Mike Duff

Mike Duff Email and Phone Number

Regenerative Urban Designer / Degrowth Living Lab Leader / Permaculture & Agroforestry @ Dark Matter Labs
amsterdam, noord-holland, netherlands
Mike Duff's Location
Catalonia, Spain, Spain
Mike Duff's Contact Details

Mike Duff work email

Mike Duff personal email

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About Mike Duff

Mike is a regenerative systems designer, farmer, father and local councillor, creating urban & regional scale, physical, governance, environmental and economic systems. Mike works at the design, consultancy, policy, “hands dirty” implementation and feedback phases, on projects aiming to assure abundance and resilience within planetary boundaries, with marginalized groups in the designer’s chair. He has degrees in Philosophy & Social Psychology; Urban Sociology, Economics & City Systems Design; and Architecture, Urbanism & Sustainability, and has pursued further education in Permaculture, Ecological Economics, Degrowth, Nature-based Solutions, Co-creation, Eco-Feminism, Participatory Governance and Non-Violent Protest. Mike has worked around the world as Design Lead and “System of Systems” designer in the environmental and urban planning sector, developing transdisciplinary plans in the sectors of urban renewal, [so-called] ‘development’, post-conflict planning and more recently post-capitalist and pre-collapse planning. He works by co-creating with local communities in tandem with government, donors, the private sector, universities, and academia. Between 2002 & 2015 he developed and set up strategic planning and systems design departments in four built environment consultancies, leading & stewarding diverse teams of designers, engineers, architects, ecologists, governance experts and economists from start-up to project success. Recently he and his co-director / partner Michelle created a successful retreat centre and regenerative farm in the Costa Brava, hosting educational experiences in nature, where Regenerative Design, Community Self-Sufficiency and Permaculture are taught. He and Michelle were invited to join the Research & Degrowth Association, with their project as a “Living Lab”, in 2020. Mike continues to consult and has served his municipality as elected Urbanism and Participatory Governance councillor, since 2019. He is an accomplished public speaker, on TV, in the Economist Magazine, in conferences, and as a guest lecturer on complexity & systems-thinking, participatory design, and alternative economics, at the LSE Cities Programme, UCL Bartlett School of Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Universitat de Girona’s School of Architecture. He is currently a Final Project Supervisor for Masters students in Political Ecology, Degrowth and Environmental Justice at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

Mike Duff's Current Company Details
Dark Matter Labs

Dark Matter Labs

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Regenerative Urban Designer / Degrowth Living Lab Leader / Permaculture & Agroforestry
amsterdam, noord-holland, netherlands
Employees:
32
Mike Duff Work Experience Details
  • Dark Matter Labs
    Systems Change Lead: Cities Transition Mission
    Dark Matter Labs Mar 2023 - Present
    Global
    I've joined DML to work primarily on the EU NetZeroCities team, building and delivering systemic city transformation strategies for climate-neutrality and implementing radical actions with local governments and multi-actor coalitions in cities. I will be working on the design and implementation, in multiple cities, of approaches accelerating emission reductions - catalysing collective action locally and building & driving impactful portfolios of actions reducing GHG emissions.
  • Universitat Autònoma De Barcelona
    Adjunct Professor, Masters In Political Ecology, Degrowth & Ecological Justice
    Universitat Autònoma De Barcelona Mar 2023 - Present
    Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
    This masters is delivered jointly by the UAB and the Research and Degrowth Association International, for which our centre, La Bruguera de Púbol, is one of 4 Living Labs. My work coordinating this new, practical module in the masters, will be to write the curriculum, deliver the La Bruguera teaching component (on site at La Bruguera), and coordinate the teaching work delivered by the other 3 Living Labs. Developing a practical module to the degree has emerged as an important new front, after 6 years of the Masters. Making sure that students leave the masters aware of the systemic change necessary in the global, national, regional and municipal economies around them is important, but they must also leave with practical skills ripe for lowering their own environmental impact, but also be ready for a changing world, which is likely to take on many forms, and require skills we have stopped teaching in schools over the last 100 years. My job is to co-create this module, with the other Living Labs, who are all practicing alternatives to the growth-motivated capitalist economy, in a few different sectors, and also in the lifestyle space. The module will attempt to link all sorts of practical skills which could be essential to communities (La Bruguera specific ones could be fermentation, food cultivation, local energy generation, local currencies and exchange, soap making, basic medicine production, pickling, agroforestry systems, urban permaculture, water harvesting, etc) and link these to larger themes of the Masters
  • Research & Degrowth
    Living Lab Coordinator
    Research & Degrowth Jul 2020 - Present
    Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
    Living Labs Committee Member (pro bono) Since joining, Mike, as a member of the Living Labs Committee, has been developing a strategy to enable the Living Labs component of the association’s educational output to be more actively linked into the “classroom” education delivered by the Association both in the associated Masters Degree at the UAB, and through the development of Policy Briefs, participation in conferences and events, and production of research.Applied Degrowth Consultant Development of the association’s consulting offering, taking research and knowledge from the academics, research, and policy briefs of the association, and applying this directly to consultancy projects in the real world.
  • Ajuntament De La Pera
    Town Councillor (Regidor): Urbanism & Participatory Governance
    Ajuntament De La Pera Jun 2019 - Present
    La Pera, Catalonia, Spain
    Mike was elected to the Council of the Municipality of La Pera, in the Girona Province of Catalonia, Spain, on a participatory governance and environmental sustainability platform. During his four-year mandate, Mike is charged with representing the citizens of the municipality in matters relating to Urbanism, Planning, Renewable Energy Transition, Public Acquisition of Energy Infrastructure and Participatory Citizen-led projects. One was a co-creation for a new children’s park and square, and the other is ongoing, and relates to the recovery, wayfinding and interpretation of a historic Dolmen on the edge of the municipality. Working directly with the Mayor and the town architect, Mike has also brought the municipality’s regional Strategic Plan to successful completion, and as of early 2022 it is with the Catalan National Government for sign-off after remaining unfinished for the 15 previous years.
  • La Bruguera De Púbol
    Co-Owner/Operator
    La Bruguera De Púbol Jul 2015 - Present
    Púbol, Girona, Spain
    La Bruguera de Púbol is Mike and his partner Michelle’s retreat centre in the Girona - Costa Brava region of Catalonia. Over 7 years since the purchase of this estate, he has led the master planning and large-scale renovation of the 10 acre property, converting it to run entirely on renewable energy; harvest, manage and treat all its own water; and produce the majority of its food (for family, and visiting guests). Mike and Michelle jointly undertook the strategy development, and collaborate on all facets of the business, from teaching permaculture and degrowth masterclasses to visitors, farming the land, mapping and measuring resource use, sustainable procurement, marketing, operations, produce preservation, sales and logistics. The project has been highly successful, been fully booked the last 2 years, invited to become a Living Lab for the R&D Association, and Mike has been asked to present case studies on “devising a Regenerative Business” at several conferences and Universities around Spain where he was asked to present on La Bruguera’s contributions to gender equality and innovative approaches to the fight against climate change.
  • Universitat De Girona
    Guest Lecturer: Schools Of Architecture, Tourism And Lequia Research Centre
    Universitat De Girona Sep 2018 - Present
    Girona, Spain
    I deliver lectures on sustainability, complexity and strategic planning in architecture and urbanism, as well as presenting case studies of our work at @La Bruguera de Pubol, and our contributions to gender equality and ecological sustainability, at the University of Girona in the schools of Architecture, and the Faculty of Tourism.
  • Colab Consulting Group
    Cities Strategy Lead
    Colab Consulting Group Nov 2015 - Jul 2022
    Púbol, Spain
    Mike was a founding member of the CoLab Consulting Group in 2015, directing the urban and regional planning part of the business. CoLab is an agile, international group of highly-skilled, highly-experienced built environment professionals, able to input into or run large strategic planning projects, or integrate into existing design consultancies as a “white label” in-house strategy unit. Mike was charged with running projects for and supporting public sector urban governance clients, who manage portfolios that cross between sectors, providing support, strategic direction, and guidance on urban sustainability, strategy, governance, making the most of the “smart cities” movement, regenerative design, complexity, and computational modelling. In 2022, Mike decided opted to end his association with CoLab, to focus all of his consulting efforts on projects promoting post-capitalist, alternative economic solutions, such as his work with the Research & Degrowth Association, and La Bruguera de Púbol (see “Current Positions”).Highlights- Smart Cities – Development of Modelling Technology for Decision/Options Analysis in Urban Projects;- Clients included: Office of the Prime Minister of Tanzania, The World Bank, The University of Oxford, The Tourism Board of the Government of Catalonia, The UN World Tourism Organisation, The Government of the City of Jinan, China
  • Catalonia Today Sl
    Editor / Translator: Catalonia Today Page
    Catalonia Today Sl Nov 2018 - Nov 2019
    Girona, Spain
    Twice a week, I curate the 'Catalonia Today' page of El Punt Avui, a national newspaper in Catalonia. CT is an English-language page, in which I choose a series of stories from across the El Punt Avui paper, and summarise, shorten, re-shape then translate, for the English-language audience who read the paper online (cataloniatoday.cat, elpuntavui.cat) or in daily paper copies.
  • Catalanmonitor.Com
    Translator (Cat/Fra/Spa->Eng)
    Catalanmonitor.Com Oct 2017 - Jan 2019
    Barcelona Area, Spain
    I translate and upload articles on the Catalan self-determination process, from Catalan, Spanish and French language media onto CatalanMonitor.com, a news monitor keeping a record of press articles and media produced here in Catalonia during the self-determination crisis. I update the website to post the articles, and push them to the CM social media channels.
  • British Cycling
    Cycling Coach (Level 2 & 2B Road & Time Trial)
    British Cycling Jan 2014 - Feb 2018
    Uk & Spain
    Developed customised training programs for road-racing cyclists competing in Elite and Amateur races. Followed progress on Training Peaks, assessed progress, and provided support at regular check-ins.
  • Grow Movement
    Volunteer Business Consultant (#Uganda600 Programme)
    Grow Movement May 2015 - Mar 2016
    Uganda (Via Skype, From London/Spain)
    I delivered 12 sessions of business consultancy to a micro-business owner in Uganda. These sessions were delivered by Skype, with a view to providing business skills to an entrepreneur and unlocking further potential, improving the sustainability of their company, increasing profitability, and creating further employment. I helped Ivan think through a strategy for moving up the logistics chain, from retail to wholesale, in his small IT technology market stall.Grow Movement is working with London Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business to evaluate the impact of virtual consultancy on entrepreneur performance in Uganda. For June 2015, Grow Movement will recruit 600 new volunteer consultants to join our existing global network of over 500 business professionals to support this academic research. This is an incredible opportunity to have our work externally validated enabling Grow to work with policy makers and expand our services rapidly across Africa.
  • Concerto Partners
    Director & Cities Practice Area Leader
    Concerto Partners Aug 2014 - Nov 2015
    London, Uk
    Mike is Concerto’s resident urbanist, helping cities decide what to do next. It is my role to take the core Concerto services, of Strategy, Programme Design & Management, Change Management and Major Project Review / Assurance, and provide these in a sector-appropriate manner to clients working in and around the management of Cities.
  • Future Of London
    Mentor: Future London Leaders Programme
    Future Of London Jan 2015 - Jun 2015
    London, United Kingdom
    Mike is a Senior Mentor in the Future of London's "Future London Leaders" Programme. I am mentoring a younger urban professional from the Greater London Authority, interested in developing their sustainability knowledge, and leadership skills. We'll work together over the course of the programme, from January to June 2015.More about the Programme (from: http://www.futureoflondon.org.uk/future-london-leaders/)Sponsored in part by Lovell and Re, the Future London Leaders programme is exclusive to Future of London members. It has been designed to identify and nurture the career development of London’s most promising regeneration, housing, transport and economic development practitioners.Since its inception in April 2010, over 100 candidates have graduated from FLL and our new Leaders Plus masterclass series. Those alumni are moving up through delivery and decision-making roles across London’s public and private sector, working to deliver a truly liveable London.The programme aims to:Develop candidates’ network and increase exposure to senior professionalsBuild real, working understanding of the multidisciplinary aspects of regenerationDevelop candidates’ leadership and management skills, experience and confidenceEncourage awareness of personal strengths and areas for developmentEncourage active career planningProvide a ‘safe space’ to discuss ideas, problem-solving, and the wider world
  • Wsp Group
    Lead: Future Cities Initiative, Associate Director
    Wsp Group Feb 2012 - Jul 2014
    Wsp House, 70 Chancery Lane, London
    I led the Future Cities Initiative at WSP UK, drawing sector expertise from the breadth of WSP’s business units to deliver joined-up thinking for complex urban problems. This involved leading project work, research (e.g. the Smart and Sustainable Cities report WSP co-wrote for the EIB, http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/thefunds/instruments/doc/jessica/jessica_horizontal_study_smart_and_sustainable_cities_en.pdf ), and developing the business’s links with a broad range of other companies, worldwide.
  • Harvard University
    Founding Member: Working Group For Sustainable Cities
    Harvard University Apr 2008 - Jul 2014
    Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
    I was a Founding Member of the Working Group for Sustainable Cities, at the Harvard University Department of the Environment. This was an academic/professional working group on Urban Sustainability, attempting to bring together as many experts from varying schools and centres around Harvard, in order to develop a trans-disciplinary understanding of urban sustainability. I helped set up the structure, mandate, vision and objectives of the group. During this time, I also guest lectured at the Graduate School of Design, on Urban Sustainability, Computational Modelling and Strategic Planning for Sustainability in Urban projects.
  • The Global Urbanist
    Contributing Editor
    The Global Urbanist Jan 2011 - Jun 2014
    London
    I have written a number articles on topics from urbanism and cycling (including a few pieces that join those two passions of mine). I also acted as an early professional advisor / part-time mentor to the Founder / Current Editor-in-Chief, and took on minor editing / advisory tasks in the initial years of the venture.
  • University College London
    Guest Lecturer - Msc Sustainable Urbanism, School Of Planning
    University College London Sep 2009 - Jul 2013
    London
    I've worked on the MSc Sustainable Urbanism at UCL for the last 4 years, lecturing on Strategic Planning and “Smart Cities”, and helping devise briefs for the annual 3 month design studio project, then acting as a guest judge for the end-of-year presentations in the studio.
  • London School Of Economics
    Guest Practitioner: Lse Cities Programme
    London School Of Economics Sep 2009 - Jul 2012
    London, United Kingdom
    Guest lecturer in SO452 Urban Environment on Food Systems and Cities, and Urban Complexity, Industrial Symbiosis, Systems thinking, Biomimicry.
  • Happold Consulting International
    Associate: Strategy, Design & Sustainability
    Happold Consulting International Jun 2006 - Feb 2012
    London
    Mike was one of the first two hires at Happold Consulting Ltd., joining up with Buro Happold Engineering’s previous CEO, Padraic Kelly, and its Head of Strategic Planning, Lawrie Robertson, to start this strategic planning sister-business. Over 6 years Mike was instrumental in shaping the direction and structure of the business, and led more than 20 major urban strategy projects, on 5 continents. This sustainability and innovation-focussed group was the most successful in the company, and grew from 4 to 50 designers, engineers, economists, and programmers during Mike’s tenure. Mike co-created one of the unit’s most significant products – Integrated Urban Modelling – where lightweight coding was used to bring together the computational models of the many specialisms contributing to the design of urban and regional projects to seek out optimal urban design interventions from a sustainability perspective, embracing big data, and working at levels of complexity which would be impossible with a strictly human designer. The delivery of live models rather than static design reports was the hallmark of HC strategic planning at this time, and tremendously powerful. Mike played an instrumental role in developing the firm’s relationships with Harvard University, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and University College London’s Bartlett School of Architecture, as a guest academic at all three, during his tenure at HC. Happold Consulting, originally set up as a fiscally separate entity for corporate risk management reasons, was later rolled back into Buro Happold after its great success, and now roughly corresponds to the company’s Strategic Planning “specialism” and Cities Team.
  • Happold Consulting International
    Senior Consultant: Urban Design & Sustainability
    Happold Consulting International Jun 2007 - Apr 2010
  • Buro Happold
    Urban Designer
    Buro Happold Jun 2006 - Jun 2007
  • Alan Baxter & Associates
    Urban Designer
    Alan Baxter & Associates Feb 2004 - Jun 2006
    London, Uk
    Mike was one of 3 recently-graduated urban designers chosen to form the foundational team of a new “Integrated Design Group” at ABA, attempting to devise integrated, whole-systems solutions for public sector clients, on the understanding that “Sustainability”, the watchword of the time, required design teams which could seal the gaps between architecture, urbanism, engineering, transport, environmental studies, and the social and economic demands of public sector clients.
  • Urbaneo
    Founder, Director
    Urbaneo Sep 2003 - Jun 2006
    London, Uk
    I founded this Urbanism collective, which grew to include a mix of practitioners and recent design graduates, while I was still at LSE. Together we spoke at conferences, wrote white papers, entered design competitions, and generally questioned the status quo in the built environment sector, with pop-up events, subversive competition entries, and a tendency to highlight how the capitalist system is very good at getting in the way of design achieving well-being and equality objectives.
  • London School Of Economics
    Alumni Relations Data Jockey
    London School Of Economics 1999 - 2002
    Data Entry, Database Management, Data Cleaning

Mike Duff Skills

Urban Design Sustainability Urban Planning Urban Sustainable Development Urbanism Sustainable Design Comprehensive Planning Green Building Project Planning Research Built Environment Architecture Urban Regeneration Planning Design Management Mixed Use Architectural Design Community Development Systems Thinking Architectures

Mike Duff Education Details

Frequently Asked Questions about Mike Duff

What company does Mike Duff work for?

Mike Duff works for Dark Matter Labs

What is Mike Duff's role at the current company?

Mike Duff's current role is Regenerative Urban Designer / Degrowth Living Lab Leader / Permaculture & Agroforestry.

What is Mike Duff's email address?

Mike Duff's email address is mi****@****mac.com

What schools did Mike Duff attend?

Mike Duff attended The London School Of Economics And Political Science (Lse), British Cycling Coaching Academy, University Of East London, University Of East London, London School Of Economics And Political Science, London School Of Economics And Political Science, Queen's University, Centre International De Valbonne, Sophia-Antipolis, France, Leysin American School, Leysin, Switzerland.

What are some of Mike Duff's interests?

Mike Duff has interest in Cookery, Urban Agriculture, Health, Children, Education, Environment, Science And Technology, Human Rights, Civil Rights And Social Action, Poverty Alleviation.

What skills is Mike Duff known for?

Mike Duff has skills like Urban Design, Sustainability, Urban Planning, Urban, Sustainable Development, Urbanism, Sustainable Design, Comprehensive Planning, Green Building, Project Planning, Research, Built Environment.

Who are Mike Duff's colleagues?

Mike Duff's colleagues are Jason Brown, Vlad Afanasiev, Arianna Smaron, Sebastian Klemm, Jessica Dominic, Alizé De Buck, Raj Kalia.

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    Greater Bournemouth Area
    1
    msa.co.uk

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