Alison Brown Prof. Alison Brown Alison Brown is a Professor of Urban Planning at Cardiff University, and founding partner of Architecture and Planning practice Buchanan Partnership, with over 30 years’ professional experience in the UK and overseas. Expand Alison’s consultancy has included research for central government and local government, and promoting private sector interests through applications, appeals and inquiry evidence. Perhaps the defining feature of her work has been advice to parish councils, community groups and charities, enabling to make effective representations on development plans and major applications. In academia, Alison lectures at a top UK planning school, directing an RTPI-accredited master’s programme. Her research focuses on planning practice in the developing world, public space and urban livelihoods, and community-led planning. As well as her trusteeship of Ruskin Mill Land Trust she is a Board Member of Homeless International and was recently nominated a Fellow of the RICS. Although active in academia, she still undertakes consultancy for selected clients.
Aonghus Gordon MEd, FRSA, Chair of Trustees Aonghus has a distinguished track record of development and leadership of several ground-breaking charities that provide high quality environments and opportunities for people with disabilities. He is passionate about the need for people to break out of dependency and marginalisation, believing that everyone has the potential to shape their own future. Expand Aonghus has a distinguished track record of development and leadership of several ground-breaking charities that provide high quality environments and opportunities for people with disabilities. He is passionate about the need for people to break out of dependency and marginalisation, believing that everyone has the potential to shape their own future. After training as a potter, Aonghus started Ruskin Mill Trust in 1981 as a centre for cultural development, a small project linked to a nearby specialist school in Gloucestershire. It is now one of the UK’s leading educational charities working with learning disabilities, with twelve centres across England, Wales and Scotland. Aonghus has pioneered its unique method of Practical Skills Therapeutic Education (PSTE), inspired by Rudolf Steiner, John Ruskin and William Morris’s ideas about social renewal, healthy human development and the importance of art, crafts and land work. Thousands of young people have benefited from this integrative education method. Aonghus is the founding Trustee of both Ruskin Mill Trust and Ruskin Mill Land Trust, which has an impressive reputation for acquiring and restoring redundant iconic industrial buildings and transforming them into educational and cultural centres, winning many awards and commendations. The Trust has acquired and been gifted over 900 acres of farmland, woods and gardens, all looked after using biodynamic principles, a strong area of interest for Aonghus who has championed biodynamic food ecology for children and students. In 2013 the Trust’s research centre was launched in a bespoke building whose design was informed by the Trust’s PSTE method, and drawn from the foundation stone mosaic in the Ruskin Mill Gallery, a project that was put together by unemployed youth and students with learning differences in 1982. The Field Centre sponsors extensive research into the benefits of craft, biodynamic agriculture, the outdoor curriculum in education through action research, and the therapeutic approach to specialist education. Aonghus has forged many international partnerships, including the development of a Master’s degree in collaboration with Lillehammer Inland University, Norway and, with American colleagues, the establishment of a college for young people on the autistic spectrum in California, at the Meristem Centre. Aonghus is a Trustee and Board Member of numerous charities and was awarded Social Entrepreneur of the Year for the South of England by Ernst and Young in 2005. He is a charismatic motivational speaker and is not afraid to challenge his audience, which has led to frequent requests to lecture and run workshops in the USA, Europe, China, Russia and the Middle East. He is a Companion of Ruskin’s Guild of St George and, like Ruskin, has a fascination for meteorology and geology.
Robert Lloyd-Davies Robert is a consultant and former Chairman of the London based law firm Royds Withy King, specialising in all aspects of retail and real estate. Expand Robert has lived and breathed law for as long as he can remember. His father was a barrister and he spent his childhood living just a stone’s throw away from the Royal Courts of Justice in London’s illustrious legal quarter, the Temple. He joined Royds as an Articled Clerk in 1967 and has worked in the Property team for more than 20 years. Robert’s clients include retailers, educational and religious institutions, banks and charities. He also acts for a number of London restaurateurs and well known entities in the art world. His expertise is complemented by the fact that he takes a real interest in all of his clients.
Angus Taylor BSc (Hons) MSc FRICS FCABE MAPM Angus is a Partner at Bruton Knowles Property Consultants where he delivers Building Consultancy to SMEs. He is a Chartered Building Surveyor, experienced Project Manager and Chartered Building Engineer, Fellow of the RICS and CABE and full member of the Association for Project Management. Expand He is a Non-Executive Director of Octavia Housing, Director of the University of Gloucestershire, and Senior Lecturer in Project Management for the Royal School of Military Engineering and the University of Portsmouth. Angus provides expert witness in the Construction Courts and is a Historic Buildings Consultant.
Dr Stefan Geider Stefan is a GP based in Aberdeen at the Camphill Wellbeing Trust. Stefan has particular expertise in learning disabilities and mistletoe therapy. Expand Stefan is a GP based in Aberdeen at the Camphill Wellbeing Trust. Stefan has particular expertise in learning disabilities and mistletoe therapy.
Matthew Hayes Matthew is a biological market gardener and educator who runs a commercial organic market garden in Hungary and works with social farming. Expand Matthew is a biological market gardener and educator who runs a commercial organic market garden in Hungary and works with social farming. He worked for RMT as the biodynamic land manager for Argent College (2016-2018), setting up the New Standard Works rooftop garden and helped establish the Sunfield School walled garden. Through his role as a trustee of the RMLT, Matthew’s brings a commitment and focus to the regeneration of the land.