Protopia with Robert Voigt

Today my friend Susan Gardner is my guest.

She has a truly singular perspective on local government and community building that has evolved from her many years at the helm of Municipal World. I can’t think anyone who has been instrumental in sharing so many stories about community building from those doing this vital work.

We talk about the role of stories, learning from others, and how taking risks is necessary to finding your best path forward.

Susan describes how powerful it can be to support persons’ authentic voices through all forms of media,

The value created from relationships and trust, and authenticity as critical tools in community building are woven throughout our conversation.

Susan also shares how she’ll be moving forward on new paths to help others navigate the world of community building with her experience and skills in communication.

I trust that you’ll enjoy our conversation.

I can be reached at: therobvoigt@gmail.com or on Twitter @robvoigt or on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/robvoigt

Today I’m talking to someone who’s work I have admired for many years.

She is an author, speaker, activist, co-founder of the amazing Yes magazine and founder of People’s Hub; that describes their training for people and groups rooted in political movements and local communities with the words resistance, resilience, restoration and reimagination.

My guest is Sarah van Gelder, who took the time to share meaningful insights into the important role that our personal sense of place plays in our well-being, and that our connections to place and community are key to the future of our world.

We also talk about the cultural repair, ecological repair, and economic repair that needs to happen for our future, and the enthusiasm she sees to make this happen.

Here is my conversation with Sarah, I hope you find it as enlightening and enjoyable as I did.

I can be reached at: therobvoigt@gmail.com or on Twitter @robvoigt or on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/robvoigt

Today I’m speaking with my new friend Storm Cunningham who shared his story of how he became the international expert on all things restorative and regenerative.

We discuss how communities too often get stuck in letting our plans create the illusion that things are happening, even when no progress is being made.

We talk about how to move beyond a mindset of scarcity and decline and build increasing confidence in our places and communities.

We’ll also talk about how we help people see that they have the abilities to make meaningful improvements to the nature we inhabit and bring our world back to life, and that there is a path to a positive future we can choose.

As Storm told me, what we restore, restores us.  And the places we revitalize, revitalize us.

I hope you enjoy our conversation.

I can be reached at: therobvoigt@gmail.com or on Twitter @robvoigt or on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/robvoigt

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with with the extraordinarily gifted artist and catalyst for community building, planning and urban design - David Engwicht.

With his insights and immersive seven day makeovers he shines light into communities so that their gifts emerge out of the shadows of hesitation, and bureaucracy.

His influence has reached around the globe. And we will hear how it all started in his backyard.

Creativity, art, and play are the tools of this master Placemaker. There is so much we can learn about working in-community as professionals and citizens alike from this master placemaker.

In our conversation he discusses pop-up prototyping to create places people love, and powerful messages about investing in trust, and using innovative permission statements to release the creative gifts of persons and their communities.

David is a true original, and I am grateful that he shared his time with me, and that you are here to be part part of it as well . Enjoy

I can be reached at: therobvoigt@gmail.com or on Twitter @robvoigt  or on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/robvoigt

In this episode I’m speaking with Miguel Angel Vasquez.

He is the immediate past chair of the APA Diversity Committee, President of the California Planning roundtable, and the Health Equity Urban and Regional Planner for Riverside University Health System, and the key catalyst for launching PHEAL which stands for Planning for Health Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership. He is a person who takes action.

Miguel has great abilities in human observation, empathic understanding, and creative communication. These characteristics make him unique in our shared profession of urban planning.

He is an inspiration, and as you will hear an example of how openness to creative expression can broaden your experiences and impact on the world.

I can be reached at: therobvoigt@gmail.com or on Twitter @robvoigt  or on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/robvoigt

In this episode I am speaking to Adam Bienenstock.

He is joyously iconoclastic, challenging systems, institutions, and people to understand the world in a better way… one that integrates meaningful access to nature across all our life courses, and particularly for the young.

He has consulted, envisioned, designed and built natural playgrounds around the world.  In each case striving to leave behind more than just completed project, but also an understanding that our connection to nature is not a problem we have to solve for, but that in fact, in nature we will find the solutions to our most pressing challenges.

Through story telling, gifting his knowledge to others, and focusing on outcomes while allowing processes to be dynamic, Adam is driving to do his best to make the world a better place for his children and ours alike.

I can be reached at: therobvoigt@gmail.com or on Twitter @robvoigt  or on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/robvoigt

Today I am pleased to share my conversation with my friend Cormac Russell.

You’ll hear his thoughts about the COVID-present world we are entering and how we can flourish forward fairly. As we awaken to the fact that it is communities that produce health, we’ll also see that community is no longer a nice to have, but a necessity.

He is the Managing Director of Nurture Development and a faculty member of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute, at DePaul University, Chicago. His decades-long commitment to ABCD has seen Cormac working in-community with enduring impact in dozens of countries.

Speaking with Cormac is a joy, I come away with a broadened perspective and refined understanding. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

Today I am sharing my conversation with my friend Sarah Bowman.

Sarah Bowman is the Director of Strategic Engagement & Impact Assessment, Office of the Dean of Research at the Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin

For a couple of decades now, Sarah has brought her skills to a board range of organizations from local to multi-national. With particular gifts for recognizing and supporting capacities, and nurturing meaningful communication and dialog.

We talk about the uncertainty and insular life experiences brought on by COVID-19, and how that may evolve to allow for some positive changes.

Sarah also shares insights on the introspective work professionals need to do when working in-community.

In his work to make communities more walking and cycling friendly and improving the lives of many 10,000s of people around the world, Dan Burden has traveled to and and worked in close to 4000 communities. Dan has been named one of the 100 Most Influential Urbanists of all time by Planetizen; a “Champion of Change” by the White House and “one of the six most important civic innovators in the world” by Time magazine.

I have had the pleasure of working alongside and learning from Dan many times… But I am most proud to say he is a dear friend to our family.

He is the Director of Innovation and Inspiration for Blue Zones, and in our far reaching conversation we talk about community champions, seeking out the best of the best to raise us to the next level, and Dan’s early personal experiments in life-hacking to gain insights into the lives of others.

As my first guest on Protopia, my wife Krista describes how the choices we make in life can lead us down quite unexpected paths, while common threads remain that define who we are. 

From discovering mentors, to earning a masters degree. From building businesses, to the complexities of raising a family and elder care. Krista connects the dots of her evolving life course punctuated with bravery, empathy, and trust in relationships and one's self. 

Krista also introduces us to her next act of creativity, founding a residential and commercial development firm with her sister. 

"Gazing into the future doesn't change it. Looking into the mirror does" Tom Jackson

Rob's welcome message to launch Protopia.