Our Inspiration

We have been inspired by our life experiences, by people that we have met and by the plethora of talent and ideas in the world.



"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment
before starting to improve the world." - Anne Frank

Young people who remind us that changemakers can start at any age


Greta Thunberg


Aged 15, Greta Thunberg boycotted school in Sweden to start what became a global environmental movement. She has gone on to challenge world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation.


William Kamkwamba


Aged 14, William Kamkwamba designed and built a windmill out of scrap, to provide electricity to his family in Malawi. His story was made into a film, 'The Boy who Harnessed the Wind'.


Boyan Slat


Aged 16, Boyan Slat started designing his Ocean Cleanup systems on a school project in the Netherlands. He has gone on to build a global company which is starting to clear plastic from the oceans.


Melati & Isabel Wijsen


Aged 10 & 12, while at Green School, Bali, Melati & Isabel started a project to rid the world of plastic bags. They went on to change government policy and form a global youth movement, Bye Bye Plastic Bags.

Videos we love watching

Exploration Architecture founder Michael Pawlyn on biomimicry | Design for Life

(2020) 3:13mins


Michael Pawlyn explains how computational design tools allow architects to mimic the natural world in order to create buildings that positively contribute to the health of the environment.

The Story of Stuff 

(2009) 20mins


The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns.

'Pure imagination' from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Musical

(1971) 4mins


"If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it, anything you want to, do it. Want to change the world? There's nothing to it." Keeping the world of imagination alive.

10 Eco-Friendly Building Materials | Sustainable Design

(2021) 10 mins


Here are some alternative and eco-friendly building materials which can replace concrete and steel. These sustainable materials come from sources you would never have thought such as seaweed, mushrooms and even coffee. 

Our favourite TED talks.

'Do schools kill creativity'
Sir Ken Robinson 

TED (2007) 20mins


The most watched and shared TED talk ever, over 20M views. Insightful and funny, this talk launched a revolution in education.

'Your elusive creative genius' Elizabeth Gilbert 

TED (2009) 20mins


An inspiring talk on how to cope with the capricious nature of creativity.

'Hip-Hop & Shakespeare?' Akala at TEDxAldeburgh

TEDx Aldeburgh (2011) 20mins


Akala demonstrates and explores the connections between Shakespeare and Hip-Hop, and the wider cultural debate around language and it's power.

'My stroke of insight'
Jill Bolte Taylor

TED (2008) 20mins


An powerful talk by a neuroscientist who had a stroke from a tumour in her left brain and was able to experience the brain without words.

'Celebrating Crisis'
Elisabet Sahtouris 

TEDX (2011) 19mins


An inspirational look at evolution and how we are maturing from a competitive to a collaborative mode of living.

'Radical wisdom for a company, a school, a life' Ricardo Semler 

TED (2015) 21mins


Brazilian CEO Ricardo Semler practices a radical new democratic system in his companies and schools.

'Abundance is our future' Peter Diamandis

TED (2012) 16mins


Peter Diamandis makes a case for optimism, that we will invent, innovate and create ways to solve the challenges that loom over us. "I'm not saying we don't have our set of problems; we surely do. But ultimately, we knock them down."

'Re-Imagining Education To Create An Impact In The World'
Yumna Hussen

TEDxYouth@Brum (2021) 12mins


The incredible Yumna explains her three pillars to transform our approach to young people, which can and should be implemented in our education system. We are fortunate to have her on our advisory board!

Podcasts we love


'Have you heard George's Podcast' BBC Sounds


The award-winning and critically-acclaimed podcast from George the Poet delivers a fresh take on inner city life and untold histories, through a mix of storytelling, music and fiction.


BBC's Desert Island Discs


For those of you who are lucky enough to have access to BBC Sounds there is a back catalogue of thousands of interviews with inspiring people from all professions. It is encouraging to hear what people can achieve through all kinds of adversity.


'Revisionist History'


Revisionist History is Malcolm Gladwell's journey through the overlooked and the misunderstood. Every episode re-examines something from the past—an event, a person, an idea, even a song—and asks whether we got it right the first time.


'The Trevor Noah Podcast'


Comedians Trevor Noah and David Kibuuka explore unfamiliar angles, embrace differing viewpoints, and celebrate the contradictions that make living in this modern world bewildering, exciting and funny.


Rethinking Education 'Education's critical friend'


James Mannion interviews experts in the field of education in fascinating long form discussions.



Flourishing Education


These powerful imperfectly perfect conversations with Fabienne Vailes shine the light on AMAZING INDIVIDUALS who are DISRUPTORS AND INNOVATORS in EDUCATION.


Evolving Education


Luz and David share their video blogs from travels around the world visiting different types of education systems.



Books we have been reading

"You will learn...to enrich your life. You will discover an exhilarating, original way of seeing and enjoying your world as you develop powerful strategies for creative thinking and new approaches to self-expression."

"Surely education has no meaning unless it helps you understand the vast experience of life with all its subtleties, with its extraordinary beauty, its sorrows and joys. You may earn degrees, you may have a series of letters after your name and land a good job, but then what? What is the point of it all if in the process your mind becomes dull, weary, stupid?"

"There are four main pathways to the truth - intuition, science, reason and imagination."

"Skills are embodied and therefore are largely intuitive, they resist rule following...a skill can not be formulated in words or rules, it can be learnt only by watching and following with ones hands and ultimately ones whole being."

“Since we can’t know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it is senseless to try and teach it in advance. Instead, we should try and turn out people who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able to learn whatever needs to be learned.”

"The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them. The hunt to uncover those jewels - that's creative living. The courage to go on that hunt in the first place - that's what separates a mundane existence from a more enchanted one."

"The future belongs to a very different kind of mind - creators and empathisers, pattern recognisers, and meaning makers. These people - artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers - will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest joys."

"Creatives are remarkable for their ability to adapt to almost any situation and to make do with whatever is at hand to reach their goals" "If being a prodigy is not a requirement for later creativity, a more than usually keen curiosity about one’s surroundings appears to be."

"“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” Scott Adams" "To be an original, you need to take radical risks…Having a sense of security in one realm gives us freedom to be original in another."

Quotes that keep us going