Supporting shared purpose, reflection and adaptive practice in complex multi-actor settings
I work across co-design, evaluation and collaborative leadership to help people navigate complex, multi-actor settings. My focus is on clarifying what matters, making assumptions and context visible, and designing how reflection, learning and adaptation will happen over time.
I’m the developer and curator of the Learning for Sustainability website. I continue to contribute through writing, research collaboration, resource curation, peer review, and short advisory or reflective support. I am open to small, focused pieces of work where my experience can be useful, especially where teams, partnerships or governance groups need structured thinking and learning support rather than long-term delivery.
With over 30 years of experience in sustainable development and natural resource management, I support organisations, partnerships and research teams to navigate complexity through collaborative process design, reflective coaching, strategic input and writing support. My work often sits at the intersection of co-design, evaluation and governance, where collective judgement and responsibility need to be held together over time.
Much of my recent work has been in interlinked, multi-actor domains such as climate adaptation, biodiversity and ecosystems, freshwater and catchment management, and related nexus themes. In these contexts, I work with monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) frameworks not simply as reporting tools, but as part of a wider approach to learning, decision-making and adaptive governance. Evaluation and design are closely linked in this work, helping make reasoning transparent and adaptation intentional.
I am most useful in short, focused roles where a team needs help to clarify direction, review its thinking, strengthen a strategy, shape a learning process, or communicate complex work clearly. This often includes early-stage, under-resourced or cross-cultural settings, where careful framing and shared learning can make a significant difference.
How I work
My approach is grounded in participatory practice. I work behind the scenes with project teams and individuals to help shape processes, build shared understanding and support collaborative learning – enabling others to take ownership of their work and outcomes.
I now focus mainly on short advisory, design, review or reflection phases, especially where initiatives are getting started, reframing their direction, or navigating challenging terrain. This includes place-based collaborations, cross-agency partnerships, research teams, and programmes working at the intersections of climate adaptation, biodiversity, freshwater and food systems. In these settings, I bring systems thinking, MEL design and reflective practice to help connect ecological, social and policy outcomes. For me, what matters is less the name of a methodology and more what it enables people to do together: clarify direction, reflect honestly, and adapt constructively.
I work independently under the name Will Allen & Associates. I take on selected engagements where an external perspective can help a team think more clearly, work more collaboratively, or strengthen its learning approach. Where helpful, I’m also happy to introduce others, share connections or point to people doing aligned work.
If you’d like to know more about my background, selected services or examples of previous work, you can explore the pages below. Each provides a different view of my experience and the kind of support I can offer.
- Services and support – Selected ways I can support organisations and teams through short advisory, facilitation, evaluation, writing and reflective practice roles.
- Skills portfolio – Selected contributions from my work in facilitation, evaluation, co‑design and systems practice, showing how I support collaboration and learning in complex settings.
- Publications: journals and book chapters – Selected peer‑reviewed papers and book chapters that share insights from my work.
- Publications: reviewed reports – Major reports and grey literature produced in collaboration with clients and partners.
- Colleagues and collaborators – People I often work with, drawn from a wide network of thoughtful peers and collaborators.
Background
Before launching my consultancy in 2010, I led the Collaborative Learning for Environmental Management group at Landcare Research, where I helped embed participatory evaluation and systems thinking into national programmes. Earlier roles in agricultural extension, journalism and public affairs gave me a grounding in communication, public engagement and working at the science–policy–practice interface.
Over the years I have worked with NGOs, government agencies, research organisations and UN bodies across Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally – including in East Africa and the Pacific. My experience spans co-governance models, strategic planning initiatives and multi-agency partnerships in areas ranging from freshwater and biodiversity to climate adaptation, food systems, and One Health.
This experience means I’m comfortable supporting projects locally and globally, in person or online.
Get in touch
I am open to small, well-aligned pieces of work where my experience in systems thinking, facilitation, evaluation, writing and collaborative learning can be useful. This might include short advisory input, reflective coaching, peer review, process design, synthesis writing, or support for teams developing learning-oriented strategies. I’m based in Aotearoa New Zealand and work remotely with local and international teams.
Contact me to start the conversation.