Sara Gottschalk
Creative Project Manager / Designer / Research Assistant
Specialisation
Human-centered design, Sustainability-oriented design, Systems change, Designing for behavior change, Learning experience design, Project management, Digital media design
Countries
Germany, Finland, Kenya, Uganda, East Africa
Work sectors
Sustainable development, Creative industries
My work with New Global entailed organising Waves festival together with the team, as well as project and content managing the final New Global online report, at which you are looking at right now! I further supported the team with various design related tasks, next to assisting with conducting desk research into systems change processes.
If we want to aim for positive societal and global change, it seems that we must tackle people’s mindsets and beliefs as much as any other matters. We need to work to expand what's within and without.
What I have learned during my time with New Global can hardly be summarised into words. The team and project setup has provided an enormous platform for growth, exploration and discovery. The work with New Global has encouraged a deeper understanding of our world, and the opportunities that can arise in it if we open ourselves up and find ways to collaborate and co-create, which is necessary for keeping our planet inhabitable.
Something that has remained a prominent theme for me, and which is also embodied in New Global thinking, is that we must recognise that what’s within us is also always what’s without us. We see the world as we are, Anaïs Nin once said. And so the first step to change always starts within ourselves.
Background
Sara is a trained human-centered and experience designer with a focus on user research. She has a bachelor degree in Digital Media and Interactive Media Design, as well as a master degree in Collaborative and Industrial Design from Aalto University.
With study and work experience from Germany, USA, Morocco, Kenya, Uganda and Finland, she is keen on utilising design and technology as tools for contributing to the sustainable development of our societies, as well as empowering people to make use of and tap into their highest potentials.