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Image by Ryo Yoshitake

External Strategy & Research Partner for Human-Centered Urban Design

​G.O.A.L. partners with public and private organizations designing urban environments to translate complexity into clear priorities, measurable frameworks, and decision-ready roadmaps that improve quality of life. Our work is grounded in first-principles systems analysis and informed by the Five Pillars lens.

Mika Kunne — Founder, Strategic Research Lead
Headquartered in the Netherlands, working globally

Who We Work With

We support teams shaping the systems people live in—across planning, development, governance, design, and innovation.

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Typical partners include:

  • Public-sector strategy, policy, program, and transformation teams

  • Developers, masterplanners, and delivery organizations

  • Urban consultancies and interdisciplinary advisory teams

  • Design & innovation agencies shaping places, services, and experiences

  • Foundations, networks, and research-led initiatives influencing cities

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If you’re responsible for decisions that affect daily life in cities—housing, mobility, public space, safety, community, health, accessibility, time, and opportunity—there is likely a fit.

What You Get​

G.O.A.L. is an external partner built for clarity, rigor, and execution support. We help you move from ambition to decisions—and from decisions to action.

Common outputs include:

1) Workshops & Alignment

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  • Problem framing and scope definition

  • Priority-setting and tradeoff workshops

  • Stakeholder alignment sessions

  • Executive synthesis and next-step decisions

Engagement Models​

Engagements are tailored to context. The formats below are common starting points—rather than rigid packages.

Ongoing Partnership (Primary)​

For teams that want consistent strategic depth and a high-quality decision cadence over time.

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What it typically includes:

  • A recurring working rhythm (weekly or biweekly)

  • Async support on documents, decisions, and deliverables

  • Strategic critique (“red teaming”) and option structuring

  • Research, synthesis, and workshop support as needed

  • A 48-hour response commitment for retainer partners

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Use cases:

  • You need a strategic partner who can continuously sharpen priorities and outputs

  • Your project has many moving parts and decision gates

  • You want coherence across stakeholders, workstreams, and deliverables

Focused Sprint (Optional)​

A concentrated burst to create clarity quickly—and set the foundation for high-quality follow-through.

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Often used for:

  • A new initiative or program that needs framing and prioritization

  • A project that needs a system diagnosis and leverage points

  • A leadership team preparing for a major decision window

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Typical sprint outputs:

  • A clear diagnosis and top leverage points

  • A prioritized set of options and next steps

  • A draft measurement logic (KPIs)

  • A practical roadmap for the next 90 days

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A sprint can stand alone—or roll directly into an ongoing partnership.

Selected Feedback

​G.O.A.L. has published multiple whitepapers and perspectives and has shared its research with leading institutions internationally.

“We have reviewed the materials on G.O.A.L. and your ‘Five Pillars’ framework, and we were very impressed with your thoughtful and systematic approach.”​

Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research

Contact

If you’re exploring a partnership, email a short overview (three bullets is enough):

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  1. What are you working on?

  2. What decision do you need to make in the next 4–12 weeks?

  3. What would success look like?

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Start a conversation

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