Consultancy Experience 

Since establishing IDEAction in April 2007, Andrew Llanwarne has carried out a range of projects with local and national government, government agencies, the not-for-profit sector, and a European organisation of local authorities.

These projects have involved the use of expertise in sustainable development, knowledge management and economic development, sometimes separately and sometimes together. 

For example, one project involved the identification and documentation of case studies of how different development agencies had approached "sustainable economic development", now the top priority for the Scottish Government.

Another was carried out for a local authority development service to examine its current approach to sustainable development and knowledge management and produce recommendations for improvements.  This was linked to a forthcoming Best Value review and drew on the EFQM model for organisational improvement.

An interview programme was designed to gather views from a wide range of organisations on future research requirements in the areas of environmental, rural and marine affairs to help inform future Scottish Government policy.  A follow-up contract has recently been secured to promote knowledge-sharing among stakeholder organisations in these important fields of research.

Two knowledge management reviews have been carried out in different organisations, one large and the other small.  Workshops were held with management and staff to identify ways in which they could benefit from sharing and using knowledge more effectively.  Techniques which had been tried and tested elsewhere were adapted to the circumstances of these individual organisaitons.

Narrative techniques have been used to capture people's individual experiences of participating in an international organisation, in order to identify the benefits of membership.  The outputs can be used to help retain existing members and attract new ones.  Many suggestions also emerged for further improvements which would add to these benefits. (See the attached testimonial.)

Expertise in strategy, planning and communications has been applied to the preparation of a set of corporate planning documents for a small knowledge-based organisation.  This included detailed work on the business model underpinning the corporate plan and on a marketing communications plan based on customer segmentation.  Assistance has also been provided with recruitment of key personnel for a new project at this organisation.

A consistent Project Development and Approval Process was developed for a major public agency formed from several predecessor bodies.  Experience of similar work for Scottish Enterprise was invaluable, although the new process was tailored to meet the particular circumstances and driving principles of the organisation concerned.

A Tourism Impact Assessment was carried out in 2009 for a major corporate investor, to accompany a planning application for the development of wind turbines at a site in North Devon.  This was followed by a second Tourism Impact Assessment for a major energy project in Scotland.

Training in project management was prepared and delivered to local authority planning officers in Scotland, through the Improvement Service (commissioned through TPS Planning).

Lectures in Sustainable Urban Development were researched, written and delivered as part of a module for masters students at the University of Dundee.  These focused on the use of SD Indicators, Governance for sustainability, and Evaluation of Sustainable Urban Development Strategies.