Katie Hill

I joined the board at Space2 in 2015 after collaborating on a research project through Northumbria University with the Back to Front project in 2012. I am a social designer and academic who works on engaging communities in social and environmental change, and I use making and makerspaces as a community engagement tool. I am a keen maker working in textiles and mixed media, and a musician.

I lived in Leeds from 1998 to 2020 and then moved to York, but still regularly work in Leeds and hope to return to living there in the next few years. I have worked with a number of charities and social enterprises in Leeds. I have been a part time lecturer at Leeds Beckett University since 2004, in the School of Art, Architecture and Design until 2018 and in the School of Built Environment since 2019 where I currently lecture on urban regeneration. I have a studio at South Bank Studios in York and am also the volunteer co-ordinator for Southlands Community Garden.

I am completing a PhD at Northumbria University School of Design, my thesis title is ‘Place in social design: Surfacing and working with characteristics of place in social design’. I am developing an approach to social design that draws on developing our understandings of the places we are working in and developing a more reflexive approach to understanding ourselves as designers, in order to take a more sensitive and responsible approach to designing with communities.

I love working as a Trustee for Space2, I really enjoy the strategic work involved and I enjoy developing new policies for the organisation. I am currently a member of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion sub-committee. There is a really positive and friendly culture at Space2, it’s always a pleasure to work with the communities, staff and other trustees.