Meet the team
Hilary Sutcliffe and Joe Woof are the co-leads of The Addiction Economy initiative.
Hilary is the Director of SocietyInside and Joe is its Communications and Planning Lead.
SocietyInside is dedicated to putting people and planet at the heart of business and politics. Our aim here is to distil the evidence on how harmful industries work, and through innovative communications inspire citizens to shun their products and persuade politicians to use their power to put people before profit.
This project was stimulated by our astonishment that harmful industries seemed to flourish almost unchecked, while decimating the lives of millions, and we want to understand how and why that was allowed to happen and what to do about it.
-
Director
My work over the last 20 years with SocietyInside has been on exploring the concept and practice of a ‘Pro-society’ approach to innovation. This is a system of innovation which better serves people and planet without causing more problems than it solves.
I have been involved in a number of initiatives exploring the whole system of innovation from early academic research, through technology transfer, commercial product development, the role of shareholders, policy decision-making and regulation. Most recently I have focused on building trust in this process and how the meaningful engagement of stakeholders could be incorporated as part of a collaborative outcome-based innovation system.
This has involved working in projects large and small in many technology areas, particularly Artificial Intelligence, data and digital responsibility, neurotechnologies, robotics, synthetic biology, gene editing and industrial biotech, nanotechnology and advanced materials, internet of things, self-driving cars, quantum technology, food irradiation and high-tech food innovation and most recently tobacco harm reduction and vaping.
To see more check out www.societyinside.com
-
Executive
I recently joined SocietyInside to focus on this project. Both my under-graduate and master’s dissertations (on social media usage and vaping) were a response to witnessing the impact of different dependencies, even addictions, on my own life, my friends, and the young people around me. I want to understand it more and help do something about it.
Connecting the dots between these two industries and now seeing it as a whole system, an ‘Addiction Economy’ is fascinating. The task is so daunting; but uncovering the drivers of this system, understanding what it means for addiction and even how we could give a perspective which may help people currently suffering, is both scary and exciting.
I am also working on Action on Recreational Vaping, another project under the umbrella of The Addiction Economy, where I focus on bringing the voices of young people to the debate and communicating about the issues for them around vaping. See www.recreationalvaping.org
My BA in Geography was from Newcastle University where my dissertation focused on understanding ‘Why young people don’t change their behaviour when they find out about the damaging effects of social media’ , I then did a Master's in Science Communication at University College London, where my dissertation was the production of a short film, The Vaping Dilemma, on vaping for young people.