Tom Smith

Tom Smith is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography and Sustainable Development at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. His research comprises an ethnographic exploration of spaces of amateur craft and decentralised production - a new wave of spaces which have arisen over the last decade comprising maker spaces, hack labs, and collaborative upcycling initiatives - and how they relate to the so-called 'double dividend' in sustainable development, the ability to live well while impacting less on the planet.

He is also an editor at the Dark Mountain Project, recently co-editing their Technê anthology, which brought together leading thinkers on technology, objects and skill in the modern world.

Tom grew up in Ireland, where he obtained a B.Sc. (hons) International Development and Food Policy, an M.A. in Global Ethics (Philosophy & Sociology), both at University College Cork (UCC), as well as a British Permaculture Association permaculture design certificate (PDC). In Ireland he also co-founded an autonomous low-impact living community in Galway, Ireland, with The Moneyless Man, Mark Boyle.