Preparing people for collaboration in complex place-based systems.

Context • Connection • Cohesion

I help leaders and teams develop the skills to better understand people, place and context before stakeholder engagement and solution design begin.Place-based collaboration is cross-sector and multi-stakeholder by nature. When projects move forward without shared context, they often run into challenges such as competing perspectives, low engagement, unintended consequences, or discovering too late that the problem has been framed incorrectly.I work with leaders at the earliest stage of a project to slow down how decisions begin - helping them notice what is often overlooked: the people, relationships, histories and local conditions that shape how change actually happens.

About You

You work in policy innovation, local government, architecture and design, community organisations, social enterprise or purpose-led business.

You are often responsible for moving place-based work from idea to action - and may be noticing that early assumptions about 'where to start' become less certain once different perspectives are included.You might be asking:

  • Why do different people see this challenge so differently?

  • Are we starting in the right place?

  • What are we missing?

  • Who else do we need to speak to?

  • How do we avoid a(nother) false start?

Exploring these questions early leads to stronger engagement and more effective collaboration later.

If you are a programme manager responsible for enabling place-based change through learning programmes, cohorts, accelerators or leadership development, I also support programme design and delivery.

Working together

I work with leaders and project teams at the earliest stage of place-based work, helping them strengthen how a challenge is understood before decisions are made.

Drawing on systems thinking, design thinking and behavioural science, I help teams move beyond default approaches and develop the capability to see what is already present before deciding what should happen next.Together, we explore different perspectives, lived experience and contextual factors to build a clearer understanding of the challenge and create the conditions for effective collaboration.This begins by learning to:

  • Arrive with a question, not a solution

  • Identify where to begin in context

  • Understand why perspectives differ

  • Notice what change already looks like locally

  • Recognise what enables or prevents change

Depending on the work, this takes three forms:

One-to-one or small team advisory
Working alongside project leads to refine the starting point, develop a contextual understanding, and support early-stage decision-making.

CPD and learning experiences
Designing workshops and learning resources that develop practical skills for understanding place, context and collaboration.

Programme design and facilitation
Supporting organisations to design and deliver learning programmes that build capability for working in place-based systems.

The aim is always the same: to strengthen the foundations of a project before significant time, resources and relationships are invested in the wrong direction - whether at the very beginning, while there is still scope to shape how the challenge is understood, or when it becomes clear that deeper understanding is needed before continuing.

Examples

The following examples show the kinds of situations I support - where early-stage clarity, context and shared understanding shape how projects begin or regain momentum.

When systems-level ideas conflict with local reality

A community green space was being proposed as a climate-positive intervention in an area of significant urban deprivation. Through design research, it quickly became clear that the proposed intervention would not be used as intended. Further work revealed a more urgent, locally relevant need. Resources were redirected to a community hub focused on vulnerable local young people, and a cross-department team was formed to address social and environmental priorities together.

When global policy meets local contexts

Global health policy leaders were seeking new ways to support country-level engagement beyond standard health framings. Introduced behavioural research methods to explore how meaning might shift across cultural and everyday contexts, identifying alternative entry points for country-level engagement. This resulted in a series of non-health-related angles for place-based practitioners to explore with local stakeholders.

When initial engagement attempts spark tension

A public-sector partnership working on local economic transition was struggling to bring cross-city stakeholders together without tensions rising in early conversations. Introduced and led a structured engagement and inquiry process to establish common ground among stakeholder groups, and identify more effective approaches to building collaborative relationships in the local context.

When climate communication fails to resonate

A local government team working on climate engagement was struggling to connect with young people through standard communication approaches. Designed and demonstrated replicable participatory research methods inviting young people to shape the framing of climate issues from their own perspectives from the outset, leading to more relevant and grounded engagement over time.

When purpose-led ideas struggle to gain traction with investors

A social enterprise developing urban hubs for climate skills was finding it difficult to gain investor confidence, despite strong social purpose and clear intent. Clarifying the operating model, strengthening the articulation of value, and developing evidence of comparable social and practical impact helped balance the communication as a legible and scalable proposition across UK cities.

In each case, the work strengthened the conditions for cross-sector, place-based collaboration.
This was done by improving how the challenge is first understood from different perspectives, and ensuring those perspectives are included in the early stages of inquiry.

About me

Over five years working across climate, health, economic and urban development, I have become increasingly interested in how place-based projects begin.

I have come to see that the quality of outcomes is often determined by the quality of the starting point. I help teams strengthen the starting point by developing a clearer understanding of context, surfacing assumptions and areas of uncertainty, and exploring different perspectives.Combining five years of applied cross-sector research, ten years of independent design and innovation practice, and an MSc in Sustainable Development in Practice (Distinction), this work draws on systems thinking, design thinking and behavioural science. It brings together technical insight and human experience to connect systems-level challenges with the realities of place.I have worked with local government, universities, community organisations and social enterprises, as well as organisations including the World Health Organization, Design Council, University of Bath and the Centre for Sustainable Design, helping translate climate, health, economic and innovation agendas into local contexts.In each case, early-stage understanding of people, place and context strengthened the conditions for collaboration.

Contact

My work focuses on strengthening the conditions that makes place-based collaboration possible.

If you are working on a place-based project and want to better understand the challenge in context before moving into design or delivery, I would be delighted to hear from you.You can get in touch via email, LinkedIn, or the contact form below: