Helping people connect research, perspectives and practice before designing responses.

A calm space to step back, examine real-world context, consider different perspectives, and shape informed next steps.

"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, Design Council

When this is useful

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

This might involve:

  • a learning programme that needs updating with new perspectives or real-world insight

  • a project or partnership involving multiple organisations or stakeholder groups

  • competing priorities that are difficult to reconcile

  • a proposal, strategy or intervention that needs sense-checking

  • an issue where different groups understand the situation differently

What we think through

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

Drawing on systems thinking, design research, behavioural insight and strategic thinking, we ask:

  • What does this mean in this context?

  • Who or what might we be overlooking?

  • Why are different groups seeing this differently?

  • What assumptions are influencing our approach?

  • What questions should we ask before deciding what to do?

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 widen the range of 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.

"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 programmes, projects or partnerships 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 from their contexts.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 important 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 around him, 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 understand the landscape more clearly 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

Ongoing research and development

Alongside my teaching and advisory work, I develop learning experiences, frameworks and field guides that help people build the judgement, observation skills and ways of thinking needed to navigate complex place-based challenges.

  • Civic Sketchbook Visual thinking exercises strengthening the everyday practice of noticing the world around us.

  • Pre-Collaborative City Field guides and learning resources for understanding context and thinking collaboratively in place-based systems.

  • Bridge to Belonging A hyperlocal design research framework to develop Guiding Principles combining social and environmental needs within areas of extreme urban inequality.

Selected publications

  • Contributor, WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic (WHO, 2025)

  • Lead author, chapter in Accelerating Sustainability in Fashion, Clothing and Textiles (Routledge, 2023)

  • Author, All Sewn Up (Centre for Sustainable Design, 2021)

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.

A space to make sense of complex situations before moving forward.

Drawing on systems thinking, design research, strategic thinking and fifteen years of cross-sector practice, I help people connect ideas, disciplines and perspectives that do not usually sit alongside one another.Most engagements begin with something already happening:

  • A project that feels stuck.

  • People working from different definitions of the problem.

  • A topic that hasn't yet been fully explored.

  • A conversation that needs careful preparation.

  • A challenge where the most obvious solution doesn't feel quite right.

  • Stakeholder resistance that wasn't anticipated.

  • Concerns about investing time, effort or resources in the wrong direction.

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.

Ways we can work together

For organisations developing learning programmes

I work with organisations designing leadership programmes, learning experiences, workshops and courses that prepare people for the real-world challenges they will face in practice.This may include:

  • contributing specialist knowledge

  • developing learning resources

  • designing activities and exercises

  • guest teaching or facilitation

  • helping translate complex ideas into accessible experiences

  • bringing real-world case studies and applied perspectives into teaching

Selected examples

  • Design Council / Design, Differently programme Strengthening a design thinking programme by integrating systems thinking, sustainability, behavioural insight and enterprise innovation to help participants develop more effective responses to place-based social and environmental challenges.

  • University of Bath / Bath & North East Somerset Council Supporting economic strategy development by improving the conditions for collaboration across universities, local government and wider stakeholders through an accessible participatory learning programme.

  • CPD learning programmes Designing and facilitating interdisciplinary learning experiences to academics, local authorities, private sector organisations and cross-sector teams across sectors including finance, technology, creative industries and the built environment.

For individuals and teams navigating complex challenges

Thinking session A focused conversation around a specific challenge, decision or upcoming event - useful when you need time and perspective before moving forward.Thinking partner An ongoing space to explore complex decisions, projects or periods of change; a place to test ideas, challenge assumptions and think through possibilities with someone outside your immediate context.Strategic project support Working alongside a team during a particular piece of work, helping make sense of complexity, connect perspectives and identify what needs attention before important decisions are made.

Selected examples

  • WHO / Tobacco-Free Initiative Supporting editorial development of the 10th WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic and related knowledge mobilisation activities, translating complex evidence into accessible guidance for policymakers and practitioners working across different contexts.

  • London Borough of Hounslow / Climate action and urban inequality Supporting a cross-departmental team to explore how climate action could better respond to lived realities in an area of extreme urban deprivation, using design research and systems thinking to reframe climate action as an interconnected social and environmental strategy.

  • Lumsden Design / Impact business model development Designing and facilitating learning to help a place-based design specialist expand their understanding of sustainability beyond internal operations, exploring environmental, social, cultural and economic impact through client briefs, and strengthening the relevance of their practice.

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

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.

Follow the project

I'm gradually assembling a collection of field guides and learning resources exploring what needs to happen before collaboration begins.

Join the mailing list to hear when new resources are released, or email me if you'd like to explore the ideas together.