Strengthening understanding across complex stakeholder and systems environments.
I am a systems thinking practitioner working across public health, climate action, economic transition and place-based innovation.
My practice focuses on how organisations, institutions and communities navigate complex challenges where progress depends on co-ordination across stakeholders, sectors and different levels of decision-making.I help senior leaders and teams understand how different stakeholders experience and interpret the same issue in different ways, and how this shapes engagement, strategy and implementation in practice.My experience includes work with organisations such as the World Health Organization, Design Council, universities, local authorities and community organisations, supporting the translation of research, policy and strategy into more grounded, context-sensitive approaches to action.Areas of focus:
Public health and behaviour change
Climate action and environmental transition
Economic transition and the future of work
Food systems and livelihoods
Place-based innovation and urban development
Cross-sector collaboration and systems change
About
I am a systems translator and practitioner with 10+ years’ experience working across government, academia, industry and community contexts in the UK and Europe.
I work in applied research and capability building for place-based systems change and cross-sector collaboration, supporting organisations to understand system dynamics, connect diverse stakeholder perspectives, and strengthen their ability to work effectively within complex environments.
This work focuses on how different groups experience and respond to the same issue in different ways, shaped by values, constraints, incentives and local context.Rather than starting from the communication of an issue or a proposed solution, it explores the underlying differences in meaning, interpretation and lived experience that inform how engagement, strategy and implementation are designed in the first place.
My approach has been refined through more than a decade of independent innovation and design practice, where I applied design as an intervention within behavioural and organisational systems. The complexity of this work and emphasis on effective discovery led to an MSc in Sustainable Development in Practice (Distinction), which formalised and extended my interdisciplinary practice.Since then, I have worked across public health, climate action, economic transition and place-based innovation, including projects with the World Health Organization, Design Council, universities, local authorities and community organisations. This work has consistently focused on connecting institutional and policy objectives with lived experience in practical, applied settings.I bring a combination of strategic thinking, stakeholder insight and collaborative problem-solving to initiatives where outcomes depend on alignment across sectors, institutions and scales.
"Carra is a driven, intelligent and curious colleague - when working with us at the Design Council, she helped to deliver a complex project with a range of stakeholders. She pushed participants to think deeper about the work they were aiming to deliver, and ultimately created a more meaningful process. This, in turn, led to longer-lasting outcomes."- Emily Whyman, Senior Programme Manager, Design Council
Selected engagements
I work across global, national and place-based scales to understand how different groups interpret and respond to complex issues at different levels, and how those differences in meaning, context and behaviour shape more effective, inclusive and implementable systems change.
World Health Organisation (WHO), Geneva
External Consultant, WHO Tobacco-Free Initiative, Department of Health Promotion
Specialist consultant for the WHO Tobacco-Free Initiative, supporting the translation of global tobacco control policy into practical, context-sensitive tools for implementation within countries and across sectors.Example projects include:
Expanding tobacco cessation narratives for practical policy implementation
Analysed graphic health warnings from 37+ countries to identify underexplored narrative approaches for tobacco cessation, generating new research opportunities and supporting policy implementation across diverse cultural and national contexts in line with WHO FCTC Articles 11 & 12. The work was published in the 10th WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, in collaboration with WHO specialists.
Strengthening public-private-civil society partnerships for collaboration
Brought multi-stakeholder and lived-context perspectives into the development of the WHO Tobacco Cessation Consortium, a complex global collaboration of more than 60 public, private and civil society sector organisations. This supported alignment across diverse institutional priorities and ways of working, and helped ground decision-making in real-world implementation contexts.
Anticipating tobacco industry interference through collective foresight
Initiated a Tobacco Industry Interference Timeline mapping how tobacco industry tactics have evolved across policy, marketing and public perception since 1912, highlighting recurring industry behaviours that help anticipate future strategies in line with WHO FCTC Article 5.3. The work was published in the 10th WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, in collaboration with University of Bath and WHO specialists.
Design Council, UK
Specialist Expert, Place-Based Capability Building for Systems Change
Programme facilitator working with the UK Government’s official advisor on design, embedding systems capability across regional programmes through design research coaching, reflective practice and decision-making tools. Programme reflection, refinement and learning cycles supported ongoing systems learning and capability within the Design Council in turn.Example projects include:
Embedding youth values in council climate communication
Equipped Essex County Council leaders to examine the limited response to Net Zero communication from younger audiences. Participatory research and futures-thinking activities with secondary school students surfaced underrepresented youth values, motivations and priorities, strengthening the development of a Youth Climate Ambassador Programme and wider climate engagement strategy.
Aligning Net Zero strategy with urban equality
Worked with London Borough of Hounslow to address urban inequality through climate action in an area of extreme urban deprivation. Using design research and systems analysis, facilitated cross-departmental collaboration to reposition climate action as a more integrated programme spanning equity, care and social-environmental co-benefits, grounded in local context and implementation constraints.
Translating social enterprise for investment readiness
Supported place-based social enterprise development for an urban co-working and community hub hybrid focused on circular climate mitigation and adaptation skills (repair, grow, make, share), within constrained funding and investment contexts. Helped reposition the enterprise model to strengthen engagement with impact investors, build cross-sector credibility, and support pathways to scalability across UK cities.
University of Bath / Bath & North East Somerset Council, UK
Independent Consultant, Regional Economic Development Strategy
Independent specialist leading a 2-year city-wide engagement and insight programme in Bath (~100,000 population), supporting the University of Bath’s Living Well Now and in 2050 programme in connection with Bath & North East Somerset Council’s emerging Doughnut Economics-based economic strategy.Example activities include:
Exploring pre-conditions for effective cross-city collaboration
Convened cross-city stakeholders using multi-format methods (workshops, online groups, public events and participatory activities) to explore how different approaches shaped engagement dynamics and supported (or hindered) trust-building, participation and shared understanding across stakeholder groups amid competing priorities and incentives. This helped inform context-led approaches to long-term place-based collaboration.
Translating Doughnut Economics for public audiences
Delivered a public lecture introducing Doughnut Economics as a framework for cross-sector collaboration and place-based economic transition, translating complex systems thinking into accessible insights for a mixed public audience (~80 in-person attendees plus livestream audience). Drew on Amsterdam’s adoption of the model and related initiatives to explore pathways for local application and cross-city dialogue on regenerative economic development.
Incorporating engagement insight into institutional strategy
Advised leadership on cross-sector inclusion to strengthen legitimacy and early-stage alignment across public, private, third sector and community actors ahead of a public launch event. Analysed and synthesised post-launch insights into structured outputs to inform Bath & North East Somerset Council’s engagement and economic strategy development, producing independent public and internal reports on findings and recommendations.
Research & Publications
Interdisciplinary work exploring how social practices, behaviours and meaning-making shape complex systems, and how interventions across policy, design and collaboration can shift outcomes in public health, consumer behaviour and sustainability contexts.
Contributor, 10th WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic (10th WHO GTCR), WHO, 2025
Supporting coherence between research, communication and implementation across 194 WHO Member States.Lead Author, “Crafting connections with clothing: values, influence and relationships”, in Accelerating Sustainability in Fashion, Clothing and Textiles, Routledge, 2023
Exploring how values, influence and social relationships shape clothing consumption practices, and identifying opportunities for more sustainable fashion systems through shifts in consumer behaviour, design and industry engagement.Author, All Sewn Up: Dismantling Fast Fashion Consumption as a Social Practice, UCA Centre for Sustainable Design, 2021
Exploring how creative and community-led interventions in fashion consumption can restore consumer agency and disrupt unsustainable industry dynamics.
"Carra brought insight, thoughtfulness, and a deep sense of curiosity to the work we did together at the WHO on tobacco control. She approaches complex challenges with care and intellectual rigor, always seeking to understand the deeper dynamics at play. At the same time, she brings real joy and warmth to a team - Carra made a lasting impact on the work and on me personally."- Dr Hebe Gouda, Project Officer, World Health Organization
"I would describe Carra as rigorously creative, in that she combines systems thinking and critical thinking with the spontaneity needed for new ideas. Not many people can do this. She questions everything and because she's also a terrific person, connects with people on many levels. It's an impressive combination of skills for change-making. Working with Carra definitely made me a better designer."- Darren Evans, Design Council Expert & Founder, Engine Room Design
Highlights
Designed a place-based systems framework (‘Bridge to Belonging’) adopted by the London Borough of Hounslow, enabling cross-departmental decision-making on health, climate and social equity priorities.
Designed and facilitated 30+ cross-sector workshops and learning programmes for organisations including the Design Council, universities, local authorities and leading architecture firms, building shared understanding of place-based environmental, social and economic health.
Designed and facilitated 30+ cross-sector learning and engagement programmes building capability for systems thinking in practice across public, academic, industry and civil society contexts.
Built and led an independent innovation and design practice for 12 years, delivering internationally recognised work and major commercial commissions applying design as an intervention for behavioural and organisational change.