S2E2: Living Utopia - Solutions for Peace in Unpeaceful Times, Stories from Israel & Outer Space
Spoiler: Only for voluntary optmists!
Most people look in amazement at utopias, at projects that attempt the impossible.
Perhaps utopias fascinate us because they require us to get out of our own comfort zones: In order to make a utopia happen, you have to work on yourself. You have not only to want to change yourself but actually change.
In this episode you'll hear how about Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, a living utopia in Israel where Israelis and Palestinians are living together peacefully (though not without challenges). And if you believe that Russians and Americans cannot work together these days, give us a listen. Things may be different than they appear.
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15:47
S2, EP1: The Effect of Forgiveness with Kevin Chaplin - Amy Foundation, South Africa
Meet Kevin Chaplin, a successful banker who gave up his career in the business world to change lives. Kevin is the founder of the South African Ubuntu Foundation and Managing Director of the Amy Foundation. Through these foundations he helped more than 1300 students to find employment and created 150 businesses in four years. Find out how Kevin's life is interconnected with the history of South Africa, how forgiveness and being genuine leads to societal change and success, and why Ubuntu is key when you want to bridge racial, religious, cultural, and economic barriers and divisions.
Read about Kevin's journey and leadership skills in his book Can Do! Making the Impossible Possible.
Join the Ubuntu movement @ #PledgeUbuntu.
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53:03
EP16: Bringing Empathy to the Classroom with Sara Lane - Roots of Empathy Canada
No matter how old we are, emotions are part of our lives. Yet, expressing our own feelings and relating to other people doesn't always come easy. It's a skill we need to learn and develop.
Roots of Empathy has developed a unique curriculum to increase empathy and emotional literacy for children aged five to thirteen.
Their programme helps children to express their feelings and to learn to recognize feelings in others. But it does more than that: it reduces bullying behaviour and it promotes resilience and positive mental health - as independent university research proves.
Join my conversation with Sara Lane, the Director of Research and Curriculum of Roots of Empathy, and find out why empathy matters and plays a key role in creating caring, peaceful, and civil societies.
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47:32
EP15: Cooking for Peace and Change, Stories from Israel & Nigeria
Building peace seems like an impossible task. But just as a popular sports brand keeps reminding us: impossible is nothing.
In this episode you'll hear the stories of people who have experienced unrest, conflict, and war and yet won't get discouraged from bringing peace to their communities. They share their recipies on what it takes to bridge the religious gap and they prove American historian and playright, Howard Zinn right: "To live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is in itself a marvellous victory."
Sources
Chefs for Peace:
https://chefs4peace.weebly.com/index.html, last download 20/03/22.
Nigeria:
http://africanclimatereporter.com/2022/02/07/, last download 20/03/22;
https://www.pwc.com/ng/en/publications/spotlight-the-nigerian-film-industry.html, last download 20/03/22;
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nigeria/, last download 20/03/22.
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17:18
EP14: The Impact of Innovative Education on Wasting Less with Ribhu Vohra & Chandrah Nusselein - WasteLess India
"Be the change you want to see in the world" - this quote by Ghandi is easy to say but hard to follow, especially when it comes to our own consumption and the magic of reduce, reuse, recycle.
Enter Ribhu Vohra and Chandrah Nusselein, the power duo that changes the way children all over India think and act when it comes to waste. Through experimentation, research and the participation of teachers and students alike the WasteLess team develops educational materials that empower children to think critically, inspire environmentally responsible behaviour and drive future systemic change.
While they work with children, they have an impact on adults, too. I know, for I am one of them. For it's never too late to waste less.
Here's the direct link to the waste-calculator mentioned in the episode.
https://wastelessindia.org/waste-calculator/
The world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket. And we all know that the human experience can be quite challenging at times. So I love to find projects, initiatives, people, that make the world a better place. These projects and people give me hope and bring a smile to my face. And I hope they do the same for you. You’ll hear stories about people from all over the world, changing their societies. Every now and then I’ll have a chat with one of these initiatives and find out what drives them, what keeps them going even when things get a little tough. In addition, I'll throw in all I know about change - from your personal life to society. And maybe, one of the stories you’ll hear will motivate you to get active yourself. For we all can be changemakers. It starts in our own daily lives and then has ripple effect, spreading to our neighborhoods, cities, countries and the world as a whole. That’s what I believe, after all, I’m a voluntary optimist.
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