Al Mathers
BA Hons, Dip LA, PhD
Expert in participatory research & community-led change
I help organisations define their strategic approach to change, build their research and evaluation capabilities, and embed inclusive and participatory approaches.


About me
Having worked across the academic, charitable and practice sectors for over 20 years, I have held national leadership roles in the charitable sector, including Director of Research at The Young Foundation, Director of Research and Learning at The RSA and Head of Research at Good Things Foundation. Before moving to the charity sector I worked in academia, where my work focused on research partnerships with underrepresented groups redesigning participatory approaches to landscape architecture and urban design. I am committed to cross sector impact, and improving understanding and collaboration between policymakers, academia, businesses and charities for people, places and the planet.
As an expert in participatory research and digital inclusion, I hold a number of advisory board positions including steering group membership of the Public Voices in AI programme, INCLUDE+, Developing a minimum digital living standard for households with children, DigiAge: Equity for the Older: Beyond Digital Access, expert grant panel membership of the Oliver Bird Fund and panel member for the Co-Production Futures Inquiry. I am committed to cross sector impact, and improving understanding and collaboration between policymakers, academia, businesses and charities.
Selected publications
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Spanakis, P., Mathers, A., Walker, L., Huxley, P., Peckham, E.
The digital divide in people with severe mental illness: lessons learned and challenges lying ahead
The British Journal of Psychiatry, Cambridge University Press2025 -
Thwaites, K., Simpson, J., Heath, P. Mathers, A. Simkins, I.
Microenvironments: towards a socio-spatial understanding of territorial expression for urban design
Urban Des International.2022 -
Johnson, E., Villadsen, A., Parra Mujica, F., Webster, H., Thorold, R., Morrison, J., Cooke, J., Mathers, A., Reed, H., Lansley, S., Chen, T., Kypridemos, C., O’Flaherty, M., Nettle, D., Richard Cookson, R., Pickett, K. and Johnson, M.
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Thwaites, K., Mathers, A. R., and Simkins, I.
Socially Restorative Urbanism: The theory, process and practice of Experiemics
Hardback and paperback, Routledge2013
