 Everyone's different here at the Canopy Workspace, different organisations, projects and specialisms. But here inside the Entopia building there's also a common goal that brings us together. There's a collective desire to accelerate change and sustainability is at the heart of it. The Canopy is all about collaboration, a community sharing and learning from each other's experiences. And this is Canopy Connect, a podcast where you can get to know your fellow members at the Canopy. This time on the podcast. My name is Greg Cochran and I'm the co-founder of New Allotment. I'm also a freelance journalist, content creator and communications strategist. So, let's connect. So, New Allotment is an independent content production company. We specialise in creating audio, mostly making podcasts of all different styles and formats. The background is in music and culture journalism as a writer, broadcaster, digital editor and communications specialist and strategist. I was a music reporter for BBC Radio One for five years and then also went on to run the digital side of things at Enemy and Loud & Quiet. My colleague Stuart and I started New Allotment in 2021. And the idea was to take all the skills that we developed in podcasts. So, coming up with the ideas, making them, marketing them and moving it out of the music space where we've been working for quite a long time into other areas of storytelling. I've had a big interest and passion in sustainability and climate change and the way that it intersects with popular culture for a number of years, going back to sort of 2016. So, the business has been set up with that in mind, both in the way that it's structured but also run. It sits at the sort of core, the heart of the type of content that we create as well as the way that we kind of run the business. With New Allotment, we work in two ways really. We make some of our own originals, so our own original podcast that reflect our passions, but we also make content for clients. So, in the past we've worked with organisations like Client Earth and Sony Music and Domino and Excel Records, places like that. A whole range of people, mostly in the pop culture and kind of climate space so far. But we're always looking to work with new partners, particularly in the sustainability communications space as well. What does a typical day or week look like for New Allotment? It's split really. It's split between pitching for projects, developing conversations around new content, partnerships or finding ways to fund our ideas. And the second part is delivering the projects that we're already working on, so that's the stuff that we really love. Coming up with ideas, concepting campaigns, recording, researching, editing, scripting, all of the kind of direction of that stuff. And also the content marketing, so getting it out into the world to reach the people. We come from a content and arts background, so the broader New Allotment network is full of creatives, designers, filmmakers, audio editors, script writers, social media experts, etc. So we get to bring all of those people and those skills and those collaborators into the mix, which is really, really nice. I think New Allotment does address a certain problem or issue. I don't think sustainability is often thought about in the processes of creative production or maybe increasingly is, but hasn't been a lot in the past. So we've tried to do that and tried to sort of share our knowledge on that front, although it's still very much a kind of evolution. But I think more key for me is the communications side, so we all know how serious the situation is that we find ourselves in. And we're only going to see the kind of large scale transitions we need if people are aware and not just aware but somehow on board. And I think that engaging content and communication has a huge role to play in that. And popular culture too, from TV to film, music to dance, whatever it might be, I'm a huge believer that there's an angle into this that will connect with everyone. And we want to leave our audiences with a feeling of agency and connectivity and can do, I guess. I suppose on that point, I generally think the role of pop culture in all of this has been undervalued or underplayed so far and I just think there's so much potential there. An example of the work that we do that I think embodies the impact that it can have is a podcast series that we launched. It's called Sounds Like a Plan. We launched it a couple of years ago. It's available on all, I should say, it's available on all good podcast platforms. And it's all about how the music community is responding to the climate and biodiversity crisis. And it's not just musicians speaking on it, although there are lots of those. But people who are working on the issue from all sorts of perspectives within the music space. So, you know, the person behind Coldplay's sustainability initiatives in their touring, their kinetic dance floor. The person who's created Plant-based Vinyl that lots of artists are looking to release now. The person advising artists on how to use their voice for influence on this subject. It's been really well received in the music industry, the community, and sort of seen as a little bit of a North Star resource, which has been really, really heartening. And it's also been popular amongst music fans who want to feel like their favourite culture is moving forward on this and is somehow part of the solution, which I really believe it is, literally from BTS to Billie Eilish, Ellie Golding to Harry Styles. These are the biggest artists in the world. I'm very much aware of this and are somehow kind of involved or working on this. And I think we see our role as trying to find engaging ways of somehow surfacing that. Why did I join the canopy? Okay, so running a small business or being a freelancer can be a bit of an isolated pursuit sometimes. The idea of basing myself some of the time in a co-working environment where everyone is somehow plugged into the same goal of sustainability was a really big attraction. That feeling of the fact that there's a common interest pulling in the same direction. And I also intentionally wanted to challenge myself and learn about different sectors and surround myself with different people. Stuff that's totally alien to me because my background is in the arts and communications and journalism. And I don't know a lot about a lot of the other areas of people that are working in the canopy. I mean, it's already done that in the few months that I've been here. It's been so great to meet people, opens up my mind and connections and sparks ideas. I also think I'm the kind of person where that stuff makes me feel good and keeps me motivated. And so yeah, in terms of what I'm hoping to get out of it, hopefully great new ideas, new clients, some knowledge on the business development front. Hopefully this will be a great place to do that and to learn about that. In terms of what I and we can put in, with new allotment our experience is in content creation. And that often ties in with brand strategy and brand storytelling. Like how do you talk to audiences about the work that you do and its purpose in an engaging way? So, you know, I'd always happily talk to people about that. I also work in communications and digital strategy as a consultant, basically effective framing and messaging around climate narratives, storytelling and action. Because this stuff is quite hard to talk about, especially in the ever-evolving landscape of digital media and social media. And even more when you're like a transitioning business. I think people often find that a real challenge. So yeah, do shout if you need any assistance on that front. And what else? Yeah, podcast recommendations, music recommendations. I love both of those things. So I'm always keen to talk about those. Yeah, so if you buy the coffee machine, I'd love to hear about what podcasts you've been listening to. The best way to get in touch, you can find me on Office R&D. I'm Greg Cochran there. Feel free to message me there. With new allotment, newallotment.com is our website and you can see some of the projects we worked on and hear a bit more about our work and listen to some of it. And I'm Greg Cochran on LinkedIn as well, so you can find me there. I'm usually in the Entopia Building at Canopy on Tuesday and a Wednesday. So yeah, do come and say hello. Thanks for having me. I look forward to seeing you around the Entopia Building. Thanks for checking out this episode of Canopy Connect. Log in to your Office R&D profile to connect with your Canopy neighbors. Just head to the members page and find them. This is a Canopy podcast made by New Allotment. The Canopy is part of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership supported by the European Regional Development Fund. Thank you for listening.