Meet the DEAL Community

Oxford

Researcher & facilitator based in Oxford, UK. Climate psychologist, board member of Climate Psychology Alliance.  Doctoral thesis on what it feels like to work on the climate crisis.  I offer psychological support to those facing the climate crisis, and facilitate climate cafés. I’m also a local climate activist with Low Carbon Oxford North. 

Hertford

My background is as a lawyer, academic and as a professional barrister. I was published by Oxford University Press on hardback at the age of 25. I have worked as a barrister engaged with business (money related) claims for 25 years. I'm 47 at the time of writing this (2022).  I studied law, accountancy and economics. I have become a bit bored or disillusioned of law, most especially jurisprudence as an academic concept since it is so often trumped in favour of practical pragmatism in any individual case.  I am a devotee of trying to find a way to bring progressive economic ideas into action to solve the world ills. My current hobby project is writing a reasonably light hearted book, hopefully amusing and accessible to an average non-academic reader, which can also (gently) introduce readers to new ideas cropping up around the world which lead to a fair balanced community. Spreading the word of Donut Economics through gently opening the world's eyes to a better way of living. 

Telford, UK

Cabinet member for Climate Change, Natural and Historic Environment and Cultural Services at Telford and Wrekin Council. 

Republic of Korea

COO of DSC LABEL Web 3 Builder

Zurich

Risk governance expert active in sustainable and digital investment management Adjunct professor finance ethics

Amsterdam

I've started a neighbourhood movement to connect people by using their wish for a clean and more connected neighbourhood as a starting point.  So far we've given free trashcans to shopkeepers, hold clean square parties, free fotoworkshops to explore the neighbourhood resulting in a photo exhibition on the square, neighbourhood parties to bring people together, and art from trash project, a project to bring awareness to the massive amounts of trash on the street and our biggest project; the painting of a grey, rundown and unsafe underpass with the help of more than hundred people.

Lajeado

Hello people, my name is Ana and I am a nature admirer. 

Amsterdam

Extending the life of ICT hardware

Netherlands

Circular economy and circular supply chain consultant

erding

Born at 320ppm http://sealevel.info/co2.html climate worried physicist turned product manager

La Paz, Bolivia

Research Associate, SDSN Bolivia

Belgium

Berlin, Germany

I’m a Berlin-based consultant that brings a wealth of experience in corporate affairs, organisational culture and   management,  and engagement strategies. My journey has taken me through co-founding and being active in a student business ethics network, several years in the space of global health and business impact model innovation within Big Pharma, experiencing first-hand the joys and challenges of being an intrapreneur and recently working at B Lab Switzerland (a local NGO, part of a global movement to use business as a force for good). Since September 2022, I have started pursuing a more entrepreneurial path as a consultant to be able to fully live my purpose and passion of encouraging people to be true to ourself, our values and take action to co-creating systemic change. I hold a Bachelor degree in International Cultural and Business Studies and a Master degree in Development Economics and Sustainability Management. Having lived, studied and worked in Germany, Canada, Switzerland, Peru and Bolivia, I am experienced in intercultural communications and working in international teams and organisations. I am fluent in German, English, Spanish and French and have knowledge of Italian. My goal over the coming months is to complement my skill set with a coaching training and to continuously experiment, learn and grow jointly with the Gamechanger community so we can lead and embody the transition towards a healthier, more meaningful and   future.

Ukraine

My name is  Bohdan, I'm from Ukraine, writing to you as a part of our great live community) We are creating nature collaborative education for childrens, girls on own land. There is a small house, several creative workshops, horses for learning and a farm in few words..) Our education is alive, closely connected with nature and natural processes. Now we have many children, but there are not enough places and living conditions need improvement. So we began to reconstruct another house, as the House of Creativity, restored the source of water - the lake. But without your help, we cannot do anything now. Development requires financial support. I am ready to chat/talk with you, provide more specific information with a photo. I hope your heart is open to the new, unknown! :) Thank you, have a nice day!

Nijmegen, The Netherlands

I am an Assistant Professor at the chair group of Economic Theory and Policy at Radboud University. I am co-coordinating the multi-disciplinary hotspot Transformative sustainable change in Action at my institute and lead the Participatory Policy Hub with Sustainable Futures Global. My research focuses on transformations and transformative governance towards post-growth and post-development models. My main empirical focus is West and Central Africa.   Since my first year as a student in economics, I have been struggling with the content of what I learned. I was lucky enough however to study at a University (Lille) with a real pluralist non-mainstream institute (Clersé, gathering heterodox economists and sociologists), and realised how much the assumptions and foundations of the economics field are wicked. Now I am back as an Assistant Professor in an economics department in the Netherlands that is not the usual type and one of my goals being an academic is to contribute to changing the discipline and the way we teach from the inside.  Being part of this action lab is an amazing opportunity for this. Besides, we can see so many changes in society as in academia. However, economics departments are not changing or very slowly in comparison, and it is urgently needed as economists are mainly heard when formulating recommendations. Let’s join forces!    

Ramapo College of New Jersey

Ashwani Vasishth – Bio-sketch  (June 20th, 2025)  vasishth@ramapo.edu (323) 206-1858 I am a retired Professor of Sustainability, who directed both the BA in Sustainability and the BA in Environmental Studies.  I was also Director of the Center for Sustainability at Ramapo College of New Jersey.  I was the founding Chair of the President’s Committee on Campus Sustainability from 2010 through 2025, which has the mission of promoting sustainable practices throughout the campus and of building a deeply pervasive culture of sustainability within the community.  I was past-President of the New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability (NJHEPS).   My pedagogy has been focused on taking a whole systems approach to depicting wicked problems in the context of adaptive intervention, and on Education for Sustainability (EfS) from within a truly interdisciplinary framework. I also have an interest in looking for alternative ways to articulate more viable alternatives to the morass of memes which we call "Capitalism." I have a background in informal architecture (self-help and vernacular), international development, systems thinking (ecosystem approach and soft-systems thinking), and whole systems sustainability (transdisciplinary and beyond environmentalism).

Paris, France

I'm a current master's student at UAB studying degrowth. Past director of content @ ClimateScience, an educational NGO creating accessible and reliable content focused on climate solutions.

Aalst, Belgium

Hi, I am Walter from Belgium. I am an economist by degree and a CFO by profession.   I have lived and worked almost my entire life abroad: first 10 years in Africa, then 20 years in the Middle East and finally (but unfortunately only) 1 year in Asia. It was a bit of an adaptation when returning to Belgium after 30+ years. I worked primarily in the construction, engineering and energy sectors. Since returning to Belgium I started my own consultancy business (in finance obviously).   Since my younger days in the 70s and 80s, I have always felt aligned with the green movement but that got a bit lost in transition as I lived abroad and my career became my prime focus. Since returning back to Belgium, I took it up in a serious manner and became a Climate Corps Reality Leader. As a result, I equally want to focus my consultancy business on the intersection of sustainability, strategy and finance. In particular, I would like to help companies imptove on their ESG ratings and transition from a linear to a circular business model.     Besides my personal passion about the environment, social justice, good governance etc, I equally feel that my generation has to give something back to the younger generations and I want to make sure that my kids, grandkids and their kids still live on a healthy, bio-diverse blue dot in a just and equal manner.   I look forward engaging with and learning from all of you!

Denmark

Working as civil engineer within sustainable building - and urban design, and passionate about spreading the good intentions with circular economic initiatives in my projects.  I'm here to absorb from the abundant knowledge buffet, and get intrigued by the new economic thinking, which could be relevant in building- and urban development desing.  Feel free to reach out, if you think I need to participate in wide-ranging talks on circular economy or you think I can help you in some kind of way with regards to circular economy.  #liveability  

Liverpool

I am a creative popular education practitioner, and performance maker. Amongst others, I work with Collective Encounters Theatre for Social Change. I am also a Post Graduate Researcher at Edge Hill University, starting a PhD investigating radically generative transition communities. I am interested in the power of performance to imagine and realise new ways of building communities that integrate social, racial, and climate justice, and heal individual and collective trauma. I always knew there was something fishy about economics as taught at Universities and projected on the media when on day one of my undergraduate course a lecturer asked me to believe that consumers make rational decisions. 

Frankfurt, Germany

Change enthusiast, mother of 4, executive director of investment company, speaker, agile coach, ex-management consultant. During my studies (Mathematical Finance) I was strongly felt, that something was lacking in this education. After finally reading "Doughnut Economics" I sincerely believe that it's contents are able to fill this gap. I am a learner, so learning about those ideas made me crave more.

London

I'm an urban designer, planner and economist who is passionate about improving social integration, equity and inclusion in and through place. I work on the regeneration of Tottenham for London Borough of Haringey, building the capacity of local communities to co-design and co-deliver change they want to see.          

Sydney, Australia

Hi, I’m based in Sydney, Australia. 

Chicago, IL

I am an Assistant Professor of Management at the University of Illinois Chicago. My research interests lie at the intersection of social movements, markets, and sustainability. I examine how activists pressure firms and industries to change their socially and environmentally detrimental practices, as well as how they support new sustainable industries. Additionally, I study how targeted firms and markets push back against this pressure, especially through the creation of corporate front groups. I teach an undergraduate course that covers topics on business and society, and I have classes that explore circular economies, closed-loop systems, and biomimicry. I have my students watch a video on doughnut economics as part of this content. My interest in the DEAL Community is in continuing to learn, accessing new content to share with my students, and hopefully in the future engaging in research, education, and advocacy that can advance this approach to economic systems.