Forward Talks

We hope you and your loved ones are safe, and that you're listening to this episode from the comfort of your home.  This week, we're sharing our conversation with Maria Sillanpaa, founder of Sustainability Advisory. This was a conversation we did much before the restrictions were put in to control the spread of the Novel Coronavirus. Maria joins us to talk about the first-of-its-kind Conscious Consumer UAE State of Play 2019, where they surveyed 1,300 citizens and residents in the country to understand how sustainability conscious the average consumer is in the UAE. You'll find a link to the report (and its free summary) below.  You can also reach out to us with your thoughts on our website, on LinkedIn and on Instagram. 

This week, we're joined by Tanzeed Alam, MD of Earth Matters — they are a consultancy focusing on strategy & advisory services to help find practical solutions around climate crises and human development. Tanzeed shares his thought on climate change and how they're enabling the businesses they work with. We also talk about the current pandemic and what businesses can learn from its impacts worldwide. Over the next few weeks we hope to share more conversations about the various issues the pandemic has highlighted—from business practices that affect us to how we may look to rebuilt once its effect is contained. Connect with us on Instagram and find all our episodes in your podcast players and on the web.

With March 22 being World Water Day, we're joined on this episode by Adam Torrey from The Water Project, a non-profit focused on reliable water projects around clean water and sanitization in sub-Saharan Africa. Adam shares how The Water Project meets its goals as well as helps put various aspects around our water consumption into persepctive for us. Later this week, we'll be sharing our conversation with Tanzeed Alam from Earth Matters, where we talk about how the current Coronavirus pandemic should us cause to rethink the way we do business and some of its impacts. You can connect with on [Instagram](https://instagram.com/goumbook) and find all of our previous episodes on our [website](http://goumbook.com/podcasts) if you'd like to catch up on them.

On this episode, we’re joined by Maggie Doyne, founder of Blink Now Foundation, which provides quality education & a safe environment for children in Nepal. With thanks to Dana Al Matrook, founder of the Kind Human Collective.

This week, we're talking to Dr. David Roze, from the Dr. Roze & Associates Dental Clinic and the first member of our Fair Care initiative to provide affordable dental care to those who need it. Dr. Roze also explains why everything is linked to our teeth & how holistic medicine including dentistry is the future.  You can follow us on Instagram and find all the episodes of the show in your favourite podcast player, or on the web.

We had the opporutnity to sit down with the team from the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, which brings together policy makers, industry specialists and the next generation of sustainability leaders under one roof. Engr. Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Project Director, and Humaid Al Shamsi, Reveneue Management Division Manager, told us about their new recycled water project and the AquaTEC initiative.

Happy New Year everyone! We're back this week with the inspiring Elham AlQasm, the first Arab woman to ski to the North Pole in 2010. As she was looking for her next venture, she launched the Natural Laundry Company in 2015 to correct the perceptions people have about dry cleaning and to help both customers and employees live a toxin-free life. Once again, we want to thank you for joining us on our journey, this was our 25th episode! We'll be back in two weeks with a new guest. Until then, you can follow us on Instagram and find all the episodes of the show in your favourite podcast player, or on the web.

Assia Riccio is the founder of Evolvin Women, an organization that provides a platform to prepare unemployed women from less privileged backgrounds in Africa. In just 3 years, Evolvin Women provides support, including 550+ hours each month of mentorship to the women they help as part of their program.

This week, we're talking to Yann Borgstedt, a Swiss entrepreneur turned philanthropist who started the Womanity Foundation in 2005 with a focus on empowering women in countries such as Afghanistan, Brazil, India and the Middle East & North Africa.

We recently celebrated World Energy Day, and when we talk about energy, one of the major considerations is that of transportation. On this episode we're we’re talking to a company that is looking to tackle this issue of awareness of electric vehicles (EVs), and help improve their adoption through people and community initiatives in Dubai -- Evera, which stands for Electric Vehicles for Environmental Regenerative Action.

Our guest today is Sallyann Della Casa is the founder of GLEAC and Chief Tree Hugger at the Growing Leaders Foundation, something she started in 2010. Sallyann used to be a real-estate lawyer, but by 2012 she was already working on upskilling youth through workshops and training. This evolved into her current role as Chief Identity Hacker at GLEAC, a tech platform that helps discover and strengthen human soft skills & behaviour.

We are joined this week by Nicholas Brooks, a local entrepreneur dedicated to Sustainability. As a passionate cyclist, him and his friend Stewart Howison started riding regularly in Al Qudra, later founding Cycle Safe Dubai. Along the way they were approached on the road by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to discuss the creation of the now famous Al Qudra Cycle Track. In 2018, together with another long-term friend and previous business partner, Nicholas started Zaeto, developing a product for the GCC with a core focus on the environment, alongside cost effectiveness for businesses: “While Zaeto can be generalized as a lubricants and grease company, it is so much more than that. We are impacting the environment positively, reducing harmful emissions by 40 per cent, while increasing fuel economy and lubricating parts better and more efficiently. This results in improvements in sustainability.”

This week, we’re talking to Adrienne Doolan, CEO of Green Touches, about how she got started with using Ozone as a cleaning agent and why she believes we should talk about environment ‘sincerity’ rather than just sustainability. Combining a genuine passion for the environment, promoting a sustainable way of life and working with integrity, her company Green Touches, founded in 2015, has brought an entirely new concept to the Facility Management industry in the Middle East, striving to be a disruption within this industry towards achieving sustainability. Adrienne is also a newly elected Board member of the United Nations Global Compact local network UAE, working on the 10 Universal Principles and the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals 2030, and Green Touches is an active participating member of the local chapter. With nearly 20 years of experience in the region, Adrienne has worked as a senior consultant for leadership trainings from 2013 – 2015 with many governmental bodies, such as DEWA, SE

This week our guest is a scientist & urban planner who has been working on the Sustainability aspect of projects such as the Abu Dhabi Capital Plan 2030, The Sharjah Strategic Plan 2040 and the Dubai Expo 2020 bid. Huda Shaka is a Dubai-kid who returned to the city after studying abroad and achieving her Masters in Urban Planning. She is now an Associate Director with ARUP, a multinational professional services firm which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment.

This week, we're joined by Sian Rowlands, Owner & Chief Storyteller at Retold, about how her own wardrobe dilemma formed the basis of her business and how broken the fashion industry really is today. Retold is a boutique store in Dubai dealing exclusively in pre-owned fashion.

Part 2 of our talk with Monaem Ben Lellahom, Founding Partner & Group CEO of Sustainable Square. This episode discusses the 2018 State of CSR & Sustainability in the MENA Region report published by Sustainable Square earlier this year. In case you haven't heard it yet, do check out Part 1 where we talk about how Sustainable Square got started and Monaem's outlook for the future of sustainability in our region.

Part 1 of our talk with Founder Partner & Group CEO of Sustainable Square, Monaem Ben Lellahom about how they got started, and how he views the regional landscape of sustainability compared to CSR. On Part 2, also available now, we discuss the 2018 State of Sustainability & CSR Report published by Sustainable Square earlier this year.

On this episode, we’re joined by Sabrin Rahman, Head of Sustainability at HSBC talking about her own journey & how the bank is looking to shape sustainability for the region.

This week, we’re joined by Anita Nouri, co-founder of Green Energy Solutions, discussing waste management and landfills, gas-to-energy benefits, transitioning to renewable energy and other sources of sustainable energy in the Middle East.

On this episode, we’re joined by Dana Liparts, co-founder of EcoCoast, a marine protection company about the work they’re doing to protect our coastlines & tackling plastic waste in the ocean at a large scale.