Centre for Whole of Society Resilience (CWSR)
Joining the dots between research, practice and policy to deliver Whole of Society Resilience.
Welcome to the Centre for Whole of Society Resilience (CWSR)
We are a transdisciplinary network of consultants, business leaders, academics and practitioners who have come together to advance research-informed resilience policy and practice. Our aim is to build long term whole of society resilience, as outlined in the UK government’s resilience framework (UKGRF).
We aim to do this through creating a network of passionate professionals that want to work collaboratively to solve this challenge together. We are funded through delivering innovative projects that address these challenges by harnessing the immense capability of our network and developing teams with the right expertise to contribute to the issue at hand. If you are passionate about resilience and have some skills to offer - please join our network!
Our Founders
Prof. Ruth Crick
Co-Founder CWSR
Ruth is Founder of WILD Learning Sciences CIC and WILD Learning Ltd. She has held leadership roles in research, practice, policy and enterprise with a common focus on the development of competence in self-leadership, learning relationships and complex problem solving for individuals, teams and organisations. Ruth brings extensive thought leadership based on 25 years of research into dispositional learning analytics at the University of Bristol and the Connected Intelligence Centre at UTS in Sydney. This provides the evidence base for Work Integrated Learning Design (WILD) as a digital learning infrastructure which scaffolds, develops and measures personal and team resilience. Her work has spanned business, education and community in projects around the world. The Crick Learning for Resilient Agency profile was published in 2015 and has been translated into several languages.
Prof. Caroline Field, CEng FICE
Co-Founder & Executive Director CWSR
Caroline works in industry leading National Resilience at PA Consulting; helping clients develop and deliver resilience strategies whilst providing a framework for measuring the benefits. Caroline brings expertise in resilient leadership and decision making – catalysing behaviour change in organisations and communities to deliver greater resilience. She is accredited in resilient leadership and has expertise in systems-based decision making to de-silo and prioritise resilience building efforts – understanding interdependencies and linking resilience to measured strategic outcomes. Caroline is a Royal Academy of Engineers Visiting Professor of Structural and Infrastructural Resilience at Loughborough University linking research and practice and helping to shape the future of the profession.
Prof. Adeela Shafi, MBE
Co-Founder CWSR
Adeela is Professor of Education at University of Gloucestershire in Youth Justice with a particular interest in resilience as well as how diversity in thought, research and leadership contributes to the best outcomes for individuals, communities and society as a whole. Adeela is accustomed to leading large multi-national research projects from international funders like the EU and the British Council involving multiple countries. These bring together academics, practitioners, policymakers and industry leaders to inform both policy and impact on practice. Adeela brings the academic network and expertise to CWSR that are needed in order to bring together whole society resilience-building. She was awarded an MBE in 2020 for services to social justice and academia.
Our Steering Committee
Chair
Claire Crichton-Allen
Operations Director
Wendy Tipper
Learning & Development Director
Claire is a change readiness and learning resilience expert who helps people and organisations perform well through uncertainty, complexity, and rapid change.
She strengthens agency, confidence, and adaptability, turning ambiguity into clear priorities and practical action. Her approach blends strategic rigour with human-centred leadership, building resilient cultures that sustain momentum.
As an Educational Strategist, Sustainability Advocate, and Researcher at the University of Strathclyde, Claire translates leading pedagogical research into innovative learning design that embeds sustainability competencies for real-world impact.
Wendy Tipper has recently joined the Centre for Whole Society Resilience (CWSR) as Learning & Development Director, where she leads the L&D programme of activities, including the Resilient Leadership Development Programme (RLDP) for resilience professional development. An accredited Resilient Leadership Consultant with over 30 years’ cross-sector experience, Wendy specialises in building leadership capability, resilience, and strategic effectiveness. Drawing on senior roles including Associate Director at Arup, she brings deep expertise in transformation and people development across complex organisations. Wendy is also a judge for the Management Consultancies Association Awards, assessing excellence in leadership and people, and brings a human-centred, systems-thinking approach to enabling sustainable, purpose-driven leadership.
Phoebe Andrew
Marketing & Comms Director
Phoebe is Head of Place-Based Solutions at the Centre for Energy Equality and a Director of Looped Energy Communities CIC. She specialises in engineering design and systems thinking, leading multi-stakeholder innovation projects that tackle energy inequality and accelerate community-led approaches to decarbonisation.
Tim Norton
Projects Director
Tim is Head of Rail Resilience at the Department for Transport and has extensive experience in public sector resilience. A hydrologist by background, he spent much of his career focusing on flood resilience.
He is interested in how resilience can make tangible differences, linking strategic developments to practical improvements, working across organisational and sector boundaries, and joining professional and community resilience.
Nadine Sulkowski
Partnerships Director
Nadine Sulkowski is a Senior Lecturer in Systemic Resilience Management at the University of Gloucestershire and a Fellow of the Institute of Strategic Risk Management. She has extensive experience in international collaborations and multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Nadine has contributed significantly to higher education governance structures, leading notable projects, such as the Erasmus+ capacity building project "BUiLD", which established a systemic disaster resilience framework and Centres of Excellence across Indonesia. As part of the Erasmus+ empowerment4pandemias project, she has designed an organisational pandemic resilience framework for the healthcare sector.
Nadine teaches resilience planning and crisis management, focusing on enhancing systemic resilience and effective crisis communication. Nadine aims to inspire students to become future change agents and innovators.
Our Members
The Centre for Whole of Society Resilience has a transdisciplinary network of over 200 members, spanning across a number of industries from the public sector, defence and transport to NGOs, education and cybersecurity. This breadth is critical to join the dots and share insights to improve societal resilience. Join our growing network!
Become a Member - It's Free!
Meet other resilience professionals | Share knowledge | Participate in impactful projects
If you would like to sign up please review our charter and create an account below.
As a Member of the Centre for Whole Society Resilience (CWSR) I agree to abide by the CWSR Membership Charter:
I agree to work collaboratively and inclusively with other members to forward the purpose of the Centre in delivering Whole Society Resilience, specifically I will endeavour to:
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participate in dialogue that promotes and enhances the centre on social media and at industry events;
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be willing to host a CWSR meeting if you have appropriate facilities;
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contribute to discussion forums, papers, articles or projects with other members.
Contact us at connect@wholesocietyresilience.org
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