Suzanne Barker
Meet Suzanne, an accomplished professional with nearly two decades of experience in planning, design, and stakeholder engagement. Her extensive experience working for State and local governments, as well as the private sector, has exposed her to a diverse range of projects, including urban renewal, activity centre and precinct design, integrated water management, flood mapping and stormwater management, bushfire recovery, economic development, growth planning, and planning policy reform. Suzanne holds masters’ qualifications in urban planning, urban design, and landscape architecture, and is also a trained facilitator. Recently, she completed doctoral studies where she conducted research integrating knowledge around place attachment and cognitive bias to improve our understanding of residents' responses to planning proposals.
Suzanne is passionate about collaborating with clients and using design-led and place-based planning processes that consider the unique context and character of each place. She is also highly skilled at developing planning policy and process reforms underpinned by evidence and stakeholder engagement to integrate diverse views. Her approach is underpinned by conversations with stakeholders about what change should look like, and designing collaborative processes to help achieve project goals and policy reforms.
When she's not working, Suzanne enjoys spending time outdoors, riding her gravel bike on trails, or taking long walks on the beach.