vicky gerrard

i am vicky gerrard

I am a participatory design practitioner and researcher based in South London working to enhance community participation through creative and land-based practices. My approach is supported by many years of practice based research into how collective engagement with the material world changes how we relate to one another.

Over the past 13 years, I’ve worked across Singapore, Indonesia, and the UK. This includes co-founding O-Lab, a participatory design lab at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, and collaborating with educators, charities, activists, and grassroots initiatives in London.

I completed a PhD at Loughborough University London in 2024, where I developed a framework for understanding how participation can be reclaimed through material practices, particularly in contexts where care has broken down — including political imprisonment or in hostile immigration environments. Since completing my doctorate, I’ve returned to practice, translating this thinking into practice.

I co-lead The Fieldwork Project, a Community Interest Company combining research, evaluation, and learning with community-based practice. Through creative, land-based, and participatory work, we support communities to develop new ways of organising, relating, and supporting one another — particularly in contexts shaped by exclusion, displacement, and structural inequality.