The Board of Trustees
Thomas Ugo Ermacora. SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR. FATHER. EXPLORER.
Thomas is a passionate dano-italian urbanist and geographer acting mostly as a creative social entrepreneur focused on sustainability. After working with architecture and planning professions on Zero Carbon projects in Europe, he shifted towards a trust in participatory design practices and started CLEAR VILLAGE to rethink space, one village at a time and focus on upgrading the existing with communities. Thomas also runs the transition consultancy Etikstudio to promote sensible lifestyles through experience platforms such as exhibits and events for which he currently acts as Strategy & Creative Director, involving curatorial practice and concept design. One of the main outcomes has been a travelling platform exhibition on cycling culture called Dreams on Wheels in collaboration with Gehl Architects and Biomega amongst others. It has been touring for 8 years now and been seen by over a million people since it was selected as official COP15 prelude and supported by the Danish Foreign Ministry. Beyond these activities he has owned an organic slowfood-inspired restaurant, a webtv production company and acts as business angel or board member in a few early stage green start-ups such as Ethical Economy ltd making value-based performance tools, the Material Connexion Award 2009 nominee Cellucomp ltd and Inhabitat.com , the largest online sustainable design publication. Regional Ambassador for INDEX, member of Bioneers and Royal Society of Arts Fellow, he was recently appointed advisor to the RIBA Building Futures think tank. Thomas is the Founder of CLEAR VILLAGE.
Alice Holmberg. DESIGNER. CHAOS PROCESSOR. OPTIMIST.
Alice focuses on the sustainable social impact of design –both immaterial and material. Her work covers a wide spectrum of design, ranging from high-end fashion to community focus. She has also researched the impact of fashion culture on the individual identity in a global perspective, a publication about which will soon be out on the streets. She has been awarded membership of the German National Academic Foundation for her socially responsible conceptual designs and of TED for her entrepreneurial energies and is a fellow of the RSA in London.
The encounter of the completely abstract and the earthbound is her home ground and she facilitates discussions that go from principles to action points. As such, she has been a part of developing a new university faculty, helps companies connect pre-industrial potential with post-modern values and is never short of a good plan and a smile. At CLEAR VILLAGE, she applies her creative and entrepreneurial powers as a member of the Board of Trustees as well as the Think Team.
Paul Hughes.DESIGN PRACTITIONER. DESIGN PHILOSOPHER. THOUGHT LEADER.
Paul works to find the right balance between theory and practice within the field of design. His place of repeated practice is Amsterdam, and he holds a variety of visiting lectures to share his understanding on the theory of design. For CLEAR VILLAGE, Paul is a Trustee and a member of the Think Team.
In our interconnected world we are facing global challenges, across every aspect of life, challenges we have never faced before, Paul believes that these challenges are in essence design challenges. It is this broad scope of design that he feels we are called to address. We can feel empowered to do so once we realize that we can analyse the past because it exists, however the future does not yet exist therefore we need to design it. Paul’s training and practice move from the level of the individual through community to government. For individuals his focus is on Design Thinking where reflective action is encouraged. For communities and organisations his focus is on Co-creation where the skill of consultation is developed. For governments and institutions his focus is on stimulating Design Ecologies where the emergent qualities are sought after. He believes CLEAR VILLAGE works to create, stimulate, and nourish each of these levels.
Wouter Steiner. LAWYER. ENTREPRENEUR. POSITIVIST.
Wouter acts as lawyer for companies specialised in green energy and mobile communication, he is one of the CLEAR VILLAGE Trustees and our special capacity for commercial and legal advise.
Operations Team
Karsten Stampa. ECONOMIST. SHEPHERD. CURIOUS.
After studying economics in Berlin, Karsten started his professional life as a business consultant for several German financial institutions in strategic management, re-engineering, financial planning and control. During his master studies in Berlin and Cambridge he concentrated on how to control clusters of creative industries and sustainable creative businesses, the reason he came in touch with CLEAR VILLAGE. Within the organisation, Karsten is responsible for the organisational development and also a member of the CLEAR VILLAGE Think Team, where he concentrates on the economic side of a CLEAR VILLAGE – how to set up, develop and use regional economic development approaches to foster sustainable (economic) communities.
Frank van Hasselt. PHILOSOPHER. SCRIBBLER. LOGICIAN.
Frank grew up in Holland and Hong Kong and studied philosophy & modern languages at Oxford. As well as writing several novels and screenplays, he has also worked at a variety of companies across Europe. Most recently he has been in charge of strategic accounts at Ethical Economy, a London-based company which enables individuals and organisations to live their values. Frank’s interest in language on the one hand and in ‘philosophy in action’ on the other attracted him to the idea of contributing to CLEAR VILLAGE’s communications.
Robin Houterman. URBANIST. DEVELOPER. GLOBAL VILLAGER.
With a background in urban planning and design, Robin has worked both on theory and practice of urban regeneration in the Netherlands. Predominantly working for social housing associations, he has specialised in using new housing developments to achieve social goals. He is currently enrolled in an Msc in Urbanisation & Development at the London School of Economics with the goal of understanding urbanism from a developmental perspective, particularly in cities in the global south.
Hana Hull. LINGUIST. MUSER. PHILANTROPE.
Hana is a native Londoner and is currently a part time student of Linguistics with French & Portuguese at Birkbeck College. Having come to join the team from a similar position at Ethical Economy Ltd, she is greatly enthused by Clear Village’s vision & mission.
George Brooks. ENGINEER. TECHNOLOGIST. CONTEMPORARY.
George is currently studying Acoustics & Audio Engineering in London, and got involved with CLEAR VILLAGE through a recent community project. George joins the CLEAR VILLAGE operations team with a background in technology, communications & marketing.
Think Team
Henning is currently Head of Planning at Schonherr. He was formerly Head of DAC Sustainable Cities and part of DACʼs management team. In 2008, he became a member of the Danish green think tank CONCITO and of the World Future Council Expert Commission on Cities and Climate Change.
Jennifer Leonard. San Francisco.
Jennifer co-authored “Massive Change” with Bruce Mau, a book about the future of global design, voted 1 of 5 top books of 2004 by Wallpaper magazine. She is a specialist in research and communication methods and interdisciplinary Project Leader at IDEO.
Dr Kristina Börjesson. Sweden/UK/France.
Kristina holds a PhD and is Research Associate at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. She is dedicated to the designed object and its contribution to holistic sustainable development.
Daniel holds a BSc (Hons) in Biology from the University of Edinburgh, an MSc in Holistic Science from Schumacher College, and a PhD in Sustainability from the Centre for the Study of Natural Design (University of Dundee), where he is a research supervisor. Daniel works part-time as the academic director of Findhorn College and as a researcher for the International Futures Forum.
Chris is a partner at Terrapin Bright Green, a strategic environmental consulting group, and a senior associate at Cook+Fox Architects. His interests include high-performance design at both the building and community scale, zero energy communities, biomimicry, and water conservation.
Korinna is a Senior Designer with Arup Urban Design and has led several strategic Masterplans for both urban regeneration projects and new towns, most recently for the eco-town for Leicester.
After creating works for architects such as Rem Koolhaas and Thomas Sandell, Filipe is working on his own vision of Evolutionary Architecture, which uses his profession as an instrument to accelerate global development.
Alastair trained as an Anthropologist and his wildlife photography took him around the world with the BBC and WWF. His current work as a facilitator and leadership adviser supports projects such as CLEAR VILLAGE.
KRISTINA BORJESSONClear Village Think Team & Research Associate at Central St Martins College
