PlaceHolder Podcast

Anita McKenzie is a visual artist, writer, picture researcher and creative producer, she works with photography and mixed media materials to explore social themes relating to equality and belonging in order to challenge intersectional oppression and to amplify unheard voices through personal creative projects and collaborations.

Pierre Bureau is a French-Ethiopian photographer in London, who began his photography journey as an escape from his own mental health struggles. He founded Mindful Photo Lab in 2019, which aims to connect communities through photography workshops, and to improve the mental health of participants.

Series 6 of the Placeholder Podcast explores community photography and the ethics surrounding it, and we had a really interesting conversation with our first guest photographer Anthony Luvera. Anthony is a self-described socially-engaged artist and educator based in London. He collaborates with individuals, addressing issues like homelessness and queer identity. His work has been exhibited at Tate Liverpool, British Museum, London Underground, National Portrait Gallery, and more.

In episode 3 of season 5 of the Placeholder podcast, we had a chat with Elliot Newton about how important sharing knowledge is when it comes to rewilding, the more we educate people about wildlife and our environment, the more people are likely to have an awareness and appreciation of what is around us.

Listen to the second podcast in our ‘Rewilding’ series, a conversation with Leanne Werner and Helena Smith from Wilder. Wilder are a social enterprise working to create spaces for wildlife, to improve biodiversity in the city (primarily South London). We had a great time chatting to Leanne and Helena about their past and present green-fingered projects and the challenges facing city gardeners.

It's been a long time coming but we're pleased to share our first podcast in a new series of four conversations around the topic of 'rewilding'. First up is our discussion with Professor Julian Agyeman. Julian is a Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, and Fletcher Professor of Rhetoric, an endowed professorship at Tufts University. Julian considers himself a ‘critical urban planning and environmental social science scholar’ whose research explores the complex relationship between humans and the urban environment, particularly in relation to equality and justice. He coined the concept of ‘just sustainabilities’ which explores the intersecting goals of social justice and environmental sustainability. Twitter: @julianagyeman

The last podcast episode in our current Rewilding series is a super eye-opening (or should we say ear-opening) conversation with Scottish-Filipino composer Kevin Leomo. We discussed the changes in our sonic environment pre-, during, and post-pandemic, and how really listening to (in addition to looking, and opposed to simply hearing) our surroundings can bring an awareness of changes to our climate.

Kelly is the Co-Executive Director of Project for Public Spaces overseeing the Market Cities Program, events and educational offerings, and general operations and finance. Since joining the organization in 2006, Kelly has worked extensively with all of the programs and departments within the organization. In 2020, she joined the organization’s executive leadership team and where she oversaw the launch of the Market Cities Program, including pilot projects in Pittsburgh, Seattle, and...

Kelly is the Co-Executive Director of Project for Public Spaces overseeing the Market Cities Program, events and educational offerings, and general operations and finance. Since joining the organization in 2006, Kelly has worked extensively with all of the programs and departments within the organization. In 2020, she joined the organization’s executive leadership team and where she oversaw the launch of the Market Cities Program, including pilot projects in Pittsburgh, Seattle, and...

Dan Thompson an award-winning social artist, writer, and speaker living in Margate...(side note I think of him every time I go which is potentially a bit creepy as I haven’t met him before). His work is about people and places, and the stories that connect them. He is interested in the creation of social capital, in activating abandoned or underused spaces (and he is often synonymous with the pop up shop/ high street space movement if we can call it that. He is into DIY approaches to art,...

Andrew Smith is a Professor of Urban Experiences at the University of Westminster and lead the University's inter-disciplinary research community dedicated to Sustainable Cities and the Urban Environment. His research addresses city events and urban tourism from a place based perspective. He also has a strong interest in urban regeneration and public spaces, particularly public parks. He's author of two books 'Events and Urban Regeneration: the Strategic Use of Events to Revitalise Cities',...

We have our first returning guest on the podcast, the incredibly talented and humble Gurmeet Sian. Gurmeet has designed some really beautiful and carefully constructed community spaces which can be the stage for activities that foster belonging. We wanted to talk to Gurmeet about the role and importance of these secular community buildings as providing shared spaces for people to build connection. He’s a delight and I am excited to have him back so I hope you enjoy.

Welcome back to the make:good Placeholder Podcast Season 3. We’re continuing with the topic of Belonging in this episode and will be talking to Akim Scafe-Smith and Seth Scafe-Smith , the founders of Resolve Collective an interdisciplinary design collective that combines architecture, engineering, technology and art to address social challenges. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode and if you want to find out more about their work, you can find links in the show notes.

Kathryn’s journey with Global Generation started in 2017 when she joined their very first cohort of Generators at their Paper Garden in Canada Water. Since then, she has volunteered, interned and freelanced with them until her role now. Kathryn is studying Business and Management at the University of Kent and is with Global Generation as part of her Year in Industry for her degree. She’s always had an interest in unpacking the processes behind tackling community issues. She now feels she is...

Tim Gill is an independent scholar, writer and consultant on childhood, and a global advocate for children’s play and mobility. Tim’s book Urban Playground: How child-friendly urban planning and design can save cities was published in 2021 by RIBA Publishing. His book No Fear: Growing up in a risk averse society, published by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, came out in 2007. Tim’s work cuts across public policy, education, child care, planning, transport, urban design and play-work. It...

In 2009, Alice and her neighbour Amy Rose came up with the idea of temporarily transforming their Bristol street into a safe ‘shared space’ where children could play freely outside their front door, simply by closing the road to through-traffic for a short time. They saw this as a step towards restoring children’s freedom to play out in their communities as a vital part of a happy, healthy childhood. Alice is now co-Director of Playing Out CIC, supporting the growing national parent-led play...

In 2009, Alice and her neighbour Amy Rose came up with the idea of temporarily transforming their Bristol street into a safe ‘shared space’ where children could play freely outside their front door, simply by closing the road to through-traffic for a short time. They saw this as a step towards restoring children’s freedom to play out in their communities as a vital part of a happy, healthy childhood. Alice is now co-Director of Playing Out CIC, supporting the growing national parent-led play...

What do you get when you cross a Playworker, PE teacher and Play Therapist? Keyo Yendi, who leads on the very cool pop-up play activities happening at Gillett Square in Dalston. We're sticking to the topic of Play in this episode and will be talking about 'play without boundaries' in this unique public space. Join us for the latest in a series of podcasts getting to know some of the known and not so well known people working to create a more joyful special and inclusive public realm.

The first of our episodes on the theme of Play features the formidable Dinah Bornat of ZCD Architects, an expert in child-friendly cities and youth participation in the built environment. We talk about about our responsibility to protect the right to play for children and how we can genuinely consider the needs of all in play spaces, such as teenagers and neurodivergent young people. Join us for the latest in a series of podcasts getting to know some of the known and not so well known...

In this episode we are joined by Carole Wright @Blak_Outside. Carole is a community garden manager, beekeeper and proud South Londoner who is working tirelessly to create more inclusive spaces for BIPOC and communities of colour to explore nature and the outdoors. We spoke to Carole about the roots of her passion, the joy of exploring London's green spaces and how the outdoors can really help to bring people together. We hope you enjoy listening to this half as much as we enjoyed recording...