Carra Santos

Specialist in systems innovation and cross-sector dialogue for complex social and urban challenges.

Getting people from different sectors into the same room is easy. Getting them on the same page - that’s the hard part. That gap is why so many well-funded, well-intentioned projects often stall.Big challenges can’t be solved in silos. For conversations to flow and collaborations to spark, awareness, trust and alignment need to be built before ideas fully form or solutions are proposed. Skipping this stage leads to missteps, false starts, and breakdowns in communication - yet it’s often overlooked.That’s where I come in - embedding stakeholder needs and perspectives at the early stages of project design, helping senior leaders move complex social and urban projects forward effectively by:

  • Reframing challenges at the systems level for greater effectiveness

  • Bridging perspectives across sectors and scales to enable lasting collaboration

  • Mapping dynamics to uncover shared values and narratives that strengthen alignment and communication

so changemaking projects start off strong and stay on course.

Context

I’ve worked at the intersection of creativity, innovation and communication for over 15 years, starting with ideation and concept development to promote sustainable behaviours. In a consumption-driven, trend-focused market, I intuitively championed good food, health, nature, creativity and community - work that led to internationally acclaimed product innovations and prescient concepts for world-class events inspiring international industry developments.In 2021, I grounded this intuition with an interdisciplinary MSc Sustainable Development in Practice (distinction). Since then, I’ve advised WHO on public-private-civil society collaboration on tobacco control, enabled UK councils to co-create climate strategies with communities, shown how brand-customer enterprise innovation can help displace fast fashion, and inspired creative professionals to shift from sustainability-as-green-alone to systemic changemaking.This breadth - moving between sectors, scales and disciplines - has sharpened my ability to navigate complex systems and align diverse stakeholders. I complement this with ongoing urban ethnography: listening to how people live, use space, express needs and create meaning. These grounded insights enrich strategies with the trust, relationships and practical tools needed to make change happen with people, not to them.Connect with me on LinkedIn →

Project Support

Complex projects often stall when stakeholders talk past each other - citizens and policymakers, industry and academia, social enterprise and investors - each with their own knowledge, pace, definitions and objectives. Misunderstandings waste resources, stall progress, and erode trust.I work upstream to prevent this, designing and facilitating the processes that bring partners on to the same page before strategies or solutions are proposed. Drawing on systems and design thinking, social psychology, and values-based communication, I help leaders anticipate differences, build trust, uncover common ground, and establish a strong starting-point to approach conversations with clarity and confidence.

Where I come in:

I am generally introduced at one of three entry points in a project:

Starting Point

If I enter at this point: it's because there is a challenge to explore, where the project is yet to be defined, and a team is yet to be built. This is the best time, to gain fresh perspective, align expectations, surface hidden dynamics, map diverse stakeholders, and set a clear direction before energy and resources are invested.

Checkpoint

If I enter at this point: it's because there is a feeling of discomfort; a sense that assumptions may need testing before momentum carries the project too far forward. It’s the right time to pause, check alignment, make sure nobody's missing, strengthen weak spots, and make adjustments while there’s still flexibility.

Crisis Point

If I enter at this point: it's because cracks are appearing and progress is stalling, often because checkpoints have been skipped. Here, the task is to diagnose root causes and sources of resistance, restore trust, and steer the project back on track before reputations and relationships suffer lasting damage.

What this might look like in practice

  • Creative workshops that sensemake, spark new ideas and reframe challenges to strengthen direction.

  • Exploratory research that surfaces hidden dynamics, grounds insights in evidence, and reveals clearer pathways.

  • Individual or small group learning/strategy sessions that close knowledge gaps, build capacity, and develop shared language and direction within teams.

  • Introducing a method or framework that aids understanding, decision-making and consensus.

  • One-to-one consultancy calls for discreet guidance/explanations as needs arise.

  • Support with concise case-building and design-led communication that inspires decision-makers at different levels.

Building on whatever's put in place, I can then provide tailored support to maintain progress - from stakeholder engagement and research interpretation to learning design and ongoing project coaching.Contact me to discuss your project →

Capacity-Building

I draw on a mix of established methods to support understanding, consensus, vision and strategy for complex social and urban contexts. I also develop my own transdisciplinary approaches to turn established theory into real-world practice. Conceived during my Master’s and recognised for excellence by my professors, these methods have since become practical spin-offs that I teach and apply with clients across all sectors.

When conversations stall, I use:

The Perspective Shift Approach

A method for identifying constructive starting points for difficult conversations - such as those around climate, economics or public health - by temporarily setting aside your own perspective to consider alternatives, and finding entry points on overlapping values and concerns. This reveals common ground on which to move conversations forward.Ask me about this method →

When urban regeneration plans meet opposition:

The Bridge to Belonging Method

A place-based evaluation method that supports consensus among urban planning professionals and communities: linking societal and environmental health; building shared understanding, and setting research priorities with strong ripple effects at a hyperlocal (neighbourhood) scale - particularly in areas of severe urban inequality and deprivation.Ask me about this method →

Representative projects

My speciality is resolving disconnects by identifying the connections - between people, sectors, topics and lived realities - and uncovering common ground to build on. Here are a few of my favourite examples:

Tobacco Cessation Consortium

World Health Organisation • Geneva

Strengthened public-private-civil society collaboration and engagement strategy for the WHO Tobacco Cessation Consortium, which seeks to reach 5 million people globally with health innovations, through behavioural foresight and design research methods.

Youth-Led Climate Strategy

Design Council • UK

Connected young people to regional climate strategy using design/futures thinking and participatory research. Resulted in 10 co-created values-led themes that informed Essex County Council's climate communication with evidence-based, youth-driven insight.

Climate-Positive Communities

Design Council • UK

Enabled development of an interdepartmental council team to align Net Zero targets with lived experience in areas of deprivation within London Borough of Hounslow. Reframed climate strategy around equity, care and co-benefits for a context-sensitive, collaborative long-term strategy.

Fashion Enterprise Innovation

Centre for Sustainable Design • UK

Positioned fashion enterprise innovation as an antidote to fast fashion consumption, presenting interdisciplinary strategies for brand/customer collaboration to academic and industry audiences. Consequently served as lead author of Chapter 17 in Accelerating Sustainability in Fashion, Clothing and Textiles (Routledge).

Culture-Specific Communication

World Health Organisation • Geneva

Initiated and produced novel research applying behavioural frameworks to uncover cultural drivers in tobacco prevention and cessation messaging. Revealed fresh direction and practical opportunities for policymakers and practitioners to engage with civil society on WHO FCTC Articles 11 and 12 as a result.

Sustainability Communication

Various clients

Equipped cross-sector educators/leaders to connect their discipline to global challenges, bridge knowledge gaps, and reveal their potential to contribute to collaborative solutions through the development, design and delivery of sensemaking workshops appropriate to their scope and context.

What people say

"Carra brought insight, thoughtfulness, and a deep sense of curiosity to the work we did together at the WHO on tobacco control. She approaches complex challenges with care and intellectual rigor, always seeking to understand the deeper dynamics at play. At the same time, she brings real joy and warmth to a team - Carra made a lasting impact on the work and on me personally."Dr Hebe Gouda, Project Officer, World Health Organization

"Carra is a driven, intelligent and curious colleague - when working with us at the Design Council, she helped to deliver a complex project with a range of stakeholders. She pushed participants to think deeper about the work they were aiming to deliver, and ultimately created a more meaningful process. This, in turn, led to longer-lasting outcomes."Emily Whyman, Senior Programme Manager, Design Council

"I would describe Carra as rigorously creative, in that she combines systems thinking and critical thinking with the spontaneity needed for new ideas. Not many people can do this. She questions everything and because she's also a terrific person, connects with people on many levels. It's an impressive combination of skills for change-making. Working with Carra definitely made me a better designer."Darren Evans, Strategic Designer & Design Council Associate

“A special talent for looking at projects delivering solutions that satisfy the requirements from all stakeholder perspectives, are truly relevant and have undeniable integrity.”William Knight, Director, Material Matters, formerly 100% Design

“Extremely knowledgeable and passionate - these two qualities don’t always come together.”Founder, early-stage digital innovation company

“Working with Carra is a fantastic opportunity that all businesses should be lucky to have. You need to know more than you think you know, and I would highly recommend that Carra be the person to bring the passion and creative solution to your business.”Studio Manager, international design studio

Let’s work together

If your project is at a starting point, checkpoint, or crisis point, and you would like project support with embedded skills-building, let’s talk about how I can help you move forward.Email me or connect on LinkedIn, or use the form below to arrange a call.

Carra is UK-based and works internationally.
© Carra Santos. All rights reserved.