Tessa Lynn

Dedicated to uncovering what her Grandmother meant by ‘community isn’t what it used to be,’ Tessa researches and continues to discover for herself what community means through active involvement in community development. 

Tessa’s PhD explores the social relations of property, community rights, and assets of community value through an evaluation of the Community Right to Bid. Her research came from the bedrocks of property rights and the commons. Unearthing the literature of the commons, she was fascinated to discover the work of John Clare (see his poetry on the enclosures). Sharing a place of origin with Clare, Tessa felt it confirmed her destiny to rediscover our commons and uncover modern-day enclosures.

She has participated in various research projects on community engagement and consultation in planning and development, including neighbourhood planning, pre-application, deliberative engagement in planning, and Statements of Community Involvement.

She also has practical experience in community development. She has been applying the principles of the commons as a proud community gardener for over eight years. She is involved in and advises many community projects, from charities to limited companies. Dedicated to the development of communities, she was inspired to create a community research course that is practical and easy to implement for community organisations. Community research provides a solution to close the growing gap between delivering services and creating policy, benefiting those whom these services and policies impact are often labelled hard to reach.

Tessa loves working with people who are looking to progress their personal development as well as their community. These comprehensive community coaching programmes bring people together and transform themselves into fellow humans who share their communities.