“The climate crisis and the crisis of democracy are two sides of the same coin. You cannot imagine any kind of vision of a desirable future that doesn't entail both environmental and democratic repair going together.”

“The main problem is that politicians and institutions are not trusting people. [So we are] missing the collective intelligence, the capacity that could be unlocked, [by] mobilising, larger networks and groups of people for collective action.”

Join me as I interview Professor Oliver Escobar, Professor of Public Policy and Democratic Innovation, at the University of Edinburgh as he talks about his experience as a deeply engaged academic and how we can all work together to shift from being in a critical mess to creating a critical mass for meaningful change.

You will discover:

• How good people inside dysfunctional institutions are keen to change things;

• Why climate assemblies are unexpectedly radical;

• How politicians will get more done when they share power; and much more.

I’m joined later in the episode by co-host Morag Watson and Dr Marian Bruce of Bioregioning Tayside to reflect on Oliver’s ideas and insights, and draw out practical lessons that could help changemakers in our work for people and nature in the polycrisis, including:

• The absolute importance of building trust in and across communities, organisations and institutions;

• The power of starting ongoing processes, instead of time limited projects;

• The power of working at scales where people know each other and can work together collectively.

Guest: Prof Oliver Escobar; Guest Listener: Dr Marian Bruce; Co-host: Morag Watson; Host, me, Osbert Lancaster (LinkedIn, Bluesky).

Find organisations and resources mentioned in this episode, plus further links to explore, in our collection on Semble.