neighbors? Does one positive action create a domino effect for more? What’s a surprising validator?

Andrea Learned joins Eric to share her work being done at her consultancy and the Living Change Podcast to empower climate leaders into creating more climate action. Her initiatives help “name and fame” climate leaders to showcase how you can emulate them and also be a positive force in the climate movement. Andrea’s consultancy and podcast help you become a climate leader using your existing...

What is cellular agriculture? Why are plant-based proteins so important in fighting climate change? How can designers play a bigger role in kicking our red meat eating habit and drawing down our carbon emissions?

Bianca Drevensek joins Eric to enthusiastically share her work as a climate entrepreneur as CEO of Edge Foods where they create healthy climate-friendly and yummy agri-proteins that can replace our heavy meat and dairy diet. Beyond providing a deep dive into defining the industry of cellular agriculture and the future of food in a warming world, Bianca shares her definition and four-step formula...

What is fast fashion and what are its impacts on our planet? How can design and business help solve this problem with our current waste stream? How do you define a climate entrepreneur?

Climate entrepreneur Lauren Choi joins Eric to share her challenges and best practices for starting a business dedicated to helping mitigate the worst of our climate crisis. She also discusses what it's like being a female founder in the climate start-up world telling the inspiring story of her company The New Norm. Lauren started The New Norm during her time as a student at...

Villa Sorgas. Villa Serena. Villa Utamaro.

Escape to Indonesia’s Net Zero-Built Paradise.

Paula Huerta Andrés, a sustainability architect and climate activist, founded Bambook Studio to achieve decarbonization through sustainable architecture and design. In a Decade of Action, their sustainability and circular economy projects take meaningful actions to reduce emissions, promote zero waste programs, implement net zero strategies and educate the public about climate change.

On this episode of Climify, Bambook Studio exemplifies Project Drawdown’s solution sector in Net Zero Buildings through low-impact construction, Waste to Value solutions, and Indonesian public-private collabo...

Hawaii makes up barely 0.3% of the nation's total land mass yet it is home to 44% of the country's endangered and threatened plant species. Making a name for itself as the “extinction capital.”

On this episode of Climify, we are joined by Katie Kamelamela, an educator and researcher with the Global Discovery and Conservation Science, whose work gives a hot take on curated landscapes. Her own cultural, ancestral, and spiritual connection to Hawaii brings a human touch and hope to Project Drawdown’s solution sectors on Land Sinks and Indigenous Peoples’ Forest Tenure. Katie observes community and society’s connection...

What would you do if climate change changed your life? Would you go back to what you were doing before or fight back as every fraction of a degree mattered?

Mathilda D'silva joins Eric to share her journey from a TV celebrity and professional athlete to an ocean activist at her organization, the Ocean Purpose Project. She discusses how her illness from pollution gave her a new purpose in life to promote ocean conservation through bioremediation, plastic to fuel, and behavior change. All of this she does creatively and with passion. From solar DJs to seaweed jams...

The AIGA Design Educators Community (DEC) seeks to enhance the abilities of design educators and educational institutions to prepare future designers for excellence in design practice, design theory, and design writing at the undergraduate and graduate levels while supporting the fundamental mission of AIGA.

Meet our Panelist and AIGA Design Educators Spotlight

Rebeca Méndez, Founder and Director of CounterForcelab and Chair of the Design Media Arts program at UCLA, works with vulnerable environments and communities in the Arctic to threatened ecologies in the eastern Pacific Ocean. In her ecological sustainable design philosophy and practice, s...

Climate and social systems are profoundly connected.

Interconnectedness, in turn, can be an overwhelming double-edged sword—an ‘infobesity’ that buries clear paths forward to act against the systemic climate inequities rippling across society. In Sage Lenier’s justice-oriented activism, she has come to find that environmental education is largely non-existent. Perhaps, the biggest stopgap is that no one knows about the problems that make up the larger problem. This is what Sage sees as a barrier to the climate movement gaining traction: a lack of quality education.

Sustainable & Just Future salvages the demoralization within climate change i...

“All solutions are right here, they just have to catch on” is a conviction of Denise Baden, an ethical author and sustainability professor, that poetically resonates in all her stories: Habitat Man, No More Fairy Tales: Stories to Save Our Planet, Anthology of Short Stories for COP27, and The Assassin. Making a virtue of necessity, Denise illuminates us on how environmental literature connects people to climate change solutions by mobilizing our social awareness and conscientious into embracing the change needed.

Literature transcends Denise into an Audre Lorde for environmental literacy, “forming the quality of light within which we pre...

How do you best create positive impact in communities? What does environmental justice look like?

In this eighth episode of season three, the multi-talented Sarah Ichioka joins Eric to share (not only) her five principles of regenerative design from her book Flourish: Design Paradigms for Our Planetary Emergency but also how Project Drawdown is the perfect example of a Possiblest Mindset where we understand our position in relation to both the realities on the ground and our desired outcome.

If that wasn’t enough, Sarah also provides inspiring case studies from her consulting firm Desire-Lines to he...

How can design influence positive behavior change when it comes to climate action? Can the design of your energy bill or thermostat help you rethink how and when you use electricity?

Karina van Schaardenburg joins Eric to share the work being done at Opower (Oracle) to create smarter energy use, customer behavior changes, and the renewable grid of the future.

Have you heard the terms sustainability, restoration, conservation, bioregionalism, or regeneration? What’s the difference between them? How can we apply each to design?

Nisha Mary Poulose joins Eric to share the work being done at her organizations, Regenerative Rising and the Woven Design Collaborative. What these organizations have accomplished continue to help better define “regeneration” not only for her collaborators but for designers. In this episode Nisha argues why we must shift our mindset to think like nature and how ecological principles can be best applied to design to create our present and future.

How do you best create positive impact in communities? What does environmental justice look like?

In this fifth episode of season 3, Pamela Fann joins Eric to share her journey from Corporate America to diversity, inclusion, integration, and climate activist and entrepreneur. She shares how she defines restorative design, environmental justice, and how best we use their principles to tackle both the entangled issues of racism and our climate crisis.

How do best educate one another about climate change and climate action when the media is muddying the water? Furthermore, how can we change how the media reports on climate change so it is accurate, not sensationalized, or influenced by fossil fuel companies?

Dr. Genevieve Guenther joins Eric to share her journey from Renaissance scholar to climate communicator, consultant, and activist. The organization End Climate Silence is central to her story and work; Dr. Guenther discusses how she helps to educate about the history of fossil fuel disinformation, media manipulation, and how we can end fossil fuels...

What are the best strategies to co-design in a community to create positive change? How can the designers’ work better reflect the aesthetics, lifestyles, and values of a predominately BIPOC community?

Anika Goss, from Detroit Future City joins Eric to share how her organization co-designs with the people of Detroit to tackle, in particular, the Drawdown Climate Solution Sector of Food, Agriculture, and Land Use. In addition, Anika details the history of Detroit, from its renaissance to redlining, and from a riot to rebirth; showcasing current neighborhoods that are becoming beacons of hope as Detroit co-creates a mo...

Have you ever felt helpless as an advocate for climate at your job or wondered where to find good paying jobs in climate action? If so, then this episode of Climify is for you!

Jamie Beck Alexander, from Drawdown Labs, joins Eric to kick off Season 3 of Climify where each episode is themed by one of the Drawdown Climate Solution Sectors. In this first episode, Jamie shares her journey into climate activism (and how you can follow her lead), the mission of Project Drawdown, how she helped get big businesses to support the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA...

Welcome to season three of Climify! This season, I'm talking to women across the globe who are at the forefront of climate science and climate action. Each guest is a thought leader in one or more of the Drawdown.org climate solutions sectors. What you may ask are the Drawdown.org solution sectors? Well, important topics like renewable electricity, soil and agriculture, architecture, oceans, health, education, and so much more. 

The goal of this season is, of course, to continue to help design educators incorporate a foundation of sustainability and regeneration into their courses, and in turn, i...

Season 2: Episode 14 – Carissa Cabrera

How important are oceans to our climate? How vital are they to our general health? Did a video of an injured turtle really change the world? Marine Biologist and educator Carissa Cabrera joins Eric and explains it all through her work in media, science, and activism. You’ll learn from this episode that indeed there is an ocean of opportunity for designers for climate action; dive in.

Links mentioned on the show:

Eric’s Mutant Fish prints

Plastic straw removed from turtle’s nose (YouTube)

Kiss the...

Season 2: Episode 13 – Gianna Romero & Michelle Ngyuen

What is it like to be a freelance designer who cares about the climate crisis? What are the challenges? What are the best practices to thrive? Recent graduates from the Univ. of Illinois graphic design (Michelle Nguyen) and SCAD industrial design (Gianna Romero) programs share their stories of trying to “design for good” while paying the bills. They also explain what ways their design education could have better prepared them for this journey.

Season 2: Episode 12 – Krishnaa Nair, Colin Chan, Meredith Bond, Noah Ahrens

How well are we preparing our design students for a career? Do we talk about climate and sustainability enough or effectively? What are our design students thinking and feeling about their education and future? Marc O'Brien guest hosts and learns from four California College of the Arts (CCA) design students about their insights into those questions and ideas to improve design education in part two of this two-part series called Climate Design in the Big World.

Season 2: Episode 11 – Sadeen Alhalabi & Adam Dziaba

How well are we preparing our design students for a career? Do we talk about climate and sustainability enough or effectively? What are our design students thinking and feeling about their education and future? Eric learns from two University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign design students Sadeen Alhalabi & Adam Dziaba about their insights into those questions and ideas to improve design education in part one of this two-part series called Climate Design in the Big World.

This podcast is sponsored by Dreamhost.

Season 2: Episode 10 – Brooke Havlik

The need for effective climate communication and storytelling is paramount to reach a public tipping point on important individual and political action. Good design and communication can shape any worldview and influence change. That is the good work Brooke Havlik had done for over a decade. In this episode, Brooke shares her vast experiences working in climate communication and effective strategies designers can use to turn the tide toward a better climate future.

This podcast is sponsored by Dreamhost.

Season 2: Episode 9 – John Jennings

What media(s) could we use to tell better climate stories? What is the message that we should send to increase not only climate awareness but climate action? John Jennings, professor, comics artist, author, and design theorist shares with Eric a brief history of social justice in comics and why he thinks they are a valuable resource and medium to inspire climate activism for all ages.

This podcast is sponsored by Dreamhost.

Season 2: Episode 8 – Laney Siegner

Feeling down? Anxious? Stressed? Try getting your hands dirty in the soil. California-based soil expert Dr. Laney Siegner shares with Eric the amazing power of healthy soil and its fascinating story about how it can lessen the impacts of hurricanes, increase our overall health, and sequester carbon to decrease the impacts of climate change. Tune in also to learn the five principles of regenerative farming and how those can be translated for designers to create more responsibility to combat the worst of climate change.

Season 2: Episode 7 – Gabrielle Merite

What convinces someone to commit to climate action? Why isn’t the terrifying data enough for some? Politics? Religion? Geography? Culture? Do we need better design? All of the above. Scientist and information designer Gabrielle Mérite explains why if you want to help convince people to act on the climate you want to connect to their culture and community, and maybe not mention the word climate at all.

Season 2: Episode 6 – Stephen Nesbitt

Did you know low-lying clouds cool the climate or that communities designed in a grid can limit extreme weather events? We didn’t, and it’s likely fair to say you might not have either. In this episode, Atmospheric Scientist and Professor Stephen Nesbitt shares his expertise in clouds, meteorology, and climate technologies illuminating ways designers can create more climate resilient communities and engaging climate stories.

Season 2: Episode 5 – Chandra Christmas-Rouse

What do you want your community to look like? What would you like our future to be? We are all part of the problem and the solution. The future isn’t written and the climate crisis will unfold based on our collective and individual actions. It can be a terrible global catastrophe or a more managed set of problems that we can adapt to. What if we chose to restore our communities and the natural world instead of falling into despair and inaction? Urban planner and afrofuturist Chandra Christmas Rouse shares in this epis...

At Climify, we share what we learn on our podcast from a diverse group of climate experts with design educators. This practical knowledge helps them better teach the next generation of designers to engage in climate action. Your host, Eric Benson has taught sustainable design for 16 years leading his sustainable design non-profit (Re-nourish) and a sustainable paper-making lab (Fresh Press). His insights, experience, and passion for climate design help create stimulating conversations with climate experts in order to produce practical next steps in the classroom for the design educator. Climify is part of the Climate Designers Network.

Season 2: Episode 4 – Sadie Red Wing

It took just a hundred years time to devastate thousands of years of knowledge and culture when colonizers stole North America from the indigenous peoples. To this day, much of the Western world ignores their Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), which holds many solutions to our climate crisis. What if agribusinesses healed the soil, instead of depleting it? What if designers knew how to make their own inks from plants, papers from grasses, and other objects without damaging the planet? What if what we made with Gaia’s gifts regenerated her like the Buff...

Season 2: Episode 3 – Kate Yoder

How we rebrand climate change is the million-dollar question. The solution is not one big rebrand, but many specific messages that connect better with different diverse groups of people, where recipes for climate action inspire others to make their own sustainability decisions. Learn more in this episode about what is needed to change your unsustainable habits and people you know, what doesn’t work to motivate others to act, why we need to celebrate climate progress, and the importance of designing through removing (and not making) from Kate Yoder, a climate journalist at Gris...

Season 2: Episode 2 – Weslynne Ashton

Our current human-centered cradle-to-grave design process only exacerbates our waste woes and worsens the climate crisis. How then can the designer transition their process away from this to one that creates to value and improve all life? A first step could be to understand the potential negative impacts of our work, to avoid them in the future. To see what those impacts could be, designers need to understand that everything is connected; a principle that is embedded in life-centered systems thinking. In this episode, Dr. Weslynne Ashton provides you with a better understanding of...

Season 2: Episode 1 – Dr. Jacquelyn Gill

Do you wonder if the little things you do to help fight our climate crisis matter? You’re not alone. Maine-based paleoecologist Dr. Jacquelyn Gill shares with Eric the amazing power of embracing hope over wallowing in despair to battle for every fraction of a degree. Tune in to learn more about why little things do matter, Jacquelyn’s thoughts on how designers play an important role in telling stories of climate data, and why designing on longer timescales helps make the most responsible creations.

Mentioned in this episode

“Di...

Episode 17 – Eric Benson & Marc O’Brien

Climate Designers co-founder Marc O’Brien joins Eric to discuss their eight major takeaways from season one of Climify. What did the climate experts think we should teach in the classroom? What impact did Climify have on the design community? What should we discuss on season two and who should we invite to the program?

Resources mentioned in episode

Climate Designers EDU

Climate Change Solutions Need the Design Educator, Now

Climify Design

Episode 5 – Deep Dive series

This episode references Climify’s Episode 5 – Fitbit for the Planet Design with Katie Patrick

In this episode, we are inspired by behavioral design and how this type of design can actively create change. We talk about giving power to creativity and vision while pushing away negativity and “doom”. We think about breaking down behavioral design into smaller steps a

Episode 4 – Deep Dive series

This episode references Climify’s Episode 1 – Sweatshops, Social Injustices, and Systemic Impacts of Fast Fashion with Jasmine Sanders

In this episode, we discuss consumerism, the impact of consumerism with a sustainability lens, and how design contributes to, or combats, consumerism. We’ve discovered that the impact of fast fashion goes beyond just the types of fabric in use, bu

Episode 3 – Deep Dive series

This episode references Climify’s Episode 10 – We Need to Break the Wheel with Ruth McElroy Amundsen & Alden Cleanthes

In this episode, we talk about design thinking and, more broadly, design systems. We’ve found that design thinking is far removed from what we do at our day jobs at an agency and freelancing, since our jobs move so quickly. We wonder if there’s a way to spe

Episode 2 – Deep Dive series

In this episode, we talk about our own experiences with eco-anxiety. Eco-anxiety is defined by the Climate Psychology Alliance as the heightened emotional and mental distress in response to dangerous changes in the climate system. We’ve all felt it at one point or another, and if you haven’t, maybe your climate bubble just hasn't popped yet. Eco-anxiety can be difficult to talk ab

Episode 1 – Deep Dive series

This episode references Climify’s Episode 8 – Shifting Designers to Tackle Climate Change

In this episode, we’re talking cross-pollination – within and outside of design, that is. Why are we so siloed in our ways of learning and working? Is staying within one focused discipline *really* the best option? Are there better ways we could collaborate and learn from one another’s expertise? There’s lots of benefits of bringing in other collaborators of different ages, interests

Episode 11 – Rachel Cifarelli

Rachel Cifarelli joins Eric to share her story of finding sustainable design after leaving school, why she wished her teachers taught her the topic, and explains why she started the New Wave research project to help design students take the lead on climate action when educators didn't.

Episode 10 – Ruth McElroy Amundsen & Alden Cleanthes

Ruth McElroy Amundsen and Alden Cleanthes from Norfolk Solar join Eric to go in-depth on how our way of life and how we design is truly broken. They argue that we need to rethink every system in our modern lives to stave off the worst of climate change and that harnessing the vast power of the sun is actually an easier-than-you-think way to power almost everything.

Episode 9 – Raz Godelnik

Raz Godelnik joins Eric to share his years of research and teaching sustainable design and ethical business models. He discusses what went into writing his new book “Rethinking Corporate Sustainability in the Era of Climate Crisis - A Strategic Design Approach” and why it’s so important now that design and business alike work together to write a new story about sustainability.

Episode 8 – AIGA DEC Shifted Panel

Former Climify guests Katie Patrick and Lisa Zimmermann rejoin Eric for a panel discussion on this special episode recorded at the 2021 AIGA Design Educators Community ShiftED Conference. Each tackles tough questions about how and why all designers must address climate change in their work teaching in the classroom and creating in the workplace.

Episode 7 – Akilah Stewart

Akilah Stewart joins Eric to discuss how sustainability is all about people and why it must be inclusive and acknowledge indigenous peoples' wisdom who gifted us this knowledge to live in harmony with the planet. Akilah also shares the work of her company FATRA which is already redirecting plastic and textile waste streams into a more closed-loop system creating products that educate, alleviate, and inspire.

Episode 6 – Sahara James

Sahara James joins Eric to discuss how designers can be an integral part of climate solutions by creating large systems-based sustainability solutions in supply chains and how she's tackling the climate crisis as a business consultant helping communities make the switch to renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions by making their homes more energy-efficient.

Episode 5 – Katie Patrick

Katie Patrick joins Eric to discuss why if educators and designers really want to create climate action they must use a behavioral science toolkit to actually get people to act. Only teaching about the climate isn't enough to create a big enough change, but instead using environmental or energy data to design fun competitive reward-based games will create that positive climate action we need.

Episode 4 – Katharine Poole

Katharine Poole joins Eric to share how her skillsets as both a climate scientist and a brand designer are a perfect combination to craft better and more informed communication strategies for organizations and campaigns. She also explains why designers should reach out to climate scientists to collaborate as climate change needs a rebrand.

Episode 3 – Lisa Zimmermann

Lisa Zimmermann joins Eric to share her research and teaching tips in sustainable design from her day job as Lecturer at Griffith College in Dublin, Ireland. She laments how much we still don't teach in design school – from where paper comes from to the life cycle of the products we make, and how changes in our design curriculums don't come fast enough to match the quickly changing times.

Episode 2 – Gerardo Celis

Dr. Gerardo Celis, a plant ecologist, joins Eric to share his research and consequent predictions on permafrost thaw in the Arctic, its effect on global warming, and why designers are amazing and needed collaborators to help better tell engaging stories that detail the day in the life of climate scientists and visualize the data from their work.

Episode 1 – Jasmine Sanders

Jasmine Sanders joins Eric to discuss how twists of fate and faith led her to become a Climate Scientist and Marine Biologist who fights daily for an equitable future through climate action; and, of course, how designers can help best join her in this important journey.