DESIGN EVOLVES THE MIND

Projects overlap and shape my worldview

During my career, the projects I have worked on and created have been varied, creative and always passion driven. As I continually learn and develop my thinking, there have been milestones that have influenced my worldview, theory of change, and how I believe the fundamentals of a people and planet positive society should be structured.

Reading Cradle to Cradle when I was 18, and then during my masters in product design, I moved from the ‘do less harm’ model of sustainability, into a circular economy approach, understanding the difference between the biosphere and the technosphere, and how resources can flow in cycles by design. The circular economy transition nudged me to believe that we must go a step further into regenerative systems that are in symbiosis with the cycles of nature. And to get there, I have questioned the how, understanding that to create radical change, this happens in the mind. Effective and experiential learning is a tool I believe can create the necessary change towards a regenerative future.

The projects that have been significant in my career span the areas of food systems, circular economy, biomaterials, education for change and capacity building for change. The skills I have developed through these projects mapped below are systems thinking, design thinking, futures design, design strategy, learning design, product design, making and craft, exhibition design, facilitation and hosting, design research, human-centred research, literary research and writing.

Here’s a non-linear, non-conclusive overview of the projects that have shaped my career and thinking.