Alexander Verbeek is Policy Director of the EDRC (the Environmental Development Resource Centre in Brussels), he is an environmentalist, public speaker, former diplomat and strategic policy advisor at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I came to know Alexander through his independent newsletter The Planet (published on Substack). We spoke during COP26, Alexander was also speaking at the conference, but with Biophilic Design being such an important solution in the built environment to some of the climate issues, I wanted to speak with Alexander to hear his thoughts on how the climate crisis is shaking the foundations of life on our planet across the world.
In the podcast Alexander describes how he was taking this photo and appreciating the beauty, it was only as he started looking that he saw the trees were dead. This was a direct result of climate change, the beetles living in the bark didn’t die, they now had two cycles of reproduction and were killing the trees. Which of course means ultimately they will have no where to live either.
So listen on, he sets the scene, starting with his early life camping in nature with his family, right through to his work on climate change as a spokesperson and diplomat. We also talk about COP26, and he discusses how climate change is impacting global security and that “there is no time to lose”, we need visionary leaders, more diplomats, and a system change.
At 44mins we introduce Biophilic Design solutions in cities and how this can help. “I am fully behind what you do”, he says. He says that in a recent survey it was found that 10% of youth in the UK over the past year did not spend even a minute in nature. This is not hiking up mountains, but even in a city park. He calls for proper education programmes in schools where we should learn to understand and respect nature. He also says, when we build a home or a new neighbourhood, we should plant trees, these are the best carbon capture and storage that the world has ever designed. This should not be perceived as a luxury, but as essential. We discuss how trees in cities have enormous positive impact on our psychological welbeing but also how with climate change impacting our built environment so harshly, trees can help cities withstand the heatwaves. He also raises the fact that poorer neighbourhoods often have less trees, which of course impacts on so many aspects of people’s lives.
Utrecht is a Biophilic City, Alexander describes how the city is greening. He also talks about the fabulous house designed by architect César Manrique on Lanzarote, a volcanic island, but his design embraces and uses what nature has given him. He makes a very strong point, however, that Biophilic Design should not be just for rich houses, but that it should be incorporated in all houses. Design should include this synergy with nature, we should be closer to nature in our every day lives, so we are much more prepared to deal with the new demands on us in our rapidly changing climate. We will be seeing more extreme heatwaves, heavier downpours. We need environments to help sustain life.
This is very much a wake up call for Biophilic Design solutions in our built environment to help deal with the climate crises.
Follow Alexander’s newsletter on Substack, The Planet. and Subscribe on this link here.
To scroll through our other podcasts, have a look here on our main podcast page.
Credits: with thanks to George Harvey Audio Production for the calming biophilic soundscape that backs all our podcasts.
Did you know our podcast is also on Audible, Amazon Music, Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher, vurbl, podbay, podtail, and most if not all the RSS feeds?
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/journalofbiophilicdesign/
Twitter https://twitter.com/JofBiophilicDsn
LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/company/journalofbiophilicdesign/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/journalofbiophilicdesign/