Tessa Laven

Biography

Tessa is a design researcher, strategic designer, and circular design practitioner whose work has been centred on climate transitions in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australia. She is a PhD candidate at the University of the Arts London, and a part of the CoDesign4Transitions doctoral network supported by UKRI and the European Commission’s Marie Skolodwska-Curie Actions (MCSA) scheme.

Much of her applied work has been at the intersection of justice, equity, sustainability and complexity – from co-designing policy and projects for Australia’s circular economy transition, to developing community co-design models and methods for a major Australian energy distributor, to undertaking qualitative research on youth justice outcomes with First Nations communities.

She has a particular interest in the use of systems thinking and collaborative design methodologies to inform strategy that propels major shifts towards a regenerative, restorative, and equitable future. Her PhD research at the University of Arts London is focussed on integrating approaches and practices from ‘transition studies’ and ‘design for sustainability’ best suited to enable a just ecological transition.

Tessa obtained her degrees in Anthropology and Marketing from the University of Auckland and has been working in Melbourne, Australia for the last four and a half years as a strategic design consultant where she worked with a broad range of clients, including Australian Federal and State Government, regional water utilities, industry bodies, and international NGOs.