Public Practice

ABOUT

Read more about our mission, our values, what we do, who we are and our latest news.

Public Practice, first cohort, London, 2018.

Mission

Public Practice is a social enterprise with a mission to build the public sector’s capacity to improve the quality, equality and sustainability of places.

We believe that the built environment is where the symptoms, and solutions, to society’s most complex challenges are played out and one where the role of local government is often overlooked. But it is this very role, as a public sector officer, that has the agency to influence every aspect of our everyday environment, to plan for the longer-term, and to work for society as a whole, not just those who can afford it.

We know that places are complex, and believe that an interdisciplinary approach with diversity of thought, experience and skills is required to tackle the critical spatial issues of our time, from housing inequality to climate justice.

You can read more about our values here.

WHAT WE DO

Our core activity is the delivery of our unique Associate placement programme specifically designed for built environment professionals and their local planning authority hosts.

OUR PLACEMENT PROGRAMME

We run a leading placement scheme, with a three-stage candidate assessment process designed to remove as much bias as possible, known as our Associate Programme. We place mid-career level built environment practitioners (Associates) looking for a career change, into public sector organisations (Authorities) looking for new skills and expertise.

For Authorities, we provide a cost-effective model to build the public sector’s capacity over the longer-term whilst helping to create unique place-based roles that look to deliver change on the ground.

For professionals currently in the private sector, we provide an attractive route into working for the public sector by providing a unique learning and development Programme and access to a cohort of peer support as they transition into a local authority environment.

CONNECTING & SHARING PRACTICE

We also utilise our network of public sector officers to conduct officer surveys for the wider industry and publish open-source Resources for public sector officers.

People

Public Practice was founded by the Greater London Authority and with the support of other industry Partners the organisation registered as an independent company limited by guarantee in September 2017.

We currently have seven company Directors and three Board Observers. The Board delegate the day-to-day running of the organisation to a team of staff.

ALEX GOVIER

Partnerships Manager

FIONA LIN

Communications Officer

JOHN STILES

Learning Facilitator

KATHY MACEWEN

Associate Course Director

LILLI HOIKKA

Operations Manager

NIKKI LINSELL

COO

POOJA AGRAWAL

CEO

SOPHIE BEAGLES

Learning Facilitator

ANNA ROSE

Director

ARANVIR GAWERA

Director

DANNA WALKER

Director

JON FAULKNER

Director

JULES PIPE

Chair

LUCINDA TURNER

Board Observer

MEETA KAUR

Director

RAFE BERTRAM

Alumni Observer

SARAH CARY

Director

TARA GBOLADE

Alumni Observer

ALEX GOVIER

Alex has worked extensively in public and private sector organisations and has experience in bringing the private and public sector together to improve policy and practice. He studied Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen, which is where he developed a passion for the inclusive design of places. Alex has lived-in experience of regions across the UK covering Scotland, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the South East, which has helped develop his interest in tackling the placemaking disparities between regions. His focus now is to develop and nurture Public Practice’s relationships with local authorities and national bodies.

FIONA LIN

Fiona has worked across video production, creative marketing, and branding for a wide range of industries in the UK and Japan. Her skills in graphic design, illustration, and motion graphics have helped her contribute to the communications strategies for various brands and to the production of visually impactful research reports. Her focus now is on creating informative content across Public Practice’s channels in a way that is accessible to all.

JOHN STILES

John is an Architect who joined the public sector in 2019 as a Public Practice Associate working in the Property Development team at Transport for London. As a Quality & Design Manager, he was primarily responsible for helping develop and implement TfL's new design principles and guidance, championing good design on a range of housing and mixed-use schemes across London.

Since 2020, he has been the Principal Urban Design Officer at Brent Council, leading on new design-related supplementary planning guidance, managing design review and developing strategic masterplans for some of the boroughs growth areas.

Prior to working in the public sector, John worked at private architecture and urban design practices including Maccreanor Lavington and Bell Phillips and was a visiting critic at numerous architecture schools across London and the South East.

KATHY MACEWEN

Kathy is a planner with over 30 years of experience in improving design quality through the planning process. She has worked in the London Boroughs of Camden, Hackney and Hounslow and set up Design Review Panels and Design Initiatives to promote and improve design. She joined CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) in 2006 as Head of Design Review Programme, that included management of the national panel, supporting regional design review, and setting up bespoke panels such as for schools. She was responsible for the publication of Design Review, Principles and Practice. She developed and led a unique programme of workshops on design in Local Plans, the publication of Planning for Places, as well support for Neighbourhood Planning.

When CABE merged with the Design Council in 2011 Kathy became Head of Programmes responsible for the delivery of Design Review and also the Enabling Programme.

In 2014 Kathy became an independent consultant, working on a variety of projects including design training within HS2, facilitation of Community Panels inputting into AAPs in Hackney. In 2018 she became a Public Practice Associate on their first cohort, working in Hounslow for 14 months. From 2019 she has been working with UDL on developing support for their Design Review Network through their website and events.

LILLI HOIKKA

Lilli has over 15 years’ experience working in support roles at architectural and engineering practices across London. She is an Associate member at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), an Affiliate member at the RTPI and a keen volunteer for Fluid Mentoring, Isokon Gallery, London Cycling Campaign and Open House. She has lived-in experience from seven Local Authorities in the Greater London region but is originally from the garden city of Tapiola, in Finland. Growing up in such beautiful surroundings got her interested in buildings and landscape from an early age and taught her appreciation of great planning.

NIKKI LINSELL

Nikki is an architecturally trained operations and management consultant specialising in social impact startups. She has co-founded and help set-up a number of built environment charities, managed complex build projects and research across Europe, Asia and Africa in often challenging contexts. Following this, she moved into consultancy, overseeing a major university restructure and more recently, helping raise £750,000 in angel investment for a workplace wellbeing tech start-up. Nikki has also held senior lecturer positions in Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Nottingham and Brighton and is currently writing up an EPSRC funded doctorate on the ethics and economics of the Architecture profession and its 'humanitarian capitalism'.

POOJA AGRAWAL

Pooja Agrawal is an architect and planner who worked as a public servant at Homes England and the Greater London Authority. It was at the GLA in the Regeneration and Economic Development Team where she helped co-found Public Practice in 2017. Prior to this, she worked at private architecture and urban design practices including Publica, We Made That and G-Tects (New York) and taught at Central Saint Martins and was a Trustee for the Museum of Architecture.

Alongside Public Practice Pooja co-hosts spatial equality platform Sound Advice and co-published Now You Know, a compendium of fifty essays exploring spatial and racial inequality. In 2018 and 2019 she was nominated for the Planner’s Woman of Influence.

SOPHIE BEAGLES

Sophie was an Associate in the Spring 2019 and Spring 2020 cohorts, gaining experience in the public sector at the GLA and the London Borough of Ealing. She is currently Principal Regeneration Officer at the London Borough of Ealing where she leads a community-led area regeneration programme for the Northolt area, enabling economic growth in one of the Borough’s most deprived areas. She is delivering significant public realm improvements, having led the Council’s successful bid for multi-million pound Levelling Up funding.

In addition to her role at Ealing, Sophie acts as Public Practice’s Learning Facilitator for the Spring 2022 cohort. Her goal is to support the career development of Associates and share her knowledge and experience with the cohort.

ANNA ROSE

Anna Rose is currently the Head of the Planning Advisory Service, delivering improvement in planning services across the country. Anna started her planning career advising NFU members on planning, transport and environmental law before moving to Rugby Borough Council and becoming their Head of Planning and Culture at Rugby. In 2014 she became Milton Keynes Council’s Director of Growth, Economy and Culture. Anna is a past President of the Planning Officers Society; a trustee of the TCPA and sits as the practitioner on the RTPI accreditation boards for the planning courses at UCL and Birmingham City University. She is an active peer reviewer for the LGA and a regular speaker on strategic planning issues, growth focussed planning and improving the customer experience.

ARANVIR GAWERA

Aran is an urban planner at Leicester City Council. He helps write policies which will shape his home city in the interest of the diverse communities he grew up with. Aran’s specialist areas include climate change, the natural environment, open space and sports provision, and creating healthy and sustainable new homes. He was a task force member of the Raynsford Review and is now a Trustee of the Town and Country Planning Association. More widely, he continues to encourage young people to engage with the planning system and consider working in the public sector, as well as finding other opportunities to make the profession more inclusive and diverse.

DANNA WALKER

Danna Walker is the founder and director of Built By Us - a social enterprise and an elected board member of the Architects Registration Board. Her career spans over 25 years in the construction and built environment sector and has encompassed a variety of roles from an electrician to Architect and strategic projects lead at the Construction Industry Council. She is a diversity and mentoring champion who chaired the RIBA’s Architects for Change Advisory Group for 6 years and founded the innovative FLUID Diversity Mentoring Programme, designed to provide support for practitioners seeking career progression. A finalist in the Precious Awards 2015, which celebrates the achievements of women of colour, Danna champions a more inclusive built environment and construction industry.

JON FAULKNER

Jon is an international development practitioner, working on rights, equity and good governance in fragile and conflict-affected states. He began his career in the Australian foreign service, has had roles as a CEO and director of international development companies and non-profits, and is currently consulting on humanitarian issues. After long stints in the Middle East, South Asia and West Africa, he is now settled in London, and is increasingly focused on equity and sustainability issues in the UK.

JULES PIPE

As Deputy Mayor of London for Planning, Regeneration & Skills Jules is working on key priorities for the city, including: revision of the London Plan, major regeneration projects across the capital, ensuring London’s infrastructure needs are delivered to benefit all Londoners, and building a skills system that properly addresses the needs of young people and the economy. Jules has an unrivalled knowledge of London government, becoming the first directly elected mayor of Hackney in 2002 and serving as Chair of London Councils from 2010 until he joined the Mayor’s team in 2016.

LUCINDA TURNER

Lucinda Turner has a dual role as both Assistant Director of Planning at the Greater London Authority and Director of Spatial Planning at Transport for London. She commenced this joint role in 2020. She joined TfL in 2006 as Policy Manager for Congestion Charging, leading policy development and stakeholder management for the scheme, having previously been Head of Infrastructure (covering planning, property, transport and regional policy) at the CBI. She moved into TfL Planning developing Crossrail S106 / CIL funding policy, leading work on the Mayor's Transport Strategy, and being the environmental champion for TfL, working with the GLA to develop the Mayor's Air Quality Strategy.

She was the Secretariat to the Mayor’s Road Task Force establishing a strategic framework for the management, design and development of London’s streets and road network ensuring that ‘place’ was considered fully alongside ‘link’ functions. For the past 5 years, she has been leading TfL’s work on Spatial Planning, working to integrate land use and transport planning and promote more sustainable transport outcomes.

MEETA KAUR

Meeta Kaur is a chartered town planner and a UK qualified planning solicitor. She is a founding partner of Town Legal LLP, a specialist planning law firm. Before joining Town, Meeta was a planning solicitor at city law firm King and Wood Mallesons (formerly SJ Berwin) and prior to that a planning officer at Westminster Council. She has many years’ experience in advising on a wide range of development schemes of all types and scale, including urban extensions. However, her specialism is large scale mixed-use redevelopment and regeneration schemes, both in London and across the country. Meeta has been involved with the Royal Town Planning Institute at both a regional and national level for over 20 years and is currently on the board of trustees of the RTPI and chair of the Membership and Ethics Committee.

RAFE BERTRAM

Rafe Bertram is a sustainability expert and founding contributor of InnerPlanet, a data-led initiative to enable a collaborative and sustainable lifestyle. He joined the third cohort of Public Practice as Sustainability Lead for Meridian Water, Enfield’s flagship £6bn regeneration programme of an 87-hectare site. Rafe worked with Councillors, Directors, Heads of Service, the community and partners to drive Enfield’s vision for Meridian Water as aligned at the forefront of sustainable development worldwide. Prior to Public Practice, Rafe worked for Foster+Partners for 18 years, running projects ranging from tents for the Red Cross to retail venues for Apple and eco smart cities. He now continues his work at Enfield and Meridian Water, helping to embed climate action and sustainable strategies into all projects, workstreams and activities.

SARAH CARY

Sarah Cary is the Executive Director for Regeneration and Environment at Enfield Council. Sarah leads services that are central to Enfield residents’ quality of life, such as waste collection, recycling, street cleaning, building control and planning. She is also responsible for Enfield’s longer-term development plans, including ambitious plans for Meridian Water, which aims to bring 10,000 new homes and thousands of jobs to the borough. Sarah has a PhD in town planning and was previously at British Land, where she worked in the development team on major projects such as Regents Place, The Leadenhall Building and Canada Water before becoming Head of Sustainable Places with responsibility for environmental and social matters across the company.

TARA GBOLADE

Tara Gbolade is co-director of award-winning Gbolade Design Studio that specialises in residential and mixed-use developments for public and private sector clients through insight-led place-making. She sits on a few Design Review Panels including RBKC, Merton, and Lambeth where she advises the council on major planning applications. Tara joined Public Practice as an Associate in our second cohort where she was placed in Epping Forest District Council. She remains working on the Harlow & Gilston Garden Town development and supporting their Sustainability Guidance; setting the ambition and standards for Environmental & Socio-Economic sustainability; ensuring that high-quality sustainable design is embedded within new developments, and, in the regeneration of existing communities.

JOBS

Our team is changing and growing. For the last four years, we have been curating a placement programme for built environment practitioners to enter the public sector and partnering with local authorities to identify the skills they need to create better places. As we evolve and expand nationally, we are looking for team members to help us work towards our mission and vision.

We are currently not looking to hire any new team members at this time.