Saffron Woodcraft

Saffron Woodcraft is a Principal Research Fellow and Director of Social Policy at the UCL Institute for Global Prosperity (IGP), with a focus on reimagining prosperity through community-centered approaches. She leads the Prosperity Co-Lab (PROCOL) UK and serves as Bartlett Faculty Lead for Public Policy, bridging academic research with policy-making. Her work emphasizes collaboration with citizen scientists, local communities, and policymakers to address urban inequality and sustainable development goals.

Education: PhD in Urban Studies (UCL, 2019), MSc in Urban Studies (LSE, 2004). Previous roles include Head of Communities Practice at The Young Foundation and Founder/Director of Social Life consultancy.

Research interests include urban sociology, policy innovation, and participatory methodologies to measure prosperity. Her projects, such as the East London Citizen Prosperity Index and Tanzania's Maisha Bora Index, pioneer community-driven metrics for wellbeing and equity. She advises government bodies like the GLA Wellbeing and Sustainability Measure Group and contributes to initiatives like the London Prosperity Board.

Key collaborations involve transdisciplinary teams in the UK and Tanzania, focusing on inclusive urban transformation. Her work integrates anthropology, human geography, and policy analysis to address systemic inequalities in rapidly changing neighborhoods.