Introducing myself: design, education, long term care, politics

Hi, I'm Sean McDougall, a self-employed design and innovation consultant based in the English Midlands but working all over the world.

The short story of who I am looks a bit like this:

• Grew up on a council estate in Belfast during the period known as "The Troubles"
• Went to university in England, where I studied political propaganda
• Used my new-found skills to campaign for social change (foster care, urban regeneration, peace in Northern Ireland)
• Got a job at the Design Council, where I learned the trade and ran their campaigns on future learning
• Set up as a consultant, working around the world and using design as a tool to reduce social disadvantage (education, long term care, people who fall through the safety net)
• Established and chaired Pain UK, an alliance of 27 pain charities (also advised on formation of Pain Alliance Europe)
• Began advising Innovate UK on various aspects of R&D and innovation
• Was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts for my contribution to the field of inclusive design
• Joined the Centre for Personalised Education as a Trustee
• Formed a technology company called Touchable Universe, creating "virtual worlds that feel as good as they look." You can see it (and me!) in action in this 60 second video:

The long version can be read here but, in essence:

• 80% of middle class girls go to university, while a similar number of working class boys do not. This is nothing to do with intelligence.
• Half of all prostitutes, half of all prisoners and 80% of Big Issue sellers were placed in care as children.
• For the elderly, we need to build one new care home a fortnight for the next 20 years just to meet demand in Scotland.
• Our political system encourages postponement and worsening of problems: paying off UK debt, measured as existing loans plus existing commitments (pensions etc) would require every member of the workforce to go unpaid for nine years.
• There is enormous potential for a new type of politics, based on mutualism, for public services designed around end-user need, and for technology to transform our society for the better.

I hope you'll enjoy reading my occasional posts and I look forward to building up networks for change.