This is the first episode of a series focused on the findings of the Horizon Europe project CAPABLE (ClimAte Policy AcceptaBiLity Economic framework). The aim of this podcast series is to provide an overview of the CAPABLE project and draw attention to some particularly relevant findings.  

In this first episode, we want to give a general overview of CAPABLE, highlighting the main topics we are going to touch on, focusing on its policy impacts and contribution. The guests are Silvia Pianta and Johannes Emmerling. Johannes is a Senior Scientist at the European Institute on Economics and Environment (EIEE). He co-leads its low-carbon pathways unit and he is the scientific coordinator of the Horizon Europe project CAPABLE. His main research areas include climate change and energy economics, risk and uncertainty, and welfare economics and development. Silvia is a Scientist at EIEE and the deputy coordinator of CAPABLE. Her research focuses on environmental policy and politics. She investigates the determinants of environmental attitudes and behaviours, climate policy preferences, public attention to climate change, and the impact of environmental change on political behaviour.  
CAPABLE is a research project funded by the Horizon Europe Programme under grant agreement No 101056891. It provides robust, resilient and actionable recommendations for the design of socially and economically acceptable climate policy measures for 2030 and beyond, examining experiences, policy design and implementation solutions to identify strategies that can enable a successful transition. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union.  

More info on CAPABLE: https://capableclimate.eu/  

CAPABLE: How acceptability will shape the future of climate policy - Episode 1

In this episode of the FSR Policy Briefcase (Season 2, Episode 8), hosts Leonardo Meeus and James Kneebone reflect on Ursula von der Leyen’s 2025 State of the Union address and on the conference marking one year since the Draghi report, where Leo took part in a panel of experts.

The conversation revisits Draghi’s diagnosis of Europe’s competitiveness challenges and considers how it holds up in today’s shifting geopolitical and economic context. They explore progress under the Commission’s Clean Industrial Deal, particularly efforts to reduce energy prices, and assess the priorities for the year ahead. The hosts also examine von der Leyen’s call to accelerate the phase-out of Russian fossil fuels, the role of electrification in driving down costs and improving the security of supply, and her proposals for more flexible EU funding and decision-making.

Finally, they reflect on how these policy directions relate to Europe’s values and the consistency of the EU’s agenda in a global context marked by instability elsewhere. Recorded in September 2025.

#8 Brussels Exclusive - One Year On: From the Draghi Report to von der Leyen’s Union

On Episode 603 of Impact Boom, Alastair Duncan of Owls Eat Rats discusses harnessing innovative, natured-based business models to transform agriculture practices and address wicked environmental problems, and why networks of small innovative enterprises are essential for catalysing impact-led movements and systemic change.

If you are a changemaker wanting to learn actionable steps to grow your organisations or level up your impact, don't miss out on this episode!

If you enjoyed this episode, then check out Episode 402 with Sally Giblin on helping children understand how to nurture the environment -> https://bit.ly/4mMpXk3

The team who made this episode happen were:
Host: Indio Myles
Guest(s): Alastair Duncan
Producer: Indio Myles

We invite you to join our community on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram to stay up to date on the latest social innovation news and resources to help you turn ideas into impact. You'll also find us on all the major podcast streaming platforms, where you can also leave a review and provide feedback.

Episode 603 (2025) Alastair Duncan On Innovative Nature-Based Enterprises Solving Wicked Environmental Problems

On Episode 604 of Impact Boom, Ratna Viswanathan of Reach To Teach discusses driving systemic change in education by strengthening teacher agency, why collaborative government partnerships are essential for scaling impact, and improving learning outcomes in India’s public schools.

If you are a changemaker wanting to learn actionable steps to grow your organisations or level up your impact, don't miss out on this episode!

If you enjoyed this episode, then check out Episode 586 with Monica Pesswani on empowering Indian students with joyful skills-based education for the 21st century -> https://bit.ly/3KoI0zo

The team who made this episode happen were:
Host: Indio Myles
Guest(s): Ratna Viswanathan
Producer: Indio Myles

We invite you to join our community on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram to stay up to date on the latest social innovation news and resources to help you turn ideas into impact. You'll also find us on all the major podcast streaming platforms, where you can also leave a review and provide feedback.

Episode 604 (2025) Ratna Viswanathan On Scaling Education Reform Through Empowering Teachers

On Episode 605 of Impact Boom, Sam Lucas of Onja discusses harnessing education, technology, and outsourcing to create career pathways for underprivileged youth in Madagascar, and why trust, sustainability, and social enterprise models are key to transforming lives and scaling global impact.

If you are a changemaker wanting to learn actionable steps to grow your organisations or level up your impact, don't miss out on this episode!

If you enjoyed this episode, then check out Episode 560 with Stéphane Akoki on creating self-reliance through remote work and financial literacy in West Africa -> https://bit.ly/48cm0BE

The team who made this episode happen were:
Host: Indio Myles
Guest(s): Sam Lucas
Producer: Indio Myles

We invite you to join our community on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram to stay up to date on the latest social innovation news and resources to help you turn ideas into impact. You'll also find us on all the major podcast streaming platforms, where you can also leave a review and provide feedback.

Episode 605 (2025) Sam Lucas On Building Sustainable Social Enterprises Creating Global Careers

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Western states not only find themselves in a changed geopolitical environment but have also learned important lessons about the role of the private sector in wartime. Ranging from the countering cyber-threats, ensuring continuity of communications, and the provision of space-based capabilities, the private sector has access to resources and expertise that states may not have themselves. Their capacity to augment national security risks making the private sector a target of hostile aggression. In his remarks to the IIEA, Franklin D. Kramer explores the changing role of the private sector in wartime crises and ensure that western states are prepared for future crises should they occur.

Speaker bio:
Franklin D. Kramer is a distinguished fellow and board director at the Atlantic Council. Kramer has served as a senior political appointee in two administrations, including as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. At the US Department of Defense, Kramer was in charge of the formulation and implementation of international defense and political-military policy, with worldwide responsibilities including NATO and Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The Role of the Private Sector in Warfare

The geopolitics of the Middle East have entered a period of profound flux. In recent years, shifting alliances, contested interventions, and the rise of non-state actors have reshaped the region’s landscape. From the Iran–Saudi détente to the Abraham Accords, from the wars in Syria and Yemen to the conflict in Gaza, the stakes for regional and international order are considerable. In his remarks to the IIEA, Dr Hellyer offers a perspective from the region itself, exploring how Middle Eastern states interpret threats and opportunities, the changing role of global powers, and the prospects for a regional security framework less dependent on external actors. He also considers the implications for Europe and the wider international community.

Speaker bio:

Dr. H. A. Hellyer is Senior Associate Fellow with expertise in Geopolitics and Middle East Studies at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI), the world’s oldest defense think tank. He is also Senior Fellow in Geopolitics and Security Studies at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., which follows senior tenures in Washington at the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Brookings Institution, and the Atlantic Council. Dr Hellyer has advised the UK government on radicalisation and extremism in Europe, and is regularly called upon by the public and the private sectors for non-partisan expertise on Middle East developments. A frequent media commentator, he has provided analysis for CNN, the BBC, the Washington Post, and The New York Times. Dr. Hellyer has also held appointments at Cambridge, Harvard, Warwick, and the American University in Cairo. He is the author of ten books and hundreds of articles on the politics and security of the Middle East and Europe.

The Geopolitics of the Middle East: A Region Under Reconfiguration

Dwight Zscheile is a professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary, and his wife, Blair Pogue, is a priest and canon for vitality and innovation in the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. They join Leader’s Way host Brandon Nappi for a conversation about their joint passion for engaging the innovative ways the Church is renewing its commitment to community and communion by meeting people where they are.  Brandon talks with Dwight and Blair about their new book, Embracing the Mixed Ecology: Inherited and New Forms of Christian Community Flourishing Together, which unpacks the theological language of “mixed ecology,” and how this language can help us imagine what is possible in our church communities.

Host: Brandon Nappi

Guests: Dwight Zscheile and Blair Pogue

Production: Goodchild Media

Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast

You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders


Embracing the Mixed Ecology of the Church with Dwight Zscheile and Blair Pogue

According to Eddie Rish, CEO of the International Hydropower Association (IHA) sustainable hydropower is the ignored giant of renewable energy. Mr Rish provides an overview as to how it plays a pivotal role in enabling the global energy transition by providing secure, reliable, low-carbon electricity and flexible storage. This webinar explores how it’s different uses can help to provide clean, green, secure, flexible, and affordable energy systems.

About the Speaker:
Eddie Rish has worked on the role of corporates in international development for over 20 years. He was appointed CEO of IHA in 2019. Since then, IHA has repositioned itself as a values-based organisation that prioritises sustainable hydropower.” He was instrumental in the launch of the Hydropower Sustainability Standard in 2021 and the establishment of the influential International Forum on Pumped Storage Hydropower. In 2022, IHA was awarded International Association of the Year.
Previously, Mr Rish was deputy head of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).His prior experience included working as the UK Government Department for International Development (DFID)’s representative to Angola and its deputy head in Kenya. He was also head of the DFID's corporate social responsibility team.

The Role of Sustainable Hydropower within the Energy Transition

This webinar features a keynote address by Professor Emily Shuckburgh, Director of Cambridge Zero, followed by a fireside chat with Dr Eileen Culloty, Deputy Director, DCU Institute for Media, Democracy, and Society. Together, they will discuss the persistence of climate change myths, the role of the media in shaping public understanding, and how fact-checking, improved communication, and public engagement can counter misinformation. The discussion will highlight how false narratives can undermine climate action, and how researchers, communicators, and the public can work together to build a more informed and constructive debate.

This event is part of the IIEA’s REthink Energy series, organised in partnership with ESB.

Professor Emily Shuckburgh CBE is a world-leading climate scientist and science communicator, who is the director of Cambridge Zero, the University of Cambridge’s ambitious climate change initiative. Prof Shuckburgh is a mathematician and Professor of Environmental Data Science at Cambridge’s Department of Computer Science and Technology.

Dr Eileen Culloty is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communications, DCU and Deputy Director of the DCU Institute for Future Media, Democracy, and Society. Her work focuses on disinformation, media literacy education, and the future of public media.

Challenging Climate Myths: Science, Media, and Public Trust

Following the end of the Cold War, the world experienced a remarkable wave of democratization. Over the next two decades, numerous authoritarian regimes transitioned to democracies, and it seemed that authoritarianism as a political model was fading. But as recent events have shown, things have clearly changed. Based on their new book Dictating the Agenda, Alexander Cooley and Alexander Dukalskis reveal how today's authoritarian states are actively countering liberal ideas, advocacy surrounding human rights and democracy across various global governance domains.

About the Speakers:

Alexander Cooley is the Claire Tow Professor of Political Science and Vice Provost for Research and Academic Centers at Barnard College, Columbia University. From 2015-21 he served as the 15th Director of Columbia University's Harriman Institute for the Study of Russia, Eurasia and Eastern Europe. Professor Cooley's research examines how international actors have influenced the governance, sovereignty, and security of the post-Communist states. In addition to his academic publications, Professor Cooley's commentaries have appeared in Foreign Affairs, New York Times, and Washington Post and he has testified for the US Congress, UK Parliament and the Parliament of Canada.


Alexander Dukalskis is associate professor in the School of Politics & International Relations at University College Dublin. His research and teaching interests include authoritarian politics, human rights, and Asian politics. He is also a frequent expert commentator in national and international media on these themes. From 2022-2024 he directed UCD's Centre for Asia-Pacific Research. He is the author of two previous books, Making the World Safe for Dictatorship (Oxford University Press, 2021) and The Authoritarian Public Sphere (Routledge, 2017), and academic articles in several leading journals.

CAPABLE: How acceptability will shape the future of climate policy - Episode 1

FSR Energy

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