Serenbe Stories

We planned on recording 12 episodes of this biophilia-focused season, but we couldn't end without talking to Jeff Tkach, the Chief Impact Officer at Rodale Institute, about the place where life begins: The Soil. As Rodale has proven, Healthy Soil equals Healthy Food, which makes Healthy People, and the healthiest soil is organic and regenerative. Not only is healthy soil important for us, it's important for the planet.Jeff is responsible for expanding Rodale Institute's global influence to heal people and the planet by unlocking the transformational power of regenerative organic agriculture. He was in Chattahoochee Hills this November to open Rodale Institute's Southeast Organic Center - one of three research hubs being opened across the country to increase the number of organic farms and acres in production through training and education.In this episode, we talk with Jeff about training new farmers, why J.I. Rodale hated the word "sustainable," and how Rodale is putting $2 million into the future of food.The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering.  Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

Diandra Marizet stopped through Serenbe in December 2019, while on a road trip from New York to her family's home in Texas. She found us while searching for farm stays she could visit along the way, and was drawn in by Serenbe's design intention. Her afternoon here made an impression, and her subsequent work on Intersectional Environmentalist made an impression on us. Diandra Marizet is a founding member of Intersectional Environmentalist, which is a platform with the goal of dismantling systems of oppression in the environmental movement. The founding group created a Council of environmental activists and sustainability advocates that are committed to identifying the ways in which injustices happening to marginalized communities and the earth are interconnected. In this episode, we talk with Diandra about her background in fashion, most recently with Kate Spade, and how that lead to climate and environmental activism. The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering.  Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

Did you know that when we're in cities, it's hard to relax because we're taking in all the stimuli around us. In contrast, when we're in nature - even with our eyes open - the quiet and peaceful environment allows us to relax, which is imperative for human health and de-stressing.Today we are talking with Florence Williams, who is a journalist and author, whose most recent book is The Nature Fix: How Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative. She is also contributing editor at Outside Magazine, and a freelance writer for the New York Times, National Geographic, Slate, Mother Jones and numerous other publications. Her work focuses on the environment, health and science. In this episode we talk about her immersive research that proves the connection between nature and human health. She also shares content from her next book, which was partially written while in residence at Serenbe.The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering.  Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

Design is a powerful tool in addressing climate change, but what IS design? And what is a design museum? The Museum Of Design Atlanta - or MODA -  defines design as "A creative process that inspires change, transforms lives, and makes the world a better place." Today we talk with MODA Executive Director Laura Flusche and Exhibitions Manager Veronica Klucik about the role of museums in the 21st century. What if museums looked forward instead of backward? What if they prioritized active engagement instead of passive observation? These are the questions MODA sets out to answer by curating exhibits that show how design can solve real world problems.MODA had big plans in 2020 for their Year of Climate & Change. In this episode, we discuss how they successfully implemented virtual programming, including education more than 3,000 kids worldwide. They are looking forward to 2021 and continuing to offer virtual access to exhibits focused on regenerative design and alternative transportation.The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering.  Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

What kind of world are we going to leave our children? That is the question Principal Patrick Muhammad asks himself as he leads Chatt Hills Charter School. With a tri-focus curriculum of Arts, Agriculture, and Environment, he's teaching them the value of life from a ladybug to a human.Education is a pillar of our Biophilic Principles, and Serenbe is proud to support our local charter school since its founding. Today we're talking with Principal Muhammad, who is affectionately known as The Principal Farmer by his students, about how their outdoor programming has improved student health, how they've increased test scores, and why they have a wait list each year to enroll in this innovative K-8 school.The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering.  Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

Steven Peck was introduced to the idea of green roofs and living walls in the mid-90s and quickly realized how important it is to have nature at the center of architecture and design. Since 1996, he has worked to advance the green roof and wall industry by facilitating research; organizing conferences; writing articles;  and advocating for supportive policies and standards at all levels of government around the world. He also edits and publishes green roof magazine Living Architecture Monitor. Steven is optimistic about our collective ability to rapidly evolve the building industry within a generation. He does not believe COVID will define our future, but rather it has been and will continue to be defined by climate change, and having green infrastructure will help us prepare for that future. Join us as he shares his biophilic journey to expand the living architecture industry world-wide.  The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering.  Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

Yoli Ouiya is passionate about sustainability and wellness, and is best known for her eco-lifestyle portal Yoli’s Green Living, which earned her the moniker “Queen of Green” by Black Enterprise Magazine. Her self-professed “first passion,” though, is food, and when COVID struck the world in early 2020, she turned her focus to food equity, co-founding The Food + Wellness Equity Collective. The collective is a diverse group of content creators and entrepreneurs committed to being change agents for equity, diversity, and anti-racism in the food and wellness industries.In this episode, Monica and Steve reminisce with Yoli about their kindred connection when meeting in New York at the 2017 Global Wellness Summit, and how that meeting brought Yoli to the first Biophilic Leadership Summit at Serenbe. They also talk about how Wholesome Wave, SNaP, and Rodale Institute are impacting food policy on local and national levels, how Yoli is changing the face of food and wellness by providing a safe place to talk about food policy issues, and how we can all #sharetheplate.The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering.  Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

Today we're talking with Bill Browning and Catie Ryan from Terrapin Bright Green. Bill is one of the green building and real estate industry’s foremost thinkers and strategists, and is an advocate for sustainable design solutions. As Co-Founder of Terrapin Bright Green, he is no stranger to biophilic design. Bill has worked with the Pentagon, Starwood Hotels, Google, the city of New York Building Resiliency, and the Rocky Mountain Institute, among many others. Catie joined Terrapin in 2008, and is their Director of Projects. She is the co-author of several books, including 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design and The Economics of Biophilia, which is a leading piece in the industry for case studies for designing with nature in mind.It's been more than 20 years since Steve Nygren met Bill Browning and was introduced to the concept of "biophilia." In today's episode, we talk about their early connections, and the major influencers in the green building industry as well as in developing Serenbe.Bill and Catie (and Bill's Zebra Finches) share their stories about their work at Terrapin Bright Green furthering the biophilic design research. They also discuss their new book Nature Inside: A Biophilic Design Guide, which we highly recommend and is out now.The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering.  Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

You may have thought "wellness" was just a buzzword, but it's also a $4.5 trillion dollar economy, with the wellness real estate sector making up $134 billion dollars of that. These figures were determined through extensive research done by The Global Wellness Institute, which is the non-profit research organization that grew out of the Global Wellness Summit, an annual think tank event made up of wellness industry leaders and releases annual trend forecasts. In today's episode, we talk with Institute Chairman and CEO Susie Ellis and Chief Creative Office and Executive Director Nancy Davis about the importance of sharing research and information to help people live healthier lives, and proving the value of global wellness. Hear how wellness is more than a great spa day.The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering.  Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

Today we're talking with one of the planet's most avid environmental advocates, Laura Turner Seydel. Laura works with and supports organizations that address urgent challenges affecting the health, functionality, and vitality of our life support system: Our air, water, land, food, biodiversity, and climate. She co-founded Chattahoochee Riverkeeper to help protect Georgians' drinking water, as well as Mothers & Others for Clean Air, which works to improve air quality for at-risk populations. Laura also serves on the boards for Children & Nature Network helping children realize the benefits of exposure to nature, Project Drawdown, which focuses on the top scalable solutions to address global warming, the United Nations Foundation,  the Nuclear Threat Initiative, and she is the Chair of the Captain Planet Foundation and Director of the Turner Foundation.In this episode, we talk about how her father, Ted Turner, instilled a love for the environment in her at an early age and how she's continued that legacy with her own children. She also tells us about what she's doing to teach all children about the environment and inspiring them to be Planeteers, and how we should all be coming together to to save our one and only home, Earth.Mentioned In The EpisodeCaptain Planet Foundation Project Drawdown Children & Nature Network Chattahoochee RiverkeeperSally Bethea  Hudson RiverkeeperTed TurnerGreta Thunberg Georgia ConservancyThe Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau 17 Goals of Sustainable Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs EcoSense for Living Jennie GarlingtonEdward Osborne (E.O.) Wilson The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering.  Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren.