Humans are now predominantly an urban species. Cities are responsible for much of the world's consumption and pollution, and poor quality urban environments are exerting increasing pressure on population health. Climate change and dwindling resources are exerting an increasingly urgent time pressure too. We need to learn as quickly as possible how the places we now live in can provide high quality of life for all. 

Research is critical to finding solutions to these global challenges, yet over time an institutionalised separation has grown between academia and the "real world": career paths tend not to overlap between the two worlds, deep specialisms tend not to allow easy integration with different knowledge domains, and there are important ethical factors that need to be considered, particularly when there is commercial or other benefit.
We explore this challenging, complex area. We work closely with leading academics, funders and forward-thinking industry partners, all of whom are interested in and passionate about addressing these global challenges. We conceptualise research bids with lead academics, bring teams together and co-coordinate projects and their disciplinary integration, constantly reorienting towards real world impact.

We also help public and private sector organisations to maximise health and sustainability in their development proposals and corporate operations, and locally we undertake impact assessments ​for large-scale urban development projects.
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"Daniel's enthusiasm and attention to detail is amazing. He is such a 'can do' person, and his communication skills are excellent. This energy goes a long way to catalysing a huge amount of interesting work."

​Judy Orme
Professor of Public Health & Sustainability
Health and Applied Sciences, UWE Bristol
"Daniel is a super-energetic networker and communicator. His enthusiasm for crossing boundaries has led to an array of forward-thinking interdisciplinary projects."

Kathy Pain
Chair in Real Estate Development and Director of Research, Real Estate and Planning, Henley Business School
​Associate Director of Global City Planning, Globalisation and World Cities (GaWC) Research Network
More testimonials here...
How we add value
  • ​We break out of traditional silos, link new disciplines and institutions, enabling new partnerships
  • We co-create and enable exciting inter- and trans-disciplinary working practice, opening up new areas of research
  • We bridge gaps in understanding and communication between academia and real world practitioners​
  • We help organisations maximise health and sustainability
  • ​We consistently realign research towards real world impact
  • We recognize commercial and other real world constraints, yet always push the boundaries of what is possible
  • We recognise that health must come first, and that for people to help others they must look after themselves too ​

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