My guest this week is Fritjof Capra, living systems theorist and bestselling author of The Systems View of Life. He discusses how:

• Systems thinking represents a shift from a mechanistic to an organic or network worldview
• Complexity theory brought a breakthrough in our understanding of living systems
• Living systems are self-organising networks with processes of creativity and regeneration
• Social systems are enabled by communities of practice, informal communication and culture
• Change agency happens by aligning with and reinforcing feedback loops through movements

Key links
The Capra Course (website)
The Systems View of Life (book)
The Environmentalist (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)

My guest this week is Sarah Langford, author of Rooted: Stories of Life, Land and a Farming Revolution. She discusses how:

• The UK’s policy of “public money for public good” is helping farmers to reclaim their role as stewards of the land
• We can learn lessons for transforming the food sector from farmers struggling with the transition to regenerative agriculture
• Reforming the agricultural system needs to simultaneously tackle public health, biodiversity loss and food security
• Livestock farming (and the diets that supports this) needs to change, but cellular agriculture and precision fermentation have challenges
• It is a myth that there is a trade-off between food production (yields) and nature conservation in regenerative farming

Key links
Sarah Langford (LinkedIn)
Sarah Langford (website)
Rooted (book)
Radical Activist (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)

My guest this week is Jed Emerson, Chief Impact Officer, AlTi Tiedemann Global and author of The Purpose of Capital. He discusses how:

• Impact investing, social return on investment, venture philanthropy, and blended value are related, reinforcing concepts and practices
• ESG investing is not a new idea or practice, going back at least to the Mennonite shareholder activism in relation to the Dutch East India Company
• The ethical investment movement has evolved from screened socially responsible investments and best in class approaches to ESG integration and impact investing
• ESG investment has reached a critical mass, but the business risk-based approach (single materiality) resulted in perceptions of greenwashing
• Stakeholder capitalism represents a shift in societal norms and expectations of business, but face significant resistance from incumbent vested interests

Key links
Jed Emerson (LinkedIn)
Blended Value (website)
AlTi Tiedemann Global (website)
The Purpose of Capital (book)
Mutualism (book)
Thriving (book)
I Like to Move It (poem)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)