Local organising committee

Beatrice is an industrial designer and ergonomist with particular expertise in designing systems and products aligned to end user requirements. Her early career was in design, ergonomic research and teaching at UMIST and Liverpool University. Her public-sector life has always involved regeneration and economic development schemes at a local and regional level – first as chair of the Rope Walks Partnership in Liverpool, then as chair of Renew NW. Beatrice was a non-executive director of Liverpool Health Authority, then chair of South Liverpool Primary Care Trust. Beatrice is a CQC special advisor specialising in governance and leadership. She is a trustee of the Design Council and an Hon.FRIBA. Her past roles have included chair of a housing association, trustee of Tate Liverpool, and chair of the Architects Registration Board.

John Lewis is a founder member of SOG Ltd which was formed in 1999. Originally SOG’s Head of Marketing, John became Managing Director in 2010 and is now the major shareholder of a business that has evolved into SOG Group. He has also launched a number of other successful businesses under the RJ Lewis brand which provide maintenance and facilities management services; space planning, engineering services and creative design for specialist projects; and creating, designing and developing bespoke new-build projects. John’s business achievements have been recognised with several awards including the accolade of Liverpool’s ‘Knowledge Leader of the Year’, an award recognising Merseyside’s key business leaders and academics who have made a major contribution to the region. He was awarded an MBE in 2019 in recognition of his services to business and is currently a deputy Lieutenant for Knowsley Borough.

Rhiannon’s research focuses on psychological, social and environmental mechanisms and determinants of mental distress and wellbeing. In particular, she is interested in social cognition and on how our living environment affects our ability to feel good and function well. As an applied social scientist, Rhiannon’s mission is to put research findings into practice. She does this by combining her work at the university with herwork as a co-director of Prosocial Place , a social enterprise that specialises in putting wellbeing and mental health at the heart of place-making and regeneration. In this capacity Rhiannon has worked on several national programmes such as the NHS Healthy New Towns Initiative and with DLUHC, DCMS and Design Council. Rhiannon’s work in social cognition involves both 'clinical' and non-clinical groups of people where she has a particular interest in the psychosis spectrum, common mental distress and the autistic spectrum. Rhiannon uses diverse methods within quantitative and qualitative approaches including real world and realistic evaluation, quasi-experimental and neuroscientific techniques.

Jim Chapman is a chartered architect and urban designer, with more than 36 years' experience as a consultant delivering a wide range of projects in many sectors. In 2006, he established an independent consultancy, which focuses on supporting and advising clients on the delivery of high-quality projects.

Paul is a partner at Ryder, established in Newcastle in 1953 with offices across the UK, Hong Kong, Vancouver and Amsterdam. Projects range in value from £50,000 to £300m, including civic, education, healthcare, infrastructure, leisure, manufacturing, office, residential, retail and science sectors. Paul completed his architectural education at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow in 1992 and with more than 20 years' experience in the healthcare sector, leads Ryder’s healthcare portfolio, which includes the award-winning Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary and the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow. In 2006, he established Ryder’s Glasgow team and led the early development of the Hong Kong team. Prior to joining Ryder, he worked with Terry Farrell for 11 years in London and Hong Kong and has spoken around the world on sustainable healthcare design.

Graham is an urban designer with experience across the private, public and research sectors. Through the 1990s, he worked in practice with leading London urban design consultancies on high-profile regeneration programmes, as well as urban planning policy development at national and regional level. In 1999, Graham was a founding director of the Government's pilot Urban Regeneration Company, Liverpool Vision, and was responsible for leading the transformation of the city centre through the national Urban Renaissance Programme. A key aspect of this work was brokerage between the public and private sectors to find new and better ways of delivering sustainable regeneration. Graham co-directs the social enterprise Prosocial Place, an urban design practice underpinned by research generated through a knowledge exchange with the University of Liverpool, where he is a senior visiting research fellow. His award-winning place-based work is primarily undertaken in support of public-sector clients, while continuing a brokerage and mentoring role to link with the private sector and local communities. This included advising on the Government's Estate Regeneration National Strategy. A recent member of the NHS Healthy New Towns Steering Group, Graham is currently a built environment expert with Design Council CABE, and an expert advisor to both the High Streets Task Force and the Department for Communities NI, where he recently co-authored the 'Living High Streets Craft Kit' to support the regeneration of town centres across Northern Ireland. He is currently involved in piloting the protocol there and within the Anglo-Scottish Borderlands initiative.