Rachel Lilley
How can emotions and embodied awareness be engaged as meaningful data in systemic interventions? Drawing on her work in mindfulness, behaviour change, and somatic inquiry, Rachel Lilley invites participants to consider how paying attention to feelings and bodily experience can open new pathways for systemic learning and practice.
Rachel was a keynote speaker at RSD13 in Oslo, presenting Toward a Fourth Wave of Systems Thinking for Systemic Design. She also contributed to ARC25 as a co-author of the Sightlines article, Three Layers of Systems Thinking, with Gerald Midgley and Raghav Rajagopalan.
PROFILE
Rachel Lilley
Birmingham Leadership Institute, University of Birmingham
Rachel Lilley is an Associate Professor at the Birmingham Leadership Institute, a Systems Thinking and Leadership teaching and research centre at the University of Birmingham, UK.
She is a practitioner-researcher in systems approaches and systems leadership and also the Programme Director for an innovative transdisciplinary Master’s Programme combining Systems Leadership and Systems Practice. Rachel’s high-impact research examines human decision-making, systems thinking capabilities, and behavioural change. It has supported policy design and practice, community initiatives, and leadership development at all levels. She has a particular interest in building capabilities to address climate and social change.
Rachel is an expert in human sensemaking, with specialist knowledge in cognition, consciousness, and perception. Her theoretical expertise is supported and informed by a strong track record of practising, teaching, and developing embodied perception skills in teams, organisations, and individuals.
She has over 30 years of experience as a systems practitioner working with public and third-sector organisations, as well as large corporates, addressing climate change, social issues, leadership, behaviour change, community engagement, and well-being. More about Dr Lilley
