This Might Just Work - Ideas for a Tired Planet

Peter Bach grew up going to school in the middle of a Singapore rainforest, became an engineer because he couldn't draw, and now runs a company in Switzerland building digital tools to put nature back into cities. His podcast has better production values than mine.We talk about why cities spent a century paving over nature in the name of efficiency, what AI and digital twins might actually be able to do about it, and why the question of who pays for nature is still basically unresolved. There are also beavers.Peter's Podcast The Grand Challenges PodcastBooks mentioned Think and Grow Rich — Napoleon HillAtomic Habits — James ClearThe Power of Habit — Charles DuhiggBe Like Water, My Friend — Shannon LeeThe Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck — Mark MansonCo-Intelligence — Ethan MollickFind Peter petermbach.comedenct.comGet in touch with Rob linkedin.com/in/robwreg

In this episode, Rob Wreglesworth sits down with Nathan Stranart, co-founder of Ten Lives Festival, a bold new “regenerative festival” movement aiming to tackle land degradation and desertification by pairing hands-on restoration work with music, joy, and community.Nathan explains how Ten Lives formed as a founder collective (not a solo hero story), why governance and “relationship to profit” matter more than most founders think, and how festivals can become a scalable vehicle for behaviour change rather than just entertainment. They dive into alternative investment models (steward ownership, capped returns, climate dividends), the idea of scaling like a tree rather than a rocket, and why Ten Lives is fundamentally an education project that trains local guides and future festival builders.If you care about regeneration, systems thinking, and building mission-led ventures without falling into the usual VC traps, this one goes deep in the best way.Topics covered:Regenerative festivals, community-led entrepreneurship, systems thinking, post-growth business design, scaling impact, eco-anxiety and purpose, alternative finance models, and building movements people actually want to join.To back the project and secure a ticket to the first edition of Ten Live click here https://www.ulule.com/ten-lives-regenerative-festival/Learn more about Ten Lives here. If you have any ideas for future guests drop me a direct message on Instagram or Linkedin

A special Christmas bonus episode ahead of the official relaunch of This Might Just Work: Ideas for a Tired Planet in January.Rob chats with filmmaker James Dawson, director of Derek vs Derek, a documentary built around an unlikely pairing: two neighbouring farmers with very different views on what the countryside is for. On one side is Derek Gow, a maverick rewilder in Devon digging ponds, reintroducing species, and letting nature get noisy again. Over the hedge is Derek Banbury, an arable farmer focused on food production, tight margins, and the reality of making a living from the land.They disagree, sometimes spectacularly (wild boar and beavers included), but they do not hate each other. Which makes this film feel like a rare thing: a genuinely human conversation in a polarised debate.Support the film’s crowdfunder and learn more at derekvsdereck.com.

In this episode, I sit down with Sylvain, co-founder of Mosaic Earth, to unpack his journey from the world of energy strategy to creating a nature tech company tackling one of the hardest problems out there: making ecological data collection accessible, affordable, and trustworthy.We talk about:🌱 The parallels between raising a newborn and raising a startup.📊 Why site-level ecological data is the missing piece for scaling nature-positive action.🤝 How to bridge the gap between ecologists, corporates, and big tech.🚀 What it means to “build the plane while flying it” in a fast-moving Nature Tech space.💡 Practical advice for conservationists and ecologists who want to start companies of their own.Sylvain also shares Mosaic Earth’s long-term vision: empowering communities worldwide to become custodians of local biodiversity with the help of AI and smart data tools.Whether you’re an aspiring founder, an ecologist curious about tech, or just someone excited about the future of nature-positive business, this conversation is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.👉 Learn more about Mosaic Earth at mosaic.earth👉 Join the Ecopreneur Collective newsletter for more founder stories: ecopreneurcollective.substack.com/

This week I’m joined by Jon Conradi, founder of Wild Mosaic, a nature startup on a mission to make rewilding something everyone can be part of, not just landowners or ecologists.Jon’s journey into entrepreneurship is one I think a lot of aspiring ecopreneurs will relate to. He didn’t start out in conservation or business. In fact, for a long time he completely switched off from environmental news. But through a mix of rediscovering wonder, a career shake-up, and a push from the Year Here programme, he slowly built an idea that turned into a real business and a hopeful vision of what rewilding can be.In this conversation, we talk about:What made Jon feel like an outsider in the nature world (and why that became his strength)How he turned redundancy + new parenthood into a startup launchpadWhat rewilding has taught him about building businesses differentlyThe hard truths about funding, identity shifts, and learning to sell your missionWhether you're working on your own planet-positive idea or still figuring out where to start, Jon's honest, thoughtful reflections will give you something to hold onto and hopefully, a nudge to take your next step.🔗 Learn more or get involved:🌱 wildmosaic.eco📬 Contact Jon directly: jon@wildmosaic.eco📚 Book mentioned: How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell🎧 Bonus reading: Jon’s blog on the 3 Horizons model📷 Also worth following his journey on LinkedInAnd if you enjoy this episode, don't forget to share it with someone else trying to build something meaningful. This one’s all about starting small, thinking big, and staying human.Do head to www.nolongerknown.com to find out what I am building too.

In this episode, Emily Power shares her honest, inspiring journey from a corporate career at Microsoft to founding Oceanmade, a regenerative business with global ambitions. We explore how seaweed could be the most underrated material in the climate fight - not just for oceans, but for land too.We also cover:Why the first version of Oceanmade (the "green Amazon") failed and what Emily learnedThe gardening eureka moment that changed everythingWhy plastic plant pots are a hidden environmental problemHow to build a product without being an expert and why that can be an advantageThe challenge of marketing to real customers, not just eco-enthusiastsThe land and sea benefits of seaweed from soil health to carbon sequestrationWhy building in public with imperfect products might be your startup's secret weaponThis episode is packed with lessons for aspiring founders, regenerative thinkers, and anyone ready to turn anxiety into action.🔗 Learn more:🌿 Oceanmade → https://oceanmade.co🌊 Follow Emily → https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilybpower/📬 Planet-positive founder's newsletter: The Ecopreneur Collective → https://robwreg.substack.com/subscribe🧵 Follow the startup journey at → https://www.nolongerknown.com

What if the key to restoring nature lies in uncovering the past?In this episode, I’m joined by Iris Kramer, founder of ArchAI and Forbes 30 Under 30 scientist-turned-startup-CEO, who’s pioneering the use of AI and LiDAR to rediscover lost landscapes, from medieval furrows to ancient orchards and turn them into assets for nature recovery.We talk about:How Iris went from archaeology to AI entrepreneurshipWhy historic maps and burial mounds matter for modern biodiversityWhat it's like bootstrapping a deeptech startup without VCHer vision for a national (and global) “map of the past” to guide future regenerationIt’s a fascinating story of tech, nature, and startup grit — and a must-listen for anyone building at the intersection of climate, data, and land use.To learn more about ArchAI head to www.archai.io🌱 Subscribe to my newsletter for more founder stories + tools for building planet-positive businesses: The Ecopreneur Collective🧵 Follow my own journey building a regenerative clothing brand at: www.nolongerknown.com

In this episode, I speak with Alex Kornelsen — a former startup and innovation strategist who left the corporate world to co-found Mission to Marsh, a storytelling-led non-profit restoring wetlands and rebranding peatlands as climate heroes.We talk about how it all started with a Tinder date and a one-sentence peatland pitch, and go deep into what it takes to launch a mission-driven organisation from scratch — from faking a film to raise €50K, to securing Patagonia support, to building a community using marketing, humour, and open storytelling.Whether you’re looking to launch something planet-positive or just curious about how skills from marketing and innovation can be redirected for nature — this episode is packed with insights, honesty, and energy.00:00 Intro01:00 From Tinder to Peatlands — how it all began04:00 The one-sentence pitch that changed everything06:45 Why a documentary came before the non-profit09:30 How they raised €1M and got Patagonia’s support13:00 Behind the scenes of making the film16:40 The power of storytelling in conservation20:10 “Fake it till you make it” — lessons from launching25:30 From GoFundMe to corporate partnerships30:00 AI + grant writing: how they raised €20K in 30 minutes32:00 Why LinkedIn beat Instagram for traction36:45 Personal branding in nature restoration40:15 Disrupting the non-profit model44:00 Co-founding with your life partner — the real talk50:00 Starting a for-profit arm with peatland tech57:00 Final thoughts on optimism, failure, and what nature teaches us01:00:45 The billboard quote, book recommendation & business idea👉 Connect with Alex Kornelsen on LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/k0rnelsen/👉 Explore Mission to Marsh and watch the filmhttps://missiontomarsh.org/📷 Follow the Mission on Instagram and LinkedIn to see where the film is touring next.🛠️ Interested in building your own planet-positive venture?Check out The Startup Diaries episodes — where I document the behind-the-scenes journey of building No Longer Known, a new nature-led brand from scratch.Subscribe on your favourite platform and come along for the ride.

In this episode, I sit down with Benedict Macdonald, award winning author turned ecopreneur, to explore his fascinating journey from wildlife television producer to founder of nature restoration company Restore. Benedict shares how his childhood fascination with butterflies led him to a career in conservation, eventually leaving a successful career in wildlife television to tackle the challenge of transforming land use in the UK through innovative business models. We dive deep into Britain's complex history with nature, discussing how centuries of wildlife removal have shaped our landscapes, and explore the emerging opportunities for restoration through new financing approaches. Benedict offers fascinating insights into his current projects, including an ambitious plan to restore Atlantic rainforest in the Hebrides, while also sharing practical advice for urban rewilding and garden biodiversity. Our conversation covers everything from the role of wild boar in ecosystem restoration to the potential for nature recovery in cities like Berlin. Whether you're interested in conservation, sustainable business, or simply want to understand how nature and economics can work together, this episode hopefully offers valuable insights into how we can build businesses that help nature thrive. We wrap up with book recommendations and Benedict's optimistic vision for the future of British wildlife.

Elena Doms, is the visionary co-founder of Earth Plus, a startup with an audacious goal: to create the largest soil and CO2 cleanup in history, working hand-in-hand with nature.  Elena's journey is a fascinating one which we dive into in detail in this episode. Born and raised in the Arctic, she spent 18 years witnessing the effects of climate change firsthand From there Elena's impressive career has spanned from being a Director at Mastercard, where she merged digital and sustainable transformations, to becoming a LinkedIn influencer and top voice Now, with Earth Plus, she's working with her team to develop innovative solutions that not only clean soils from chemical pollution but also capture CO2 using plants. Not only that, but these plants are then transformed into local, circular construction materials, contributing to the decarbonisation of our cities. Find out more about Earth Plus at https://www.earthplus.eu/ Useful Links: Pollution Map of Europe PFAS Map PFAS Map 2 A guide to safer products An app to help find safe foods Book Choices: Connect - Simon Lancaster Connecting the dots - Christian Busch Please connect and message me on LinkedIn