Is there truly NO PLACE GREEN ENOUGH?

by Thiviya Nair and Soham Wrick Datta

A sneak peek into a fresh storytelling podcast right out-of-the-box.

Project summary 

We are made up of an eclectic team of researchers, scientists and storytellers with a passion for translating tough sustainability and humanitarian issues into entertaining stories and connecting people to current issues of today across borders that will define our tomorrow.

No Place Green Enough is an eco-fiction storytelling podcast that blends the art of creative tales and real-life events. We aim to shed light on major global issues related to climate, human rights, health, environment and economic development, and more. With this multi-dimensional approach, we hope to spark systemic change and community activation through the niche medium of podcasting.

A. How did the project originate? What was its inspiration?

This project originated as a little thought that lay dormant since Thiviya’s masters thesis days in 2018. Podcasts were steadily gaining popularity, but the fictional audio scene was still sparse. Nonetheless, she found escapism in the likes of The Truth, The Heart and We’re Alive, realising that she retained their content far more strongly than talk shows or news podcasts. Fast forward to August 2019 when Soham was presenting a hands-on podcasting workshop for EIT Climate-KIC members. Thiviya realised not many members had thought to connect audio dramas with the topics they were frequently working on. She decided that this was the opportune moment to give the idea a shot and was motivated when Soham backed the idea as the co-founder and when funding was granted from two organisations. With a background and years of experience in theatre, radio shows and storytelling, Soham believed this would be an ideal opportunity to start a creative project like NPGE, especially with this niche not being explored much in the world of podcasts.

B. What is/was difficult about the project? 

Remote working is definitely the most challenging part of the project. Getting well-intentioned people to volunteer their time and effort for a long-term project means there is a need to constantly motivate the team and have everyone feel like they belong to a like-minded community. Bonding and forming trust is tricky over Zoom. Also, finding and recording actors has not been easy as their personal equipment and environment varies and directing so many of them in real time is near impossible with a tight deadline. We are still evolving as we devise new techniques for our journey ahead.

C. How is it progressing?

We have set up a lot of long-term infrastructure and have a lot of potential stories brewing, but we are under pressure at the moment to finalise and push out our productions by our planned dates. As some of us have limited experience, we are facilitating a learning process and introducing intriguing strategies towards an efficient yet excellent creative collaborative.

D. What is/was the biggest success?

Our trailer was launched on the 21st of January, 2021. Check out https://podcast.noplacegreenenough.com. The first episode goes online on the 3rd of February, 2021 and you can expect a new story every 3 weeks. We won two funding awards from two organisations and are competing at Audible for another storytelling competition.

Thiviya Nair (Founder, Project Lead – NPGE Podcast):
Thiviya holds a Master’s in Marine Biological Resources (Coral Genetics), a Bachelor’s in Biomedical Sciences and a Diploma in 3D Animation & Modelling. Having built her career on pillars of biomedical and environmental sciences, multimedia arts and marketing, she found that actionable scientific communication with the public and policymakers was facing several obstacles. She believes that strategic messaging, high relevance and forging emotional empathy in one’s communication material enhances the way audiences perceive, retain and make their decisions thereafter. These principles, along with her love for immersive video games, podcasts and the popularity they gained post-COVID, led to her proposal of an eco-fiction audio play production solely focussed on environmental and humanitarian issues. While the No Place Green Enough Podcast specifically features hard-hitting stories from around the globe, its creativity and delivery is not limited to laws of our reality.
Climate-related Interests: trail running, diving, gaming, local clean-up and upcycling community projects.
Favourite influencers: Hayao Miyazaki, Seth Macfarlane, Jonathan Eisen, Dan Ariely, Sam Harris.

Soham Wrick Datta (Co-Founder, Strategy & Innovation Head – NPGE Podcast): 
Soham holds a PhD in Oncology, a Master’s in Immunology, Neuromuscular Diseases and Global Health and a Bachelor’s in Clinical Medicine with a career in clinical medicine and clinical research. He recognises the lack of cohesion between medical research and climate change mitigation. He aims to bridge this gap because he believes that only through interdisciplinary collaborations can we move towards a better future in health and sustainable development. Traveling, adventure sports and football are his main interests, along with travel photography and travel storytelling. He believes in the art of storytelling not just to communicate information or elicit an emotional reaction but also as a tool to persuade and motivate people.The ability to create fictional stories based on real events in the world of environment, global health, gender inequality, climate change and development (among others) along with using the medium of podcasting for science communication is one of his major motivations behind the No Place Green Enough Podcast.
Climate-related Interests: Climate & science communication, food waste management, community activation, love for outdoors, rappelling and ocean sports.