What are the futures we’re building towards, how can we take inspiration from decolonial movements and practices already ongoing, and what resources are needed for reimagining and implementation?
80% of emissions are decided at design stage, so I coined ‘Access As A Creative Tool’ to embed accessibility, equity and sustainability in creative decisions. It’s now a consultation framework addressing gaps shaped over +5 years by target communities, and has growing demand from captive local and global networks with increasing decision fatigue.
With a world overrun by consumption, who are we creating for? And who isn’t in the room? As an award-winning multi-disciplinary producer and creative researcher with +13 years in the creative industries, I’m passionate about providing tangible tools and resources that shift behaviour, cognitive thinking and creative decision-making patterns that normalise innovative inclusive practices.
Guided by two development aims, I will research decolonial initiatives in artisanal craftsmanship and Global Majority-led regenerative systems through residencies in Latin America (Costa Rica & Colombia) and West Africa (Nigeria). I aim to:
- Decentralise AAACT Process via Toolkit & Archive Website | decentralise my award-winning process by developing tangible creative resources like the AAACT toolkit and archive website with support from 3 paid Critical Friends & Testers, normalising inclusive and environmentally responsible decision-making at critical stages across creative sectors
- Evolve Creative Practice & Multi-Sensory Showcase | evolve my signature ‘naturtraits’ design style by developing new immersive work that fosters cultural belonging across borders and reflects the growth in my artistic career
💡 FACTS & FIGURES
This project responds to a systemic challenge: up to 80% of a product’s emissions are determined at design stage. Likewise, research underpins this project. While the Equality Act 2010 protects equal access to public space, Groundwork’s 2021 Out of Bounds report found almost 40% of Global Majority people live in the most greenspace-deprived areas, and 53% of people with long-term illness had not visited urban nature within 14 days. The UK environmental sector also remains one of the least ethnically diverse industries. This R&D responds directly to those inequities.
Research underpins this project. Click ‘Facts & Figures‘ for some additional stats that this project responds to.
// BACKGROUND
Access As A Creative Tool has been incorporated into and supported other partners’ programmes, frameworks, and reports, such as Plymouth Culture’s Sea For Yourself, Channel 4, Julie’s Bicycle, and Citizens For Culture. Below is an overview of some notable projects that have underpinned the development of the ‘Access As A Creative Tool’ framework itself.
| Project | Overview | Partners |
| Nature As A Resting Tool x Come Together | Exploring hybrid tech x bringing local communities together through access, equity and sustainability | Knowle West Media Centre |
| TEST: Inclusive Spaces | Testing how to make equity, accessibility and nature-inspired elements adaptable to different region in UK | Pervasive Media Studio (Watershed/UWE/University of Bristol); ACE; MAIA Group (Birmingham) |
| The Big Plastic Count | ||
| ‘Where do we go when we_____?’ (WDWGWW) x Grounding Technology | Refining how to implement AAACT’s intersectional accessibility principles through researching neurodiverse-friendly components in multi-sensory experiences that connect marginalised people to nature/sustainability | Pervasive Media Studio (Watershed/UWE/University of Bristol); Wake The Tiger, and Studio Morsi collab team: Ruby (maker and design); Posi (tech and hybrid); Yelena (prod assist); Lutia (film documentation)) |
| Personal 2 Planetary Fellowship | Refining patent approach to develop a blueprint that could be self-sustaining and long-term support communities engaged with | University of Bristol: Brigstow Institute x Cabot Institute for the Environment |
| From Ghana to Bristol: Reimagining Reparative Justice | How to use arts, indigenous knowledge and decolonial practices to inform reparative justice work – embedding equity, accessibility and sustainability | University of Bristol: Brigstow Institute; A Journey Home; Bristol Museum; Pangolin Gh (Ghana) |
Click ‘The AAACT Journey‘ section above to display an overview of some notable projects that have underpinned the development of the ‘Access As A Creative Tool’ framework itself.
// PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
Where do we go when we ________? research developed neurodiverse-friendly principles and 3x prototype concepts for sustainable multi-sensory spaces with Wake The Tiger, Pervasive Media Studio and Studio Morsi’s intersectional ND community (51.9% low socio-economic background; over 50% People of Colour; 43% chronically ill/disabled; 35% LGBTQIA+).
These accessibility, sustainability and equity-led insights shape this next R&D phase. I was recently awarded ‘2025 Emerging Innovator’ (BEYOND/UKRI/British Council), and nominated by Watershed in recognition of my research-led approach to inclusive storytelling.
Read the showcase report here.
💡FUN FACT: This was the notable project where I was advised to trademark and patent ‘Access As A Creative Tool’. Instead, I took on the Personal to Planetary fellowship to explore how to build a self-sustaining structure that could benefit the communities who have been part of its journey.
In my 2021 ‘Come Together‘ residency with Knowle West Media Centre and MAIA Group, I delivered the project ‘Nature As A Resting Tool‘. It utilised co-created methods, hybrid tools, and mindful adventure prompts to connect together marginalised communities in-person and online who had been fractured during COVID.
💡 For this R&D project, I aim to evolve the ‘Nature As Resting Tool’ workshop components (mini adventure prompts and reflective questions) into a (beta) cardgame to engage participants and inspire how they reimagine their practices during the process.
Listen to the NAART soundscapes here.
For NAART, it was important to me to use hybrid technology that could meaningfully engage intersectional groups that were intergenerational, mixed heritage, mixed abilities and more. I produced two mindfulness soundscapes inspired by this time as well as a series of ‘Naturtrait’ collages. Attendee evaluations praised the workshops for its accessibility for both in-person and virtual participants, and much of this is due to my inclusive approach; where meeting access needs is seen as a creative tool instead of a logistical challenge.
The first audio piece used a mixture of ambient sounds, meditation techniques and reflective prompts to take listeners, at the height of COVID, on a journey of reconnecting with what rest looks like to them – and invites them to consider how they may find that place (again). I produced a soundscape with a local resident and walking guide, Vince White, to reflect on his local environment and how it had evolved overtimes and dreams for the future. It has since been used countless of times across the country over the last few years.
Using the photographs captured by the participants, I also created ‘naturtrait’ collage designs that were later presented at the final showcase. Attendees were also invited to use these disposable print to create their own collages using prompts provided.
Below are a series of photographs from the test sessions we held with local people in-person and online.
My signature ‘Naturtraits’ style juxtaposes human and nature silhouettes through photography and digital art to explore our connection with the ecosystem. By illustrating the connection between diverse people and nature through the ‘Naturtraits‘ style, it aims to celebrate marginalised people within climate discourse, whilst also reimagining how people see nature and rest as necessary for building resilience in climate action.
Most notably seen at scale when I commissioned as The World Reimagined’s Globe Art. I researched, designed and hand-painted the 1.7m sculpture, ‘Maize & Grace: The Courageous Stories Of Afrikan Environmental Heroes & Sovereignty Guardians’. It was later exhibited in Trafalgar Square and The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, and spoke at The House Of Lords and BBC World News on the themes in my work.
For this R&D project, I hope to investigate how waste and artisanal craft is used creatively in Nigeria to develop a new series of mixed-media mosaic tapestries using reclaimed materials & circular processes. By bridging my textile science academic background with hands-on experimentation, it aims to develop my ‘naturtraits’ style to deliver a creative series that incorporates AAACT process, reflects the growth in my practice and the evolution of my expertise.
I would then also photograph these mosaic-style tapestries in nature and urban settings to add further context.
Some reference images below:
Co-lead artist and creative researcher for the From Ghana To Bristol project. Building on two years of consultations following Iman Sultan West uncovering that the Bristol Museum’s taxidermy pangolin labelled “From Africa” was in fact taken from Cape Coast, Ghana in 1825.
It involved a 1.5-month residency in Ghana with local creatives, farmers, social enterprises and academics. We explored how arts, indigenous wisdom and sustainable practices can inform new approaches to addressing colonial harm. This research is now informing Bristol Museum’s repatriation strategy in A Journey Home in collaboration with Iman Sultan West and Dr Edson Burton – where the ‘Access As A Creative Tool’ framework supports consultations on replication, sustainability, and materiality. It aims to reconsider how a museum can serve a modern population and future generations to come, and provide tangible immersive insights of key findings from this research (ref: Narrative Observatory by Harmony Labs).
Likewise, aim to develop an interactive archive site for AAACT that decentralises our award-winning processes in a way that is engaging and brings thought-provoking research to life (instead of good insights going to die in a .pdf)
