In YOUth We Trust

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:00:02]:

I'm not sure what I would have done differently. I think what I've always tried is to not be afraid of testing things and potentially failing, always trying to remember what's the worst that can happen and almost putting myself in the worst that can happen and and live through it and realize that, well, that's not so bad.

Intro [00:00:23]:

Cast your mind back to when you were younger. How do you want to change the world? What skills and opportunities do you wish you had to succeed? And now fast forward to today, do you believe young people have these skills and Opportunities in youth we trust sits down with successful entrepreneurs, business leaders, educators, and others from around the world. We spotlight how individuals and organizations are shaping a better world directly or indirectly for the coming generations through their focus on sustainability, equity, education, and more to empower young people to create the future they deserve. And now in Youth We Trust.

Prashant Raizada [00:01:04]:

Good afternoon, Priya. Priya, and it's really wonderful to have you On in youth we trust podcast, welcome to the show.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:01:14]:

Thank you. Lovely to be here.

Prashant Raizada [00:01:16]:

You know, you are someone who really does inspire your the current generation also the and also the coming generations Through the work that you've done and you you know, in the past and you continue to do, on all kinds of topics that matter to the world, Pierre. So, You know, I wanna start, the show by taking you right back to your younger self, if I if I can. And, you know, as you know, Loomi is about young people, you know, Solving problems that matter to the world. So if if if we go back to your younger self, what is a quest Or a looming quest that you would have wanted to participate in.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:02:06]:

I'm a curious person, by nature, which I kind of channel through taking quite a lot of, university degrees because I always learn something new and wanted to keep learning. But if I go back to younger me, I wanted to become an architect because I was really interested in design and style and less so maybe in environment when I was young. Because I learned about more in my twenties, so back in the nineties. But I think a quest I would want to be part of is how to build sustainable cities. And with sustainable cities, I mean, livable cities. So from a people point of view, how do you create places where people can feel safe, breathe, engage with family, friends, work, living, but also sustainable from an environmental point of view so that you build circular cities, energy efficient cities, 0, emission transport cities. So that kind of holistic, like the 15 minute city, but like that holistic, how do you build and it doesn't need to be a it could be a smaller town, but like how to build things smart. Because and and maybe even more how to rebuild.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:03:28]:

Because if we take Europe and US, we have a lot already. So it's more about rebuilding and remodeling. Whereas if you take many other parts of the world, they are still building their cities. So, yeah, both building but rebuilding. Rethinking.

Prashant Raizada [00:03:47]:

Yeah. How interesting. You know? So, I mean, as an architect, you could have made a huge difference, but you've been architecting things in a different way. And So why is the aspect of building sustainable cities that important to you? Did you see problems even then around you or in the world?

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:04:05]:

I think it's more I mean, of course, much more aware now, than I I was then. I think then coming from Sweden where nature nature is just such a prevalent part of everyday life, I think I've always been conscious of how I've grown up, also within Sweden, you know, in a in in a house, with a garden, with little forest kept. It showed down the road where you could kind of play with friends and build small tree houses. And so nature's always just been part of my life, and that and there's, of course, parts of Sweden where it's mainly concrete. And and and, of course, in other parts of the world where it's it's more than just concrete. It it so I think that reflection from from childhood, how do you build so that nature can be close, because there's so much you can learn, as a child. I mean, I learned immensely from playing in nature, with with whatever came from nature and that was part of my toys and part to my tools. So how can you give that to more people? Because I think it's not just the exploration and the development of the brain, but also the peace of mind you get from, yeah, sitting out, looking at sky, breathing, hearing the leaves move, for me, that's just always been important.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:05:40]:

And I I feel like a lot of people don't have that. And I think it impacts our mental health not having it.

Prashant Raizada [00:05:50]:

Such a yeah. I mean, there's so many profound points there. I think the the fact that you don't always need things. You know, mother nature has already given them to you. You appreciate them. You also then coexist with it. So because you're getting so much it, you then therefore give it back, but don't destroy it. And and when you either don't see it at all because you did not destroy it, somebody else did.

Prashant Raizada [00:06:15]:

And, and and then, you don't have it. It it is an artificial existence. So how to intertwine. Right? That that I think that's coming back. I mean, have you seen, you know, now that you look at your passion for architecture, your work in sustainability, Have you seen examples of where this is happening nicely?

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:06:36]:

Yeah. I think there's lots of examples. I mean, there's on the environmental side or the whole thing with passive housing, there's lots of communities. I I only know of in in UK, in Germany, Netherlands, but I'm sure there's in many other places where they are building much more kind of people friendly, nature friendly environments, both from environmental and and social sites. I think there's lots of lots of examples of architects and urban planners trying to and mayors, trying to think differently, to definitely. And then also more recently, I think we are realizing because of climate change and all the flooding that we're seeing and it was just an article now again after the floodings in the US after one of the storms that there's no drainage. So we're we're kind of the way we build for the last 100 years is actually augmenting the problems we're facing because there's no way for the water to go. So there's there's, of course, so much more understanding today that building materials that are fantastic in a way from longevity, solid, they have unintended consequences.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:07:57]:

And we maybe didn't think about them before or they weren't as obvious, before. But that kind of fact is starting to hit us in the people.

Prashant Raizada [00:08:07]:

Yeah. So staying back in the in in in in, you know, In the past, when you you know, in your younger self, if you were a part of that quest, which is about sustainable cities, Which incidentally is a quest that Lumi runs. What skill or what experiences that would you bring to that? Because it's a it's a it's a it's a collaborative effort with other young people. So what would they benefit from you?

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:08:37]:

Yeah. My younger self, yeah. I mean, if I look at skills or capabilities, I think there always needs to be someone who takes the lead, but also someone who kind of listens and tunes in and checks what's going on in the group, take notes. And my younger self, I probably would not have been the one taking the lead. I would have been more listening and noticing what was going on and maybe bringing things up from what's what's said or what was not said, or being the one taking the notes. So I think I would have brought that. And then probably the interest for the environment depending on, you know, where the others are. If everyone has the same background, then, of course, I would bring exactly the same as others.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:09:30]:

But the intro and and the interest in the intersection, it's really hard to know what kind of what did I know when I was 10. Now I would say, you know, the intersection between people and planet. This is something I've been working with for so long. But I think I I have a genuine deep connection with nature and I have had for for for as long as I can remember, but also for people. Like, I I fundamentally believe that you you get what you give kind of. So if you're if you're nice, if you smile, you often get smile back. So I think I would bring that. I don't have a huge ego, so I don't think I had that when I was 10 either.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:10:16]:

So probably could help some to kind of take step back and really reflect what's the task at hand, what what are we here for. And it's not about showing off. It's about the outcome, the collective outcome working together as much as it is, you know, finishing on time or building the best city, getting the highest grade. Yeah. I think that's what I would bring.

Prashant Raizada [00:10:42]:

That is so interesting. Right? Because, I mean, look, The ability to listen is one of the greatest strengths that one can actually bring, because in in a in many situations, we find everybody's just talking. In fact, that's what you also find in the world many times today, who's listening. And, so that's one thing that I'm hearing. The other thing is A real connection with nature. So that also brings a level of, I suppose, empathy and understanding, curiosity and things like that. There were a lot of things. And but at the same time, you answered my next what was going to be my next bring? And you you you already said that That would be the connection between people and planet.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:11:32]:

Definitely. I think, one thing I've learned about myself is that I see connections. I'm not a super detailed person, so I'm not an excel sheet kind of person. But have a big huge appreciation for those who have that skill set to compliment me. Some more of, a kind of need to see the picture to to kind of to see the small details, I kind of need to see how it connects and I often do see how it connects. And I think I have an ability of swimming out and and seeing pictures. So I think I would bring that. And then if I do compare myself with my younger self, I would probably be more in the lead in the group, now than I was 40 years ago, I I would be from having been a manager and a leader for so many years, I would be more comfortable in stepping in, taking the lead when needed, but also very comfortable in stepping out, when needed.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:12:37]:

One of my best chairmans of boards where I sit, he now he does it naturally, but it's an acquired skill, but he always speaks last. So he lets the team come to a conclusion rather than starting saying I think this. So hopefully, you all think like me. And I think I do have. I hope I have that ability.

Prashant Raizada [00:13:02]:

That is so nice to hear. That was a piece of advice that one of my, Team members and former colleagues nearly 10 years ago gave me. He took me out of a room and he actually said to me he says, Prashant, just remember one thing. Don't be the smartest guy in the room. Otherwise, people will not come up with ideas, only you will. And that's a real shame if that happens. It was a big big moment of learning. So I I totally understand that you're talking about your chairman right now Oh, one of them because you wear so many hats.

Prashant Raizada [00:13:35]:

And so this actually brings me to another point. Right? So you you're talking about the past and the present at the same time. But what advice would you give to your younger self today, you know, in terms of how to acquire those skills quickly?

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:13:52]:

Yeah. I mean, we didn't have AI to the same extent as we do now. So the the world looks so completely different than Sweden or Europe was so completely different when I when I was young. I'm not sure what I would have done differently. I think what I've always tried is to not be afraid of testing things and potentially failing, always trying to remember what's the worst that can happen and kind of almost putting myself in the worst that can happen and and live through it and and realize that, well, that's not so bad. I I can I can kind of cope with that and then dare to jump? So I think I I would have told myself that, but I actually think I I've lived like that. But, I would have told myself that.

Prashant Raizada [00:14:41]:

That's interesting. So in many ways, you know, you're quite lucky that you you had these skills and you were You weren't in an environment that gave you the those opportunities. And but do you think if you take a worldview, right, the let's zoom out And look at the young people across the world, anywhere, or even in Europe or even in Sweden where you are. Do you think young people today have Greater opportunities, to tackle these problems and just, you know, to build these skills.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:15:12]:

Oh, yeah. I think they have enormous opportunity. I I I think they have they have the world at their hand in a way that I mean, I had pen pals, like, when I was 10 to 15, 16, there were these services where companies connected you with penpal in, you know, whatever, in Nigeria. And I haven't had 1 in India and 1 in Nigeria and 1 in the US. And and that's kind of how I got to know that there was a world beyond, of course, TV. But, like, that's how I got to connect with real human people somewhere else. And now you have all, you know, as a mother of 2 teenagers, the kind of obsessive social media tools that are around, which I feel eats their time, but I can also see, of course, the benefits that the world is at their fingers. They are connecting with people from all over the world is like that.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:16:09]:

And they have skills that I didn't have. I mean, they can make films easily. They can I mean, they make TikToks every day? They but also films. They they're used to speaking English in a way that I wasn't. They're they're used to kind of meeting and seeing people from all parts of the world. So I think there's and they learn about, you know, digitalization, even if I do agree with you that they're not learning enough skills that are few you know, future oriented skills in school, I still think at least in Sweden and in the schools that my kids go to, they do talk about the SDGs and and sustainability and and digital and and and and do I don't think they realize fully how the world is changing. And and and and maybe that is like a self protection because it's pretty scary for some. But I definitely think kids have the tools.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:17:09]:

Then it's more that I think there's, like, through all times, different kinds of kids. There are the Gretas who kind of learn something and then become activists or they they they create a movement. And and and I don't think what Greta has achieved would have been as easily achieved 20, 30 years ago, because of this the connections, the platforms that they can use today. But then there's also a lot of kids that that kind of are anxious and worried, and they fall more into the depression. Like, what what's the point of going to university or learning anything or getting a job because world is doomed, both with AI and climate change? And then there's the 3rd that kind of you seem to be happily traveling along and not thinking too much about things until you're kind of, purging them and asking them, then they know. But they kind of pretend it's not there. So I do think there's different categories of kids. But they definitely all have the tools if they want to.

Intro [00:18:13]:

This episode is brought to you by Loomi dot network. We're on a mission to help the next generation get ready to take on the world. Our AI augmented platform runs quests that help 10 to 25 year olds shape their future by developing AI, entrepreneurship, and design thinking skills to solve the most pressing business and social issues. Is If you or your organization wants to positively impact the next generation, we'd love to talk to you. To learn more, visit Lumi dot network.

Prashant Raizada [00:18:46]:

Yeah. I think what you're talk you you you're pointing the fact is that the society today, The technological advancements are giving them intrinsic skills. But at the same time, what I'm also hearing is that there is maybe A lack of structure as to how do they, you know, use these skills to tackle the problems they see. They're almost like Either they're denying the issues or they are just happily going around living their life and growing up. Do you think there is a need for, you know, great a more proactive effort To start directing young people's energies towards solving these problems. You know, Greta is is one Inspirational figure, but it's an act of serendipity or an accident. How do you do you see the need for that?

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:19:45]:

Yeah. I mean, absolutely. Definitely. Because I mean, now I'm gonna answer 2 ways because, yes, I do believe in the youth and I do think that there's so much ingenuity and creativity and kind of relentless strength, in youth at all times, that maybe when you grow older, you become a bit more like, oh, try that, didn't work, limits. So it definitely need that. The the only thing I kind of react to and that's been more since Greta came, and through meetings and conferences I attended, when I feel like we as grown ups kind of abdicate to the youth and say, oh, great. The Greta is here. And and and the youth movement will kind of make politicians aware and and take action.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:20:38]:

And and I and I react to that because, you know, we are in power right now. The kids, kids, most kids don't even have voting rights yet because they're too young. So we are the CEOs of big companies or the ministers or the prime ministers, presidents, or educators, professors, like, we sit on that power. And we don't have, like, 10 years until these kids are in those positions or 15, whatever time it will take for them. So, like, we need to act now. I'm I'm more a believer in how can we work together and and have youth at the table. But we can't abdicate as grown ups to say the youth will fix it.

Prashant Raizada [00:21:25]:

That's such a good point. You know? I mean, just moving on therefore in picking up on that strand, you know, what, you know, how are you, through individually or through the organizations that you work with, you know, creating a better future for these people. And and there are 2 parts to this question, you know. 1 is creating a better future for them, but at the same time also empowering these young people.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:21:52]:

I mean, this this, I mean, there's so many ways, but one is working with younger people, if I'm taking the corporate lens because I've always been in the corporate sphere. But, you know, how do you engage with communities, create programs together with 4 kids are are teenagers. So, I mean, there's that part. It's the it's the part of how do you empower, enable young employees so that when you are coming fresh out of university, you don't have to work in the shadows for 10 years and be old enough to then start to sit at the table. So how do you bring them to the table early enough? How do you create forums of and or mentorship, reverse mentorship so that you kind of learn from each other. I'm I'm mentoring someone who's 30, which is, you know, very old, of course, when you're 14, 15. But, you know, she's 20 years my junior and I'm learning as much from her as she's from me. So it's that kind of two way, learning.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:23:04]:

So I think there's so many things you can do to kind of bring youth to the table so they can be part of because it is, at the end of the day, their future more than ours because they're younger. So they should have a say. Like, we we did at Ikea once we it's a small thing. But, you know, we we we had soft toys, and we had kids designing the soft toys because they're the ones ultimately using it. So how can you bring people to this design stage even?

Prashant Raizada [00:23:38]:

That's a very, very good point. I mean, actually, design is such a crucial element of what we try and impart at Loomi as well, Alongside entrepreneurship and AI. And, you know, the the the other thing is, you know, I've also feel that, you know, Everybody should get a chance to build these skills. So, you know, have you seen or done things which bring in greater equity? You know, IKEA is a global, you know, behemoth. Yeah. But so are the others that you're involved with?

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:24:13]:

Yeah. Yeah. No. I I think I mean, I think so. 1, by just doing programs like Loomi or other similar kind of employee engagement empowerment programs that you don't do them. It's kind of at the corporate office in Europe, but you do them across all the business everywhere, and that you also reflect on do you do them out in the branches, if it's in hotels or stores or hospitals? Or do you only do them in the office? Because automatically in the office, you're often more senior and older. So I think being aware of how you build these programs, you can you can definitely bring about equity and and make it more available, to everyone. But, of course, I I mean, I'm so conscious of me having a very Northern European, you know, even Swedish look on things because I'm so privileged from even if I'm a woman, which is maybe not the most privileged, gender on the planet, even being a woman, I'm just extremely privileged from just having grown up where I've grown up, so I'm I'm I'm so conscious of that.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:25:36]:

So the things that I find possible would be, you know, completely insurmountable, somewhere else. So I'm very so it's it's so difficult to say here's the one solution. I think again comes back to listening. What how do you create change in, you know, in one of the 50 countries in Africa, like or or in a APAC region or South America. Again, you need to create the solution with people. So it's their solutions rather than coming telling people the solution. So developing, like, what you've done with Loomi, developing methodologies where you can bring people in, so they develop the skills to then bring those skills to someone else and you kind of do the train the trainer, I think, is more important than kind of coming up with a solution and then flying it in and solving it and then flying out.

Prashant Raizada [00:26:39]:

Yeah. So in a way, giving them a platform, and I think a platform that is also kind of that democratizes that skill development and also an opportunity to Solve these problems because through diversity, you bring rich ideas and you then also actually bring in a great amount of learning. Right? So you're talking about, having grown up in Sweden, now what if you had the means which the people today have of collaborating with someone from India, You know, from Africa, from Latin America, from other parts of Europe. So there's such a rich learning that you can gather and then if that that can be enabled, That is positive. Now, you know, just if you go into the future a little bit, I just have, you know, a couple of things, because, time is of the essence. AI has come as a big blessing or a curse depending upon how you look at it. What is your view on AI, particularly from a youth angle? You know, how should young people deal with it? And how do we prepare them as corporate citizens for this?

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:27:50]:

Very good question. I mean, of course, the educational system because that's where more most kids do go, even if we need to complement it with what you're doing with Loomi and Loomi and others, but there is that fundamental. How do you build digital skills? And I don't mean just making films on TikToks. But, so that's 1, how to build the skills through the curriculum. The other one, I I don't know how much parents talk about AI and and the world. I just had a conversation with my 18 year old. What kind of jobs will there be in the future? And it's hard to find them today because most jobs are pretty similar to when I came out of university, even if there's a lot of digital jobs that, you know, weren't around. But it it's just such an exponential change that we will see in the next 10 years, that it's it's difficult for the human brain to kind of grasp what will it really mean for most jobs? Because I think that's where a lot of kids are is, one is, of course, how can I be part of the solution and and solve the SDGs and kind of contribute? But a lot of them are also like, what should I study? What what kind of jobs will there be? So That's

Prashant Raizada [00:29:13]:

such a good point.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:29:14]:

How should I choose my career, in this kind of uncertain world?

Prashant Raizada [00:29:19]:

Yeah. I think it's about, you know, one of the things that we, in fact, published a white paper on was Let it not be like social media where look. I'm the I'm a parent of an 18 and a 14 year old, and I just Dropped my daughter off to university last week, and I spent half a day in IKEA doing that. And, you know, I was thinking

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:29:41]:

Like most parents.

Prashant Raizada [00:29:43]:

Like most parents. Right?

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:29:44]:

Yeah.

Prashant Raizada [00:29:45]:

And and I was actually, when I was looking at looking at her and dropping her off, I was thinking about this, issue of how do we actually not fall into the trap of now there's AI and we don't know about it. Like, we did not know at least I did not know about social media as much. Right. And then they went about experimenting with it much to their own detriment. So do you think it's a good idea for For for for, you know, organizations and educational institutions included and companies to allow them to actually Constructively engage with it.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:30:20]:

Yeah. No. I I mean, I I don't think there's, I don't think there's like a going back. I mean, it's it's happening. And and I'm reflecting I also I have an 18 year old and a 14 year old, interestingly enough. And and it's just I'm realizing more and more that there's certain things where we see things differently for because I'm from a different generation and things that they take for granted. And and they're you know, my 14 year old is born into Ipads.

Prashant Raizada [00:30:51]:

Even my

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:30:52]:

18 year old learned it when she was 23, but the little one has always had it since she was a a baby. So, of course, that's very different from me using pen and paper. That's how I kind of learned in school. So I think the the we need I think we need to talk about it. I think it's important to to to kind of reflect on all the good things that comes with social media. But I was just talking to to one of my kids yesterday who's like, they're so tired from school or after school that they just wanna kinda go home and go to their phone. And I'm like, but you realize that that's as bad as we had it when we went home and binged TV, in the evening instead of doing something constructive. But they feel like they're resting when they're kind of TikTok ing and Insta and all the things they're doing, and and they're not.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:31:43]:

And and they're actually not with people. They're alone. So and and being able to have that conversation, what are the good things you get from it? But it also there are a lot of drawbacks, with, you know, withdrawing from people or not exercising, going out in nature or whatever. So I think it's having that conversation. And then when when in terms terms of, you know, regenerative AI and and and, you know, the the kind of all the next steps of AI that that's coming. I think we we will need to regulate it somehow or create principles of how we manage it. And and, of course, the stuff they will deal with when they're in their fifties compared to what you and I have to deal with, it's gonna be completely different. So how how do you really start to reflect on what's right and wrong? Where can it be used? Where is it good use? Where what's bad use? And and trying to zoom back and reflect on what's the, you know, unintended potentially bad consequences of all these tools and and not just but I find it difficult because I don't wanna be a dooms kind of doom and gloom and you see all the negatives because I think there's so much good in it.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:33:00]:

On the other hand, I I I am not. But I I I think we also cannot just be a kind of lean all in in all technological advancement and think it will solve everything. So what's the what's the need and what's the role of humans when this new intelligence will will or is already way smarter than we are. On intelligence, not on emotional intelligence, but on Yeah.

Prashant Raizada [00:33:26]:

Not yet in emotional intelligence. Well, that's one skill we have that The robots will probably won't for a long time. But I think the you know, in kinda closing, one of the biggest things I'm taking away from with you, you know, from the past, present, and the future is the need for an intergenerational collaboration, intergenerational dialogue. Right? So that we can share with them or the, you know, the people who are in positions of power or responsibility, which actually every parent is. They can share with them, but at the same time, give them a platform or give them opportunity to express themselves, to bring their, You know, their innate creativity to the fore because a lot of the behavior could also be because they they feel like a sense of Helplessness about how things are progressing.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:34:21]:

No. Definitely. I think that they they they use it as a way to zoom out from all the concerns Yeah.

Prashant Raizada [00:34:27]:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly right.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:34:28]:

Channel that concern into something constructive, without them feeling like I'm giving you a task because they don't want the school task. But more like, I'm I'm such a firm believer in, you know, the the I do believe we need the the the stick and the carrot in in almost everything. But in terms of innovation and creative thinking, the carrot just does get you much further than the stick. So how to kind of channel that kind of inherent curiosity you have as a child for that not to kind of just die off with age, and channel that into something that's really useful. I think, yeah, that's what we need to create.

Prashant Raizada [00:35:14]:

Well, you know so today, we've had a chance to talk to you. I know people talk about Greta quite a lot from Sweden, but, you know, there is also Pia, I think, who can be an inspiration for thousands of people, You know, particularly women, but also young boys and young men, I think. I mean, if people follow your footsteps, do what you've done. I think the world will be a much better place, Pierre. Thank you so much for sharing. This this is a, you know, conversation with you could go on a long time because we could go really deep into the kinds of things you've done, but thank you for sharing this. Thank you. So much.

Pia Heidenmark Cook [00:35:50]:

Thank you for really for for having me and, for asking really good questions. I appreciate it.

Intro [00:35:55]:

Thanks for listening. If you found this conversation valuable, please leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you have a story or someone you know does, please recommend them to us by email at hello@loomi.network. We'll see you next time on In Youth We Trust.