Doing Hope Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Today we are hearing from Nathan, the Co-Founder of Bold Donut Games and how his fun mobile games help 1000s of people learn about actionable sustainable behaviours in a fun and playful way.

Recoding location: A quiet spot among oaks and beech trees in Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland.

Connect with Nathan:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncruzcoulson/

Bold Donut website: https://www.bolddonut.com

Play the game at MyWaste.ie "Take a minute before you bin it!" campaign game: https://bolddonut.itch.io/take-a-minute

ESB Networks energy game case study: https://www.bolddonut.com/energy-case-study

KPMG waste game in an office environment case study: https://www.bolddonut.com/office

For comments, ideas and collaborations contact me at:

email: claudia@claudiageratz.com

website: claudiageratz.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiageratz/

To become a guest on the Doing Hope podcast or nominate someone you know, please complete this short form: https://forms.gle/BzHSz7dNYcKDK8VLA

🎹 Intro Music by the talented Alberto Gariglio.

Listen to more of his piano music here:

https://www.instagram.com/albertogariglio.77

https://www.youtube.com/@albertogarigliomypianomusi1392

Thank you for listening.

I am delighted to introduce the Doing Hope podcast and bringing you Episode 0 today. In this short solo episode I share my intention for this podcast and a bit about my personal backstory of why I feel called to record inspiring stories of changemakers across the world.

Recoding location: A small woodland in Hennef, Germany

For comments, ideas and collaborations contact me at:

email: claudia@claudiageratz.com

website: claudiageratz.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiageratz/

🎹 Intro Music by the talented Alberto Gariglio.

Listen to more of his piano music here:

https://www.instagram.com/albertogariglio.77

https://www.youtube.com/@albertogarigliomypianomusi1392

Thank you for listening.

In today’s episode, I talk with writer and journalist Elspeth Hay, author of Feed Us With Trees, whose work invites us to rediscover a food story far older — and far more hopeful — than industrial agriculture. Speaking from her home on Cape Cod, surrounded by oak woods that quietly shaped her research journey, Elspeth shares how a single insight — that acorns are edible — opened the door to an entirely new way of seeing food, land, and our role within ecosystems.

She traces how nut trees like acorn, chestnut, and hazel once formed staple diets across the Northern Hemisphere, and how Indigenous stewardship, cultural fire, and communal land care created biodiverse, abundant landscapes long before monocultures existed. What begins as curiosity becomes a powerful re-storying of what it means to feed ourselves well — in ways that heal both land and climate.

Together, we explore:

🌳 How tree crops challenge the myth that only industrial agriculture can “feed the world”🔥 Why low-intensity cultural fire is essential for healthy oak ecosystems🌰 What makes nut trees a climate-resilient, nutrient-rich staple food🌿 How reconnecting with local keystone species can guide us toward meaningful climate action🏡 Why shifting our focus from global doom to local community can rekindle genuine hope

Elspeth’s future vision is one of re-skilled, rooted communities living in deeper relationship with their home ecosystems — landscapes filled with life, diversity, and the wisdom of trees. Her message: hope grows when we pay attention to the places we belong, and when we start small, right where we are.

“I hope that I’m an ally to the trees… I learned a story when I was a kid that they didn’t need our help because they were wild and natural. And as an adult, I learned a new story — that they do need some human help to have the conditions they need on the land.” - Elspeth Hay

👉 Learn more about Elspeth and order her book:

* Elspeth’s website

🙋 Want to connect with me or share feedback?

* Email: claudia@claudiageratz.com

* Website: claudiageratz.com

* LinkedIn: @claudiageratz

📍 Nominate a guest for the podcast: Submit your idea here

🎵 Music by Alberto Gariglio Instagram | YouTube

🌿 Coming in January: Doing Hope in Practice

Inspired by all the hopeful conversations with my wonderful guests so far, I am creating something new: The Doing Hope in Practice Circles. Starting mid-January 2026 we will gather in small live circles around our virtual campfire - a space to turn the insights from Doing Hope into practice - in your work, your home or your community. This is for you if you are curious to explore what it means to turn hope into action. Booking opens in early December — if it speaks to you, read more here and join the interest list for early access and a special discount.

In today’s episode, I talk with Cindie Christiansen, founder and Executive Director of Foodprint Nordic and initiator of the Top 50 Farmers initiative, whose mission is to re-imagine how we grow, value, and connect with food. From her home in Copenhagen — overlooking a community-made micro-forest — Cindie shares how her childhood memories of soil, food, and her grandmother’s kitchen quietly shaped her path toward leading a pan-European movement for regenerative agriculture.

Cindie talks about the origins of Top 50 Farmers, an initiative highlighting diverse, next-generation farmers from across Europe and shifting the cultural narrative around farming. Instead of the familiar stories of protest, pesticides, and crisis, she wants farmers to be recognised as role models, innovators, and essential stewards of our future.

Together, you explore:

🌱 Why food has become undervalued — and why understanding its true cost matters

🌾 How disconnection from the landscapes that feed us shapes our health, choices, and culture

🌍 The role of imagination in building hopeful, actionable visions for the future

🔄 What regeneration means not only for soil, but for how we work, lead, and organise our lives

🪴 Why touching soil and growing even a tiny bit of food can be a powerful act of hope

Cindie’s future vision is one of edible cities, abundant biodiversity, thriving rural landscapes, and communities who know the names of the farmers who feed them. Her message is clear: hope is not passive. It’s an action — often beginning with something as small as planting a seed.

“If we don’t have access to clean, affordable food, I don’t see how we have life.” - Cindie Christiansen

👉 Learn more about Cindie and her work:

* Connect with Cindie on LinkedIn

* Learn more about Foodprint Nordic

* Connect with the Top 50 Farmers Initiative

🙋 Want to connect with me or share feedback?

* Email: claudia@claudiageratz.com

* Website: claudiageratz.com

* LinkedIn: @claudiageratz

📍 Nominate a guest for the podcast: Submit your idea here

🎵 Music by Alberto Gariglio Instagram | YouTube

Dani is a sustainability advocate and founder of Natural Rebel. With 15+ years in the field, she brings heart and depth to conversations about our connection to the planet and ourselves. Her work creates space for reflection, emotional healing, and community through mindfulness and women’s circles. Dani’s mission is to help people trust their inner voice and build a more authentic, sustainable world together.

In this soulful conversation, she shares the challenges of mainstreaming sustainability, why burnout is a growing issue, and how embracing feminine values like pause, connection, and trust could reshape how we lead and work for change.

In this episode, I talk with Dani Baker about:

* What 15+ years in sustainable business have taught her about collaboration, burnout, and balance

* Why mainstream sustainability risks losing its soul—and how we can bring it back

* How her Natural Rebel women’s circles are creating space for deeper connection, purpose, and intuition

* The power of pausing, storytelling, and embracing “failure” as part of real change

* How feminine energy, not hustle culture, might just be what sustainability needs most

🔊 “The women’s circles aren’t just helping individuals—they’re shifting workplace cultures.” - Dani Baker

💬 Dani will join us this week in the Subscriber chat. What do you want to ask Dani about working in sustainability?

👉 Connect with Dani and Natural Rebel:

* Natural Rebel Website

* Join a Sustainable You Circle - join the waitlist for this coming September!

* Explore Mindfulness and Meditation - take a step back and enjoy taking some time for yourself!

* Connect with Dani on LinkedIn

🙋 Want to connect with me or share feedback?

* Email: claudia@claudiageratz.com

* Website: claudiageratz.com

* LinkedIn: @claudiageratz

📍 Nominate a guest for the podcast: Submit your idea here

🎵 Music by Alberto Gariglio Instagram | YouTube

What if rewilding wasn’t just for landowners or scientists, but for everyone — in cities, gardens, and rented plots? This week on Doing Hope, I speak with Jon Conradi, founder of Wild Mosaic, about making rewilding radically accessible. Through his project, people become Rewilders: subscribing to a 3x3m patch of land and following its transformation into a flourishing habitat — while rediscovering their own relationship with the wild.

This is a story of loneliness and belonging, tiny insects and big ideas, and finding hope by reconnecting with life.

In this episode, we talk about:

* Why rewilding offers a recoverable Earth vision

* What Jon learned chasing hoverflies and planting leaky dams

* How grief over biodiversity loss led to his social impact startup

* Making biodiversity personal, participatory, and joyful

* Rewilding as micro-learning, habit, and everyday noticing

🔊 "Each little 3x3m patch is a tile in a wider mosaic. You become a Rewilder, and you also become someone who sees more." — Jon Conradi

💬 Jon is joining us for a one-hour live Substack Chat Q&A this week! Bring your questions about starting small, joyful climate action, and his unexpected journey into land-based learning. Check the Chat tab for details and drop your reflections in the comments below.

👉 Connect with Jon and Wild Mosaic:

* Wild Mosaic Website

* Jon on LinkedIn

* Jon’s Substack

🙋 Want to connect with me or share feedback?

* Email: claudia@claudiageratz.com

* Website: claudiageratz.com

* LinkedIn: @claudiageratz

📍 Nominate a guest for the podcast: Submit your idea here

🎵 Music by Alberto Gariglio Instagram | YouTube

🎙 Guest: Laila JB MartinsIn this deeply moving conversation, I speak with Laila JB Martins — a Brazilian strategist, facilitator, and regenerative thinker based in Bonn, Germany — about what it means to live and lead in service of the planet, starting right where you are.

Laila shares how her journey from corporate sustainability roles (like DHL and the UN) to local regenerative work has taught her that hope is not something we find — it's something we practice.

🌍 In this episode, Laila reflects on:

* What trees have taught her about grief, resilience, and belonging

* Why understanding ourselves as biological beings shifts everything

* How she blends corporate strategy with grassroots regeneration

* Why being “famous in your city” may be the most powerful climate impact

* The link between chronic pain, planetary health, and interdependence

* Why music, joy, and Brazilian dance songs are tools of hope

💬 Join us for a live Q&A chat with Laila on Substack this weekShe’ll be answering your questions about creative climate work, finding your purpose, and leading from wherever you are.Check the Chat tab or subscribe below to join in.

🌱 Links & Credits

Connect with Laila:

* Website: LailaMartins.com

* Community: RegenBeings.com

* LinkedIn: Laila JB Martins

* Instagram: @regenbeings

🎵 Laila’s “dance in your kitchen” song recommendation: 🌱 Links & Credits

🤝 Want to connect or collaborate?

* Email: claudia@claudiageratz.com

* Website: claudiageratz.com

* LinkedIn: @claudiageratz

Nominate a guest: Submit your idea here

🎹 Intro music by Alberto GariglioInstagram | YouTube

Subscribe and join a community of people navigating this messy, beautiful unfolding together.

Today we meet Caitríona Kenny, a community officer, environmental educator and one of the co-founders of the Sustainable Energy Community Connecting Cabra in Dublin 7, Ireland. Sustainable Energy Communities are community-led initiatives to empower locals to take climate action at a local level. Cabra was one of the first to establish in Ireland and the community has since expanded their connect-learn-and-share model to also include biodiversity projects, tree planting and growing food together. I spoke with Caitríona to understand how they made this happen and what we can learn from their journey to inspire you to start your own community project.

Recording location: Caitríona’s sun-filled living room in the heart of Cabra, Dublin, Ireland.

Connect with Caitríona:

Website: www.connectingcabra.ie

email: hello@connectingcabra.ie

For comments, ideas and collaborations contact me at:

email: claudia@claudiageratz.com

website: claudiageratz.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiageratz/

To become a guest on the Doing Hope podcast or nominate someone you know, please complete this short form: https://forms.gle/BzHSz7dNYcKDK8VLA

🎹 Intro Music by the talented Alberto Gariglio.

Listen to more of his piano music here:

https://www.instagram.com/albertogariglio.77

https://www.youtube.com/@albertogarigliomypianomusi1392

Thank you for listening.

Today, we are meeting Frederich Verstraete from Belgium, who combines his entrepreneurial spirit and decades of business expertise to build a greener future by bringing back hemp as a sustainable raw material for industries and manufacturing. But that’s not all. The real hopeful story is that he is growing hemp on contaminated land, land that is deemed unusable due to pollution with forever chemicals. Listen to how he and his team is making the impossible possible.

Recording location: Meeting via Zoom in the C-Biotech office in Belgium

Connect with Frederik:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederik-verstraete/

Earth Plus Website: https://www.earthplus.eu/

C-Biotech Website: https://www.c-biotech.eu/

Restoring 30000 hectares of land in Murcia, Spain - Case Study: https://www.earthplus.eu/projects/bringing-river-quipar-back-in-murcia-spain/

For comments, ideas and collaborations contact me at:

email: claudia@claudiageratz.com

website: claudiageratz.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiageratz/

To become a guest on the Doing Hope podcast or nominate someone you know, please complete this short form: https://forms.gle/BzHSz7dNYcKDK8VLA

🎹 Intro Music by the talented Alberto Gariglio.

Listen to more of his piano music here:

https://www.instagram.com/albertogariglio.77

https://www.youtube.com/@albertogarigliomypianomusi1392

Thank you for listening.

In this episode of Doing Hope, I walk with Leslie through Dublin’s Phoenix Park to talk about the power of engineering, patience, and community in the face of climate change.

Leslie is a French engineer who specialises in water, flooding and climate resilience. After a master of engineering in France, she moved to Ireland and now works on the development of flood defences and water-related projects for an consulting engineering company. She is passionate by sustainability and undertook a second master in environmental engineering for sustainable development to further her knowledge. On the side, she is deeply involved in volunteering organisations about the protection of nature, sustainability education and climate justice.

Leslie shares how her work designing flood-resilient systems connects data, biodiversity, and human lives — and how staying hopeful means embracing collaboration, curiosity, and care for our shared planet.

Our conversation covers a number of interesting areas in climate adaptation:

* 💧 From Data to Impact – How flood-resilience engineering protects communities from climate change while respecting nature.

* 🧭 Beyond the Blueprint – What it really takes to design long-term climate adaptation projects that balance cost, biodiversity, and community needs.

* 🕰️ The Patience of Change – How to stay motivated when your work’s impact might not be visible for another decade.

* 🌍 Hope in Systems Thinking – Why engineers need both technical precision and social awareness to solve complex sustainability challenges.

* 🤝 The Power of Community – Leslie’s vision of a future where collaboration replaces isolation in solving the climate crisis.

“You can’t really design a flooding solution without thinking about the impact on biodiversity, on residents, or even the politics behind it. You have to see the whole system, not just the engineering.”

Leslie on the importance of systemic awareness to climate adaptation work

👉 Links with further reading and learning:

* Learn more about climate mitigation vs adaptation here

* Ongoing project relief schemes in Ireland 🇮🇪

🙋 Want to connect with me or share feedback?

* Email: claudia@claudiageratz.com

* Website: claudiageratz.com

* LinkedIn: @claudiageratz

📍 Nominate a guest for the podcast: Submit your idea here

🎵 Music by Alberto Gariglio Instagram | YouTube