Design for Planet Fellows
We gathered a fellowship of experts to help address the climate emergency.
Nine experts, working at the cutting edge of sustainability and regenerative design, joined our Design for Planet Fellowship
Over seven months, in 2021, they brought together their skills in making cross-sector and community connections, spotting emerging opportunities. In doing this, the fellows prototyped new ways of working to inform climate action through design. They explored themes of adaptive and resilient places, conserving and restoring natural resources, and regenerative living.
The Design for Planet Fellowship was made possible thanks to National Lottery funding.
Meet the Fellows
Dr Tayo Adebowale
Tayo is a sustainability strategist. She started her consultancy Cirkadia, in 2003, which focuses on working towards a sustainable future. Her portfolio spans over 35 years, and includes: design, environmental science, strategy, policy and training. Tayo is a Chartered Environmentalist, Chartered Water and Environmental Manager, Member of the Institute of Leadership and Management, and has a Doctorate in Water management. Tayo has served as a GB Forestry Commissioner, and a Non Executive Director of Countryside Agency, (now Natural England). Current roles include: Design Council: Ambassador, Expert, and High Street Task Force Expert; NW Regional Flood and Coastal Committee EA Sustainable Economics Lead; and NW Forestry and Woodlands Advisory Committee.
Professor Carole Collet
Carole is Director of Maison/0, the Central Saint Martins - LVMH platform for regenerative luxury set up in 2017. She is also co-director of the Living Systems Lab and explores how living systems thinking can inform new design knowledge. As an educator, she has pioneered the integration of ecological values in the creative curriculum at Central Saint Martins UAL by founding new courses such as MA Textile Futures in 2001 (now Material Futures), the world first MA Biodesign (2019) and recently launched the new online MA Regenerative Design (2022).
Sarah Drinkwater
Sarah is a community builder, entrepreneur and investor. Most recently, she built and led the responsible technology team at Omidyar Network, funding resources, tools, research, narratives and people working to design more societally beneficially tech futures. Before that, she was at Google building out physical community spaces for entrepreneurs, leading on the social layer on Google Maps, and advising startups on culture and community. Through Atomico’s angel program, she is an active angel investor in community-directed solutions.
Finn Harries
Finn is a British filmmaker and designer. He is the co-founder of Earthrise Studio, a digitial media company dedicated to communicating the climate crisis through research, design and filmmaking. He is currently studying at the University of Cambridge to complete an MPhil in Architecture and Urban Design. His research focuses on regenerative design and ecology. Finn has given talks at both TEDx and the United Nations in New York on the urgency for action on climate change and biodiversity loss.
Nat Hunter
Nat has worked in the field of sustainable design for 15 years as a practitioner and educator. She is also a trained CTI and Organisational Relationship Systems Coach and combines these trainings with her own experience as an entrepreneur and as an employee. She is a systems thinker, and brings her design skills, business experience, and coaching practice together in order to create and support change. She is very interested in how regenerative culture and behaviour within organisations can positively impact people, society and the planet.
Dr Torange Khonsari
Torange is one of the original co-founders of the art and architecture practice public works. She has been a senior lecturer in architecture at London Metropolitan University since 2000 and is currently the course leader for post graduate programs and research on Design and Cultural Commons at London Metropolitan University. The direct two-way communication between academia and practice has enabled and enriched an exploratory environment within which public works is now operating.
John Thackara
A writer and curator, John is developing a Design for Earth Repair agenda for Tongji University in Shanghai, where he is visiting professor. The project explores design's contribution to ecological restoration, biodiversity recovery, and urban-rural reconnection.
Josie Warden
Josie is Head of Regenerative Design at the RSA (Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) where she leads the regenerative futures programme. Originally trained as a designer, she is interested in how we might weave together making, participation, bioregionalism and new economic thinking to shape a better future.
Design for Planet Fellowship: Three Perspectives
Design for Planet Fellowship Podcast
Discover thought-provoking conversations bringing together the collective intelligence of our Fellows.
Hosted by Alisha Morenike Fisher, production and sound design by Lucia Scazzocchio of Social Broadcasts.
You can listen to all episodes on Spotify.
Episode 0
Chief Design Officer Cat Drew introduces the Design for Planet Fellowship and how it relates to the Design Council’s new mission to galvanise the UK design community in tackling the climate and biodiversity emergencies.
Episode 1 - Language
Join Alisha and Bernard Hay, programme manager of the Design for Planet Fellowship, as they talk to Josie Warden, Head of Regenerative Design at the Royal Society of Arts, about the importance of language.
Episode 2 - Regenerative Design
Joining Alisha in this episode of Regenerative Design is Professor Carole Collet, Co-Director of the Living Systems Lab and Director of Maison/0 at Central Saint Martins UAL and Finn Harries, a British filmmaker and designer, co-founder of Earthrise Studio.
Episode 3 - Culture Change
Joining Alisha in this episode all about culture shifts and change are fellows, Sarah Drinkwater, Leader for the responsible technology team at Omidyar Network and Torange Khonsari, Co-founder of the Art and Architecture practice public works.
Episode 4 - Resilience
Join Alisha and Cat Drew, Chief Design Officer at the Design Council, as they talk to Dr. Tayo Adebowale, a Sustainability Strategist and Director of Cirkadia, about designing adaptive and resilient places.
Episode 5 - Nature Connection
Joining Alisha in the final episode of the Fellowship podcast, all about nature connections for designers, we have Design for Planet fellows, Nat Hunter, Practitioner and Educator and John Thackara, Writer and Curator.