Human Ecosystems

design

Reconnect with each other.
Resource our ideas and work.
Redesign how we work together.
Redistribute opportunity.

We design the human infrastructure that support people and systems to work better together.

Human Ecosystem Design is the practice of designing the relationships, conditions and shared infrastructure that enable diverse people, communities and institutions to belong, collaborate and create change together.

Independent brilliance. Shared infrastructure. Collective power.

SoCo brings together underrepresented independent practitioners turning knowledge, creativity and lived experience into work that makes a difference.

For organisations, our collective agency designs and delivers programs, experiences and public activations grounded in community insight.

For practitioners, we share resources, build capabilities and collaborate on paid projects, strengthening livelihoods and collective impact.

Guided by First Nations wisdom, intersectional practice and co-design, SoCo is built from lived experience and trusted by leaders across community, government and business.

Find your people · Commission a project · Partner with us

Read our origin story

What we build together

Human Ecosystem Design is the practice of designing the relationships, conditions and shared infrastructure that enable diverse people, communities and institutions to belong, collaborate and create change together.

What makes it different

Service design improves a service. Event design creates an experience. Systems design examines structures. Human Ecosystem Design connects all three, with particular attention to power, culture, trust, access and human relationships.

Together, we’re building shared support, creating paid projects and developing community programs and public activations.

Explore each part of our growing ecosystem below - click +

  • Independent expertise. Collective capability.

    Practitioner Collective

    A growing network of independent facilitators, creatives, educators, cultural advisers, producers and community strategists.

    We bring together the right people to co-design and deliver commissioned projects, programs and public activations across government, business, social impact, media and the arts.

    Organisations access diverse expertise grounded in cultural knowledge, lived experience and community relationships. Practitioners gain opportunities to collaborate, share resources and build sustainable livelihoods through paid work.

    SoCo xD | Human Ecosystem Design

    Our design practice connects people, places, resources and opportunities.

    We work with organisations and communities to design gatherings, programs and shared infrastructure that make participation more accessible, strengthen relationships and help people turn ideas into action.

    SoCo Tools & IP

    Practical frameworks, tools and learning resources developed through our work and with our community.

    We make useful knowledge easier to access and apply, helping practitioners strengthen their work and organisations build their capability.

  • National Nodes

    A space for storytelling, content, community programming and culture -building work, delivered through partnerships with local creatives, organisations and venues, with active nodes in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

    Founder & Creator Pathways
    Programs, showcases, residencies and practical support for under-recognised founders, creators and community-led operators to grow visibility, income, partnerships and confidence.

  • SoCo Inspiration

    SoCo Live is shared cultural mobilisation infrastructure that enables communities, councils, governments and partners to co-produce festivals, campaigns and public experiences for social change.


    A live cultural transformation format blending ideas, music, storytelling, facilitation and social impact to create rooms that move people from passive inspiration to practical action.

    We bring our under represented educators, creators, artists onto our stages. We co-design the platform with our community.

  • A talent partnership model connecting content creators, touring musicians, brands partnership deals with local changemakers through ethical cultural exchange, storytelling and community benefit.

  • Alternative Funding for Social Impact-Led Businesses.

    A practical pathway to help community-led founders, consultants, creators and small businesses access funding, partnerships, sponsorship and shared support.

SoCo Offering

Categorised by Reconnection Ripple. Change that moves from body to system.

Self-regulation

Breathe. Notice. Return.

  • An intimate workshop that blends somatic regulation, story-work, and ancestral inquiry to help people reclaim their heritage. No code-switching required.

    Explore >>>

  • An always-on guide that nudges daily body-wise rituals and tracks patterns. Gentle prompts, real change.

    Explore >>>

Co-regulation

Bodies tune to bodies.

  • Trauma-aware coaching and power accountability that swap adrenaline leadership for co-regulation. Boundaries over burnout.

    Explore >>>

  • Immersive, sensory-safe gatherings that turn regulation into a shared experience. Belonging you can feel.

    Explore >>>

  • A staff-led sprint that maps the values to behaviour, the gap to where you want to be and co-creates living rituals that rebuild trust. Culture you can feel.

    Explore >>>

  • Monthly embeds and coaching that keep new rituals alive with rhythm data and refreshers. Change that sticks.

    Explore >>>

  • A mirror of brand vs. lived experience with a 90-day alignment roadmap. Live it, don’t sell it.

    Explore >>>

Collective Culture

Policies, spaces, rhythms redesign.

About Reconnection Ripples

  • A deep dive on policies, pay, and power with a phased plan to protect equity. Shift the system.

    Explore >>>

  • A build-and-launch sprint translating the audit into story, design, and practice. From insight to implementation.

    Explore >>>

  • Human Ecosystem Design is the practice of designing the relationships, conditions and shared infrastructure that enable diverse people, communities and institutions to belong, collaborate and create change together.

    It asks:

    • Who is in the ecosystem?

    • Who is missing or unheard?

    • Where do power, trust and resources sit?

    • What prevents people from participating?

    • What relationships and structures need to change?

    • How do we turn participation into coordinated action?

Systemic Shift

Norms change; futures widen.

Contact us

Reconnection is our original state.
When we return to it, culture heals itself.

SoCo Practice

The SoCo Practice is rooted in body-wise practice, collective learning, and place-honouring knowledge (what some organisations call “trauma-informed design” and “cultural intelligence”). We combine nervous-system wisdom, shared creation, and truth-telling storywork to change how people relate to themselves, each other, and Country.

Impact lives in relationships, not transactions.

Meet the SoCo Hatafu

  • Missy Gilbert - I am Offerings | First Nations Artist & Experience Design

  • Emeli Paulo | she/her | Executive Producer + Experience Design + Master Facilitator

  • Judith (Juju) Marie Ortiz | she/her | Decolonised Branding

  • Dan Brophy | He/Him | Leadership & Mens Health

  • Beth Garzouzie | she/her | Organisational Development

  • Emeli, Miyo, Esin & Beth | Delivery & Content

  • Tegan Kop | they/them | Universal Design & Data

  • Doug Cronin | he/him | Ethical Storytelling

Read our origin story