Hello, I'm Dan
Earthling
Strategist
Co-Designer
Creative Activist
Guide
Writer
Speaker
Podcaster
I’ve spent over 25 years listening to the future and working creatively across music, mobile, technology, brand, media, sustainability, campaigning and conservation sectors with global brands, NGO’s, web start-ups, grassroots innovators, artists, creative mavericks, social entrepreneurs, scientists, ecologists, activists and place based communities.
I think, create and do, work with head, heart and hands.
I have a very wide cultural lens spanning human behavioural insight, brand, communications, design with deep knowledge of complex ecological, climate, sustainability and social issues.
My work is often at the leading edges of creative engagement, culture change, insight and human behaviour, sustainability, eco-innovation, social innovation, cause led campaigning, creative activism, co-design, participation and collaboration culture, values led leadership, purposeful brand and business innovation.
I partner with all kinds of organisations (for profit, not for profit, start-ups, ngo’s, foundations, community orgs) in a range of ways:
As a creative catalyst: inspiring regenerative culture change, brand activism and civic creativity: via talks, walks and inspiration workshops.
As a creative strategist: helping design and develop products, brands, stories and communications fit for purpose in a planetary context: engaging, meaningful, regenerative, considered, generous, circular, beautiful, participative, open.
As a co-designer: designing, hosting and holding collaboration and co-creation spaces, experiments and processes, launching open distributed creative and civic challenges and mobilisations.
As a writer and speaker.
I can work as part of an existing team, as an external collaborator, adviser, provocateur, catalyst or sherpa.
Always open for a chat, case studies and testimonials available.
Flavours and perspectives I bring
I’m really interested in the practices of care, connection, responsibility, ethics, creativity, participation and collaboration in this time of great unravelling
I believe there is enormous regenerative and creative potential in care, love, empathy, responsibility, generosity, co-creation and participation, in my opinion these are the most positively disruptive innovation practices today.
Learning to look after yourself as an individual, your own health and wellbeing, caring for others around you - civic and community participation, caring for the health of the planet - the more than human world - the operating system for all life.
I’m deeply exploring how we can co-create responses to complex ecological, climate and social issues, to re-imagine and redesign the industrial growth systems and build an ecological culture, a life sustaining civilisation, grounded in ecological principles and limits. Where civic creativity, participation, human dignity and regenerative culture are the norm.
I’m always asking, ‘how can we make a more beautiful world by experimenting and co-creating with the opportunities we have everyday, as people, organisations, business, brands and communities ?
Out in the world
I speak regularly about the potential of creativity for social and environmental change, the enormous creative response needed to the climate and ecological crisis, including the Do Lectures, Innocent Inspires, Sustainable Brands, Good Life Experience, Murmurations.
My work and thinking has been referenced in the books Unboss/Kolind&Botter, A Smart Guide to Utopia/LeCool, Future Fit/Giles Hutchins and Co-Opportunity/John Grant.
I’m a guest lecturer on Co-Creating the Emerging Future at Schumacher College, Devon.
I'm proud to judge on the Creative Conscience Awards.
I record a regular podcast: The SpaceShip Earth.
I continue to co-pilot collaboration unit Wild Labs and sherpa the ongoing journey of the Good for Nothing project as Co-Founder.
A former club DJ, today I'm a bread making, trailrunning, surf loving, type 1 diabetic dad who believes in the power of the remix, the extraordinary possibilities and opportunities for those willing to imagine what could be and lean into what is unfolding on our watch.
Let’s make a more beautiful world.
PROFESSIONAL
Founder The SpaceShip Dot Earth Ltd
2017 - Present
Consultancy practice, podcast and content - I advise, strategise, co-create, design and hold spaces with brands, NGO's, agencies, startups and organisations building a more beautiful world. Recent missions with Google Creative Lab, Patagonia Europe, Millican, Finisterre, Green Economy Coalition and the Wellbeing Alliance, UKSCN and The Comms Lab.
Co-Pilot Wild Labs
2017 - Present
Wild Labs is a collaboration unit with an ethical design ethos, based on the values of human dignity and ecological sustainability. Good to people, good to planet. Recent projects include accelerating ocean literacy in UK culture and developing prototypes exploring technology driven solutions to ocean conservation issues with Salesforce.
I lead the creative strategy, design and collaboration approach to project challenges.
Co-founder Swarm Partnership
March 2013 - September 2017
Co-founded Swarm, a networked consultancy studio, combining creative collaboration, collective intelligence and experiential learning to accelerate the prototyping and hatching of engagement platforms, communication campaigns, product and service innovations and new ventures with a focus on positive social and environmental impacts and systemic issues. The approach catalyses diverse cross sector collaborations together with unusual suspects including artists, activists, technologists, designers, brands, NGO’s, grass roots innovators, social entrepreneurs, funders and foundations.
Highlights:
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Campaign accelerators in UK and US to design the global comms launch of the UN’s Global Goals,
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Media product innovation program Open Studios to challenge gender norms for girls in India, Nigeria and Indonesia with Girl Effect
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Launching engagement platform Nature Intelligence Unit with UK conservation sector to accelerate UK public natural intelligence.
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Co-designing social mission with high street retailer Boots to focus on next generation health and wellbeing.
The co-founders continue to offer and host the core Swarm accelerator product a dynamic, disruptive , highly generative approach for cross sector collaborations tackling complex social and environmental issues, focussed on system innovation and systemic change.
Creative Strategic lead - The Wild Network
March 2013 - ongoing
Working with film-makers Greenlions behind the launch of award winning feature length documentary film Project Wild Thing, exploring British kids disconnection from nature, credited co-producer, led the brand creation, engagement strategy and launch, key instigator of the forming and launch of the Wild Network. Hatched the original concept of Wild Time and the Wild Time App which went on to be licensed to Unilever brand Persil. Led the creation of Wild Time Learning a networked learning concept helping teachers take curriculum learning outdoors.
Strategy Director//Head of Naked Planet
August 2006 - June 2010
Pioneering agency Naked Communications, part of the 'brilliant misfits', my role was developing global communications strategy and tactics for clients including Nokia, Nike, Sony and Nokia NSeries. Core focus on partnership innovation, sustainability and building communities through digital and social strategies. Led the development of significant strand of award winning global work, Nokia, Power of We: covering internal engagement, digital, social and retail comms, partnerships and service design. Launched new agency practice, Naked Planet focussed on communications and innovation for good business.
Associate Director, 2cv
December 2002 - June 2006
Providing cultural, human and strategic insight for design, product and marketing teams on global NPD and communication projects for brands including Nike, Virgin Group, BBC, Sony Playstation and Nokia.
Founder - Squarepeg
1998-2001
Boutique music consultancy. Creative activations and placement of cutting edge electronic music within commercial communications. Sold business to my partner who continues to make it flourish 15 years later.
Co-founder - Good for Nothing
December 2011 - Present
Started as a side project experiment to bring together creative tnetworks with social change agents, social entrepreneurs and community activists, Good for Nothing catalyses creative generosity in social innovation and civic participation. The project went on to be grant funded through NESTA Innovation in Giving and is now a growing generosity network, activated in 30 city chapters in 8 countries, with a current community of about 5000 participants. Voted by Observer Newspaper as one of 50 New Radicals changing the face of Britain 2014. I continue to guide its development.
EDUCATION & LEARNING
SCHUMACHER COLLEGE, DEVON, UK
2012-2013
Call of the Wild, One year program in environmental education & leadership, deep nature connection, wilderness guiding.
ASHRIDGE EXEC EDUCATION, HULT BUSINESS SCHOOL
2009-2011
MSc Sustainability & Responsibility: Two year part time, dynamic action learning Masters program, encompassing systems thinking, Gaia Theory, living systems, power dynamics, organisational change, sustainable innovation with action inquiry based learning. Thesis focussed on open, distributed networks for change.
BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY
1991-1995
BA (HONS) International Marketing Management
"All life is an experiment, the more experiments you make the better."
