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Life of PIE podcast

Life of PIE with Onya Idoko and Juan Manuel Castillo

Life of PIE (Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship) is a podcast from UCL’s Institute for Global Prosperity. The series explores groundbreaking research from MSc PIE alumni, sparking fresh conversations with researchers, practitioners, and entrepreneurs who are rethinking entrepreneurship.

Hosted by Dr. Onya Idoko, MSc PIE programme lead, and produced by graduate Juan Manuel Castillo. Listen on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

The series includes the alumni-led To Prosperity and Beyond mini-series hosted by RP Duterte and Sam Tamayo which focuses on the lives and experiences of professionals who are addressing the challenges to global prosperity through transformative entrepreneurship.

Listen on SoundCloud

 

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S2E1: The Complex World of Women's Health: With guest Kris Teow

Celebrate International Women's Day with a special first episode of the new series of Life of PIE! Onya, your host, delves into the complex world of women's health alongside Kris, an MSc PIE alum from the 2022-23 cohort. Kris shares findings from her qualitative study on the experiences of Malaysian corporate women, shedding light on the diverse ways women's health is perceived and managed globally.

Access the transcript

 

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S2E2: The cost of losing our public spaces: from London to Lima

Public spaces like parks are increasingly becoming less accessible. This phenomenon, observable from London to Lima, affects how we socialise, engage in physical activities and participate in our communities. One reason for this lack of access is the commodification of these spaces but what are the consequences of charging a fee to access a park?

In this episode, Onya speaks with Nadar Chioino, an MSc PIE alum and multidisciplinary designer, and Daniela Chung, a city planner, architect and designer from Lima, Peru. What are the benefits of public spaces for our well-being, and what are the consequences when these spaces are privatized and become less accessible?

Access the transcript

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S1E1: Energy transition policies for sustainable development in China: With guest Lydia Qiu

Reducing coal consumption is crucial for China's sustainable development. To achieve this goal, the Chinese government has implemented various policies aimed at promoting a transition to clean energy, such as the "coal to gas" and "coal to electricity" initiatives. In this particular episode, Lydia Qui, an alumna of the MSc PIE program and currently a Risk analyst at TikTok, focuses on the metropolitan region of Jing-Jin-Ji. She analyses the impact of the "coal to gas" and "coal to electricity" policies on the winter heating sector, a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. During their conversation, Onya and Lydia discuss the key characteristics, impacts, limitations, and differences between these policies. They also delve into the consequences of implementing these policies for the residents of Jing-Jin-Ji, as well as the implications of Lydia's findings for policymakers and corporations.

Access the transcript

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S1E2: Social inclusion, green spaces and community led social change, with guests Nyma Haqqani and Paul Ely

Urban greenspaces not only have environmental benefits, but they also have social benefits. They are spaces that bring communities together and contribute to mental health and wellbeing. While these spaces are important and, on the surface, seem to be accessible to all, research by former MSc Global Prosperity student Nyma Haqqani shows that these spaces are in fact inaccessible to ethnic minority groups. How do we achieve environmental equity for all and contribute to the creation and promotion of socially sustainable cities? Nyma Haqqani (Social Consultant and MSc Global Prosperity alumni) and Paul Ely (Trustee for the National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces) join this conversation about urban greenspaces and community-led approaches to social inclusion.

Access the transcript 

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S1E3: Advancing climate justice, with guests Sarah Wyns and James Perry

Can climate justice principles be applied to businesses? The research on climate justice has grown significantly in the last decade, however, its practical implications are still unclear, and research has mostly been limited to national government responses rather than corporations. How can B Corp businesses advance a just transformation to sustainability? How do they manage the tensions that exist between mission and market-oriented practices? In this episode we discuss these questions with Sarah Wyns (UCL MSc PIE alumna) and James Perry (Co-chairman of Cook & Co-founder of the B Corp movement in the UK).

Access the transcript 

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S1E4: Beyond GDP, with guests Justin Van Wyk and Professor Robert Costanza

An ‘addiction’ to GDP has led to policies that favour increased economic production without consideration of the effects on society or the environment. In this episode with Justin Van Wyk (UCL MSc PIE alumnus) and Robert Costanza (Professor of Ecological Economics at UCL Institute for Global Prosperity), we discuss the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), one of several alternative measures to GDP which takes into consideration the impact of economic activity on social wellbeing.

Access the transcript

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S1E5: Dealing with adversity, with guest Bidisha Pandey

Dealing with 'crises' and not a crisis is becoming the norm for us today. During times of crisis or adversity, female entrepreneurs find themselves faced with multidimensional challenges which they have to navigate using the resources available to them. More often than not, they are hit the hardest by a crisis and find themselves experiencing inter-role conflict. How do they navigate such challenges? In this first episode of Life of PIE with Onya Idoko, we discuss this question with Bidisha Pandey a former UCL Institute for Global Prosperity MSc PIE student.

Access the transcript

About Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Institute for Global Prosperity

We find ourselves at a formative moment wherein growth-based financial models and increasing economic and social inequality are driving new forms of conflict, dislocation and ecological damage, challenging the veracity of our economic and political systems. These challenges necessitate a bold re-thinking of the relationship between economic activity and global prosperity.

At the core of the IGP's Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship master's programme is the concept of transformative entrepreneurship, which involves the implementation of innovations that directly address the causes and consequences of environmental degradation as well as economic and social inequality. Entrepreneurship is widely associated with the promise of technological innovation and the emergence of new markets. Concepts such as social, sustainable, and community enterprise explore the potential of market actors and mechanisms to advance positive social and environmental change. The notion of transformative entrepreneurship takes these a step further by examining to the potential for entrepreneurship to provoke fundamental systemic change in the service of inclusive prosperity.

Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc