It was my last day at Design Council on Friday so I’m taking the opportunity to reflect on the past 5 years, taking on work across renewable energy, sustainable finance, circular economy, climate leadership in the world of design and running a summer residency. The administration of climate work matters. The minutiae and administration of… Continue reading Notes on climate work
Category: Sustainability
Big D(esign) energy
I’m almost done with my stint as Chief Design Officer at the Design Council and it’s a good time to reflect on the experience so far and what I’d like to keep doing in my last months and beyond. A 79 year old startup The vibe at the Design Council is very close to what… Continue reading Big D(esign) energy
On institutional knowledge
I’m dismantling a corporate library for the second time in my life. I am working at the Design Council as interim CDO these days and we’re moving office which means dealing with our 20+ years institutional library. If books could talk, these ones would tell you about all the design competitions happening around the world… Continue reading On institutional knowledge
Smart homes or smart paperwork?
It’s been almost 3 years since I wrote Smarter Homes but my interest in the historical role of the home in our communal and societal decision-making hasn’t stopped. After working as Head of Labs at Bulb and doing research for Overlay (by ING Labs) I got really interested in the more administrative side of homes.… Continue reading Smart homes or smart paperwork?
Repairable by design?
I’ve been a trustee of The Restart Project, a right to repair charity, for almost a year. They are focused on raising political awareness of the need for right to repair legislation in the UK and Europe and have been doing a fantastic job over the past 6 years. It’s an honour to meet with… Continue reading Repairable by design?
Einmal ist keinmal: Notes on a residency
I just finished curating and running a 4 week virtual residency on climate change for 15 creative people under the umbrella term of the Low Carbon Design Institute. As one of my sponsors Matt told me, ‘wait until you’ve done it twice before getting other people involved’ so these are some notes to myself so… Continue reading Einmal ist keinmal: Notes on a residency
Is climate change mitigation a life skill?
I was having a conversation about climate change literacy with Luke & Michelle this week I thought I’d capture to celebrate New Year’s Eve (and forget for a second about Brexit). As the first instance of LoCDI had to be pushed into next year (and frankly it might be pushed into the year after based… Continue reading Is climate change mitigation a life skill?
How to Climate Change in a (different kind of) crisis.
(I recently started working part time at Library of Things and became a Trustee for The Restart Project so there’s a lot of climate change things on my mind. This was meant to be a piece for a friend’s magazine but they wanted something else so here goes.) These are a series of vignettes, of… Continue reading How to Climate Change in a (different kind of) crisis.
The end of the sea: climate change and where to start?
My favourite novel is Oceano Mare by Alessandro Baricco. In it, (amongst many intertwined stories) a painter tries to paint the eyes of the sea with sea water and a scientist tries to ascertain the end point of the sea. Futile exercises, but it reminds me of climate change. Where do you start? Where does… Continue reading The end of the sea: climate change and where to start?
The world of (inconsistent) data
I left Bulb in late April 2019 and moved on to work with a team inside ING researching how financial institutions could utilise building data to develop a new generation of sustainability-led financial services until March this year. After working with Bulb, EDF & British Gas over the past 15 years, I certainly knew plenty… Continue reading The world of (inconsistent) data