Our Future Nature
Sean Lee-Davies
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Our Future Nature Podcast spotlights sustainable technologies and solutions to the global issues facing our planet today. Through conversations with some of the most innovative entrepreneurs, creatives and academics, the podcast breaks down complex trends and explores boundary-breaking ideas. The podcast is made for anyone with an appetite for novel technologies and ideas for a more sustainable planet. Our Future Nature Podcast is hosted by entrepreneur, conservationist and filmmaker Sean Lee-Davies.
Available episodes
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Oct 28, 2022
Smashing The Glass Ceiling, Can TikTok Better Our World? | ft. Franziska Trautmann
In this episode Sean Lee-Davies speaks to Franziska Trautmann, otherwise known as ‘@ecofran’ or ‘the sand girl’ on TikTok, about her viral efforts to recycle glass into sand through her company, Glass Half Full. The duo discuss why glass is better than plastic, whether TikTok is a viable medium for change and tips for other young social entrepreneurs.
As seniors at Tulane University, Trautmann and her co-founder Max Steitz were disappointed by the lack of glass recycling in New Orleans, so they decided to do something about it. Rather than tackle the current system, the duo implemented their own grassroots glass recycling program, calling it Glass Half Full. Glass Half Full is a social enterprise which recycles glass, turning it into sand and gravel for disaster relief sandbags, coastal restoration and eco-construction, amongst other products.
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Oct 28, 2022
Does Anyone Really Care If Sharks Go Extinct? | ft. Andy Cornish
In this episode Sean Lee-Davies speaks to Andy Cornish, who leads WWF’s global shark and ray conservation programme. The duo discuss the important role sharks play in the wider ecosystem and what could happen if we were to lose such a key species. They also delve into whether sustainable shark fishing is possible and exciting new technologies developed to trace illegal shark fishing trading.
With a PhD in Marine Ecology, Cornish has spent the last 20 years working for NGOs, government and academia, consistently focused on creating viable international conservation strategies. He also co-authored Hong Kong’s first sustainable seafood guide, led shark-fin advocacy efforts and an anti-trawling campaign called ‘Save Our Seas’, which resulted in a permanent ban on all trawling.
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Oct 28, 2022
The Culture Behind Cultivated Meat | ft. Josh Tetrick of GOOD Meat
In this mini-episode, Sean Lee-Davies speaks to Josh Tetrick, the CEO of _Eat Just_ and _Good Meat_ about the future of cultured meat and its potential to mitigate agriculture-related climate change emissions. The duo also delves into how cultured chicken is made, how to design cultured meat for meat-lovers, and Tetrick’s overall vision: to live in a world that doesn’t slaughter animals.
Prior to founding his companies, Tetrick led a United Nations business initiative in Kenya and worked for both former US President Clinton and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. He has been named one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business,” Inc.’s “35 Under 35” and Fortune’s “40 Under 40.”
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Sep 21, 2022
Building a sustainable safari lodge with Mike Myers
“It was the twilight of my guiding career to have a project like this. It was always my dream to be able to build one lodge and run it perfectly.” - Mike Myers
In this episode, Sean Lee-Davies speaks to Mike Myers, the managing director of _Xigera Safari Lodge_, about his love for Africa’s wilderness and why photography is key to conservation. The duo discusses everything from the importance of using tourism to fund wildlife conservation to building a sustainable hospitality business model.
Before working at Xigeria, an all-inclusive hotel set in the remote Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta, Myers spent decades working as a safari guide and wildlife photographer in Botswana, building deep knowledge of the region—knowledge that he’s now using to inspire guests to care about wildlife conservation.
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Sep 21, 2022
Don’t Run! What It's Really Like To Be A Safari Guide | ft. Peter Allison
“Conservation used to be about better fences, now it’s about better relationships and I think that is what is going to swing it around. That is where the hope lies” - Peter Allison
In this episode, Sean Lee-Davies speaks to renowned safari guide, best-selling author, and conservationist _Peter Allison_, about everything from the misogyny and colonialism that runs rampant in the wildlife industry to the importance of running sustainable safaris that align with conservation targets in the region.
Though he’s dedicated his entire career towards conservation, Allison actually grew up far away from wildlife in Sydney, where the most interesting species he saw was a parrot. By aged 19, he packed his bags and moved to Africa to start his career as a safari guide, and has since gone on to author three _books_ about his experiences. Allison also recently co-founded green safari company, _Natural Selection_.
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Jul 28, 2022
Making The Most Important Film Of Our Time | ft. Malcolm Wood
“Out of all the businesses that I’ve set up in the last 20 years of being an entrepreneur, fundraising [for] a climate change movie has probably been one of the toughest things I’ve had to do.” – Malcolm Wood
An avid adventurer, athlete and well-known entrepreneur, Malcolm Wood is the founder of award winning hospitality group, Maximal Concepts. He is also making waves in the filmmaking space, and was involved in a number of successful film projects such as A Plastic Ocean, which was described by Sir David Attenborough as “the most important film of our time”.
In this podcast episode, Wood speaks to Sean Lee-Davies about his career and the lengths he has gone to raise awareness about environmental issues. The duo discusses what we can do on an individual and societal level to reduce our carbon emissions as well as steps Wood has taken to become a sustainable entrepreneur.
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Jul 28, 2022
Diet Change, Not Climate Change | ft. Bobsy Gaia
“I have woken up to realise that we only have one home and that’s our Earth mother—planet Earth, and I have that awareness that I need to dedicate my life to raising awareness about this fundamental intrinsic inherent truth.” – Bobsy Gaia
Bobsy Gaia is known as a renowned eco-entrepreneur in Hong Kong, founding multiple vegan plant-based restaurants around the city and assisting in planting thousands of trees on Lamma Island, Hong Kong. But serial entrepreneur Gaia shares that his first-ever business venture was actually a Beirut-based fashion company. That all changed when a buyer asked Gaia if his products were eco-friendly. He describes it as his eureka moment that spurred him to change course into creating eco-friendly fashion and later, eco-friendly food.
In this podcast episode, Gaia speaks to Sean Lee-Davies about the plant-based journey and how he started his campaign ‘diet change, not climate change’ to emphasize to people that we need to ‘save the human’ by reducing our consumption of meat and dairy for the sake of ourselves and others.
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Jul 28, 2022
Designing Your Life | ft. Bill Burnett
“One way of looking at it is 10 years from now these jobs are going to be gone [because of AI] but another way of looking at it is there will be jobs that I can do that haven’t even been invented and some of them are going to be really interesting and awesome jobs, particularly if you’re focused on the creative side of ‘what makes a job worth doing.” – Bill Burnett
Growing up with a love for drawing cars and aeroplanes, Bill Burnett describes his happiness upon discovering that there were people who did that for a living—designers. Now, Burnett is continuing to live out his passion for drawing and building things while serving as the executive director of the Stanford University Design Program and co-author of the NYT bestselling book, Designing Your Life.
In this podcast episode, Burnett speaks to Sean Lee-Davies about the power of designing your own life. He delves into how to design your dream job through a process of actively seeking and co-creating it as well as the importance of curiosity—and how to access it.
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Jul 28, 2022
Waste to Wealth, The Way of VEJA | ft. VEJA Co-Founder Sébastien Kopp
“We eradicate marketing, we eradicate advertising, we eradicate sponsoring, we eradicate partnerships with celebrities, basketball players, soccer players, baseball players. And all of these resources that aren’t used are put into production [costs]. We produce sneakers that cost 3 to 5 times more than it would if we made them with poor, raw materials in factories that don’t respect workers’ lives. Our sneakers land on the market at the same price as the other big brands because we don’t do marketing.”
“Good projects take time. You don’t have to build a brand in 1-2 years and switch to another one.” – Sébastien Kopp
Sold in more than 40 countries and stocked in the likes of Net-a-Porter and Printemps, sustainable sneaker brand VEJA is gaining international acclaim for its revolutionary business model that prioritizes a safe and sustainable production chain while maintaining profitability.
Founded by Sébastien Kopp and François-Ghislain Morillion, the brand manufactures its products in Brazil, and the shoes are made of organic cotton, wild rubber, and recycled polyester fabrics. They have purchased more than 200 tonnes of wild rubber from the Amazon rainforest, which has resulted in the preservation of approximately 90,000 acres of rainforest.
In this podcast, Kopp speaks to Sean Lee-Davies about how he and his co-founder make VEJA sneakers profitable despite costing 3 to 5 times more to create compared to the average sneaker because of VEJA’s transparent supply chain and cost of sustainable materials.
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Jul 28, 2022
Cancel Culture | ft. Adam Raby
“The key thing is to make sure that [in fashion] things are used more than once and for more than one season.” – Adam Raby
The founder of Māzú Resortwear, Adam Raby keeps sustainability at the core of his business. The brand incorporates recycled plastic into its products with the goal of transitioning its entire range to recycled plastic by 2026. It also donates proceeds to the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society.
Raby credits his lifelong love for the ocean and its conservation to his family history—his father was an avid sailor and his grandfather served in the navy. The brand also pays homage to Hong Kong’s rich maritime history through its designs, blending traditional Chinese accents and colours with local motifs and modern designs.
Here, Raby talks to Sean Lee-Davies about his responsibility to make sustainable choices while working in the fashion industry, as well as what’s next for Māzú Resortwear—namely, the rise of multi-purpose garments, which can help lower fashion wastage and ensure that garments are used for more than just one season.
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Jul 28, 2022
People, Profit, Planet | ft. Katrina Razon of KSR Ventures
“Children all over the world are fighting for their futures. It breaks my heart that our leaders aren’t capable of leading, that children have to fight for their own future because we are the first generation to know how our actions directly impact the planet and how these corporations are segregating all of our last remaining wild places out there.” – Katrina Razon
Founder of KSR Ventures, Katrina Razon’s investments has a focus on early-stage companies who are solving social and/or environmental challenges. Her company has invested in a number of companies including fashion brand Dear Frances, who prioritises slow and sustainable practices as well as a sustainable water company that provides clean water at below market value to coastal communities in the Philippines.
She believes that positive impact can only be accomplished through a team of visionaries who are more driven by empathy for those suffering the problem than a passion for the solution. “I think that in orde…
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