How The Programme Works 

The Urban Hack is a programme designed for young Londoners to learn the fundamentals of Service Design.

You’ll begin with an immersive 3-day course to develop essential skills and tools, encouraging creative thinking and problem-solving. Next, you’ll join team-up to address real-world challenges in your local area, designing and prototyping innovative solutions. With guidance from expert coaches, you'll refine your ideas and bring them to life.

The programme culminates in a final showcase, where you and your team will present your projects to Ealing Council, demonstrating your ability to create meaningful, pro-social impact in your community.

Immersive, interactive 3-day course to learn a wide range of skills, bring out your creativity and get to know Service Design

1. Dive in

2. Collaborate

Gain and implement expert feedback.

3. Design & Prototype

Learn how to turn your ideas into tangible solutions.

Team up with other participants to tackle challenges in your local area.

4. Test & Tweak

Present your project to Ealing Council at  

5. Showcase 

Digital Badges 

Earn digital badges as you journey through the programme and develop your skills. These badges can be stored in and accessed via an online wallet. You can also share these verified badges on your CV, LinkedIn, or via email. 

2025 dates to be announced

Meet the team

Meet the people who make The Urban Hack happen. You’ll be fully supported throughout the journey, including expert coaching sessions. Our team is dedicated to supporting you as an individual as well as your teams. We’ll guide you through the key phases of the programme. 

  • Becky Lund-Harket

    Project Lead

    Becky is an adaptable project lead with ten years’ experience working across in the education, charity, public and private sectors. As a facilitator, she has worked in hundreds of schools across the UK delivering a wide range of life skills workshops, giving her insight to the issues that young people face and what makes a learning environment inclusive and successful.

  • Grace Boettcher

    Project Manager

    Grace is a Project Manager working across both our academy and consultancy programmes. She studied Classics at The University of Edinburgh, where she enjoyed a broad curriculum of ancient arts, philosophy and science. Grace is a recent graduate of our Design Thinkers Bootcamp London and was an intern at BBC Studios in PR. She brings a wide and varied skillset and a fresh perspective to our team.

  • Cheyenne Eugene

    Education Manager

    Cheyenne is a youth-programme producer and facilitator, specialising in personal, social, health and economic education programmes and workshops. She has worked across areas such as early careers, relationships and sex education, environmental education, and civic engagement. Cheyenne’s background in youth-based programmes and knowledge of pro-social initiatives ensures The Urban Hack will deliver a valuable and meaningful programme which is relevant to KS5 participants.

  • Simon Gough

    Facilitator and Coach 

    Simon is a service designer, facilitator and trainer with over two decades’ experience of working with government departments, commercial companies and charities.

    For over eight years Simon led Ravensbourne University’s MDes in Service Design Innovation while developing complementary modules in organisation design, systems thinking and transition design.

  • Mo-Ling Chui

    Facilitator and Coach

    Mo-Ling is a senior lecturer in Design Management and Cultures at London College of Communication, with 20+ years' experience delivering integrated marketing campaigns, large-scale brand activations, exhibitions, digital products and events including the Olympic Games and World Expos.

    In her research and creative practice Mo-Ling applies ethnographic and human-centred design thinking approaches to social design projects, exploring themes around emerging and future identities, diversity and diaspora.

Who can join? 

Because the best Service Design is interdisciplinary, whether you're into tech, art, science, or just want to make a difference, The Urban Hack is for you.

We hope 2024 will be the first of many Urban Hack programmes, with more schools and London Boroughs. Keep an eye on our socials for updates!