THE HEAT 2024 brought alive the optimism of climate-tech — with future-food tastings, product demos, music, art, expert workshops and storytelling. Here are some of the creative minds who worked on content.
There were no dull panels or over-long keynotes at THE HEAT 2024.
Instead, festival-goers experienced short, lively presentations from some of the key people leading the battle to decarbonise our planet.
NALA EARTH; PLANETLY
SYSTEMIQ
NALA EARTH
AUTHOR, "WASTELAND"
ONE•FIVE
FINANCIAL TIMES;
AUTHOR
REGROW AG
OPEN COSMOS
GEOGRAPHER, AUTHOR
ZERO INSTITUTE
BROOKFIELD ASSET
MANAGEMENT
BLOOMBERG; AUTHOR
It’s a festival. Not a conference. So participants got hands-on at THE HEAT.
BY CYANOCAPTURE
BY COLD ELECTRIC
BY SPACE SOLAR
BY FIRST LIGHT FUSION
BY INVERTO EARTH
BY SAMUDRA OCEANS
BY TOKAMAK ENERGY
BY PROXIMA FUSION
BY HEDLEY STUDIOS
BY EXTEND ROBOTICS
BY MAGICAL MUSHROOM CO
BY Q-BOT
Festival-goers tasted tomorrow’s food — including innovative approaches to meat, cheese, chocolate and more, curated by future-food expert Daniel Skaven Ruben.
BY WIN-WIN
BY FERMTECH
BY BETTER DAIRY
BY JULIENNE BRUNO
BY NOTPLA
BY WILLICROFT
Festival-goers broadened their knowledge in compelling interactive sessions led by experts.
BY THEIR CLIMATE TEAM
BY FRANCESCO SCIORTINO
BY THE PWS TEAM
BY URBAN IMPACT &
STARTUP GUIDE
BY STAFFAN QVIST & FINN ARETZ
BY RUTA SKARULSKE
BY EMILY ROGERS &
MATS MULTHAUPT
BY TAMSIN RAINE &
MATT PORTEOUS
There was the chance to get hands-on with sustainable alternatives to leather, textiles, rubber, fabric dyes… This showcase, curated by looms.world‘s Ksenia Starikova, celebrated the most exciting innovations in new biomaterials.
Bio-composites from
food and ag waste
Biomaterials made from collagen
Biomaterials from
cellulose fibres
Bean waste repurposed
by Nikoleta Dimova
Birch bark to disrupt
the rubber industry
Banana waste to replace
cotton and viscose
Beer waste into
leather-like materials
Waterproof coatings
Regenerative natural fibre
from nettles
Capturing tyre wear to
minimise microplastics
Low-carbon eco-materials
from the sea
Novel biomaterials from
plant waste
The talented team that put THE HEAT 2024 together.
THE HEAT's head of content
THE HEAT's future-food curator
THE HEAT's music curator
THE HEAT's art curator
THE HEAT's partnership curator
MARTINS
THE HEAT's curator of participants
SANDER
THE HEAT's energy-tech curator
THE HEAT's new-materials curator
THE HEAT's climate-film curator
THE HEAT's climate robotics curator
MICHELLE MILES
THE HEAT's logistics curator
THE HEAT's curator of stories
THE HEAT's curator
of images
THE HEAT's curator
of social interactions
THE HEAT's curator
of pitch coaching
THE HEAT's VOYAGERS
Band curator
From drumbeats to DJs and films, we brought the festival vibe to THE HEAT 2024.
Henrietta Moon is the CEO and co-founder of Carbo Culture, drawing down CO2 and storing it in a functional, stable form for thousands of years. Originally from Finland, Henrietta speaks five languages and has lived in four countries.
Tessa is co-founder and CEO of Olio, an app tackling the climate crisis by solving the problem of waste in the home and local community. Olio does this by connecting people with their neighbours so they can give away rather than throw away their spare food and other household items, and lend and borrow instead of buying brand new. They also have over 100,000 volunteers who collect unsold food from local businesses such as Tesco, Iceland and Holland & Barrett, and redistribute it to the community via the Olio app. Eight million people have joined the Olio community to date, and each month over 3 million items are successfully shared.
Dr Liz Gilligan is founder and CEO at Material Evolution. She and the team are working on decarbonising the cement industry at scale using both a hardware and software solution.
David is the CEO/founder at CyanoCapture — a climate-tech company using synthetic biology to make industrial-scale CO2 removal affordable worldwide. The core technology uses genetic engineering to manipulate the photosynthetic machinery found in cyanobacteria to bring down the energy cost of carbon capture below 350 kWh/T CO2.
Anna Alex is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor dedicated to addressing significant challenges in climate and nature. She recently founded her third company, NALA Earth, which quantifies biodiversity and nature for businesses. Prior to this, she established Planetly and Outfittery. Anna’s Wild&Free Animal Fund supports organisations combating livestock farming.
Irena leads Systemiq Capital, the climate-tech VC spin-off from the world’s largest pure-play climate advisory firm Systemiq. She built the current team and led most investments in Fund I, including companies like Charm Industrial and Brimstone, which are directly involved with CDR. In 2022, Irena led the spin-out of Systemiq Capital from Systemiq with a launch of Fund II, continuing to back early-stage companies across the UK, EU and North America. The restoration of climate through carbon and methane removal is one of the fund’s focus areas alongside decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors, climate biotech and software as a service.
Nick is one of the co-founders & CEO of Nala Earth, a software platform that enables businesses to make the complex world of nature & biodiversity manageable. Nick is an economist and data scientist who has previously worked at BCG Gamma building net-zero solutions for large financial institutions.
Oliver Franklin-Wallis is an award-winning journalist and the author of “Wasteland: The Dirty Truth About What We Throw Away, Where It Goes, And Why It Matters”. His work often covers the environment and technology, and has appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, WIRED, and British GQ, where he is a features editor.
Martin is co-founder of one • fıve, an AI-powered packaging innovation platform. Utilising new biomaterials, one • fıve empowers decision-makers at major consumer brands to achieve their ultimate packaging solutions — from pre-development to full-scale industrial production — without compromising performance, affordability or sustainability. Martin is an active seed investor with a portfolio of over 30 companies and several early-stage funds.
Simon Mundy is the Moral Money editor at the Financial Times, covering environmental and sustainability issues for the award-winning Moral Money platform and the wider FT. He began his reporting career in Johannesburg, where he covered Southern Africa for the FT before a period writing on the London financial sector. He then spent seven years in Asia, heading the FT bureaux in Seoul and Mumbai, before two years travelling through 26 countries on six continents to research Race for Tomorrow, a book on the global scramble to respond to climate change.
Anastasia is co-founder and CEO of Regrow Ag, shaping the category of agricultural resilience. She has 10+ years of software experience and more than a decade of experience in academia and business. Anastasia holds a PhD in aerospace engineering and has been named a 2023 UBS Global Visionary, one of BBC’s “Top 100 Women” and is on the TIME100 Next list.
Rafel Jorda Siquier is the founder and CEO of Open Cosmos, a company that designs, manufactures, and operates satellites to help solve the world’s biggest challenges. He is an aerospace engineer from UPC with a Master’s degree in space technologies. The company, founded in 2015, has raised nearly $60 million in investment, has achieved annual contracts of over €100 million, and employs more than 100 people distributed between the UK, Spain, Portugal and Greece. Open Cosmos has dozens of satellites contracted for activities as diverse as telecommunications, Earth observation, navigation and science, and is one of the few companies in the world that maintains a 100% success rate in multiple launched satellites. Additionally, it leads the OpenConstellation, aggregating satellites from the UK, Spain, Portugal and elsewhere, which is growing into one of the largest constellations of shared satellites.
Danny Dorling is a professor in the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford. He was previously a professor for a decade at the University of Sheffield, and before then at the University of Leeds. He has also worked as an academic in Newcastle and Bristol. He was born and brought up in Oxford. In 2020 he published “Slowdown: The End of the Great Acceleration—And Why It’s Good for the Planet, the Economy, and Our Lives”; and in 2021, jointly with Annika Koljonen: “Finntopia: What We Can Learn from the World’s Happiest Country”. He slowed down for a year in 2022, and his 2023 book was titled: “Shattered Nation: Inequality, and the Geography of a Failing State”. In 2024 he publishes two books: “Seven Children” and “Peak Injustice”. Danny is a patron of the road-crash charity RoadPeace, of Heeley City Farm in Sheffield, and of the educational campaign group Comprehensive Future. In his spare time, he makes sandcastles on beaches with clean streams and the right kind of sand. He errs towards being optimistic about the future, because his academic work suggests, to him, that this is the most rational stance to take – despite what you may see around you.
Paul Shearing is Professor of Sustainable Energy Engineering at the Department of Engineering Science, and director of the ZERO Institute, at Oxford University. He holds the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Battery Technologies.
Connor Teskey is president of Brookfield Asset Management, a leading global investment firm with approximately $1 trillion of assets under management across renewable power and transition, infrastructure, private equity, real estate and credit. Brookfield focuses on investing in real assets and essential service businesses that form the backbone of the global economy. Connor is also the head of the company’s Renewable Power & Transition business, which focuses on accelerating the global transition to a net-zero economy. The strategy invests in the expansion of clean energy, the acceleration of sustainable solutions, and the transformation of companies operating in carbon-intensive sectors to more sustainable business models.
Parmy Olson is technology columnist with Bloomberg covering the recent AI boom. She’s a former tech reporter with the Wall Street Journal and Forbes and the author of We Are Anonymous, Inside the Hacker World of Lulzsec, Anonymous and the Global Cyber Insurgency. Her latest book, Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT and the Race That Will Change the World, is longlisted for the 2024 Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award.
Samudra Oceans is a London-based startup pioneering the future of ocean farming. Utilising robotics and artificial intelligence, the company aims to revolutionise the scalability of marine agriculture — seaweed, oysters, crustaceans, etc — to drive efficiency and sustainability in the industry. Their smart robots gather valuable insights on farm health and send critical alerts, enabling informed decision-making. This innovative approach significantly enhances operational efficiency and sustainability in marine agriculture at an affordable cost.
Drive a 75%-scale, fully electric reincarnation of iconic Bugatti and Porsche sports cars, thanks to Hedley Studios, which creates expertly hand-built cars in the UK under the visionary guidance of creative founder & CEO Ben Hedley.
Q-Bot has developed a robot that can spray insulation to the underside of suspended timber homes, reducing home energy bills and CO2 emissions by up to 20%. Q-Bot is creating jobs in an area that was previously ignored, as installation was so time consuming and difficult.
ARIA is a new kind of R&D funding agency. It funds scientists and engineers to pursue research at the edge of the possible. ARIA was established by the UK Government in January 2023 with high levels of autonomy – granted via the ARIA Act. From climate change to AI, society faces enormous challenges and opportunities that can be uniquely addressed by science and technology. ARIA was created to activate the UK’s world-class R&D in new ways, to meet these head on.
An interactive “fishbowl” workshop led by Sergey Ivliev at Vlinder Climate, Sergei Nozdrenkov at Wildflow, Frederick Leuschner at GreenTrade and Cecilia Ma at Norrsken VC. This session will explore the critical funding challenges facing nature restoration projects and discuss innovative strategies to bridge this gap. With ecosystems under increasing pressure, the need for sustainable financing models is more urgent than ever. This interactive discussion will bring together experts and participants to share insights, propose solutions, and explore new pathways for mobilising capital for nature restoration efforts.
Urban Impact and Startup Guide are teaming up in this workshop to help you discover piloting opportunities in cities with the help of their latest venture, city.solutions. You will learn how to find, select and win challenge-based innovation programmes and openly share some of our war stories with each other!
A deep dive into preparing for fundraising readiness for science-tech founders, and robust due diligence practices for climate investors.
The session will delve into the realities of securing capital from climate and impact VCs. It will equip founders with essential knowledge of what climate tech venture capitalists expect, how they contribute to value creation, and how they assess and understand the impact generated by the startups they invest in.
t’s not always rainbows and butterflies in the world of carbon direct removal (CDR). Join experts from Third Derivative, Aurum Impact and UNDO as we dive into why CDR is essential—and unpack the unexpected hurdles that come with scaling this critical tech. Engage with UNDO, an enhanced rock weathering start-up, as they share the unique challenges they’ve faced, and learn how setbacks have shaped the path for CDR startups. Let’s break the stigma around setbacks, learn from each other’s struggles, and embrace the challenges of early-stage innovation together!
Ocean Culture Life’s mission is to empower a global community of ocean storytellers and guardians to inspire, educate, and protect. As a marine-focused charity, OCL champions the conservation and enhancement of marine ecosystems, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14. Its founders are Tamsin Raine and Matt Porteous. Tamsin is a storyteller and environmental advocate who spent over a decade in advertising and communications before dedicating her career to giving a voice to the ocean. As co-founder and CEO of OCL, Tamsin leads a passionate community of storytellers and guardians committed to marine conservation. Matt set out to harness his lifelong fascination with human stories, nature and travel, creating a global community aimed at promoting positive narratives about the oceans and their inhabitants. Matt’s passion for storytelling is captured in his ability to weave visual narratives of profound depth, bridging personal experiences with universal truths. His photographic work, which ranges from intimate moments to grand adventures, explores deep emotions and respects the Earth and its oceans. Each of his photographs is more than a moment; it’s a transformative piece of art that speaks directly to the soul.
Ottan is a green-tech company that develops bio-based building materials upcycled from food and agricultural waste. Ottan’s materials are technical architectural surfaces designed for wall coverings, furniture, and a variety of products, contributing to sustainability in interiors.
PACT produces elegant and sustainable biomaterials from natural resources such as herbal extracts, oils, and minerals. Its product Oval is made from natural collagen from sustainable freshwater fish farms, and is free of any harsh chemicals.
FibriTech produces advanced biomaterials that can be shaped in almost any way you want. Its product FibriAgri is an ecological peat-free substrate for growing plants, and provides space for optimal air and water content. Its other product, FibriSorb, is an oil sorbent made from natural cellulose fibres sourced from renewable forests, which selectively absorbs oils, fuels and petroleum-based liquids while repelling water.
Faba-Forma is a closed-loop design system that promotes beans by creating a second income stream for farmers, rewarding their labour and giving back to nature. This discarded material is converted into fully degradable interior modules with a 3D clay printer. All colourings used in the designs are acquired from other plant and vegetable waste from the same farms, such as beetroot skins, butterfly peas and charcoal, keeping the process sustainable.
Reselo has developed a cost-effective process to turn residues from the pulp and paper industry (birch bark) into a sustainable and patented bio-rubber. It is implementing its rubber directly in major markets like footwear and the automotive industry in order to have the greatest impact.
Fiiba is a next-generation textile developer that produces yarn and fabrics for fashion from agricultural banana waste. It uses solar power to ensure consistent quality of its soft fibre, and provides free organic fertiliser as a natural byproduct of the extraction process to ensure zero waste circularity. It causes zero deforestation, uses no plastic, water, land or insecticides, and plans to bring 1 million farmers out of poverty by 2030 by paying for their waste.
Arda Biomaterials transforms waste into animal-free, plastic-free, and scalable materials for the fashion, automotive, home goods, and further industries. Its product New Grain transforms protein-rich spent grain from beer breweries and whisky distilleries into novel leather-like materials that it hopes will replace plastic leather and reduce reliance on animal leather.
Using seaweed and natural plant-based oils, Kelpi has created unique, biodegradable coating materials for paper, card and fibre which provide the sort of barrier to water, oxygen, greasy and acidic contents that could previously only be achieved by fossil-fuel plastics. Kelpi has signed up some of the largest companies in the world as clients, such as L’Oréal, Diageo and Waitrose.
Nettle Circle produces eco-friendly nettle fibres for the textile industry. Its HILAYA nettle fibres aim to reduce the impact of industry, support biodiversity and promote regenerative agriculture. It is currently exploring different applications for its nettle fibres, from textiles and composites to insulation and beyond.
The Tyre Collective is a London-based cleantech startup that captures tyre wear from vehicles. Tyre wear is the second-largest source of microplastics in our oceans and a major source of air particulate pollution. Using its patent-pending electrostatic technology, the Tyre Collective aims to accelerate the shift towards zero-emission mobility and close the loop on captured waste.
Ostrea Design produces a low-carbon and 100% recyclable mineral material made from oyster, mussel and scallop shells. Founded in 2020, Ostrea emerged from an encounter with oyster farmers and a realisation: every year in France, this sector produces nearly 250,000 tons of shell waste, of which only 5-10% is recycled, with the rest sent to landfills. Ostrea has the same properties as a natural stone and emits only 3 kilograms of CO2 per square metre produced, compared to 97 kilograms for PVC or 48 kilograms for ceramics.
traceless is a natural biomaterial derived from plant leftovers of industrial food production. It is naturally regenerative, plastic-free, home- and garden-compostable, and fully bio-based, avoiding food conflict or deforestation risks. Thanks to the resource-saving extraction technology, 91% of CO2 emissions are saved in production and disposal compared to virgin plastics.
Nuatan makes products from bioplastics for a wide range of applications, including interior design, fashion accessories, housewares and consumer electronics. Nuatan materials are 100% bio-based, fully compostable, and are designed for durability. Nuatan is developed by crafting plastics! studio, an award-winning design research studio founded in Bratislava in 2016.
Atelier LUMA, a programme of LUMA Arles, has been exploring bioregional design practices in the south of France and elsewhere since 2016. In contrast to territories, which have human-made borders, bioregions are defined by ecosystems and environmental conditions, and by how people have lived in and alongside them. Currently establishing new partnerships around the world, Atelier LUMA is guided by the idea that production systems must be scaled to match local resources and needs, and as such all of the materials presented in this exhibition were created by combining locally available material and human resources.
BindEthics has developed innovative food-waste-derived bio-adhesives to replace formaldehyde-based glues used to make engineered wood products such as furniture. Formaldehyde-based adhesives, the industry standard in a growing market that moves £16bn a year, are toxic, carcinogenic, and the reason why wood panels are not recyclable. Ecohesive, BindEthics’s sustainable solution, reduces the CO2 footprint by 80% and allows the final piece of furniture to fall within the circular-economy cycle.
David Rowan is founder of VOYAGERS and chief curator of THE HEAT. He was founding UK editor-in-chief of WIRED and wrote the book “Non-Bullshit Innovation” (Penguin). David also runs the VOYAGERS Climate-Tech Fund.
Daniel is founder of Solvable Syndicate, founding editor of FoodTech Weekly, operating advisor to Mudcake / Nordic FoodTech VC / Blume Equity, angel investor in 30+ startups, advisor to 15+ food-tech and bio-economy startups, and mentor at accelerators Big Idea Ventures, Katapult and Norrsken.
Nathalie Nahai is an artist, musician and founder of the Flourishing Futures Salon. Author of the bestselling book, Webs of Influence, she works at the intersection of psychology, technology and the arts.
Leonora Chance is a cultural strategist who is head of brand communications at WeTransfer and its commissioning arts arm WePresent. She has spent the past decade working with creatives, brands and institutions on building their reputation and shaping projects across the creative spectrum.
What started off as a marketing career in the corporate world turned into a mission to support climate-tech founders solving what I believe is the most pressing issue of our era: the rapid collapse of our natural world. A large part of my time is devoted to enabling dialogue, fostering collaboration, creating inspiration-inducing, action-triggering events and experiences that I hope will lead to a better tomorrow. Another big part goes to enjoying the here and the now with my wife and two kids, most likely playing outside near our home in Hamburg, Germany.
Mariana is the VOYAGERS Community Builder, responsible for building valuable connections between the 3,500+ people in the VOYAGERS community of people working on impactful things in climate tech, health tech and more. Her role includes organising three-day adventure weekends in magical places; local dinner meetups in 24 cities; online workshops and networking; direct introductions between VOYAGERS; and other online and offline activities that build peer support.
Emma oversees the development and management of the Energy Tech Cluster at Harwell, which is supported by the Science Technology Facilities Council at UK Research and Innovation. She has been instrumental in building on the strong foundations of the Cluster with innovative energy-technology companies, UK public bodies, academia and industry to share knowledge, focus on funding streams and concentrate on areas of growth. Key to the Energy Tech Cluster’s success is taking its primary focus and ensuring that across collaboration with a multidisciplinary focus approach is actively supported.
After some years in design and innovation consulting for global brands and lately transforming the Design Hotels platform into a more conscious business, Ksenia is currently focused on impact and sustainability advisory within looms.world, exploring new ideas of circularity and the role of creativity in climate change.
Tristan is an award-winning filmmaker, founder and anthropologist focused on accelerating climate action. He is co-founder of the London-based production company Possible Studio, and has published films and stories with The Guardian, Al-Jazeera and the Huffington Post. Tristan is a Shuttleworth Foundation grant recipient and MIT Innovator Under 35.
Dr Patrick Meier leads the Climate Robotics Network and is an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Swiss Institute of Technology (EPFL). He is a 5x founder with 15+ years of leadership experience in humanitarian- and climate-tech. Patrick is also a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and was born and raised in Africa.
Michelle is the event lead at Fusion Events, an agency based in Oxfordshire that specialises in managing events that have sustainability at their core. Working in the events sector for 20+ years, she has experience managing an unusual variety of events, including festivals, award ceremonies, conferences and technology showcases — all of which feed into THE HEAT’s varied programme. Michelle is an IEMA associate member.
Joe Rowan is VOYAGERS’ Chief of Staff and curator of stories at THE HEAT. He’s writing stories about participants for the festival magazine, as well as all other content that goes out on THE HEAT’s social-media channels.
Freddy Sánchez is a Costa Rican artist and photographer living in Barcelona, Spain. Classically trained in realist painting in Florence, he brings a unique eye to his subjects and captures arresting compositions that tell a rich story.
Juliette is the founder and CEO of Climate Connection, an ecosystem-builder organisation that runs 40+ events per year to bring together changemakers working at the intersection of climate and innovation. Prior to this, Juliette spent 5+ years in the US working in early-stage deeptech and climate startup creation. She is also a leadership coach, a public-speaking coach, and a passionate advocate of the need for greater awareness and support for founder mental-health resources.
Nils, who is working with our pitching startups to hone their stories, is a serial entrepreneur with 20+ years experience as founder, business developer and company leader. He crashed a few companies, but also made a number of successful exits. Today, he helps early startups, growth and large companies accelerate and scale through increased revenue, targeted sales and smart investments. And it all starts with honing your perfect pitch!
Rabin Yaghoubi, who has creatively crowdsourced the VOYAGERS Band for this evening’s entertainment, is the chief corporate development officer at Aleph Group, the global leader in powering digital media growth in over 130 emerging markets. Previously, he was chief commercial officer at Babylon Health, ran strategic partnerships for Google in EMEA (including launching key products like Maps and Shopping) and managed DoubleClick’s media business globally. Rabin is a prolific angel investor and advisor, having acted as EIR at Seedcamp, Europe’s leading early-stage fund, and invested in and advised over 50 early and late-stage digital businesses.
Dembis Thioung, renowned as a master of the dunduns in West African music, embodies the rich cultural tapestry of Senegal. Born in 1986 to a Serer Griot mother and a Peul/Fula Laube father in Dakar, Dembis was immersed in traditional Senegalese music from a young age. His upbringing alongside his professional dancer mother and drum-maker father laid the foundation for his lifelong passion for percussion. Dembis honed his craft at prestigious cultural centres in Senegal, refining his skills on instruments like the Dundun, Djembe, Sabar, and Asico drums. Embracing his cultural heritage, Dembis is deeply connected to the Senegalese Baye Fall Brotherhood, influenced by the teachings of Cheikh Ahamdou Bamba. Since relocating to the UK in 2010, Dembis has become a sought-after performer and educator. He has collaborated with numerous artists and companies across Europe and the Caribbean, including Irineu Nogueira’s Afro-Brazilian Dance Company and Akomaasa Performing Arts Academy. Additionally, Dembis fosters community engagement through weekly drum and dance circles, creating spaces for connection and spiritual exploration. His versatility extends beyond West African rhythms, as he collaborates with artists worldwide, showcasing his ability to bridge cultural divides through music.
Hot Poets is an ambitious, award-winning, internationally focused CIC, working to powerfully communicate climate-change science and action through spoken-word poetry. They do this by creating dynamic arts and science collaborations with top climate-change organisations, scientists and world-class artists, including UNFCCC’s Resilience Frontiers, The Met Office, LSE, RSPB, UCL, Southbank Centre, The Gaia Foundation and 3M. Their poems have been viewed, heard or seen over 6 million times, presented at the Southbank, NBC UNIVERSAL, TedXLondon, and COP26, 27 and COP28 in collaboration with the UN. By giving science a story, Hot Poets has positively impacted the work of scientists, farmers and academics across the world.
Liv Torc is world-shaping, creativity-championing poet, performer, producer and UN consultant, who seeks and delivers creative solutions to the pressing problems of our time. Co-Artistic Director of Hot Poets and producer of the poetry stage at WOMAD, Liv has performed at Glastonbury Festival, UNESCO in Paris, TEDxLondonWomen and R4’s Poetry Please. Her published books include Show Me Life and The Human Emergency.
Chris Redmond is a writer, musician and multi-artform facilitator. Co-Artistic Director of Hot Poets, founder of Tongue Fu, his career spans 30 years and 20 countries, with collaborators including Kae Tempest, Lemn Sissay, Irvine Welsh and Hollie McNish. His poetry and music has featured on BBC Radio 1-6, ITV, Sky Arts, CBBC, in The Guardian and Independent.
Blanche Ellis is a multidisciplinary artist and musician. With intricate lyrics, folk in her fingers and blues in her voice, Blanche sings mostly in intimate spaces, using music as a way to weave connection and community. “Acapella and harmony, the naked voice and the rhythm of the body, are home.” Blanche has performed her songs from her first home, Camden Town, London, across the UK, USA and Europe, solo and in a variety of musical collaborations. Blanche lives in Barcelona, where she paints, sings and hosts musical gatherings to which all are welcome.
Growing up in the vibrant culture of post-reunification East Germany, Arno fell in love with electronic music at kindergarten. At high school, he started a daily radio show, DJing and organising parties in Dresden and Berlin. Arno balances his engineering career with his DJing passion, his sound ranging from downtempo electronic and house to trance and rave, tailored to the time and setting. He is known for creating unforgettable experiences in intimate clubs and house parties. Arno draws inspiration from Berlin’s legendary techno clubs, such as RSO, Watergate, Sisyphos and Golden Gate, and infamous park raves or festivals, like Nachti and Fusion, infusing his music with a unique and sustainable energy.
Stuart Goldsmith is an internationally award-winning comedian, podcaster, speaker and comedy expert. His TV credits include performing stand-up on Conan, hosted by comedy icon Conan O’Brien. He has performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the New Zealand International Comedy Festival and the prestigious, invitation-only festivals Just For Laughs in Montreal and SXSW in Texas. His 2023 solo stand-up show Spoilers won the prestigious Best Show 2023 at Leicester Comedy Festival and was one of the best-reviewed shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2023, where he played to sellout audiences. The Times praised Stuart’s “excellence” and his “intelligent, well-crafted act” and The List said: “He’s especially, piercingly funny on the hypocrisies we all indulge in.” Stuart performs his climate comedy at eco festivals and at corporate events internationally. The purpose is to engage attendees in the important issue of sustainability and climate change; to send out a call to action and alleviate our collective dread by tackling a very serious subject via a very entertaining medium. He has appeared at high-profile climate festivals including Net Zero Festival and Blue Earth Summit in the UK and GreenBiz in the US. Stuart hosts the internationally renowned “Comedian’s Comedian” podcast, with over 25 million downloads. stuartgoldsmith.com
George Sandilands is a globe-trotting DJ known for celebrating music from around the world. With a passion for diverse sounds, he seamlessly mixes beats, jazz and grooves inspired by tropical rhythms from Latin America, Africa and Europe. His eclectic sets blend lounge vibes, electronic beats and global grooves, captivating audiences and keeping them dancing all night long. George has a knack for bringing together a rich tapestry of musical genres, including funk, e-soul, hip-hop, latin, amapiano, jazz and electronic sounds, which reflects his deep appreciation for global music culture. His carefully curated sets are a celebration of musical diversity, inviting listeners on a journey across continents through sound. George has been featured at numerous festivals and events, such as Womad Festival, Gala Festival, Secret Garden Party, Snowbombing, Shambala and Boomtown Fair. His ability to connect with audiences and create an unforgettable atmosphere has made him a sought-after DJ on the international festival circuit. Whether he’s spinning at a laid-back lounge or an energetic festival stage, George’s music transports listeners to distant lands and brings the vibrant sounds of the world to life.
The Bells are a series of sounds that contain specific frequencies and patterns, creating a non-verbal mode of communication. By playing them, the listener and surrounding environment are naturally put into a state of harmony & balance. Regular listening of these sounds can re-awaken our innate abilities. The more people that listen, the more we can build a mosaic that creates solutions for the planet that we have never thought of before. Up until this year, The Bells have only been available via private sessions in Los Angeles. Now, on occasion, they’re available to everyone as a livestream made possible by generous partners. As such, The Bells have made their way to over 40 US states and 70 countries. During THE HEAT, you will have a unique opportunity to experience The Bells in the relaxation zone. The experience will last for 15 minutes; however there is so much more to discover. Please inquire to learn more or arrange for a personal experience for you or your community.
Take a break for reflection and relaxation by joining this session on Sound Mediation and Saving the Planet. The session, led by Edo Perry, will incorporate instruments, breathing techniques and meditation to reset you for the days to come (which requires no prior knowledge or any other action other than just…being). Edo is the VOYAGERS Bay Area chapter lead and CEO and cofounder of Elements. Based in San Francisco, Edo has been working in climate for 12 years — in NGOs, political campaigns, ecosystem building, lecturing and mentoring at universities. He worked at Apple on sustainability and most recently joined as an advisor to a climate-tech fund. Edo has guided sound-meditation sessions for six years and believes that these sessions allow you to connect to yourself and others in more harmonic ways.
Under-23 (Proof of Age Required)
Team Festival Pass (5 tickets)
VIP Festival Pass
All Access Festival Pass
