I am a Macaulay Development Trust research fellow working on the theory and practice of making economic, social and environmental sustainability in society a reality. I will be working on case studies here in Scotland and in Mexico to, among other activities, compare the practicalities of achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals in these countries. One aim of the fellowship is to provide a participatory, model-based early warning system for flagging potential policy malfunctions in the complex field of sustainability politics. 

I have worked here before. From 1994 – 1998, at the old Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, I did my PhD on the use of Artificial Intelligence and Agent-Based approaches in the modelling of Red Grouse populations and their management.

My post-doc was then at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG-ETH), using participatory (agent-based) modelling techniques to support decision-makers to develop strategies for sustainably managing urban water supplies.

Following this, I moved to Germany to co-found a start-up enterprise, Seeconsult GmbH, which provided consultancy, research and training support to organizations interested in implementing participatory water resources management in different river basins across Europe, as part of Article 14 obligations of the EU Water Framework Directive.

In 2008, I took up a job as Senior Programme Officer at the capacity development wing (UNW-DPC) of the UN-Water Decade Programme based at the United Nations in Bonn, Germany. This was to support the implementation of UN capacity development activities seeking to promote, among other things, participatory adaptive water resources management in developing countries. With the hope it might contribute to the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals. 

After this, from 2010 to 2017, I lived and worked in Mexico, providing action research and capacity development services aimed at the implementation and evaluation of Community- and Ecosystems-Based Climate Change Adaptation Planning projects. Between 2011 and 2013, I also coordinated the EU FP7 CATALYST project (grant no. 283177) entitled “Capacity Development for Hazard Risk Reduction and Adaptation”.

I am currently an advisory board member of The International Assessment Society (TIAS) and Regional Chair of its Latin American branch (TIAS-LA).

… and now I have gone a full circle and am back again with old and new colleagues in what is now the James Hutton Institute. It is indeed a pleasure!