Climate Adaptation & Resilience

00:00:00: You only get to a good solution if you work cross-functional or multidisciplinary.

00:00:05: And this goes back to my professional experience that I had working in cross functional teams just gives you better solutions, it doesn't give your quick solutions.

00:00:15: That's true because working cross functionally is hard and takes time but the solutions will be better for sure.

00:00:30: The podcast where we

00:00:31: break tech bubbles before they break us, and when talk to people who make tech more humane.

00:00:46: Climate change is no longer a distant future scenario.

00:00:49: It's reshaping our lives Our environments And the decisions We need today.

00:00:55: But how do move from predicting risks To building resilience?

00:00:59: What role can technology play in helping societies adapt?

00:01:03: Today, we're kicking off season two of the Hello!

00:01:06: fifty-fifty world podcast with a conversation with Stefan Hoyl.

00:01:10: Stefan is the co-founder and CTO of Resilience.

00:01:14: Resolence?

00:01:16: Thank you.

00:01:17: as startup building decision support systems for climate adaptation.

00:01:21: Stefan has also brought very interesting guests today.

00:01:24: Together, we'll explore why climate adaptation is becoming one of the defining engineering challenges of our time and how it can make better decisions in a world shaped by uncertainty.

00:01:35: Let's dive in!

00:01:42: Welcome Stefan to The Hello!

00:01:44: fifty-fifty World Podcasts.

00:01:45: Well thanks for having me

00:01:47: So I will start this conversation with a quote And i'll see if you actually know who said that?

00:01:53: so the quote is Generations have failed us.

00:01:55: If We Don't Do This They Won't.

00:01:58: Do you know who said this?

00:02:02: No.

00:02:03: So, this is a quote by Luisa Neubauer.

00:02:06: do you know her?

00:02:07: yes of course

00:02:08: yeah.

00:02:08: so she's young german climate activist.

00:02:10: he sometimes also called the German Greta and she speaks here about her motivation to be an activist in climate change.

00:02:20: and you have actually founded Resilence this year, your new company.

00:02:25: And I wanted to ask you did also feel like if you don't do it then nobody will.

00:02:29: or what was your motivation?

00:02:30: To start the company.

00:02:32: The quote hundred percent.

00:02:35: i can sign this quote totally.

00:02:38: see that.

00:02:39: of course when you found a company there are lot motivations in their but climate change And sustainability has been part of my career since I started.

00:02:50: My professional career back in early two thousands, when i started at the company ebp where The Founder Ernst Basler was a Sustainability Pioneer and Switzerland?

00:03:01: When he founded that Company In nineteen eighties or so... ...and I've Been Part Of This Company For About Sixteen Seventeen Years thinking and how technology fits into the whole world of sustainability.

00:03:23: So this motivation to found as company was partly because my desire to work in this field, And just last week I remembered that in...I think in two thousand eight or so a small team at EBP we launched aside called KlimaRisiko.ch.

00:03:43: That was like a showcase for Swiss municipalities to show the impact of climate change.

00:03:52: a certain municipality, because there was a report published by some Swiss government agency about climate change in two thousand fifty.

00:04:01: That was the report from two thousand seven at that time and we used GIS to quantify what this actually means for Swiss municipalities.

00:04:12: obviously it is only your showcase and they use it to show an trade shows.

00:04:16: so this one's not a product but this wasn't operationalized a bit.

00:04:23: climate risk and climate change.

00:04:26: And what is it that Resilience is doing today?

00:04:29: How's the difference from what you did at EVP?

00:04:32: So, so two thousand eight is long time ago.

00:04:36: A lot of things happened since then to some extent.

00:04:39: maybe You see now a bit The failure off the Paris Agreement or the failure Of the implementation of this.

00:04:46: Today Is forecasted To be the hottest day in Switzerland this year.

00:04:52: And we see the effect of climate change also here in Switzerland.

00:04:57: as it was predicted, two thousand seven actually has a bad case scenario.

00:05:03: and so last year I got together with some old friends of mine that are know from university And as a hobby project, we started to think about how we could help that climate adaptation manager at the city of Worms whose job is basically to think what adaptation measures he can implement for childcare centers in the city.

00:05:39: He had this problem where he just didn't know well... What's the best measure?

00:05:44: So that adaptation manager from the city has to think about what are really good adaptation measures.

00:05:54: To make sure that the child care centers have low temperature, so it could be shading or green roofs and air conditions... Night cooling implementation of night cooling ...and this all costs money!

00:06:11: How does he decide which adaptation measure, he can apply with his short or small budget that we have.

00:06:19: So... We talked to him and thought about how technology could help him because the tools that he had was just too much work for him to get a point where you actually implement things.

00:06:32: And of last year early this year Oliver Marchand and Christian Schmelter are my co-founders.

00:06:42: There is so much to do here and we see some potential.

00:06:46: We also have in our personal lives the opportunity to start something new, which has decided that let's find a company where you are going for funds or secure funding?

00:07:06: Congratulations!

00:07:06: Sounds super interesting.

00:07:07: I love what you explained as there these simulations look at the measures, but you also have to bring in the budget or the economic value of these adaptation measures.

00:07:19: I think we'll talk a little bit more about this later on because i think that's one of the keys.

00:07:23: um...to helping with-with the climate crisis.

00:07:27: But uh..you also brought a guest today.

00:07:30: and who is it?

00:07:31: And why do you bring her

00:07:32: along?".

00:07:33: So I'm happy that Helen sits next to me.

00:07:36: she's a co-worker while I was at MSCI, where it was leading the climate risk software engineering team.

00:07:44: And Helen and still is in the research team of MSCI.

00:07:50: It has been just a blast.

00:07:52: for four years that I have worked with Helen to work on cross-functional teams to implement things like... To implement the implied temperature rise as a product at MSCI.

00:08:06: Welcome Helen to the podcast.

00:08:07: We actually know each other as well, we started in the same year at ETH.

00:08:10: you studied environmental engineering alongside.

00:08:13: I studied geomatics so it was a bit different.

00:08:16: how did you get into this topic and why do you stay

00:08:23: awesome to be here.

00:08:24: Yeah, we studied together.

00:08:25: I still fondly remember these days being at Hünkeberg together.

00:08:30: so yeah i think during my degree i realized that i really enjoy understanding complex problems and solving problems which are multidisciplinary kind of engineering problems but also society problems one of my passions and also probably a strength of mine.

00:08:54: And so after I graduated, I was looking for job where i could bring that together but also kind of drive forward climate and sustainability because that has been kind of a key interest to me as yeah...I picked the degree as well!

00:09:12: Then I joined this startup called Carbon Delta back in these days which is was also founded by Oliver, who is now a co-founder of Resilience.

00:09:20: And that's how I got into this area?

00:09:24: I just realized our company name.

00:09:26: it's Resolence and that's hard because resilience is pronounced differently than that Resolance...and yeah..I can talk more about the name but...

00:09:37: Yeah you might have to correct us few times!

00:09:40: You're not the only one We can argue about our choice of company name, but we actually still like it very much.

00:09:46: Maybe you could stay quickly on this resilience topic because when your focus, Stefan.

00:09:54: But I think also something that you work on Helen in New York how does it actually relate to resilience adaptation?

00:10:00: Resilience when it comes to climate?

00:10:01: maybe You can just quickly give a brief intro into this and if you want you could Maybe share some examples with the city of Zurich or any other City that you're involved With.

00:10:11: you talked about The City Of Worms.

00:10:13: That's In Germany right?

00:10:15: So maybe Just Give A Few Examples How Resilient shows up When It Comes To Climate.

00:10:21: Well, maybe if I can start because we also work with the city of Zurich.

00:10:27: So The City Of Zurich had some plans and started to experiment on measures against heat so for example To have white surfaces instead of black surfaces for streets And they found out that there just not nearly as efficient as for example trees for shading.

00:10:50: And this is just an example where, and this will be a challenge for years to come.

00:10:57: Which adaptation measure the City of Zurich has to implement?

00:11:02: To cool down the city.

00:11:04: if you look at how cities heat up during the day it's mind-blowing.

00:11:11: we have a partner with Meteor Blue.

00:11:13: they provide high-resolution city heat map that they model every hour.

00:11:20: And if you look at the city map and see how temperature rises on surfaces in cities, it's mind blowing and goes above forty five degrees.

00:11:32: if modeled air temperature is the worst case.

00:11:35: so... You have to act with this but choose which measure because there are a lot of measures And this is actually what we want to attack, bridge the gap between so many measures and the actual decision-making with economic value in mind.

00:11:54: Helen, can you add something from your work?

00:11:58: So yeah for my work maybe I could have a bit of different angle... ...so i don't work with cities or on such local level.

00:12:11: a financial data provider or financial service.

00:12:14: that sounds really, really boring if I say it that way.

00:12:17: But essentially what we do is that we develop tools and data to help investors understand certain risks or trends in eye focus on climate and sustainability.

00:12:32: but so within the climate space we develop tool's datasets which helps investors identify For example, what companies are actually set up to be resilient in this climate crisis world?

00:12:48: So they're interested and understanding.

00:12:50: should I invest in company A or B because one company might have better plans.

00:12:56: Might have a better adaptation.

00:12:58: Be less exposed to climate change because operating at locations which are less exposed, so that is kind of the information we provide to clients.

00:13:11: And there you can really see differences and it's a high-level view compared with what Steve was doing where Stefan is more looking local communities going down this building set up better or worse than I'm looking for global companies, ten thousand companies and having models for that.

00:13:36: So yeah... That's kind of where my work touches on resilience and climate adaptation and climate change.

00:13:45: Super interesting!

00:13:46: I love these different levels because we think both are very valuable and very important.

00:13:50: when you talk about climate change the local level obviously We have to solve these problems.

00:13:56: to this tension that I'm realising is surfacing, because... ...I personally also have been thinking about climate change since i was in high school.

00:14:03: Actually did my matura-arbite about climate changing and how people perceive it into public?

00:14:08: Was interviewing a lot of people.

00:14:09: so I remember the days back at like between two thousand five, two thousand ten where there were lots.

00:14:16: Is climate change even real?

00:14:17: There was a lot of conspiracy theories.

00:14:19: The IPCC reports came out and some scientists were obviously saying that, yeah this is going to happen.

00:14:25: we predicted... And I think now we see it!

00:14:28: Yeah It's true but there are also still quite a bit of climate deniers people who said they weren't human made right?

00:14:37: We're at very different point now in terms.

00:14:39: if you can't really avoid anymore just adapt to what we're seeing.

00:14:44: And it seems like we've moved from predicting the risks and informing people about the risk, now that they were actually here all of their predictions came true.

00:14:55: We can see it.

00:14:56: People cannot deny anymore.

00:14:58: Now I just have to adapt.

00:15:00: How do you deal with this tension?

00:15:03: We need to adapt for sure but we still have to mitigate too.

00:15:06: And I think it's not a lost cause, okay now... We only have to adapt and cannot change anything.

00:15:13: There is still lot that can do in the mitigation part To avoid further heating.

00:15:18: So for example there are alot of wildfires at this moment.

00:15:22: A long term mitigation solution definitely helps lower the risk of wildfire in ten years.

00:15:30: so we could do something now wildfire.

00:15:34: That's not true for other things like arctic melting is something that is irreversible.

00:15:39: but we can do something against wild fire now by mitigating and trying to not heat up our planet anymore, But also have to adapt.

00:15:49: so both things need My current thinking, we shouldn't just say it's always black and white.

00:15:58: Okay mitigation is a lost cause.

00:16:01: We still have to work on that And these are also very different topics and budgets.

00:16:06: basically That need be called-on.

00:16:09: Are you seeing this as well?

00:16:10: Helen in your work with companies?

00:16:12: Yes I fully agree.

00:16:15: Both of them are still relevant Mitigation & adaptation.

00:16:20: You said that we were at a point where we were informing people about the risks and now, people understand.

00:16:25: I think That's also not entirely true or it probably depends on who you talk to?

00:16:30: Uh i think there is still A lot of work around Describing And providing insights into their risks and whether The different scenarios um which are coming How will they impact us in different regions?

00:16:44: Um etc...Ii think yeah..That Is Still an ongoing journey but for sure.

00:16:50: Also, in my job has shifted to also understand adaptation and how our company is actually starting to think about adaptation.

00:16:58: And setting this up so having similar trends.

00:17:02: but yeah

00:17:04: I'm actually curious to understand a bit.

00:17:05: when you look at companies and the climate risk what are some examples that you analyze or these?

00:17:11: You said creating tools and data sets for companies do have good example too illustrate that.

00:17:17: So we typically look at different angles of climate change.

00:17:21: I think the one which is resonating really well these days because it's so hot, looking how that physical environment changes and impacts companies.

00:17:32: One example is heat is having more extreme heat waves impacting the productivity of people who work for a certain company.

00:17:43: And if that productivity is impacted, does that impact the companies revenue?

00:17:48: The company's evaluation so... That's one example.

00:17:53: we look at different hazards and heat this one but flooding it also very obvious not in Switzerland But coastal regions do have locations which are very close to the coast and are exposed to a lot of flooding.

00:18:11: And whether, the number of flooding events we can analyze per different scenarios.

00:18:18: so that is one angle.

00:18:20: I think the other angle is then more on the other side of what does a company's business model?

00:18:26: Are they working in a very carbon intensive sector or expected too like face strict policies in the future, and so it's not kind of a future-proof business model.

00:18:39: Will that impact their long term revenue?

00:18:42: And they're evaluation... So that is different angle.

00:18:48: what technologies are coming up which might cause companies' business models too accelerate or to decline.

00:18:57: And then we are also looking at adaptation, so our companies actually investing in adaptation measures?

00:19:03: do they have something set up?

00:19:05: Do they even have a plan?

00:19:06: some companies have very detailed plans as I'm having nothing and yeah how did it go about that?

00:19:15: data sets and tools.

00:19:17: we provide to investors so they can then decide if they want take that into account in the investment process or not.

00:19:23: And how?

00:19:25: So super interesting, but you also talk about business models.

00:19:28: I'm guessing your analyzing the company's business model and see whether it actually is fit for the future.

00:19:34: Chef when you've just started a new company You have a business model as well.

00:19:38: Can you share maybe little bit of how to fund your company or you know what kind of business model to set up, be fit for the future as well.

00:19:48: How resilient our business model is?

00:19:51: So we're in a lucky position.

00:19:53: that we have private investors and we secured funding according gives us some more long-term thinking opportunities rather than if you have a startup and then um, You're only funded for six months.

00:20:13: And your are in totally different position.

00:20:15: so that's a good thing.

00:20:17: what we want to avoid is That we build a technical solution because We think the technical solution is cool?

00:20:24: This Is What is needed.

00:20:25: but we start with talking With as many potential clients As possible first and try To Builds Our our product alongside talking to as many clients as possible.

00:20:39: And I think that's one measure, so-to say for us... ...to make sure we build a sustainable business because especially in the technology fields people can get carried away by the potential of the technology and then they built things which are just not fit to market.

00:20:59: but maybe cool technology.

00:21:02: That is what you want to avoid.

00:21:04: Helen, you're nodding.

00:21:05: Would you say that's a resilient business model?

00:21:09: Yeah no I just had to nod because we face sometimes similar problems.

00:21:15: so my team is responsible in developing tools and methodologies on models.

00:21:21: You can very quickly get super excited about like oh i want to build this add this use the data etc.

00:21:28: but at end it needs be useful for our clients.

00:21:32: We have this term of kind someone is a model lover just thinking about the cool things to model, which I think it's great when you're at university.

00:21:41: But like afterwards when you actually need to develop products for clients and use cases.

00:21:47: You really need what signals can help to make decisions, provide more insights.

00:21:59: And so that's why I was smiling and nodding along it.

00:22:03: because yeah...I think similar problem just more on the technology front.

00:22:08: then i have a bit more of model methodology front.

00:22:13: It's a great segue to talk more about this technology that you're developing here, both engineers.

00:22:20: Stefan, your the CTO of Resolence Did I say right?

00:22:24: Yeah,

00:22:24: perfect.

00:22:26: So there's a lot of potential new technologies as well that could help solve the climate crisis.

00:22:33: we talked about models We talked about data simulations and so on.

00:22:37: where do you see The biggest potential?

00:22:39: what are you working with That gets you excited or hopeful About the future when it comes to technology?

00:22:46: Well When i talk about technology is probably most the data in software don't talk about actual engineering technology, how to cool things down.

00:22:59: I've been at a hardware company for a couple of months but i'm not an engineer.

00:23:04: so technology is from me.

00:23:07: data and software.

00:23:15: it's probably that we have too much.

00:23:20: As I said earlier, we have petabyte of data coming in on climate.

00:23:26: On geodata there's just too much information and i think what we have to work on is basically To find good ways to make use off this data.

00:23:38: And now also software.

00:23:40: This was true six years ago but is even more true now with AI and all the potentials that we see with AI, how to develop things.

00:23:51: It's not about finding best technology.

00:23:54: what's the latest storage solution BI solution I want to deploy?

00:24:02: This isn't a problem of climate adaptation manager in the city of Worms or here at Zurich.

00:24:08: She or he has the problem that just they have to take action out of them.

00:24:13: And I think that, that gap is something that we have to solve.

00:24:16: so The technology challenges across functional challenge and i think That's Something people in the Technology field don't see.

00:24:27: Some People Just Don't See It.

00:24:29: Let'S Call Them Tech Bros Those tech bros.

00:24:32: just think, you only need technology to solve all problems of the world and this is not true.

00:24:39: It's... it's just not true!

00:24:40: You'll get a good solution if your work cross-functional or multidisciplinary.

00:24:46: This goes back into my professional experience that I had working in cross-functional teams just gives you better solution.

00:24:54: It doesn't give you quick solutions, that's true because working cross functionally is hard and takes time.

00:25:01: but the solutions will be better for sure and we'll be more fit to market if your only focus on technology alone?

00:25:09: You get something quick like a quick answer from chat GPT or Claude on a solution maybe at seventy percent.

00:25:17: right by thirty percent is just plainly wrong or even dangerous.

00:25:24: Helen, what's your experience with that?

00:25:26: Do you already touch a bit on this technology?

00:25:28: It's not the only thing right?

00:25:30: What else is needed based on your experience?

00:25:33: Yeah I mean...I can add onto what Steve said.

00:25:38: i agree but You can also see why we got along working together so well.

00:25:44: Um..i think uh The key problem Is bringing together This cross-functional streams or elements and making it actionable and understandable.

00:25:56: So if I pick up on Steve saying there is a lot of data, or there's a lot technologies

00:26:03: etc.,

00:26:04: you need to always go back to that adaptation manager in Worms which could look at terabytes of data and some uncomprehensive climate signals install the AC but that's never going to fly, right?

00:26:26: So we need to translate these things into actionable insights tools views which can help people.

00:26:33: Which are not so close to designs or technology behind because yeah That there also is a person who needs take decisions at end

00:26:43: and come back to decision making.

00:26:45: this what you're trying to solve To give people information they make a decision.

00:26:51: To come back to worms, can you share a bit like maybe that has already happened?

00:26:54: Maybe they have taken some decisions.

00:26:56: That led to positive action.

00:26:58: may be not... ...maybe you can imagine how the tools that your developing or technology is around could help them.

00:27:05: Can you sort of imagine the best case scenario for worms?

00:27:11: So our company we had at workshop couple weeks ago with the city of worms.

00:27:16: Unfortunately I wasn't there So I cannot talk about this firsthand.

00:27:20: I was busy building our solution, but i think it's pretty clear how they are using our current prototype and we're building right now.

00:27:32: So basically, maybe there are two things.

00:27:34: first they want to get an overview of what the current situation is where the child care centers and let's just assume that there are thirty childcare centres in the city of Worms that their wants a look at.

00:27:46: And then They Just Want To Explore What Certain Measures What The Impact Would Be And Basically What The Benefit Cost Ratio Would.

00:27:55: That's what we call adaptation return.

00:27:58: And they can play around and put different measures on different child care centers to weigh the options, then a second thing that were starting to build is also need to reach out.

00:28:13: Our clients are the climate adaptation managers, but they're climate adaptation manager's clients.

00:28:18: The people who actually running their facilities right?

00:28:21: So we need a tool also to reach out and get that feedback back into our system so there can make decision not only based on benefit-cost ratio, maladaptation or any other criteria... ...but from feedback by those who run the facility.

00:28:41: The complex situation.

00:28:42: in this decision, you have the people who are managing this.

00:28:46: Climate adaptation managers?

00:28:48: You have to facility managers... ...you have the money and need to decide on the money.

00:28:53: There's a lot of different stakeholders there And they all need very clear decision tools.

00:29:04: If I show them a map for example We are excited by the maps, but a true decision maker.

00:29:15: They don't want to see a map.

00:29:16: they want to See options and maybe your recommendation And they want To see the numbers.

00:29:22: what does it cost?

00:29:23: we had A meeting not me personally also with The mayor of the city of warms To show What we're working on and they seem to be pretty happy With the direction that were going too.

00:29:32: so what i'm hearing is actually the challenge Is not So much the data or technology, but rather to get all people involved and do this sort of facilitation for stakeholders.

00:29:44: This is also something you're trying to solve by bringing them into a tool?

00:29:49: Yes!

00:29:49: There's a data problem that we don't want to expose.

00:29:52: as I said whole data... But to do right aggregated data in way they can actually make decisions Or assess if certain measures would work at facility that we're planning to.

00:30:07: I want to quickly stay on this because, personally also have some experience with stakeholder management in digital tools Because i developed a tool for urban planning and there you have similar problem.

00:30:17: There's lot of stakeholders And then bring them together We've put features into our tool as well To allow people comment On three-d scenes or scenarios.

00:30:27: The one thing is You still need to do it in person.

00:30:31: Stakeholder facilitation Like the Digital Tool does not fully replace that interaction.

00:30:36: It can sort of complement it, make it a little bit more interactive throughout these times when you don't meet in person?

00:30:45: Is this something that you're seeing as well—that the digital tools cannot fully

00:30:49: replace?".

00:30:52: Hundred percent!

00:30:53: I mean... You need in-person meetings just to make sure you have full alignment.

00:31:00: you want to get people all on the same level and just with digital tools, emails even video calls.

00:31:07: You're not able do that.

00:31:09: so since stakeholder management is a lot about alignment in making sure information distributed equally among stakeholders yeah hundred percent.

00:31:20: We'll quickly stay on the people involved in this whole process.

00:31:23: I mean, you are also people involved In uh...this whole field of climate change Climate risks and so on.

00:31:30: Do you sometimes feel like when we talk about This topic that it can be quite daunting?

00:31:35: Or working in this field You ask yourself how Can i keep doing is seeing all The changes around And all the crises?

00:31:44: How do you deal with this personally or see other People?

00:31:49: Recently, I read about a concept called ambiguity intolerance or ambiguity tolerance.

00:31:56: And i think this is something that we really in these uncertain times have to adapt.

00:32:04: and This basically means if I recall correctly That's some psychologist In the thirties of forties introduced us says that we have to live, there are facts that contradict each other.

00:32:21: That's life and what you have to tolerate... And I think one part of it is that we need good conclusions out of this.

00:32:34: So it's not only about being tolerant, but the contradicting facts and all of the mass information that we're seeing.

00:32:43: But also to make the best out of them in some way And say now you have to draw your own conclusions and make right next steps for this because We cannot change those contradicting fact.

00:32:58: That is very important as a personal competence to develop and I would try to advise everyone.

00:33:05: To think about that, this is obviously also tied a little bit to hope.

00:33:10: being optimistic it's very optimistic competence you can develop.

00:33:15: That's an abstract way of answering your question but i like the concept.

00:33:21: It almost feels on a personal level.

00:33:25: So much contradiction, so many inputs into this topic.

00:33:31: We're being pulled in different directions.

00:33:33: sometimes you get really good news over making progress and the city of Zurich actually has an office which takes care of heat then is dedicated to warms paying attention but also hear other stories.

00:33:50: now we are having all these hot days.

00:33:52: it's almost like trying not get disrupted all the time by all this noise, All these inputs and contradicting input but then be able to once in a while take step back.

00:34:04: And again focus on like okay This is how I see it right now.

00:34:10: It's chaotic state Right Now But this what i can do and this direction that want go forward too.

00:34:16: At least thats How its feels for me.

00:34:20: To put more into personal

00:34:29: I got around this concept when i looked at AI and the development of AI, because sometimes im just blown away and amazed.

00:34:38: And you know there's meme about a guy who is in outer space?

00:34:43: Because he so blown-away!

00:34:45: Sometimes like am i on black mirror episode everything goes to hell.

00:34:51: we have to accept that These are the two states that we're in now, and then you just have to get best out of them.

00:34:59: Yeah I love it!

00:35:00: He mentioned this concept – I'm also familiar with it?

00:35:02: It's something that we try do at Hello!

00:35:04: Fifty-Fifty World a lot as well like when there is conversations where people want to see all different sides being in that space and also just kind of seeing all the things, not shot at one side or another.

00:35:16: I think it's very powerful for me.

00:35:18: It connects a bit back to resilience but more on personal level right?

00:35:22: That you have to build the resilience sometimes having to listen to bad news.

00:35:29: You called it noise Helen.

00:35:31: To some extent they can feel like noise because we are flooded with so much information these days.

00:35:37: where to find signal for yourself.

00:35:40: I think that also, from me has to do with resilience and something that i would love to end this conversation maybe a bit more on the hopeful side of things With younger generations.

00:35:54: There's a generation now also working on this topic.

00:35:57: We started with Luisa Neubauer, she is thirty years old so still I think she has considered Chenzi but that thinking about these topics and they are very vocal about it as well?

00:36:07: But what would you tell the younger generations maybe people who start studying environmental engineering or who are interested in climate where do you see potential of this field going?

00:36:19: That was tough question!

00:36:23: It depends also on the person and I'm probably reflecting on myself, but i think a key in these times is that there's A lot of problems we need to solve.

00:36:34: There's gonna be probably even more problems We need to sort.

00:36:37: so kind of having a problem-solving mindset And having an outcome forward looking mindset.

00:36:43: this Is what probably helps?

00:36:45: So yeah getting things done trying to focus on how do we solve one problem after the other versus getting overwhelmed with, oh my God there is only problems.

00:36:57: I think that's kind of how i would approach it.

00:37:02: yeah

00:37:03: Couldn't agree more?

00:37:04: Start small and solving a small problem first And then you can grow and attack bigger problems later.

00:37:13: but start by solving Small problems end-to-end.

00:37:18: That's a good start.

00:37:19: And again, be optimistic because now is the best time to change things.

00:37:27: Cool!

00:37:27: One step at a time one solution at that time.

00:37:29: Big kudos both of you.

00:37:31: being in this field and working on it every day... ...and sort-of finding these solutions.

00:37:36: It's super inspiring.

00:37:38: We'll switch gears.

00:37:39: now to the rapidifier questions.

00:37:42: So we have these four questions that we ask every guest, and so the idea is you do have quick answers to this.

00:37:49: don't overthink it.

00:37:50: just whatever comes to mind!

00:37:52: I will start with first one.

00:37:53: So Stefan You're an engineer yourself.

00:37:55: if could rewrite any line of code in any products what would you do?

00:38:00: Copy & paste without formatting?

00:38:03: Just plain text copy&paste.

00:38:06: Maybe that's totally unrelated to what we have discussed so far, but those small annoyances in your daily work also gives you either motivation or frustration.

00:38:20: And this is one frustration that I sometimes have with a copy from one document to another and it keeps the formatting.

00:38:27: It drives me crazy!

00:38:28: So i want to see less annoyances

00:38:34: Less friction.

00:38:34: Yeah, I like that.

00:38:36: Ellen do you also have a product?

00:38:38: You would like to change

00:38:41: the self view in Microsoft Teams calls.

00:38:45: um i know now you can disable it but That should've been there from the beginning.

00:38:49: Um, I don't know if you know what I mean But that little window where you see yourself.

00:38:54: um

00:38:54: yeah definitely Know what you mean be becoming too conscious of how you look.

00:38:59: and uh Yeah, definitely.

00:39:02: Cool!

00:39:02: We're going to the second one which is about allyship.

00:39:05: what's an everyday act of allyshipped that anyone can do?

00:39:09: Maybe we'll start with Helen this time.

00:39:12: What do you mean by allyships here?

00:39:13: sorry

00:39:14: Allyship is this concept.

00:39:16: if You are not impacted By something let say it biases or discrimination That you stand up and speak for someone else Or you advocate For Someone in your circle that may be impacted by Something negative.

00:39:30: Maybe we can come back to the childcare because that one is like child care facilities.

00:39:35: They're children in there, they are vulnerable parts of our society and cannot really speak up for themselves just yet.

00:39:44: Difficult question.

00:39:45: my daughter certainly stands out herself.

00:39:48: I'm not sure if she articulates it particularly well.

00:39:53: This probably isn't a very smart answer but trying to take someone else's perspective for a moment and think of how a certain situation is, with the different perspectives that can be even if you think day-to-day work.

00:40:15: Someone who has more junior or less experienced coming from a different field within cross functional when we're working together across functional so people in the other team might have a different background, just taking a step back once and awhile.

00:40:31: Reflect five seconds what is the person's perspective?

00:40:35: And then act accordingly.

00:40:38: explain something speak up.

00:40:40: Yeah that's great answer.

00:40:43: Stefan do you want to add something to this?

00:40:45: yeah maybe Something very concrete.

00:40:48: like long time ago more than a decade ago I started an networking event geobjör.ch with Ralf Strahlmann and during these organizations we came up with the Pac-Man rule, I don't know if you know about the Pac Man Rule or the shape of a Pac Man.

00:41:07: This is just an anomaly for you to remember when standing at a networking event anywhere else where there's a circle open that circle close the circle because then for newcomers, it's really hard to get into the topic.

00:41:25: So always have an open slice in your circle and I think that is... ...for networking events.

00:41:35: but that mindset can be applied to anything.

00:41:39: just try to be open and welcome other people.

00:41:42: which goes back to what Helen said.

00:41:45: Awesome!

00:41:45: I love that Pac-Man rule.

00:41:48: The next one Is it more specific on the tech industry, whose voices do you think we need to hear from when we develop technology?

00:41:57: I think we touched a lot of this.

00:41:59: The users and clients at the end...

00:42:02: Yes!

00:42:04: This has been a topic in technology for so long….

00:42:09: …the whole reason why agile exists is because of clients but as in the technology field, still don't do a good job on that.

00:42:20: Including myself and then last year.

00:42:23: so we really have to think about more about declines.

00:42:25: And I would add too this also.

00:42:27: domain experts are your team.

00:42:30: if you for example develop tool for urban planners You need some time with urban planner's i'm sure did.

00:42:40: This gave you lot of insight.

00:42:42: change course tech tool that you're developing.

00:42:46: And I think we really should remind ourselves constantly to include the clients and domain experts.

00:42:53: Yeah, We keep coming back in this podcast as well!

00:42:55: And i love your emphasising on this aswell.

00:42:58: I couldn't agree more... And yeah.. We do spend time with urban planners.

00:43:01: luckily They are great people to be spending time with.

00:43:04: Alright last one.... And I'd like hear from both of you.

00:43:08: If listeners just remember One thing From This whole episode What would it Be?

00:43:13: Quick answers

00:43:15: how to pronounce Steve's company name.

00:43:18: Yes, that's obviously the very first and most important thing to remember its resilience.

00:43:24: And this is because The lens Is?

00:43:28: That we look closer at the adaptation measures and that we have a data-driven approach.

00:43:35: That's where the lens comes from and it also in our logo.

00:43:40: but Stop with that commercial break.

00:43:42: Maybe another thing, but I think we should remember is maybe the concept of ambiguity tolerance paired with cross functional a cross-functional mindset.

00:43:53: i think That's something that people should Think about more often.

00:44:00: Awesome, thank you both so much for being here.

00:44:03: This is super inspiring.

00:44:05: all the best with your company Resilence Stefan and Thank You So Much Helen For Being Here And Sharing Your Experience.

00:44:13: Thanks So Much For Having Us Was Great!

00:44:23: Today's conversation With Stefan & Helen on Climate Risks, Climate Adaptation and Resilience was deeply inspiring.

00:44:32: I think this is such an important topic and so glad there are many people working on this.

00:44:39: Working on quantifying, showing the effectiveness of measures And connecting it to what costs because that's only way we can make decisions and take action!

00:44:51: I also love examples they've shared in cities looking at heat especially vulnerable parts of society Such as children in childcare facilities and how it impacts them.

00:45:01: but businesses productivity and how it is being impacted by the heat, Both of them, they work in cross-functional interdisciplinary teams and I think that's the only way we can solve these complex problems.

00:45:23: And it is not just about technology but everything around as well.

00:45:27: how could we empower our users or people working on challenges down to take action and make right choices being informed by data?

00:45:40: And then the last thing that stayed with me is what Stefan mentioned on The Ambiguity Tolerance, something I also truly believe in.

00:45:49: That we have to be aware of all the conflicting information... ...that we still haven't been able take action and build up resilience….

00:45:58: …in a world which keeps changing whether it's by technology or climate around us.

00:46:08: Thank you all so much for tuning in to this first episode of season two.

00:46:12: We're very excited that you keep on hearing our perspectives and keep listening, keeping giving us feedback.

00:46:19: if you have ideas or thoughts send us a comment Or an email at podcast at hellofiftyfifty.world.

00:46:27: I always love to hear from you And If You know someone That should listen into This conversation Please forward them the link.

00:46:36: And as always, I'm going to leave you with a little question or something to reflect on based this conversation.

00:46:44: What ambiguity and conflicting information do you have to deal with daily in your life?

00:46:50: Or at work?

00:46:52: And what kind of strategies has been found for you to tolerate it?

00:46:58: With that thank-you again for tuning in until next time!