Spotlight on

James Moxey, Business Development and Delivery, Woodknowledge Wales

What’s your current role at your institution?

The team in Woodknowledge Wales (WKW) consists of specialists from a range of disciplines and sectors. We are architects, engineers, researchers, communicators, housing professionals, wood scientists, sawmillers and manufacturers. Together we are committed to drive change through transdisciplinary collaboration across academia, industry and policy. Working with WKW is inspiring because of the variety and challenge. I support people from across government, industry, and the public sector; I help secure contracts; and I oversee and deliver projects. All three activities are related and interdependent. Project delivery for example helps me stay focussed on current opportunities and challenges which helps when talking to policy makers and industry leaders. It’s exciting work.

Which past experiences have helped you the most in your current role?

I’m not a qualified construction professional. I spent over 25 years in Academia where I supported and developed research centres, often with large research teams who delivered industry facing research and support. The common themes in this work were design and creativity, which also meant securing income, delivering projects with industry, and engaging with policy makers.

What excites you about the research in the Transforming Homes project?

The Transforming Homes project has brought together many people from different backgrounds with a wide range of expertise and experiences. These different perspectives are being focussed on a common goal: making homes better and healthier places to live in. I’m constantly excited by the new perspectives that are being brought into focus within the project and the quality of the discourse, whether that be the historical context of the homes being examined or the way in which communities can be at the heart of the regenerative process that retrofitting provides.

How is your expertise contributing to the Transforming Homes project?

I’m reluctant to claim to be an expert in anything really. I guess the main contribution I make is to consider how the research within the project is relevant to the supply-chains that will deliver it. I also support in terms of thinking around material use (e.g. retrofit systems, performance, and carbon reporting). If I have any expertise in this field, it’s in my general understanding of the spectrum of issues related to retrofit, the ability to spot an opportunity for collaboration, and then making connections between the research team and those in industry who will have the specific expertise to advise and support. It helps being well-connected in order to make this happen.