Amelia Dray

Amelia Dray is a Lecturer in MA Embedded Design at HDK-Valand, University of Gothenburg, where they are also a practicing designer working at the intersection of systems change and co-production.

Dray's educational background includes:

• BA in Design from Goldsmiths, University of London (2016)
• MFA in Child Culture Design from HDK-Valand, University of Gothenburg (2022)

As a designer and educator, Dray specializes in systems of care and community, with a strong advocacy for play and reimagining leadership through the lens of childhood. Their work integrates play and queering as central themes in both design practice and facilitation. Dray has extensive experience designing and facilitating change programs in collaboration with large organizations, school networks, charities, and government entities at local and central levels. Their material and drawing practice explores themes of play, grief, and queerness to investigate spaces of change and emergence. Both their design and teaching practice is described as 'a continuous experimentation of being with the play, mess and transition.'

Dray's recent publications demonstrate a clear trajectory in design research focused on person-centered care, queer methodologies, and embedded design practices. Their work bridges theoretical frameworks with practical applications in healthcare, community development, and social change initiatives. The publications reveal a growing emphasis on participatory approaches that center marginalized voices and experiences, particularly through the lenses of queerness and play.

Dray's teaching practice embodies their philosophical approach to design, embracing uncertainty and transformation as essential elements of creative work. Their position at HDK-Valand places them within a vibrant design education context that supports their interdisciplinary approach to design research and practice.