Directors
Roland Playle
Roland has over 25 years’ community facilitation experience working in development projects, often in conflict regions. His areas of specialism include human ecology, and supporting implementation of inclusive and participative working practices. His UK work includes a major regeneration project for the North Glasgow Community Food Initiative in a locality with highest deprivation in Europe.
Internationally, he has facilitated projects with rural and urban communities from Kyrgyzstan, Colombia, India, DR Congo, New Zealand and the USA. Many of his writings have been published, including in the Journal for Participatory Science and the Kashmir Times. He also runs courses throughout the UK and acts as a visiting lecturer for Schumacher College, with a focus on Goethean Science.
Dr Jamie McKenzie Hamilton
Jamie has over 25 years’ strategic research experience, with specialism in participatory, co-creative, systems-based and youth-led approaches. He is a founding board member and co-director of A Place in Childhood, and formerly, co-founder and Managing Director of Netfluential, a pioneer of online qualitative research software and methodology, where he provided strategic consultancy for international companies including Microsoft, Google, PayPal, Nokia, VISA and the NHS.
His writings have been published in both the international academic and research press. He has a BSc in Psychology, a Masters in Environmental Decision-Making and in 2018, gained a doctorate from Heriot-Watt University for his thesis on relationships between classroom environments and cognitive development in primary schoolchildren. In 2024, he was a Finalist for the Inspire Volunteering Awards for his development work on behalf of his own community.