In this pilot episode in the series, we look at the food system, the challenges that existed well before the pandemic and which have been magnified during it. We examine some of the fundamental issues underpinning the modern food system. We learn about the various stakeholders working to realign the production, distribution, and consumption of food with the natural cycles so that we can meet our food needs while helping to heal the earth and our connection to it.

This two-part episode offers an in-depth understanding of homelessness and housing as a right. In Part 1, we explore the systems challenges of homelessness and interventions like Housing First, as well as initiatives striving to prevent and address youth homelessness and Indigenous homelessness. In Part 2, we learn about the socially innovative solutions that are working and the barriers that remain to meaningfully redesigning these systems to help eradicate homelessness.

In this episode, we’ll focus on long-term care and how we can better support individuals as they age. Cracks in the long-term care system in Canada were visible long before the pandemic. COVID just further amplified the failures in a system meant to support and care for the most vulnerable. The question is: Will this finally be the impetus need for real change to happen? And if so, what will it look like and how do we get there?

In this two-part episode, the focus is the future of work. In part one, we’ll explore how technology and the economic impacts of the pandemic are shaping jobs now and the opportunities in the future. In part two, we will focus on universal basic income as an innovation that can address uncertainties in the labour market and ensure everyone has the basics they need to live.

This episode of the Designing a Humane Future podcast is dedicated to small businesses - to exploring the future of our Main Street shops and understanding ways to ensure they can continue to be part of our communities and our lives now and looking ahead.

This two-part episode explores the body of research on women, leadership, and systemic barriers that remain for women to reach parity with men. The aim is to find a working definition and understanding of how feminine leadership can help us tackle the looming issues of economic and social justice, and climate change that lie ahead.

This two-part ­episode examines climate change and our current economic model. We’ll talk about some of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases and shifts underway to move towards net zero. We’ll also learn about microgrids and their potential for creating more local, climate-resilient energy that supports community-owned power and Indigenous energy sovereignty.

This is a two-part ­episode that examines housing as a right with a focus on housing the middle and creating affordable, sustainable housing for middle-income households. In both parts, we’ll learn more about what led us to the housing crisis we are now facing in Canada and explore the efforts to ensure there is enough housing for all.

What if the future of technology was designed with empathy at its core?
In Episode 9 of the Designing a Humane Future podcast, we explore how social media and artificial intelligence are reshaping our lives—and how young people, ethical innovators, and inclusive design practices are showing us a better way forward.