#6: Reimagining Urban Wildlife Habitats

with Gerfried Ambrosch, Grassroot Environmentalist
Munich, Germany

It is so cool to have Gerfried Ambrosch on Cities Reimagined in this episode. Besides being a really cool person how plays in a ton of cool bands (you need to wait until the end of the show to hear a sample), Gerfried has an amazing track record of doing volunteer work for regenerating and improving the habitats of (sub-) urban wildlife, particularly amphibian populations with some astonishing results.

Listen in to find out…

🐸 Why taking non-human perspectives into account in urbanism is essential

🚂 How brownfields provide natural habitats for highly specified species

🦎 Why personal connections to a certain space / region help to do biodiversity projects

🌆Why increasing the density of urban areas in current urbanism threatens biodiversity (hello, wicked issue!)

🌿Why the connotation of activism might hinder getting stuff done (in Austria / Europe)

With the prime focus on being put on the climate collapse, other crises caused by human activities are often overlooked. One of the most significant ones is the biodiversity crises. Toads, frogs and other amphibians are an indicator for local biodiversity and ecosystem health. But they are increasingly threatened by forms of urbanization which do not take natural processes and a balanced human-nature connection into account. But… there is hope on the horizont from the European policy level, down to the very local areas where Gerfried is regularly digging…

While you are here you might want to check out:

• Gerfried on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerfried-ambrosch-9038bb219/

• Gerfried's book "The Poetry of Punk" out on Routledge: https://www.routledge.com/The-Poetry-of-Punk-The-Meaning-Behind-Punk-Rock-and-Hardcore-Lyrics/Ambrosch/p/book/9781138502345

• Gerfried's active bands:

  • Morrow: https://morrowpunx.bandcamp.com

  • Archivist: https://archivistmusic.bandcamp.com

• Cities Reimagined on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/citiesreimagined/

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This episode of Cities Reimagined was published in November 2023.