Alex Soulsby: Creating Meaningful Opportunities for Young Learners

Alex is an internationally recognised creative education practitioner with an extensive career that stretches over twenty-five years. His work encompasses an extensive portfolio of international education development, creative project management, artist mentoring and educational policy-making.

In the UK, Alex played a key role in steering influential campaigns such as ‘Youth Arts Transforms Lives – FACT,’ benefiting from input and direction from the late Sir Ken Robinson as chair. His projects have twice been shortlisted for the UK National Charity Award and contributed to the Royal & Derngate Theatre and Arts Centre’s recognition as the UK’s Regional Theatre of the Year and Guardian’s Arts Centre of the decade

His work has featured in publications including The Times, The Guardian, Scotsman, RSA Magazine, the BBC, and the International Baccalaureate magazine, along with mentions in various academic journals. Recognition of his contributions to education and work with young people, recently resulted in a nominated and elected fellowship at the Royal Society of the Arts.

He is committed to creating meaningful opportunities for young people by bringing schools, creative minds, and educators together. His approach being, not just to work with, but to deeply embed schools in their communities and to reimagine the educational landscape for the betterment of young learners.

Lauren Alexander – Designing with Care, Complexity, and Responsibility – Design Education Talks

Lauren Alexander is an artist, educator, and researcher whose practice operates at the intersection of design, critical inquiry, and collective work. Born in South Africa in 1983 and now based in the Netherlands, her trajectory reflects a sustained engagement with questions of power, history, and representation. Trained originally as a graphic designer, Alexander has gradually expanded her practice beyond service based design, developing a research led approach that uses storytelling, archives, and collaboration as tools for cultural and political reflection She is currently co head of the Bachelor Graphic Design programme at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague where she works alongside Chantal Hendriksen to shape the strategic direction of contemporary design education. Between 2017 and 2024, she developed and taught Critical Storytelling in the MA Non Linear Narrative programme, a course centred on collaborative research methodologies and the examination of complex socio political contexts. Across her teaching, Alexander emphasises uncertainty, ethical responsibility, and critical literacy, encouraging students to engage deeply with both material and digital cultures rather than seeking quick or resolved outcomes Alongside her academic role, Alexander is co founder of Foundland Collective, a long term collaborative practice established in 2009 with Syrian designer Ghalia Elsrakbi. Foundland’s work investigates political narratives, migration, and media representation through art, design, writing, and video, and has been recognised internationally through fellowships, awards, and exhibitions at institutions such as the Centre Pompidou, Ars Electronica, and the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Together, Alexander’s educational and artistic practices articulate a vision of design not as neutral problem solving, but as an ethical and cultural practice embedded in history, power, and lived experience Find more about her work here https://www.kabk.nl/en/teachers/lauren-alexanderhttps://foundland.info/Support the showSince its inception in 2019, Design Education Talks podcast has served as a dynamic platform for the exchange of insights and ideas within the realm of art and design education. This initiative sprang from a culmination of nearly a decade of extensive research conducted by Lefteris Heretakis. His rich background, intertwining academia, industry, and student engagement, laid the foundation for a podcast that goes beyond the conventional boundaries of educational discourse.See all of our work on on https://linktr.ee/thenewartschoolFollow us on twitter at @newartschoolRead our latest articles at https://newartschool.education/and https://heretakis.medium.com/Equipment used to produce the podcast:Rodcaster pro IIRode NT1 5th generationElgato Low profile Microphone ArmMonster Prolink Studio Pro microphone cableThe rest of the equipment is here 👉https://kit.co/heretakis/podcasting
  1. Lauren Alexander – Designing with Care, Complexity, and Responsibility
  2. Design as Experience: Ksenija Miļča on Interiors, Branding and Education
  3. The Education of Attention: Esen Karol on Design, Publishing and Joy Teaching Designers to See: A Conversation with Esen Karol
  4. Simon Collins – What Design Schools Get Wrong About the Real World
  5. Graham Fink – Why Process Matters More Than Finish in Creative Work

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