Kieran Boden
Biography
In my PhD project, I am applying co-production theory in practice. I am working with people from underserved communities to co-create, co-design and co-produce nature-based interventions to improve well-being. The main aims of this project are to understand access barriers and how co-production works in reality, when seeking to empower those who are facing the intersections of poverty, racial prejudices and other systemic pressures in their daily lives.
My background and training as an experienced mental health practitioner, outdoor activity instructor and community organiser have all helped me bridge the gap between academia and practice. My approach has been to ask the community what they need and show what I can offer. Demonstrating Nature Connection Taster Sessions to community organisations has led to co-creating funding bids. This enables young people from underserved communities to gain the skills and qualifications needed to become local leaders of nature connection activities, with bespoke outcome measures to meet community and funder specific aims.
Academic and Professional Qualifications
Advanced Wilderness Therapeutic Practitioner Level 3, EQE Outdoors, 2025
MSc. Recovery in Mental Health, Sheffield Hallam University, 2018
BSc. Psychology, Sheffield Hallam University, 2014
Research Outputs
My outputs so far are in the form of co-produced collaborative community projects, several of which are undergoing the process of co-authorship. For more information on current projects or upcoming publications, please contact me (details below) or check out my projects page on LinkedIn.
LUDeC Connections
My PhD project directly advances LUDeC’s ambition to reimagine the city as a site of collaboration, equity, and social justice. LUDeC highlights the limitations of disciplinary silos and narrow economic framings of urban life; my research responds by applying co-production theory to explore how inclusive, community-driven practices can generate more just and humanistic forms of urbanism.
Working with underserved communities, I co-design nature-based interventions that address barriers rooted in systemic oppression. Methodologically, I use initiatives such as Nature Connection Taster Sessions and co-produced funding bids to enable young people to engage in bespoke local experiences and develop skills and qualifications as leaders of community-based programmes, embedding sustainability from within.
By bridging psychology, sociology, and community practice, my project seeks to exemplify LUDeC’s call to transcend disciplinary boundaries. It generates both theoretical insights and practical outcomes that enact LUDeC’s vision of more collaborative, equitable, and sustainable urban futures.
Contact Information