Dr Camilo Soler Caicedo | Kingston University London

Anthropologist ¦ Life-centred Designer

As an anthropologist, my work involves translating diverse worldviews and forms of knowledge across cultures, disciplines, and species to address complex social and environmental challenges.

As a life-centred designer, I explore how humans, other species, and ecosystems coexist, collaborate, and shape shared futures. Hence I often bring together stakeholders with different values, experiences, and interests to co-create meaningful solutions.

I support organisations in fostering stakeholder engagement, generating insights, and translating them into tangible outcomes in social innovation, sustainability, knowledge exchange, and experience design.

I have worked with cultural organisations, NGOs, SMEs, universities, and public sector bodies, helping them understand the interconnections between people, place, culture, other species and the environment.

Through Kingston University's Knowledge Exchange framework, I design and lead tailored multidisciplinary initiatives that connect expertise across arts, design, social sciences, sustainability, law, architecture, and environmental practice. Each project is assembled around the unique opportunities and challenges faced by the organisations and communities involved.

If your organisation is working at the intersection of culture, society, and the environment, or seeking to bring together diverse stakeholders, perspectives, and forms of knowledge to address a complex challenge, I can help you explore how a tailored research, co-creation, or Knowledge Exchange initiative could support your goals.

Recent work highlights:

• SME Innovation & Growth: Guided six South London businesses through a design-led innovation process, resulting in six new-to-market products and services while supporting local employment and knowledge exchange (UKSPF Funded).

• Social Innovation: Co-created future scenarios and fundable innovation pathways with post-conflict communities in the Colombian Andes through participatory and arts-based methods (NERC UKRI-funded).

• Learning Experience Design: Developed a persona-informed learning experience that increased participant satisfaction by 26.5% and attendance by 6.5%.

• Digital Experience & UX Strategy: Collaborated with artists across Africa, Latin America, and Europe to develop a UX curation strategy for a global Goethe-Institut digital exhibition.

• Cultural Economy Research: Conducted ethnographic research with migrant creative entrepreneurs to identify how cultural value is created, communicated, and exchanged within global markets (Ceiba Foundation Funded).