“I’ve been fortunate to be supported by a core group of active volunteers helping make it all happen,” said Martin,‘19 M.Arch. “We have been actively supported by the Yale Club of London, where I also serve on the management group, and have seen very positive reception among alumni looking to meet like-minded Yalies.”
In October, YBG-London hosted a panel discussion featuring four alumni speaking on sustainable development and urban adaptation. The panel included Peter Hirsch ‘15 MEM, Head of Sustainability at 2150, a venture capital fund investing in technologies that help build more sustainable, efficient, and resilient cities; Chris Choa ‘81, an architect and urbanist who leads OUTCOMIST, a consultancy dedicated to shaping cities through future-oriented masterplanning and urban strategy; Elizabeth Kelly ‘92, director of sustainable cities at Placemaking London, is a changemaker at the intersection of climate action, sustainable transport, and civic engagement; and Xiaoting Hou-Jones ‘10 MEM, who leads the Doughnut Economic Action Lab’s (DEAL) work with governments and changemakers who seek to achieve more regenerative and distributive economies.
These four perspectives wove together into a rich conversation on how to change behavior in cities, re-imagine city life, and creatively and adequately meet people’s basic needs while protecting the planet.
Xiaoting Hou-Jones brought a systems-thinking perspective from DEAL’s work with over 50 cities around the world, noting the importance of considering how changes implemented by a city affect the welfare of people and the environment outside the city, too. She also introduced Doughnut Economics as a framework for meeting the basic social needs of people (shelter, food, jobs, energy security, etc.) while staying within planetary boundaries.
To meet such requirements, investment in new technology will be critical. Peter Hirsch explained how investing in sustainable technologies requires identifying common problems that people everywhere face, such as the increasing need to keep cool. The challenge is that more and more people need to stay cool; the opportunity is in re-thinking how to achieve it.
“Cities across the world are going to need cooling to keep people physically safe, and there isn’t enough electricity for it without new technology,” said Peter. “So, we’ve invested in a new cooling technology that can reduce energy consumption by 80% to 90%. The ubiquity of the solution can potentially solve energy problems in the United States. It can solve resilience problems in other areas.”
From the perspective of a “psychotherapist for city mayors,” Chris Choa added an emphasis on the importance of understanding what drives different stakeholders.
“Trying to figure out who the stakeholders are and what the agendas are at the table is essential if we want to have an impact of any kind,” he said. “If you can figure out the motivations, neuroses, anxieties, and the opportunities that people seek, you have insight into how you can achieve a better city.”
And once you understand what people want, Elizabeth Kelly noted, the rest of the work is largely education and messaging: focus on sharing the benefits of a behavior change rather than the change itself, and don’t tell people they’re going to have to give something up.
