Planted Unearthed talks 2021

Delivering green cities in a post-pandemic world

On Friday 24th September - 15.30-16.30, Quiet Mark CEO & CoFounder, Poppy Szkiler was one of the expert panellists at Toxic Cities - Planted Unearthed talks 2021 - Hosted by Oliver Heath.

Led by biophilic design expert Oliver Heath and former Sunday Times journalist Sam Peters, the Planted Unearthed 2021 talks programme will bring together some of the most progressive thinkers in the world of design, sustainability, food production, architecture and nature.

Tackling some of the most challenging and important topics facing us today and building on the success of our inaugural 2020 talks programme, the talks will explore how cities, buildings, people and spaces must adapt and evolve in the face of the growing challenges of climate change and a post-pandemic world.

Alongside Poppy on the Toxic Cities panel were Kerem Asfuroglu (Dark Source), Georgia Elliot Smith (Element 4) and Trewin Restorick (Hubbub). 

Billed under the sub-heading, “How to capture a polluting killer (not always in plain sight)”, Planted described Toxic Cities, as follows:

Some pollutants you can see some you can’t – but all of them reduce the quality of our lives, our health and wellbeing. 

Over the last 18 months the Covid 19 pandemic lockdown has given us all greater clarity on the impact we are having on the planet and our own habitats. As human activity has reduced, we’ve seen the impact it has had on our cities; be that clearer air, the sounds of nature remerging, and even animals returning to city centres.

Image: Moderator, Oliver Heath, briefs the expert panel ahead of the event. 

In this fascinating investigation into environmental pollutants, we asked a range of experts what the issues are and how we can reimagine cities to be healthier places to live. Drawing on expertise from the worlds of acoustic, air quality, light and water pollution we will be digging into just how bad the situations are and how they are affecting our daily lives. We’ll be asking:

·       What are the pollutants and where are they coming from?

·       Who is being worst affected and how?

·       How has lockdown affected this and helped it rise up the agenda?

·       What role can we as citizens play in mitigating pollutants?

·       What role does nature play in alleviating the issue and how can we support it?

·       Key activities we should all be engaging with to create healthier cities.

Listen to Oliver Heath discuss Biophilic Acoustics on The Quiet Mark Podcast: