Practice-based research for more humane systems
Fieldnotes is an independent, practice-based research and development project focused on how real people experience systems in the real world — especially in social work, addiction services, mental health, and other human services.The work grows out of lived experience, frontline observation, and long attention to what assessment, intervention, and “advice” actually feel like from the inside.It’s interested in the gap between what systems say they value and what their structures actually make possible.
What this work stands for:
• Capacity before compliance
• Regulation before responsibility
• Conditions before outcomes
• Systems that are honest about limits and pressures
• Design that makes human change possible, not performativeWhat it doesn’t stand for:
• Blaming individuals for predictable system failures
• Weaponising time, targets, or assessments
• Mistaking compliance for capacity
• Treating lived experience as extraction rather than leadership
Current work includes:
Fieldworks — a capacity-first, regulation-first framework for addiction treatment and service sequencing
Fieldnotes — a practice-based field report series on trauma-informed, promise-aligned assessment and care
Fieldethics — a systems ethics project on targets, timelines, and outcome-driven design in human services
Contact: [email protected]