The Team

meet Ascha

I’m a macroeconomist with more than a decade of experience at UN agencies, building intelligence on the multifaceted concepts and impacts of sustainable, inclusive development. Longing to build tools for bottom-up, citizens-fuelled impact, I took the plunge two years ago and went all in on Wild Streets.

I live just north of Copenhagen with my partner, our daughter, and a stubborn little sausage dog.

where I’m from

I’m the most comfortable when I get to work cross-dimensional on topics and tasks. Reflecting back on my time in banking and at the Danish Chamber of Commerce, I realize that I have always liked drawing the big picture. I love shaping connections between people, ideas, and technology. Reaching people is at the core of it all – making complex topics graspable through storytelling and smart visualization. I’m a multi-hyphen at heart, and Wild Streets ticks all boxes. It’s an incredible platform addressing a myriad of urban issues and applicable to so many professions and sectors.

what makes me tick

– walking! Everywhere I can. I love exploring new places on foot, preferably accompanied by my dog. It was during my long walks around London that I realized how unequal the distribution and access to urban nature are. This is when the concept of Wild Streets started taking shape.
– the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree: my 3-year-old daughter adores nature and animals. So visits to the seaside, local forests, green markets, and farms are fixtures in our life.
– I’m a novice winter bather. At the moment, you’ll see me run quickly towards the sauna!
– I’m curious about art in all formats and fiddle with ceramics when time permits.

favourite pipeline idea

There’re so many exciting ideas on the table! On the engagement side, I’m really keen on exploring action-based ‘triggers’ such as animated characters popping up in kids-mode, digital art appearing in public places, and inviting influential personas to give short talks using green screen technology. On the planning side, I think the many possibilities for integrations with existing planning/environmental softwares will pave the way for a deep transformation of the urban greening process.

CEO and Co-Founder

Ascha Lychett Pedersen

meet Jai

I am a design-engineer with passion for nature and sustainability. I like to get stuck in on making the future visible, especially when it’s hands on; and anything to do with trees.

I’ve have worked designing bicycle bags from recycled materials and bio-digesters, and am currently using those skills to design edible landscapes from gardens up to many hectares in scale.

In recent years, I have been one of the creators of Wild York (wildyork.uk), an interactive map of the city’s green spaces. Just by showing what is where and how those spaces connect together, we have made a transformative resource. It’s enabled community, NGOs, medical practises and council to make best use of the existing green infrastructure. Then crucially see the most effective ways to extend and improve on it for wellbeing and biodiversity benefit.

I take a lead on all things green as a member of YoCo (yoco.uk). We are a community organisation developing a community-led masterplan for a radically socially and environmentally progressive mixed use neighbourhood with over 100 homes on the York Central site. It’s a very exciting opportunity, we have the chance to make an area as a precedent for those around it, bringing the best of urban design examples from around the world with a healthy dose of the ‘Wild’ built in from the beginning.

These are what real make me tick, and is what’s expressed in Wild Streets. Re-imagining spaces from the ground up with the people who will use them. Finding a sweet spot where human and technological ingenuity and natural systems make the best of each other.

Lead Design and Co-Founder

Jai Sandhu

meet Sue

I am the Founder of Around the Block and work at the interface of the built and natural environment. Supporting regenerative, resilient, and equitable cities, that places landscape and nature at the heart, with a specific focus on systemic governance change and long-term stewardship mechanisms.

I have been the CEO of the Landscape Institute, Wandle Valley Regional Park Trust, and Design Council, as well as being the founder of the Bankside Open Spaces Trust and held numerous senior positions with London local authorities.

Non-Executive Director

Sue Morgan