The Grand Challengers Podcast

A show about inspiring individuals who are tackling today’s global challenges in out-of-the-box ways and are here to share stories about their own personal journey towards making our world a better place.

Hosted by Peter Marcus Bach

Latest Episode

Episode #36 – Tables Turned Part 1
Guests ask me questions on the podcast origin story, life choices and more
December 10th, 2024

Episodes & Shownotes

Click on the episode that you would like to listen to or know more about below. New episodes every 2 weeks!

Episode 001 – Engineers never say never and never say always – a new take on flood models
with João Paulo Leitão – January 3rd, 2023
Episode 002 – Cohabitation and close encounters with myths in urban design
with Scott Lloyd – January 17th, 2023
Episode 003 – A game of planning, a set of maps and a match of nature-based solutions
with Martijn Kuller – January 31st, 2023
Episode 004 – Good vibrations – a sensorial journey into urban soundscapes and acoustic design
with Sofia Boarino – February 14th, 2023
Episode 005 – Like wastewater for chocolate, control, serendipity and digital twins
with Peter A. Vanrolleghem – February 28th, 2023
Episode 006 – Citymaking in times of crises, from yoghurt shops to plans of resistance
with Arya Arabshahi – March 14th, 2023
Episode 007 – There are no silver bullets for the toilet, city or life’s journey – just keep rowing
with Abishek Sankara Narayan – March 28th, 2023
Episode 008 – Don’t forget the social – experiments in urban water and energy transitions
with Megan A. Farrelly – April 11th, 2023
Episode 009 – From first flush and manholes to pendulums of stormwater, engineering and life
with Ana Deletic – April 25th, 2023
Episode 010 – Backyard balsamic vinegar, a pizza oven and technological progress in agriculture
with Daniele la Cecilia – May 9th, 2023
Episode 011 – A limnologist, filmmaker, foodie, water diplomat and passionate teacher walk into a kitchen…
with Anas Ghadouani – May 23rd, 2023
Episode 012 – “Pondering” conversations around banana bread and boats from across the fence
with Liah Coggins – June 6th, 2023 (show notes being updated…)
Episode 013 – Going vertical in a green horizontal world and promoting urban water and nature co-design
with Veljko Prodanovic – June 20th, 2023
Episode 014 – Lights, Camera, GPS and Action around biodiversity enhancement in human-dominated landscapes
with Janine Bolliger – July 4th, 2023
Episode 015 – “Restrictions and constraints breed innovation” – sewers and nature-based solutions in Colombia
with Juan Pablo Rodríguez Sánchez – July 18th, 2023
Episode 016 – A ‘hot’ topic for ‘cooler’ cities – high performance architecture to combat urban overheating
with Mattheos Santamouris – August 1st, 2023
Episode 017 – What to do with a hole in the ground – re-mining for critical minerals, rehabilitation and repurposing
with Mohan Yellishetty – August 29th, 2023
Episode 018 – From tropical forests to the city – reconciliation ecology between human infrastructure and nature conservation
with Fritz Kleinschroth – September 12th, 2023
Episode 019 – Diving deep into the underground, ‘forensics’ on river water quality to uncover environmental past and future?
with Anna Lintern – October 17th, 2023
Episode 020 – Stormwater control measures, healthy waterways, battleships and karate at the riverside camp
with Belinda Hatt – November 28th, 2023
Episode 021 – The paradox of nature – process and parts and its implications for green infrastructure
with Danielle Dagenais – January 9th, 2024
Episode 022 – “God-like technologies in medieval institutions”, discussing paradigm shifts for greener, water-resilient cities
with Françoise Bichai – January 23rd, 2024
Episode 023 – To give ‘space’ – from a library to collaborative urban transformation and rethinking the architect’s role
with Markus Vogl – February 6th, 2024
Episode 024 – The ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of green infrastructure, opening a ‘can of worms’ and gaining control of watersheds
with Jon Hathaway – February 20th, 2024
Episode 025 – Your garden, the ‘field of dreams’ for tackling the twin crises of climate change and artificial intelligence
with Shubber Ali – March 5th, 2024
Episode 026 – The Good, the Bad, and the Socio-Political – can science really support policymaking?
with Manuel Fischer – March 19th, 2024
Episode 027 – A personal journey, from Africa to Switzerland – insights on education, nature-based solutions and women scientists
with Darcy Molnar – April 9th, 2024
Episode 028 – A social psychology toolkit for changing transport planning, built environment and future mobility
with Alexa Delbosc – April 30th, 2024
Episode 029 – Grassroots movements, policy instruments and timing for transforming water, biodiversity and underground management
with Katrin Pakizer – May 28th, 2024
Episode 030 – From tropical Singapore to Europe – the “ABC Waters” of sponge cities and climate adaptive design
with Tobias Baur – June 4th, 2024
Episode 031 – Reflections, from a canoe chute and litter traps to Day Zero and South Africa’s Sustainable Drainage
with Neil Armitage – August 13th, 2024
Episode 032 – Partnering with nature in Spain’s journey to Sustainable Drainage and Climate Adaptation
with Luis Angel Sañudo Fontaneda – September 17th, 2024
Episode 033 – America’s evolving stormwater management, our innate connection to water and walking your “Camino”
with Bill Hunt – October 1st, 2024
Episode 034 – A world of plastics from macro and micro to nano – should zero plastics be the long-term goal?
with Denise Mitrano – October 29th, 2024
Episode 035 – The answers are beyond the “clouds” – the water-energy link for climate adaptation in a world of data ubiquity
with Yannick Back – November 12th, 2024
Episode 036 – Tables Turned: Part 1 – Guests ask me questions on the podcast origin story, life choices and more
A special episode of the podcast – December 10th, 2024
The podcast will return in 2025 with many new guests and perhaps even a returning guest or two, so stay tuned!