How do we encourage human flourishing? How, in fact, do we make the thriving of all 8 billion humans and the More than Human World central to all that we are and do?  It’s a core tenet of this podcast, that if each of us were able to discover what’s ours to do – and, more importantly, to be – and were supported in the inter-becoming that would arise from bringing the best of ourselves to the table…we’d be well on the way to the transformation we need to get us through the pinch points of the climate, cultural and technological apocalypses that are heading our way.

So in today’s episode, we’re talking with someone who crosses many disciplines in search of eudaimonia – the concept of human flourishing, of ‘finding our best self’ proposed by Plato and expanded by Aristotle.  Dr Jenna Mikus is an engineer and architect by training, and is now a consultant and strategic advisor who specialises in balancing architectural science with wellbeing science to promote flourishing health and wellbeing by design across a wide range of environments. 

As you’ll hear, she did her PhD during lockdown in the ways it might be possible to help elderly people find meaning and purpose – in scientific terms, to attain self determination – in their lives.  And now she is an academic and consultant who acts as an ideas “alchemist,” helping companies curate environments & experiences for eudaimonia to support optimal health and wellbeing, precipitate ineffable emotions like delight & awe, promote meaning, inspire creativity, & catalyse belonging, and innovate. She’s founder of the Eauda-Group and helped found the ‘Flourishing by Design’ (FxD) community of practice affiliated with Harvard’s Human Flourishing Network.

In a world where those who accumulate wealth are increasingly leaning towards mass extinction as if it were somehow going to be useful, it’s so refreshing to explore the ways we can be differently human.