Overview

Director: Impacts 08 – The Liverpool Model (since April 2006; contributor as external collaborator since July 2005). Longitudinal research programme into the long term cultural, social, economic and environmental impacts of Liverpool’s becoming 2008 European Capital of Culture. The programme has been commissioned by the Liverpool City Council and is jointly developed by the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University.
[Programme website] [Personal Image archive site]

Research Council funded research

  • Principal Investigator (with Dr Steven Miles and Dr Alan Southern) Cultural Sustainability? Liverpool in 2008 – AHRC and ESRC Impact Fellowship to study the cultural policy implications of hosting the 2008 European Capital of Culture in Liverpool. [Research Background]
  • Principal Investigator: Experiencing arts and culture. Understanding and measuring quality in physical and virtual environments (2008-2009) – AHRC and ACE funded Impact Workshops to study the visitor and audience experience and impact of engaging with arts and humanities activities. [Project Summary]
  • Co-investigator (with Dr Andy Miah): Towards London 2012: Non-accredited Media, Cultural Discourses, and Olympic Host City Identity (January 2006-January 2008) – Research funded by the British Academy. We are undertaking fieldwork at the Turin Winter Olympic Games (February 2006), pre-Olympic Beijing (September 2006) and regular observations with the London Organising Committee for the 2012 Olympic Games (2006-7).
    [Research Background]
  • From Athens 2004 to London 2012: the contribution of non-accredited media centres to the Olympic Games host city (January-December 2004, in collaboration with Andy Miah, University of Paisley) – Research funded by the British Academy. The project involved one month of field-work in Athens during the Olympic sport competitions (August 2004). This project had led to the creation of the specialist magazine Culture @ the Olympics. [View Research Summary | Press Release | Research Diary]

Other Charities funded research

  • Cultural programming at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (2008) – Research funded by the Universities’ China Committee in London. This project involves field work during the Beijing Olympic Games. This work involves working as an embedded journalists/researcher within the Non-Accredited Media Centre at the Olympic Games, through which the communication of cultural aspects of the Games takes place.

Other commissioned research

  • Evaluation of Cultureshock, North West Cultural Programme for the 2002 Commonwealth Games (Sep 2002-Jan 2003) – Research commissioned by the main partners of the programme, including the Arts Council of England and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Project undertaken within the Centre for Cultural Policy Research, University of Glasgow, with contributions from Christine Hamilton and Carmen Bota. The final report and summary reports are kept at the Arts Council England North West. [View Project Webpage | Summary Report]

Other research programmes I have led

  • Urban Cultural Policy Implications of the Universal Forum of Cultures, Barcelona 2004 (October 2003- January 2005) – Research funded by the Centre for Cultural Policy Research and conference travel support from theBritish Academy. The project involved one month of field-work in Barcelona at the start of the event (May 2004). [Conference Presentation | Abstract]
  • Analysis of the programming, management and promotion of the Sydney 1997-2000 Olympic Arts Festivals (Mar 1999-Jun 2002) – Research supported by a Mobility Grant by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), an Olympic Research Grant by the Olympic Studies Centre at the UAB, and grants by the International Olympic Academy and the Olympic Museum –International Olympic Committee. The research results have been incorporated in my PhD Thesis, ‘Towards a Cultural Policy for Great Events’ and will be published within a monograph by Routledge in 2009.
  • Cultural Policy of the Olympic Movement. A review of cultural agendas and structures at the International Olympic Committee (Apr-May 2001) – Funded by the Postgraduate Research Grant Programme 2000 of the Olympic Museum and Olympic Studies Centre, International Olympic Committee.

Projects I have contributed to

  • Academic advisor to: Study on the European Cities and Capitals of Culture and the European Cultural Months 1995 – 2004 (Jan – Jul 2004) – Project conducted by the consultancy Palmer/Rae Associates and commissioned by the European Commission. [Download Report]
  • Contributor to: Highland 2007 : Year of Highland Culture (since June 2005) – Research commissioned byHighland 2007 and conducted by the Centre for Cultural Policy Research, University of Glasgow. The project involves a longitudinal assessment of the social, cultural and economic impacts of the year-long programme. Expected time-line: June 2005 – May 2008.
  • Contributor to: The effectiveness of the Scottish Arts Council’s links and partnerships with other agencies (Mar – May 2002) – Project conducted by the Centre for Cultural Policy Research and commissioned by the Scottish Executive. Main aims: investigating and reviewing the Scottish Arts Council’s external links and partnerships considering the ‘effectiveness of the Council’s wider links and partnership working with other agencies including local authorities, social inclusion partnerships, the enterprise and tourism networks, artists and the cultural community more widely’. The research was part of the Quinquennial Review of the Scottish Arts Council in 2002. [Report |Appendices (1.13MB)]
  • Contributor to: Comparative Analysis of the International Television Coverage of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies (Oct 2000- Sep 2001)– Research commissioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and undertaken by the Olympic Studies Centre at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona.