Collective Choices
Our future is based on our choices. The ones we make as individuals and also the ones we make as groups, countries and as a species. A peaceful and plentiful future is only possible if we agree on making sustainable choices together. Collective Choices is a podcast that aims to explore both possible solutions to some of our current issues and also the process of reaching agreements for the common good. As more and more people live in cities, these are the key centers that define economic models, political decisions, consumer behavior and mindset shifts with all the eventual global consequences, so we will talk quite a bit about how we can improve life in urban spaces. I am Doru Oprisan, a radio journalist and photographer who loves to ride his bicycle in Stockholm, Sweden.
Collective Choices
Ep. 17 - How Language Changes Systems with Marco Te Brömmelstroet
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Marco Te Brömmelstroet is a professor of Urban Mobility Futures at the University of Amsterdam and founding member of the Lab of Thought.
We talk about:
- the importance of language when we want to change systems
- the problem with subsystems
- how we always have a hard time imagining anything different from the present, even though the current (failing) systems are very new
- how our behavior is based on the system that was created for us
- human rights in cities
- connecting more dots - children's health and access to streets, for example.
- involving more people in the discussion, solving more issues
- not allowing only one system to crowd out the other ones, especially not a deadly one
- how we tell our children to be responsible and not die.
- the killer coffee machine
- geofencing for cars
- avoiding simple conversations in search of clarity
The Lab of Thought:
https://thelabofthought.co/
This episode was recorded during the Sweden’s National Cycling Conference in Stockholm, 25-27 August 2026. Thanks Stockholms Stad and Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner for having me.
Collective Choices is a podcast by Doru Oprisan, exploring sustainable choices for a better future and the process of agreeing on those choices. Thanks for listening and sharing!
Get in touch:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/doruoprisan/
www.doruoprisan.com
