 |
Happitecture PodcastAuthor: Michelle Fenton
Happitecture is a podcast that explores our unique cities and what it takes to build resilient and thriving communities that are inclusive, supportive, and promote wellbeing and happiness. Join us as we chat with some of Vancouvers brightest minds in planning and urban design, community facilitation, design, social sciences, and community activists and discuss ideas on how to plan and design vibrant, happy built environments. Language: en Genres: Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
Listen Now...
Fierce Tenderness: Designing for Belonging, Systems Change, and the More-than-Human World
Episode 14
Friday, 19 December, 2025
In this soulful and wide-ranging episode, Michelle sits down with Zahra Ebrahim to explore how design, care, and community come together in the work of systems transformation. Zahra is a designer, strategist, and orchestrator who has dedicated her career to centering equity and public imagination in the built environment. As co-founder of Monumental Projects, she leads initiatives that shift power, reframe participation, and challenge the status quo of urban development. Together, they discuss everything from design as a form of joy and grief, to the evolution of Zahra's identity as a "weaver" across disciplines, to new frontiers in acknowledging the rights of the more-than-human world. This episode is a rich meditation on how we can show up more fully, lead with care, and reimagine what cities (and citizenship) can be. What We Talk About:How Zahra’s early feelings of not "fitting" shaped her interdisciplinary approachThe tension between completion and emergence in design and facilitationCreating care cultures within projects and teamsThe journey from ego-led to community-led designWhat it means to be a weaver, orchestrator, and space-makerJoy, magic, and humility in community-engaged workScaling belonging from the self to systemsSystems change, stakeholder engagement, and shifting institutional mindsetsGiving voice to the more-than-human world in urban planningRights of nature, Indigenous worldviews, and legal personhood of riversHow noticing and slowness can build empathy and resilienceZahra's Everyday Practice Tip "Invest in your local unit of survival." Get to know your neighbors. Not just their names—but their needs, joys, and stories. When crisis comes, it's those micro-relational webs that make a difference. Books & References MentionedMessy Cities (edited collection with essay by Kite) https://chbooks.com/Books/M/Messy-CitiesBraiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer https://www.robinwallkimmerer.com/booksIs the River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/724830/is-a-river-alive-by-robert-macfarlane/9781039007956Work of Suzanne Kite (Concordia University) https://www.concordia.ca/finearts/about/galleries-venues/fofa-gallery/exhibitions/2023/suzanne-kite.htmlRights of Nature Movement Connect with Zahra Ebrahim Website: www.monumentalprojects.caLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zahraebrahim Learn More about Happitecture For more episodes, resources, and events, visit: www.happitecture.com Follow us on Instagram & LinkedIn @Happitecture Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and share with your community. Let’s design places—and lives—that bring us joy.
