Helping people work and learn together in complex settings
The central thread through my work over the past 30 years has been helping people and institutions learn to work together more effectively in complex social and ecological systems. My contribution has been to help people develop shared understanding, make informed judgements and adapt their approaches as their work unfolds.
Across systems research, facilitation, evaluation and strategic planning, I have worked alongside people as they go about their work, helping them make sense of complex situations and decide how to move forward. These different roles provide opportunities to bring perspectives together, examine evidence and assumptions, support shared learning, and connect reflection with decisions and action. The particular approach depends on the people involved, the context and what is most useful as the work unfolds.
I am an independent systems scientist, evaluator, facilitator and writer with more than 30 years’ experience across sustainable development, natural resource management, climate adaptation, biodiversity, freshwater and collaborative governance. I support people working where research, policy, communities, practice, and Indigenous and Western knowledge need to meet.
I am most useful in focused roles where an experienced external perspective can help a team or partnership frame the work, review its thinking, strengthen a strategy, shape a learning process, or make complex work easier to follow.
I also develop and curate the Learning for Sustainability website, which has been supporting practitioners for more than twenty years. It began as the outline for my PhD and has become a working manual and public bookmarks bar, connecting people with tools, frameworks and annotated links on systems thinking, evaluation, collaboration, co-design and adaptation.
How I work
My approach draws on systems thinking, participatory inquiry, action research, evaluation and reflective learning. Rather than starting with a particular methodology, I try to understand the setting, the people involved, what they are trying to achieve together, and where reflection or a different perspective might help.
Much of my work involves creating opportunities for people to make sense of their experiences, bring different forms of knowledge and evidence into discussion, and develop shared ways forward. I pay particular attention to whose knowledge and wellbeing count, how social and environmental consequences are understood, and how relationships, power and influence shape decisions.
Working alongside people also requires a balance between engagement and critical judgement. I aim to be close enough to understand the work and the circumstances shaping it, while retaining the independence needed to ask difficult questions, challenge assumptions and make defensible judgements.
I often work behind the scenes with project teams, researchers, evaluators, facilitators, governance groups and programme leads. Sometimes the contribution is helping to frame a question or structure a collaborative process. At other times, it is providing a critical review, helping interpret evidence, supporting reflection or turning complex ideas into clearer writing.
I now focus mainly on short advisory, design, review, writing or reflection phases, especially where initiatives are getting started, reconsidering 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, food systems and community change.
Increasingly, I am also thinking and writing about how generative AI can be used well in evaluation, facilitation and knowledge work, especially where human judgement, transparent criteria and ethical reasoning matter. This builds on a longer interest in the relationship between technology, communication and collaboration, from early work with videotext and internet-based science communication and decision-support systems in the 1990s to more than twenty years developing Learning for Sustainability. I am particularly interested in where AI can strengthen professional and collaborative practice, and where its use needs greater scrutiny.
For me, what matters is less the name of a methodology and more what it enables people to do together: clarify direction, reflect honestly, make defensible judgements, and adapt constructively.
Selected ways I can help
I am open to small, well-aligned pieces of work, including:
- advisory input or critical friend roles
- mentoring, reflective coaching and support for professional learning
- contributing to evaluation, learning or review teams
- Theory of Change, MEL design, and indicator development
- facilitation design and participatory process support
- reviewing and strengthening the use of generative AI in evaluation, strategic planning and knowledge work
- review and synthesis of evidence, reports or programme thinking
- writing support for papers, reports, proposals and practice resources
- support for research collaborations, learning agendas and adaptive governance
I work independently under the name Will Allen & Associates, and also in partnership with others. Where helpful, I am happy to introduce colleagues, share connections or point to people doing aligned work.
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, systems thinking and collaborative learning into national programmes. Earlier roles in agricultural extension, journalism, public affairs and emerging digital communication gave me a grounding in communication, public engagement and work 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.
A recurring feature of this work has been building opportunities for reflection and learning into ongoing research, planning and collaborative activities, helping participants learn from experience and adapt their approaches as circumstances change.
This experience means I am comfortable supporting projects locally and internationally, in person or online.
Explore more
- 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.
- Generative AI in practice – Resources and reflections on how generative AI can support evaluation, facilitation, writing and knowledge work, with attention to human judgement and ethical use.
- Colleagues and collaborators – People I often work with, drawn from a wide network of thoughtful peers and collaborators.
Get in touch
I am open to focused pieces of work where my experience in systems thinking, facilitation, evaluation, writing and collaborative learning can be useful.
Contact me to start the conversation.