About Me

Portrait photograph of Maria Toro-Troconis, Digital Education Consultant and founder of CoDesignS ESD Framework

I am a Digital Education Consultant with over 20 years of experience working with Higher Education institutions across the UK — including a decade as Senior Lecturer and Head of E-learning at the School of Medicine, Imperial College London. I am currently a Blended Learning Specialist at the University of Cambridge, with a focus on the development of AI literacy for academics and students.

I have worked for multiple United Nations organisations, including UNICEF Office of Innovation, UNICEF Uzbekistan, UNDP Iraq, UNDP Azerbaijan, UNESCO IESALC, UNICEF Europe and Central Asia, UNICEF Malawi, and UN Women — bringing expertise in digital learning to some of the world's most impactful development agendas.

In 2021, I was recognised as one of the world's top international education influencers — the Edruptors — by ISC Research, in acknowledgement of my work driving systemic change in Education for Sustainable Development.

My research and practice in Learning Design and Education for Sustainable Development has led to the creation of the CoDesignS Learning Design and CoDesignS ESD Frameworks, both of which have been adopted by educational institutions globally. I am also the Founder and Director of the Association for Learning Design and Education for Sustainable Development (ALDESD) and the Learning Design & ESD Bootcamp delivered in collaboration with UNESCO IESALC in English and Spanish.

I have led the development of partnerships and projects with UNESCO, UNESCO partners, and UNICEF Office of Innovation in the areas of sustainability and climate change, contributing to global efforts to embed these priorities within education systems and learning design practice.

I serve as an expert evaluator and board evaluation expert at European Commission Hearings in the areas of Health, Education, and Innovation.

I have led pioneering research into emerging technologies in education — including the use of virtual patients in Second Life, work that was featured on CNN — Edge of Discovery in 2009. I also led Imperial College School of Medicine's landmark initiative to become the first medical school in the UK to equip all undergraduate students with iPads, supported by a bespoke mobile learning and assessment ecosystem.

I am a Senior Fellow of Advance HE.

Born in Venezuela, I moved to the UK in my early twenties and spent several years living and studying in the north of Sweden. I consider myself a global citizen — shaped and enriched by a lifetime of diverse social, cultural, and intellectual experiences.