Projects
Hello. I work on humanitarian, social and environmental issues in London and internationally. I'm a former industrial engineer, supply chain manager, aid worker, and researcher. Below are some of my recent professional and personal projects.
Sharing community
Founder of this peer-to-peer sharing community, where like-minded parents can rent, sell or swap kids stuff with each other. Most recently running meet-and-swap sessions in Ealing, with remaining donations sent on to local Baby Bank.
Research
A former research project based at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford - where I worked as a researcher exploring refugee-led innovation for four years.
African crafts
I'm supporting this African craft business run by a good friend. Items are handmade by refugees living in Kampala, Uganda, and the project directly supports their skills development and livelihoods.
Chair of committee
Chair of parent committee for a lovely local pre-school serving children 2-5 years old. For the year 2019/20.
PUBLICATIONS+
A selection of some of my publications, public speaking events, media and blogs.
Publications
Betts, A., Bloom, L., Kaplan, J. and Omata, N. (2016) Refugee Economies: Forced Displacement and Development, Oxford University Press.
Rodgers, C. And Bloom, L. (2016) Research in Brief: Informal versus Formal Infrastructure: Energy and water systems in the Kakuma refugee camps, Kenya, Refugee Studies Centre
Bloom, L. And Faulkner, R. (2016) Innovation Spaces: Lessons from the United Nations, Third World Quarterly, Vol 37: 8, pp 1371-1387.
Betts, A., Bloom, L. and Omata, N. (2014) Humanitarian innovation and refugee protection, in Brennan, K. (Ed) Making Global Institutions Work, Routledge.
Betts, A., Bloom, L. And Weaver, N. (2015) Refugee Innovation: Humanitarian Innovation that Starts with Communities, Oxford: University of Oxford, Humanitarian Innovation Project.
Betts, A., and Bloom, L. (2014) Humanitarian Innovation: The State of the Art, Occasional Policy Series, New York: OCHA.
Betts, A., Bloom, L., Kaplan, J. and Omata, N. (June 2014) Refugee Economies: Rethinking Popular Assumptions, Oxford: University of Oxford, Humanitarian Innovation Project.
And a series of project reports and working papers as part of the Humanitarian Innovation Project.
...speaking & media...
Short interview on BBC Business Daily - exploring technology and refugees, at 4'58", April 2016.
ATHA Podcast, 'Bottom-up' Innovation: An innovation series interview.
Women’s Federation for World Peace UK, ‘A glimpse into the lives of Syrian Refugees in Jordan’, 2015, London
UNICEF Activate Talks, European Parliament, The promise of innovation. 11 Nov 2015
Regular 'personal experience' talks for Engineers Without Borders UK.
Ongoing conference panel presentations, webinar sessions for partners, and policy level forum seminars.
...and a few external blogs
5 ways to better engage with bottom-up innovations by refugees, Jan 12th 2016, UNHCR Innovation.
Researching Innovation Labs, August 2015, UNICEF Stories.
Open innovation: Inspiring innovation in the UN, April 15th 2014, Mindjet.
Also regular blogs for Humanitarian Innovation Project.
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Copyright 2016