Animaeon

Strategy and communications that meet the moment
of the climate crisis.

Hi, I'm Katrine.

I'm a transdisciplinary strategist who works at the intersection of where our planetary boundaries collide with human ambition. My specialities are (eco)systems thinking and communications.

With deep experience in climate and environmental policy, energy, the net-zero transition, green cities, conservation, and the clean economy, I help government, academia, non-profits and think tanks navigate complexity and tell the important stories we need for the future.

I read systems the way some people read stories, and weave stories out of systems.

I work fluidly across disciplines. As a communications specialist, artist, urban forager, writer, and researcher, I am able to find the patterns that want to emerge. As a South African-Canadian, I bring with me experience in agriculture, climate adaptation and climate science in the Global South. I can see that the future is indeed not evenly distributed, not just in wealth, but in vulnerability to climate shocks. I work to bring in the voices that are not in the room, human and non-human. I work to bring in the voices that are not in the room, human and non-human.

I work across South Africa and Canada. My previous leadership roles include Director of Communications at The Transition Accelerator, Director of Communications at the Global Parenting Initiative (Oxford University), Director of Communications at McGill University's Max Bell School of Public Policy, and Director of Communications at the African Climate & Development Initiative (University of Cape Town).

I have a Master’s degree in Climate Change and Adaptation from the University of Cape Town and a degree in Visual Arts from Stellenbosch University.

As an artist I draw inspiration from my studies in climate change, chance encounters with urban nature, extinction events past and present, and internet memes. This website is dedicated to my independent consulting practice, but you can see what I’m up to in my art over here.

Check out my services and approach below and please get in touch - I'd love to talk about what we can create together.

Contact me

Core areas

From agriculture to the green economy, I move agilely between the difficult places where human needs and the limits of our planet meet. Here are some of the areas, I've worked in:

Energy & Electrification
Renewables
Digital Tools for Social Good
Public Policy
Climate Adaptation

Urban Ecology
Clean Energy
Renewables
Climate Smart Agriculture
Urban Design & Transport

Climate Science
Carbon Economy
Water systems
Waste & Recycling
Creative Economy

My approach

My process is grounded in the practices of the wild and the feral: that which is imaginative, autonomous and edgeless. Through this lens, my communications and strategy work begins with a deep understanding of the “how” and “why” behind a challenge. Immaculate attention is paid to making sure the way forward is on purpose, with the flexibility to include the unexpected.

I map clear, collaborative, workable pathways that balance bold action with patience and care.

My approach is explained here as one guided by five agents of nature—the feral pigeon, the dandelion, the vacant lot, the milkweed/monarch, and the white-tailed deer - each revealing how adaptability, perception, resilience, and unconventional ways of seeing allow human and non-human life to flourish.

The feral pigeon: resilience and the power of stories

Now seen as symptoms of urban disorder, disease and decay, the feral pigeons we see in our cities today were once our constant companions, living intimately with us for nearly ten millenia. It was only in the 20th century that a cascade of misinformation painted them as 'rats of the sky'. They show how powerful stories and media are in shaping culture, policy, perceptions and even physical landscapes.

PXL_20251207_223317813_edited_edited_edi

The dandelion: adaptation and gumption

Found on every continent except Antartica, the dandelion is a generous plant, being the first to flower in the spring and continuing to flower into autumn. It has astonishing versatility: every single part of the dandelion is edible. Well known for being able to grow in surprising places, dandelions are also adaptable to their surroundings: when growing on lawns that get mowed, they grow shorter stems that evade the blades. The magnanimous dandelion shows us that there is aways something to be done, and to take the opportunities hidden in the cracks.

The vacant lot: making space for unexpected transformations

Vacant lots provide a place where opportunistic plants and animals can collaborate with the human environment to create novel ecosystems with a surprising capacity for proliferating biodiversity. They show us how when we move beyond the fantasy of pristine wilderness there is an abundance nature to be had everywhere. They harbour ignored, rickety ecosystems (and even people) who should be welcomed and included in what we are building.

Milkweed & monarch butterfly: designing for the whole ecology

A butterfly that migrates over thousands of kilometres in a multi-generational effort, the monarch is reliant on a single plant for its larvae: the milkweed. The endangered monarch shows us both the power of deeply symbiotic relationships but also how much these connections must be nurtured for their resilience and ultimate survival. The monarch and the milkweed find themselves at the uneasy meeting place where sweeping colonial histories, the pressures of agriculture, urban growth and culture come together. But monarch conservation efforts show how science, education and ordinary people can work with the earth as a collaborator in times of difficult transformation.

The white-tailed deer: making connections of care when working at the edges.

Once on the brink of extinction, the white-tailed deer has made an astonishing comeback across North America. Deer are an 'edge' species, feeding on edges of darker forests and this comeback is partly due to humans creating more forest 'edges' through deforestation and urban land development. Human-deer relationships intersect at the very entangled space of climate change, landscape resilience, infrastructure, human safety (think Lyme disease) and agriculture. Crucial to all is seeing how the fate of the deer is our fate, how the story of the deer, is the story of the forest, is the story of the climate, is the story of us. It is in these intricate interplays that the wicked problems (and delights) of the Anthropocene come to play.

Images painted by Katrine with hand-made foraged walnut and chokeberry ink

Services

My resume used to list the programs and skills I had developed for years: Photoshop, photography, InDesign, PremierPro, proof-reading and more.

With increasingly sophisticated (and cheap) AI tools available, what's the point of paying for these services?

Why not just plug a couple of prompts into AI and then automate your communications? Why not storyboard your message through ChatGPT and then generate your video or podcast with avatars through Gemini or Synthesia? Why pay a graphic designer to create a logo and colour palette when you can just ask Canva to do it?

Well, the answer is that you can. The cost of production has moved close to zero, especially for many communications services that used to be very expensive. These are powerful tools that can (and should) be used.

While you might not be able to tell whether a staff headshot is AI generated or whether that blog post has been hallucinated by an LLM, people are getting better at sniffing out that little thing that feels uncanny or 'off'. Think about that sinking feeling when the promising post that you spent time reading on LinkedIn rings hollow. I call this 'soft' AI slop. It's probably been proof-read, it's inoffensive but there's nothing more too it. It falls flat. Your communications look good but they don't feel comprehensive, but they don't actually say anything or speak to what is unique about what you do. The texture and flavour are gone.

We can see AI has its limits. And there's also A LOT more competition for eyeballs and ears.

Here's what I can offer that AI can't:

Discernment: which moments matter?
Deep listening
Asking the right questions
Understanding your specific context, people and practices and putting this to good use
In-person (checkmate AI!) facilitations for true connection.

I want to tease out what's not written in your mission statement but is actually an important part of your story. The one you didn't know matters. I can help you find and fix the clogs in your workflows that you didn't know you have. I can help you build the mutual human relationships you need to get your big ideas done.

STRATEGY & SYSTEMS

Crisp, actionable strategies and the work plans to implement them.

Systems diagnostics & rapid intervention
Scenario planning & foresight
Organizational alignment & adaptive frameworks
Knowledge mobilisation
Facilitate engagement and partnership
Internal systems for communications and workflow
Monitoring and evalution

COMMUNICATIONS

Understanding your audience and ensure clear, consistent messaging that's delivered at the right time to the right people

Communications strategies and workplans
Key messaging, audience identification, and stakeholder mapping
Crisis or system-level response strategies
Long-term branding and web development strategies
Cross-sector alliance-building
Key messaging, audience identification, and stakeholder mapping
Thought leadership positioning
Growing long-term relationships
Media relations

EXECUTION

I work with expert producers to make engaging audio/visual content for events, courses and other content.

Get narrative clarity
Storyboarding and content strategy for digital and in-person experiences
Podcast design
Video & Animation
Interactive content
Online courses and educational materials
Writing: op-eds, blogs reports, web and social media copy
Events: conferences and workshops online and in-person
Email marketing funnels and content

TALKS AND WORKSHOPS

I'm available to talk about:

Resilient Systems Thinking: How to design organizations, cities, and initiatives that adapt and thrive under complexity
Wicked Problems & Wicked Solutions: Navigating multi-sectoral challenges with creativity and rigor
Emergence & Regeneration: Supporting new life, innovation, and abundance in social, ecological, and economic systems
Translating Complexity Across Disciplines: Bridging business, science, culture, and policy
Cultural Futures & Narrative Design: Crafting stories that shift public perception, build trust, and influence systemic change
Climate & Environmental Strategy: How organizations can communicate, collaborate, and act effectively in a rapidly changing world

Previous talks include:

The Elephants and The Fireworks, Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Urban Ecology and Empathy, Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal.
Extinction and Climate Change, talk and workshop, Redpath Museum, Montreal.
Art, Empathy and Climate Science, Cape Agulhas II, Antarctica.
Painting the Edges: Suburbs and Nature, Nature of Cities Conference, Portland.
Communicating Climate Change, South African Network for Oceanic Research.
Using the Polar Regions to Communicate Climate Change, COP21 Youth, Paris.
Using the Arctic to Communicate Climate Change, Arctic Frontiers, Norway.

Who I've worked with

I specialize in doing rare, high-value work with purposeful and ambitious teams and am proud to have worked with some of the most exciting and high-impact research groups and non-profit organizations in Canada and South Africa.

I've worked across the fields of climate adaptation, mitigation, the green economy, sustainable agriculture, conservation and psychology. Here's a selection of organizations I've helped launch and manage.

Katrine quite brilliantly took on the newly created role in Networking and Visibility. She was responsible for our digital communications, including the web pages, social media, newsletters, videos, as well as events such as seminars and other networking events. She is passionate about the environment, very creative and entirely reliable.

Professor Mark New, Dept of Environmental and Geographical Science and Research Chair, University of Cape Town

Katrine has an original, creative outlook. We worked together over a year ago, and I am still coming across beautiful, interesting communications products and concepts that she created during her time with us. In addition to her technical and creative skills and vision, Katrine takes her work very seriously, and is impeccable with her delivery. She is a wonderfully supportive colleague, and a general pleasure to work with.

Zoe Boeshoff, Flametree Fundraising

Testimonials

Katrine is an absolute asset and delight to work with. She combines a unique mix of creative flair, critical eye, astute awareness of how to communicate research or vision to different audiences, and a caring sensitivity to all her co-workers. During her time at ACDI, she developed an insightful communications strategy, a robust monitoring and evaluation system for outreach activities and a library of resources that is still used by ACDI today. She created scores of communication products in multiple formats - all stunningly beautiful, coherent and distinct.

Leigh Stadler, Education & Capacity Development Portfolio Manager, African Climate and Development Initiative