Robert Phillips

Phillips is a Senior Tutor at the Royal College of Art (RCA) Design Futures Programme. Their research seeks to ‘Engage Design’, decreasing people’s impact and comprehending how we can be FutureKind to PlanetKind. Specialist in user-oriented proposals, sustainable strategies, and holistic perspectives. An industrial designer with 20+ years of practice, including international patents, work for team GB, and lifesaving fire & ballistics geometries.

Phillips leads on £3.4m EPSRC (EP/W020610/1) (awarded 2023) Ecological Citizen(s): Tools technologies enabling sustainable digital citizens. Ecological Citizen(s) mobilizes diverse groups to make impactful transitions through accessible technology and community-focused approaches – including citizen science, activism, collective learning, advocacy, design strategies, manufacturing, environmental science, and engineering practices. Phillips (PI) Citizen Naturewatch PI EPSRC £1m (EP/P006256/1), a collaboration between RCA and Northumbria Interaction Research Studio. Exploring socially responsible design approaches to documenting wildlife in community spaces with homespun DIY technologies. Naturewatch engaged 3.5+ million people and was an REF 2021 impact case study. Their work seeks to Engage Design as a means to catalyze more sustainable futures.