When this is useful

I work with organisations developing learning programmes and with individuals and teams working on social and environmental challenges.

This might involve:

What we think through

Together, we practise slowing down and seeing situations more clearly, understanding the perspectives in play and noticing what might otherwise be overlooked.

We explore questions like:

How we begin

Most engagements begin with a real situation - a project, decision, conversation or learning challenge that needs a wider perspective.

Together we explore the context, challenge assumptions, connect ideas across disciplines and consider different perspectives before deciding how to move forward.My role isn't to tell people what to think; it's to help people see more of the landscape before making important decisions.

• How I work

"When you can't see the angles no more, you in trouble, baby."
— Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way (1993)

This work is for people leading learning projects, programmes or partnerships where next steps are unclear or where different groups are seeing the same situation differently - and where good evidence or a strong plan hasn't been enough to move things forward.

If that sounds familiar, the background below explains how I got here and what I draw on.

I have worked across sectors and disciplines for over fifteen years, repeatedly helping people understand and navigate complex challenges at the intersection of environment, society and the economy by bringing wider context and different perspectives into view.Across work with the World Health Organization, Design Council, universities, local authorities, mission-driven businesses and community initiatives, I have helped people connect research, practice and different perspectives before making important decisions. Before this, I spent over a decade founding and leading an innovation and design practice, creating products, spaces and public installations that explored how design can encourage more sustainable ways of living.Over time, I came to realise that complex challenges are rarely difficult because nobody has knowledge. They are difficult because everybody has knowledge - distributed across many different people, organisations, disciplines and lived experiences - and bringing those perspectives together is rarely straightforward. Without time to understand the landscape, even well-intentioned decisions can overlook perspectives, create unintended consequences, or solve the wrong problem.Most people remember Carlito's Way as a 90s crime drama. I remember it as a study in navigating complexity. Throughout the film, Carlito is constantly reading the landscape, noticing motivations, relationships, risks and possibilities before deciding how to move forward.When working through complex situations, we often need time to step back and see the situation from angles we may not yet have considered.That is the space I aim to hold: helping people see more of the landscape before deciding what to do next, noticing possibilities that might otherwise be missed and reducing the risk of unintended consequences.

"Rigorously creative, in that she combines systems thinking and critical thinking with the spontaneity needed for new ideas. Not many people can do this."
— Darren Evans, Strategic Designer and Design Council Expert

Relevant qualifications

My background sits at the intersection of science and the arts. I hold an MSc (Distinction) in Sustainable Development in Practice from the University of the West of England and a BA (Hons) in Fashion Promotion & Illustration from the Surrey Institute of Art and Design (now University for the Creative Arts). I am also a Cambridge CELTA-qualified ESOL teacher, experienced in communicating complex ideas clearly and accessibly to people working in English as an additional language.

Selected publications

Every engagement begins by making sense of a real situation before deciding what to do next.

Drawing on systems thinking, design research, strategic thinking and fifteen years of cross-sector practice, I help people connect ideas, disciplines and perspectives that sit outside their immediate field of view.My engagements range from global institutions to SMEs and everything in between - the common need always being to add more context and wider perspective.This often shows up as:

Together we explore the context around the challenge, slow things down just enough to understand what is really happening, and identify what needs attention before deciding what to do next. I ask questions, introduce useful frameworks, recommend resources, and help you see aspects of the situation that may otherwise remain hidden.

Whichever the format, the purpose is the same: to help people better understand the landscape before deciding how to move through it.

"She approaches complex challenges with care and intellectual rigor, always seeking to understand the deeper dynamics at play."
— Dr Hebe Gouda, World Health Organization

This shows up in two main ways:

→ Learning Programmes - for organisations building learning experiences
→ Strategic Thinking - for individuals and teams navigating a live challengeIf you're not sure which fits, email me and I'll help you work out where to start.

Learning programmes

For organisations developing learning programmes

I work with organisations designing leadership programmes, learning experiences, workshops and courses, connecting interdisciplinary knowledge and real-world perspectives so people are equipped for challenges in practice.

This may include:

Engagements have ranged from a single workshop session to multi-month programme design and co-facilitation, spanning environmental, social and economic themes.

What changed

Design Council / Integrating systems thinking into design thinking. A six-month design thinking programme better equipped its participants to address complex place-based challenges, after integrating systems thinking, sustainability, behavioural insight and enterprise innovation into its approach.Design Council / Essex County Council - Engaging young people in Essex's climate future. Essex County Council and Climate Ambassador Network practiced design thinking, futures thinking and participatory research skills over six months, culminating in a prototype workshop where fifteen- to eighteen-year-olds' contributed directly to the council's climate strategy.University of Bath / Connecting research, policy and community perspectives. Academics and council leaders gained practical insights into how Doughnut Economics could genuinely inform local economic thinking, through an experimental learning programme exploring different methods to effectively convene cross-city stakeholders around the concept.The Interior Design School / Translating sustainability into creative practice. A luxury interior design curriculum gained a concrete path for integrating sustainability - new course formats, teaching approaches and future-focused content - grounded in a custom research report and discussion outlining where the two genuinely connect.Atlantic Technological University Sligo / Building sustainability capability across disciplines. A four-part interdisciplinary CPD series for business, finance and technology academics gave them a structured grounding to bring sustainability principles into their own future teaching.

This is one of two ways I work - see How I Work for the thinking behind it, or Strategic Thinking if you're looking for support with a specific challenge rather than a programme.If you have a learning programme that could use this kind of input, email me and we'll arrange a conversation.

Strategic thinking

For individuals and teams navigating complex challenges

I work with individuals and teams who want to make sense of complexity or explore new angles before committing to decisions or action, examining context, uncovering hidden factors and helping people identify what needs attention next.This can take several forms:

Engagements have ranged from a single thinking session to 3/6/9 month thinking partnerships or projects, with individuals and teams from both the public and private sectors.

What changed

World Health Organization / Building foresight capability. A WHO leadership team equipped policymakers and practitioners with a shared, historical reference point for recognising tobacco industry interference, through the development of a 100-year graphic timeline tracing tactics across a century - published in the 10th WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic.London Borough of Hounslow / Reframing climate action around local context. A council team was able to test their own assumptions around a proposed climate solution, uncovering evidenced local needs that shifted their approach toward one connecting climate action, equity and social-environmental benefit.Lumsden Design / Developing sustainability strategy and practice. An award-winning international design team moved from a fragmented, individual understanding of sustainability to a shared foundation, reframing it from a perceived constraint into a genuine source of creative and commercial opportunity for their practice.Career transitioner / Building a coherent sustainability perspective. A mid-career professional moving from the corporate sector into sustainability used thinking partnership sessions to connect previous experience, develop a stronger understanding of sustainability in practice, and identify meaningful entry points for the next stage of their career.World Health Organization / Exploring new approaches to health communication. A WHO leadership team gained a clearer view of which communication themes were missing from its own health warnings, after an analysis of 574 graphic warnings surfaced new opportunities for stronger cultural and behavioural relevance and local policy implementation - published in the 10th WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic.

This is one of two ways I work - see How I Work for the thinking behind it, or Learning Programmes if you're building a course, workshop or leadership programme rather than working through a live challenge.If you are working through something that needs this kind of space, email me and we'll arrange a conversation.

Pre-
Collaborative
City

The work we need to do before we bring everyone into the room.

Place-based collaborations often begin by bringing people together, only to find that people arrive with different understandings of the situation they are trying to change.When those differences remain unexplored, conversations can become debates about positions rather than opportunities to build shared understanding.

What if the most important work happens before collaboration begins?

Pre-Collaborative City is for people designing, leading and supporting collaborative responses to complex place-based social and environmental challenges.

It is a growing collection of field guides and learning resources exploring what happens when different perspectives need to come together.

This project brings together fifteen years of observation, research and practice across design, sustainability, innovation, learning and systems change - exploring what helps people build shared understanding.

From developing shared language and definitions to finding better entry points into conversations, the field guides explore what needs to be understood before people can move forward together: the local context, different perspectives and what matters to people.The aim is to create the conditions for people to collaborate in ways that respond to the realities of a particular place.Whether you work in local government, urban development, public health, climate action, design, research or community development, these resources are designed to help you slow down, make sense of complexity and move forward with greater confidence.

Which field guides would be most useful first?

I'm currently speaking with people involved in place-based collaboration to understand where collaboration becomes difficult and what support would have been most useful beforehand.

If you'd like to share your experiences in a 30-minute knowledge-sharing conversation, I'd be delighted to hear from you. I'll share any relevant tools and insights that may be useful to your own work in return.Email me or use the form below, and I'll get back to you shortly.