About

Practice, Research and Innovation

My professional practice focuses on helping organisations and communities understand complex places, bring people and evidence together and turn shared priorities into practical strategies, projects and action.

My career has involved leading complex planning, regeneration and place-based work, from neighbourhood and town-centre regeneration to housing renewal, community investment and economic development. I have shaped and delivered regeneration strategies, action plans and projects, bringing together public-sector priorities, resources and delivery partners to support more sustainable places. I have also led stakeholder, partnership and community engagement, bringing organisations, communities and partners together around shared priorities and practical action.

My work has has included developing the Livingston North and South Ward Action Plans, bringing together community priorities, local evidence and partner input to shape neighbourhood regeneration; leading stakeholder engagement for the Banff & Macduff Town Centre Action Plan; developing the Seaforth Neighbourhood Regeneration Strategy; and managing housing renewal, property acquisition and community investment projects. Across this work, I have worked with communities, public-sector organisations, businesses and delivery partners to turn evidence and local priorities into practical strategies, projects and actions.

A key part of my approach is using creative and participatory methods to help people make sense of complex planning and regeneration challenges. I use approaches including Planning for Real®, LEGO® Serious Play® and serious games to bring communities, partners and project teams together, combining local knowledge and lived experience with technical evidence to explore possibilities and develop practical responses. These approaches can be particularly valuable where there are different perspectives, competing priorities or complex place-based challenges to navigate.

Alongside professional practice, I have taught planning at the University of the West of Scotland and the University of Dundee and I am a Fellow of Advance HE (FHEA). My teaching spans planning policy and practice, urban regeneration and placemaking, blue and green space design, sustainability and community engagement. I also teach and supervise work-based learning, supporting students to apply planning knowledge directly within their professional roles and workplace projects. This close connection between teaching, research and professional practice allows me to bring research-informed thinking alongside practical experience to planning and regeneration challenges.

I hold a PhD on placemaking and blue green infrastructure for liveable, flood-resilient urban environments, funded through the Scottish Government's Hydro Nation Scholars Programme. My research explored how blue green infrastructure can support climate adaptation and flood resilience while also contributing to liveability, wellbeing and more equitable places. My wider research and international collaborations focus on participatory planning, placemaking, climate resilience and the relationship between environmental and social outcomes.

Across my work, I aim to help organisations and communities understand challenges, explore possibilities and turn evidence and ideas into practical action, creating places that are more liveable, inclusive and resilient.

Professional Engagements

Alongside my consultancy and academic work, I contribute to a range of professional, policy and research networks. I am a Selected Expert Member of the EKLIPSE Expert Working Group “Games to Connect Science with Policy”, exploring how games and creative approaches can help connect scientific knowledge with policy and decision-making. I also serve on the Highland Adapts Advisory Panel, contributing planning and place-based expertise to work around climate adaptation and resilience in the Highlands.

Through the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), I contribute to the profession through roles including the Scottish Executive Committee, Scottish Policy Sub-Committee and Partnerships and Accreditation Panel. I am also the Vice Chair of the RTPI Partnership Board for the University of Brighton.

I am also an External Examiner, contributing to quality assurance and academic development across planning, architecture and environmental resource management programmes in UK universities. My external examining roles include BSc Environmental Resource Management at the University of Plymouth (2025–) and Architecture and Environment at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) (2026–). Alongside this, I contribute to the academic and professional community through editorial and advisory roles, including membership of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Planning and Urban Design.

My wider work has included contributing to the AIPH World Green City Awards as a category lead and technical panel member, alongside ongoing international research collaboration with Wageningen University & Research.

These roles give me the opportunity to bring perspectives from research, policy, professional practice and international networks into the work I undertake with clients and partners.