Digital, narrative and place-based innovation are creating new opportunities to engage audiences in ways that capture and sustain their attention – and to reach audiences in new demographies and geographies.
Health is evolving, as emerging models, pressures, expectations and technologies reshape not just healthcare, but the fundamentals of how we think about health systems.
Changing demographics, smart technologies, shifts towards sustainability, the new prioritisation of resilience, socioeconomic drift and changes in how we live and work are being reflected in our built environment. At every scale – from dwellings and neighbourhoods to entire cities and regions – our built environments are responding to a changing society and a changing planet with a slow but profound revolution.
The operation of justice systems – from policing, the courts and corrections to watchdogs and anti-corruption programs – is critical to a vibrant and fair society. As shifts in technology and society continue to transform justice systems around the world, the move to transform has only gathered momentum and pace.
Digital government has moved the public sector to entirely new ways of delivering programs, services and regulation. There is almost no area of government that has not been challenged, reimagined and ultimately, transformed by new technologies and the growth in data over the last decade.
Addressing climate change and accelerating the transition to clean renewables are two of the most critical challenges facing humanity. Scientific evidence, mounting community pressure and international efforts have created powerful new momentum for tackling these issues and creating not just a cleaner, but a fairer, energy system that accounts for marginalised communities and future generations.
Breakthroughs in areas such as biotechnology, AI, quantum computing and clean energy, among others, are driving major shifts in every area of society, from healthcare to environmental management to agriculture to international development.
More than ever, finance and revenue flows are being linked to the needs of society and the environment, with increasing imperatives for ethical investment, effective taxation and environmental and social disclosures and reporting.
Delivering high-quality care and support services to people in our communities profoundly improves lives, enhances the wellbeing of service users and their families, and enables greater participation in and contribution to society.
Transport and infrastructure represent a significant, long-term investment for cities, regions and nations. Making decisions in this area means understanding both the need at the human scale, and also the strategic, integrated and cumulative vision that shapes lives, wellbeing and economic prosperity.
Biosecurity, agriculture and and nutrition face both well-understood and emerging challenges. But, these challenges are increasingly being reframed as opportunities to create differentiated markets, enhanced food security and scaled-up sustainability.
Geopolitical risks and shifts, the rising effects of climate change, economic turbulence, increasingly sophisticated organised criminal networks and new cyber frontiers and frontlines are changing the defence, intelligence, and foreign affairs landscapes.
People’s experience of education and employment is critical to achieving both individual aspirations, and in aggregate, creating a healthy and productive society. The education and employment system is grappling with new technologies, new models of learning and working, and changing demand for skillsets and mindsets that are creating seismic shifts across business, society and government.
Climate change is reframing the governance and regulation of water, from perennial, catchment and basin to coastal and oceanic, and new balance points are being sought in response to opportunities like blue carbon, pressures like droughts and floods, and imperatives like habitat and biodiversity conservation
Businesses, governments and non-profits face constant pressure to adapt in a changing world. ThinkPlace is a trusted navigator in the search for a relevant value proposition, compelling products and services, or optimised delivery. We take a holistic view of transformation, seeking effectiveness and efficiency, enriched customer and staff experiences, ethical performance and environmental outcomes. Digitalisation, social and environmental sustainability, and new ways of working are converging into a holistic view of transformation.
When it comes to creating strong engagement, it is important to know your audience so you can create a compelling narrative that captures the imagination and builds a shared desire for change. Creating powerful communications and a strong brand is essential to make impact.
Innovation continually disrupts and reinvents the fundamentals of how things work.
As with all disruptions, digital has created a mix of risk and opportunity that can’t be ignored. When digital innovation is well-connected to societal trends, strategic imperatives and the needs of people and communities, it delivers impact that transforms organisations, changes lives and powers a more sustainable future.
Is the way you’re working, working? Big shifts in the workforce in the wake of Covid have intersected with longer term trends towards network structures, agile processes and collaborative innovation the norm. New technologies have changed the affordances for how we work, and spaces, processes, and culture are continually adapting. Meanwhile, trust, clear communication
The rules that govern a society go a long way to determining the quality of that society. With a constantly changing landscape of actors, issues and technology affordances, regulators are under pressure to maintain fit for purpose. ThinkPlace combines methods for risk, human-centred, complex adaptive systems and creativity to help regulators shape and execute policy intent.
There’s a lot that urgently needs to change in our world. We need change at scale, not piecemeal efforts. ThinkPlace has been seeking to master design in complex systems for nearly two decades, developing a toolkit for scaled system change that we’ve applied to some of the world’s biggest challenges. We enable exploration of systems through human perspectives, map relationships, constraints and opportunities, and identify viable pathways and initiatives to shift systems over time. Through highly effective brokering of disciplines, rapid sense-making and problem framing, and portfolio of experimentation, we engage ecosystems for change.
We are living in a highly transitional and disruptive period. The challenges we face are more complex and interconnected than ever. To rise to these challenges, organisations must develop and implement new capabilities, technologies, and ways of working while many face capacity shortages, and widespread cognitive overload. Education providers must rethink curriculums, the student experience, and the value proposition for teachers to remain impactful into future.
Many of the challenges we face globally can be traced back to human behaviour, yet it’s not always clear why humans do the things that we do. In fact, scientists estimate that over 90% of behaviour is subconsciously motivated – influenced heavily by context and cognitive biases, and therefore often cannot be explained by logic alone. For this reason, conventional research methods like interviews and focus group discussions are insufficient in uncovering the core, underlying drivers of human behaviour.
ThinkPlace’s social and behaviour change (SBC) practice is committed to transforming human behaviour by deeply understanding what drives behaviour and deploying interventions and tactics that draw on psychology and behavioural economics to shift that behaviour in a constructive, sustainable way.
We wholeheartedly believe in the principle that those for whom we design must be those with whom we design. As human-centred design (HCD) practitioners, we believe this because we know it works. HCD is a co-creative approach to problem-solving that places the people at the centre of the design process.
The strategy and policy design service develops strategic or policy direction and charts the course towards that direction. A sharp sense of who you are and where you are heading is a powerful tool to give focus and align effort for increased effectiveness.
To best understand a complex problem, we must go directly to the people who are closest to it and who hold the strongest motivation to address it. Our designers bring deep expertise in qualitative and quantitative research to produce profound human insights. Through academic level research in real-world, rapidly-evolving contexts, we generate compelling insights that inform strategic evidence-based decision-making.
The world is facing an unprecedented shift with global commitments by governments and industry to decarbonise, address inequities and reimagine ecological rebalancing. The nature of how this will work is based on sophisticated collaborations that can decide on the right course of action and commit to implementation.
Around the world governments, consortia, and organisations and assembling teams of highly-talented people to tackle wicked problems in high-pressure environments. Many of these teams fail for complex but preventable reasons.
These highly talented teams and individuals tend to be highly skilled with a clear sense of purpose, and push themselves to limits others simply are unable to achieve. This passion can drive people to keep pushing at this intensity for extended periods of time, especially when faced with a grand challenge, such as those in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Do you have a new policy, regulatory, service or digital initiative starting up? ThinkPlace’s public sector Blueprint Accelerator kick-starts the co-design process.Learn about our Blueprint Accelerator
Designing to increase self-testing for HIV in Côte D’Ivoire
Designing for more transparent environmental economic accounting data
Designing for Australia’s Seafood Export Program
Big ideas, practical insights, and valuable lessons from research and the tools that can help you bring them out into the world.
About ThinkPlace
Find and contact our global studios
Read the ThinkPlace manifesto
Meet the change makers
Understand the ThinkPlace way of working
Work with ThinkPlace
ThinkPlace in partnership with Pensaar Design has launched its newest studio in Bangalore, India
The Global Institute for Regenerative Futures purpose is to partner with corporates and key partners to navigate and transition to regenerative futures.
This is about accelerating the system transformations needed for a net-zero, nature positive, and more equitable future and catalyzing responsible businesses.