Geoff Bickford is the founding director and lead consultant at Lively, a human-centred research, facilitation and design consultancy. Before founding Lively, he worked for seven years at the South African Cities Network where he led transport, municipal finance and built environment programmes. He holds over 10 years’ experience in the South African and African transport research and policy space and has worked across a broad spectrum of transport areas and contexts. He has extensive experience working with government and establishing policy relevant knowledge support.

The focus of his work has been the promotion of spatial transformation. Holding a Master Degree in Transport Studies, and a BSc (hons) in Urban and Regional Planning, Geoff has extensive research experience in the areas of transit oriented development, sustainable modal shifts and the institutional and stakeholder dynamics that inform transport decision making.

Geoff is an advocate for user-centred approaches to transport solutions. He is a skilled facilitator and holds certificates in Social Entrepreneurship, Design Thinking Facilitation and Gestalt Foundations. Becoming a father has reminded him of the power of play in learning and development, he founded Lively to bring joy into the workplace by using creativity and human connection to support teams tackle their biggest challenges.