I currently co-ordinate the EU Alliance for Societal Readiness (All4SR) with Chris Foulds. ‘Societal Readiness’ (SR) is a novel policy concept aiming to embed societal needs, concerns and values into Research & Innovation processes. We will collaborate with 26 EU projects in Cluster 5; helping them to pilot ‘societal readiness’ inside their projects, and learning from their experiences. The EC may extend SR to other clusters, so All4SR is an opportunity to shape policy. My previous work with grassroots communities (outside of institutions) allows me to ask questions about who Pilot projects involve and how (and who may be left out). This is a 3.5 year, €1.5 ****million project, starting October 2026. The All4SR website is coming soon!
I developed this project with my colleague Aled Jones. It builds on his long-term collaboration with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. Actuaries work across pensions, insurance and banking to assess the likelihood of risks, and to advise organisations on mitigations needed. Nature risk is not widespread amongst the profession, but awareness is rising. Our project engages with the profession to bring a nature-centric lens to this, i.e. asking actuaries to consider that nature is not simply a source of risk for the organisations that they work with, but actually the underpinning system that allows all economic activity to take place.
We work with institutions who are developing risk scenarios, to help them consider nature-centric perspectives in their scenario development. We are also developing our own companion scenarios. Finally, we are working with artist Ruth Catlow from Furtherfield to develop a participatory artwork that imagines a future where actuaries have already become nature-centric.
Visit our website for more information. Our exhibition will happen during London Climate Action Week, June 22-24, so watch this space for further info!
CreaTures was an EU Horizon 2020 project which investigated the potential for creative practices in art, design and social change to seed and steer societal transformation. This novel project design embedded researchers into creative organisations who were producing works aiming to create eco-social change. I co-led the Observatory part of the project with Ann Light, at University of Sussex.
Working with colleagues in the Laboratory, Evaluation and Engagement strands of the project, we co-created the CreaTures Framework which was recommended by the 2023 UN Global Pulse, and is featured in the Impact Makers Toolkit, and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Collective Imagination Practices Toolkit. CreaTures also won the John Ziman Prize.
This was an EPSRC Network+ funded project, led by Sara Heitlinger, on which I was a Co-I. Departing from the observation that food systems are already algorithmic, the project sought to investigate (in)justice, particularly for more-than-human species whose perspectives are systematically excluded. We worked with Ruth Catlow, from Furtherfield to develop a live-action role-play game, which we played with urban community growers to co-design blockchain-based food futures. This was our first project that involved more-than-human perspective taking.
Visit the website to learn more. This was an important catalyst for Sara Heitlinger’s MOSAIC project.