We're delighted to welcome Finnish education expert Maria Haapaniemi as our new Head of Educational Transformation. With over 10 years of international experience in educational development, school leadership and consultancy, Maria joins our team to strengthen how we support schools in turning their educational ambitions into everyday practice.
Designing learning environments that support new ways of teaching and learning has always been at the heart of our work. But creating a new physical environment is only one part of educational transformation. To make meaningful and lasting change possible, schools also need to rethink how they teach, collaborate, organise and lead.
“Space is a powerful catalyst for educational change, but it cannot transform teaching practices on its own. Real transformation happens when physical environments, pedagogy, and school organisation evolve together,” says Rosan Bosch, Founder and Creative Director.
With Maria joining the team, we're strengthening our educational consultancy to support schools beyond the physical design of their learning environments. Her work will focus on helping school leaders and teachers navigate educational change, from defining a shared vision and developing leadership capacity to exploring new teaching practices and making the most of their learning spaces.
“Lasting educational change requires us to look at the bigger picture. Space, school organisation, curriculum, and teaching practices are deeply interconnected, yet schools often overlook leadership development and change management when they embark on transformation. We need to give educators the support and confidence to develop these elements together,” says Maria Haapaniemi.
Through strategic consultancy, leadership development, teacher training and collaborative processes, Maria will work closely with educational communities to make transformation both ambitious and practical.
Her appointment marks an important step in bringing educational consultancy and spatial design even closer together. Because while learning environments can open up new possibilities, it is the people who bring those possibilities to life.
Designing for a better world starts at school.