Dr Heather Robson

Head of Department, Northumbria School of Design, Northumbria University

Dr Heather Robson is involved in a range of activity and practice-based research projects dealing with skills, enterprise and entrepreneurialism, cultural business support, start-up and development and graduate retention within the cultural sector.

Creative practice is my passion ... I have been involved in a range of activity and practice-based research projects dealing with skills, enterprise and entrepreneurialism, cultural business support, start-up and development and graduate retention within the cultural sector.

I am extremely privileged to be Head of the School of Design at Northumbria. The School is passionate and believes in the critical importance of ‘making’ to its teaching, learning and research, making that transcends the limits of traditional understandings and refers to all aspects of design practice and critical thinking.

Design can make a positive and significant impact on the world, our vision is to develop and share new ways of practising and thinking about design that will engender our graduates and partners with the knowledge, creative confidence and awareness they require in order to change the world for the better

Working in partnership, collaborating and engaging in the Region and beyond is at the heart of my work and central to teaching learning and research making a real difference to people, enterprises and communities.

I firmly believe in reflective practice and the power of self and self-awareness.

Throughout my academic career as learner, tutor, researcher, facilitator, reflective practice has played a key and empowering role particularly in the context as defined by Schön (1983) reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action the former being personal fast and instinctive the latter collegial and systematic.