POCACITO conversations
We’re reflecting on some of the conversations POCACITO was fortunate to be a part of, four of which we want to share with you. Two of these talks took place as part of POCACITO events, and two are one-to-one interviews. One thing that kept coming up is that the critical work of environmental and climate justice is happening at the local level. And it’s being led by civil society. We met with community organizers and activists from Kyiv; Berlin; St. James Parish, Louisiana; and Superior, Arizona, to learn what this work looks like, and how we can help. Elec...
Protecting Ecuador's Mangrove Forests - the Example of Isla Costa Rica
In this episode, we hear about the efforts of the community on La Isla Costa Rica in Ecuador to protect their mangrove forests. With researcher Wendy Chavez, currently finishing her PhD at the University of Bonn, Prof. Christine Beitl from the University of Maine, educator Harry Haro from Isla Costa Rica and Ecuadorian economist Brian Flores. We discuss their research and progress made in both social and economic terms. Another #GANBASE German-American Nature-Based Solutions Exchange podcast episode.
Editing by Ben Larsen.
Exploring Floyd Bennett Field
Hello and welcome back to another edition of the POCACITO conversations. Today’s episode takes us to Jamaica Bay in New York City and was recorded on Sunday, February 8, 2026.
This is part two of two of recordings around Jamaica Bay.
I am Max Gruenig, your host for today and I met with Terri Carta, the Executive Director at Jamaica Bay Rockaway Parks Conservancy, as well as Elizabeth Stoehr, Deputy Director with the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy. And yes, it was pretty cold.
Elizabeth is a mem...
Nature-based solutions in Jamaica Bay
Hello and welcome to another edition of the POCACITO conversations. Today’s episode takes us to Jamaica Bay in New York City and was recorded on Sunday, February 8, 2026.
I am Max Gruenig, your host for today and I met with Elizabeth Stoehr Deputy Director with the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy and her colleague Anil Pasram Stewardship Programs Manager with the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy as well as Wetlands Fellows Devin Johnson and Matthew Wojcik. They braved pretty low temperatures to meet on one of the coldest days of the season.
Thi...
Luisa Neubauer and Helena Marschall in Charlottesville (October 25, 2024)
Today we have the second in our four-part series of 2024 conversations with community organizers and activists who are doing the work of environmental and climate justice … sometimes in acutely critical conditions, as we heard in our last talk with Kostia Krynytski of the Ukrainian NGO EcoAction. At other times, it’s about building a global mass movement, as we’ll hear in this episode.
We go back to late October. We’re in Charlottesville, Virginia, less than a dozen days before the US elections, and POCACITO, along with the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Washington DC, hosts a town ha...
Kostia Krynytskyi in Kyiv (June 30, 2024)
Our first conversation is with Kostiantyn Krynytskyi from the Ukrainian NGO EcoAction.
In the years preceding Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kostia worked with the country’s eastern coal regions for a just transition of the energy system.
Since the invasion, his work has shifted, with a focus on the resiliency potential of distributed renewable energy.
Max talked with Kostia at the end of June, 858 days after missiles first started striking Kyiv.
