The Human Factor Episode 12: Pushing Boundaries to Make the Planet More Sustainable with Adriana Marais

Guest:  Dr Adriana Marais, Theoretical Physicist, Technologist & Founder of Proudly Human For many of us that are considering a new role, we look at the usual items such as pay scale, location, what is the manager like, what skills do we need and so on. But what if there is no baseline? What if that new role is to create something entirely new, and to make it even harder, it could also be in a hostile environment. Our next guest wanted more than the usual job hunting challenges, and volunteered for a one way trip to colonise Mars. Aside from the technology challenges of such an ambitious venture, there is a significant human aspect to that, such as creating a new community, working in and being a part of a high performing team, as well as the psychological challenges of breaking links with all that we know back on Earth. Since that time, the MarsOne venture did not ultimately proceed due to funding, but Adriana then founded Proudly Human, which balances working towards the off-world settlements of the near future with uplifting communities already living in extreme environments on Earth. Proudly Human’s Off-World Project is a series of habitation experiments in the most extreme environments on Earth to prepare for life on the Moon, Mars and beyond. The projects will promote companies developing technology for sustainability, facilitate skills development, boost research, innovation and technology towards off-grid functionality, as well as provide a vision for young people of community spirit in even the harshest environments through grit, imagination, research and technology. How does someone take such momentous decisions, and then how does someone lean into it and prepare for all the challenges that they raise. Key Topics What are the motivating factors in making such a significant change in life What are some of the human elements involved in making a change of this magnitude How can we apply the potential experience that MarsOne would have offered back on Earth A key component of life on a new planet was sustainability, what can we be doing to use that technology to help our planet What are Proudly Human looking to achieve and how does this relate to the every-day person in the street