Dr. Jak Spencer is an award-winning researcher and designer focused on people centred innovation projects. He is a founding partner at Urban Scale Interventions, a creative studio that uses design thinking to support public and private organisations in people-centred innovation to tackle challenges in the places we live, work and play. With notable projects in Northern Ireland, the studio specialises in culture-led development in cities, improving wellbeing and mental health in public space and co-designing government policies and strategies.

His PhD in design for sustainable behaviour change from Loughborough University in the UK developed a framework for understanding and influencing behaviour across different markets. In industry, he has led a diverse array of people-centred innovation and strategy projects for global brands including Google, Facebook, IKEA and Unilever. He is an established researcher, having led the Social and Global Research Space at the Royal College of Art, Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design in London. He has been involved in design research projects across the globe, with a particular focus on improving mental health and wellbeing, from Brazil to India and from Mozambique to Northern Ireland. His research interests lie in developing the methods and tools of people-centred design to solve difficult global social and business challenges. He recently co-authored Design for Global Challenges and Goals for Routledge, which looks at the role design can play in helping to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.