Callan Rowe

Cal is a strategic designer, design researcher and facilitator who uses design as a powerful tool to enable meaningful participation. Through playfulness and creativity, he works to find common ground among unlike-minded people and to support them in tackling challenges together.

As a facilitator, Cal gently guides research groups to conjure possibilities beyond the status quo, from which new ways of seeing and doing can emerge. He is particularly interested in working on collaborative projects with young people to develop solutions to the problems that affect them, and to improve resilience and well-being.

Cal believes in the power of stories. He sharpened his storytelling tools whilst working in the film industry as an editor and director — he can boil an idea down to its most simple and compelling form; to expose the meat of the matter.

Cal has broad experience working with state and federal government across health, health innovation, youth, and education, with clients such as the Australian Red Cross, Kids First and RMIT’s You Me and Money program.

Cal is undertaking his PhD by Practice exploring co-design for social connection, and has a Bachelor in Film and Television and a Graduate Diploma in Design and Visual Communications. He is a previous guest lecturer at the University of Melbourne and has held roles at the Burnet Institute and local and international agencies such as AKQA.