Hi, I’m Ruth
adventurer. systems artist. community weaver. facilitator.
It can be hard to describe what I do.
So I thought I’d show you instead:
This is the best summary I’ve come up with so far of the threads that connect my interests and path to date. I thrive when (i) I’m making things (creativity), (ii) I feel deeply connected to others (community) and (iii) it feels like an adventure. The why for me is all about systems change for greater social, economic and environmental justice and about finding ways to uncover and live our potential - individually and collectively.
my path
I grew up in the Highlands of Scotland and now live in the Swiss Alps. I spent the first decade of my career working in the UN system creating communities and movements to drive systems change (including Young UN: Agents for Change, UNAIDS Reinventors, UN Innovation Fellows, the Department of the Possible). My academic background is in Geography (BA) and Sustainability Leadership (Masters), giving me an interdisciplinary perspective and approach. My Masters research on “the climate movement at work” focused on employee-led climate collectives and how they sustain momentum and influence change.
I’ve always loved making things - from physical things like scrapbooks and collages - to communities around shared dreams, to experiences and moments that inspire and enliven people. Here’s a poem I wrote some years back about it. I've always thought in images and metaphors. I'm currently exploring visual expression and graphic facilitation in my work on systems change more proactively.
Mountains are home for me and a core part of my life. I'm currently training to become an International Mountain Leader.
Read on to learn more about me and key elements of my approach.
I am here
to create
meaningful moments
and things.
Moments that
Every person
Leaves
a little bit
altered.
A little
Wiser
or challenged.
A little
more inspired
and ready
to face the day.
A little
Kinder
or
more understanding
of the perspective
of another.
seeing possibilities, bringing them to life
A little story to illustrate what I mean… Here are two of my craft projects from high school. One brief was to make “something to sit on” and a template was provided to construct a small stool. The default mirror was square and nondescript. Most of the class followed the template or made minor changes to make their mark. I found myself imagining a throne of pine, inspired by nature’s shapes (the space between trees). I asked: what if the mirror could be more expansive and multi-dimensional, flowing like music?
It wasn’t until a friend pointed it out that I saw the connection between these old creations and many projects I’ve pursued as an adult. The common thread is a stance of expansiveness, seeing potential and asking “what if?” That’s what I did when I started Young UN: Agents for Change back in 2015 - what if the UN truly lived by its values? What if we could bring to life this possibility by practicing and co-creating a different UN now? A decade later, these questions still speak to me and I’m exploring them and new ones through the Department of the Possible - a fictional UN Department to imagine and practice new possibilities for the UN.
Uncovering the latent potential and people and systems has been a core theme in my approach as a community weaver. This impulse has also pulled me towards pursuing longer trail runs, bike and ski mountaineering challenges, finding and gently expanding the edge of what I imagine to be possible.
growing new worlds* in the cracks
“When the old word crumbles, we must grow new worlds, in the cracks.”
One of the metaphors that I come back to again and again to describe what I’ve seen work as an approach to (systems) change is guerrilla gardening (I first discovered this concept here). Finding unused, un-lived-in plots and creating gardens in them. Sources of nourishment and life. There’s a lot more space than we realise.
I put my energy towards growing and creating new systems in tiny and big ways - in the way we interact with each other, in the ways we gather, meet and work,
in the way we run learning journeys. These are ways we can create new systems in moments, in how we come together for an hour or day.
I used to think that changing systems was about changing the systems out there at a grand scale. Over the years, I’ve seen more and more how the systems inside us are connected with those we are part of (organisational, financial, family etc) so “out there” and “in here” are in fact intimately connected.
finding & creating community around dreams
A pattern I’ve noticed across my life is that, when I have a dream, I’m drawn to finding or creating community around it with those who share the dream. I find this motivating and inspiring, instead of moving towards my dreams alone. Whether it’s co-creating community to reimagine the UN and practice new possibilities, or finding kindred spirits to pursue adventure goals alongside, my approach is fundamentally relational.
This mountain
No one asked
This Mountain
to be the way she is.
She rose up
with razor edges
to kiss the sky.
With hidden crannies
formidable cliffs
She Decided
to be there.
Hulking
captivating
for all to admire.
“Mountain Dreamer means “one who likes to find and push the edge””
