Episode 17: "TTPod FutureCast": Panel discussion - Review of 2019 and what lies in store for 2020 and beyond...

Talking Transformation

Our most ambitious project yet! After four months of planning, the Talking Transformation Podcast, in collaboration with APES+ Society, brings you the inaugural “Talking Transformation FutureCast” episode.

In Cape Town’s Hout Street, on a warm summer’s evening, an enthusiastic and engaged audience of 60 guests gather to listen to a diverse panel of built environment practitioners. In the hour and a half that followed we reflected on “2019: the year that was” and then looked ahead to the rest of 2020 and next decade.

What are the contemporary and future built environment issues that matter? Which of the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead do you agree with? Listen to the perspectives of our panel and audience and you decide.

The panel comprises (in alphabetical order and with their requested perspective to inform their contributions):

• Jodi Allemeier - “The Dreamer”: PWC
• Lwazi Nobaza – “The Last Minute Substitute and Activist Public Official”: City of Cape Town (CoCT)
• Barabara Southworth – “The Experienced Hand”: GAPP Architects
• Elisabeth Varghese – “The Newbie”: Graduate Intern (CoCT)
• Prof. Francois Viruly – “The Academic: Urban Real Estate Unit, University of Cape Town

There are familiar themes – of disaffection and disappointment at the pace and nature of change…

There are reminders that South Africa is not unique – that discord and political polarisation are contemporary global issues…

And not least a proposition that change and progress is likely to come from individuals and collaborations and that small wins may be the order of the day.

Recorded on 22nd January 22nd, the Talking Transformation Podcast is indebted to the panel members, the APES+ Committee and the audience who supported the event. We hope and trust that this first venture proves the start of a series of collaborations with partners sharing the same ideals and vision for the future.

Minimal edits for quality and continuity have been made to the published content.

Recorded January 22nd 2020 in front of a live audience. Venue CIFA House, Hour Street, Cape Town.