Jonny Mood on Value for Money
“It's fine when you're swinging big to have a few misses in a controlled environment” - 𝗝𝗼𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 making it very clear that it’s fine for public sector organisations to try things and fail.
In today’s episode, I talk to Jonny about what value for money really means, why BCR is often misused and how the NAO supports innovation in the public sector.
The conversation about BCRs is also fascinating: highlighting that value-for-money rules don’t require complex decisions to be boiled down to a single number.
Do take a listen to this one!
“It's fine when you're swinging big to have a few misses in a controlled environment” - 𝗝𝗼𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 making it very clear that it’s fine for public sector organisations to try things and fail.
In today’s episode, I talk to Jonny about what value for money really means, why BCR is often misused and how the NAO supports innovation in the public sector.
The conversation about BCRs is also fascinating: highlighting that value-for-money rules don’t require complex decisions to be boiled down to a single number.
Do take a listen to this one!
You can subscribe to The Freewheeling Podcast at Apple or Spotify Podcasts.
Anjali Devadasan on Growing A Green Startup
My guest this week is Anjali Devadasan, founder of Treeva, a startup generating energy from passing vehicles and trains. Her turbines harness airflow to power local infrastructure like lighting and EV chargers.
We talked about the technology, the challenges of scaling, and her personal drive to tackle climate change, inspired by her family’s personal experience of climate-change induced flash floods.
Anjali also shared great advice for founders around protecting time for strategy, running real world experiments and building around purpose.
A truly inspirational conversation with someone who’s achieved incredible things very early in her career.
My guest this week is Anjali Devadasan, 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗮, a startup generating energy from passing vehicles and trains. Her turbines harness airflow to power local infrastructure like lighting and EV chargers.
We talked about the technology, the challenges of scaling, and her personal drive to tackle climate change, inspired by her family’s personal experience of climate-change induced flash floods.
Anjali also shared great advice for founders around protecting time for strategy, running real world experiments and building around purpose.
A truly inspirational conversation with someone who’s achieved incredible things very early in her career.
You can subscribe to The Freewheeling Podcast at Apple or Spotify Podcasts.
Elke Van Den Brandt on Transforming Brussels
Elke Van den Brandt has transformed Brussels' streets – and taken a political battering for doing so.
As the city’s mobility minister, she’s championed slower speeds, safer roads and public spaces that feel more like “living rooms than corridors”.
We talk about her 30km/h city-wide limit, the backlash it sparked, the silent majority that supports it and the power of empathy, small projects and showing up in person.
It was a superb insight into how political bravery, behavioural science and empathy (backed up by strong leadership) can work together to reshape cities for the better.
Elke Van den Brandt has transformed Brussels' streets – and taken a political battering for doing so.
As the city’s mobility minister, she’s championed slower speeds, safer roads and public spaces that feel more like “living rooms than corridors”.
We talk about her 30km/h city-wide limit, the backlash it sparked, the silent majority that supports it and the power of empathy, small projects and showing up in person.
It was a superb insight into how political bravery, behavioural science and empathy (backed up by strong leadership) can work together to reshape cities for the better.
You can subscribe to The Freewheeling Podcast at Apple or Spotify Podcasts.
Lars Strömgren on Creating a Cycling City
I spoke to Lars Strömgren, Stockholm’s Vice Mayor for Transport and Urban Environment, about the city’s journey from car-centricity to a cycling-friendly capital.
We talked about his childhood on the back of his grandmother’s bike, the cultural shifts that made cycling mainstream and the urban planning philosophy that underpins Stockholm’s transformation - including how storytelling, kid-focused design and even building with wood all fit into a sustainable transport vision.
In this episode, I’m joined by Lars Strömgren, Vice Mayor for Transport and Urban Environment in Stockholm, and one of the people most responsible for Sweden’s cycling boom.
We explore how Stockholm went from a city with less than 1% cycling modal share in the 1980s to one of the most bike-friendly places in Europe. Lars reflects on how his childhood on his grandmother’s bike shaped his passion for urban planning, and why he sees infrastructure, narrative and community engagement as the holy trinity of sustainable mobility.
We talk about the normalisation of cycling (and how it shifted from working-class mode to middle-class badge of honour), the fight to introduce zero emission zones and how livable streets can go from controversial to loved.
Lars also shares why it’s hard to take a photo of clean air, but easy to show people enjoying a tree-lined street!
We also discuss some unexpected angles: how my local high street in Walthamstow inspired parts of Stockholm, what it means to use storytelling as a tool in planning and why building cities out of wood might be the next frontier in sustainability.
You can subscribe to The Freewheeling Podcast at Apple or Spotify Podcasts.