Sustainable Policy Analysis Research Centre (SPARC)

We aim to rise to the challenge of complex problems and sustainable solutions by employing methodological innovation in policy analysis including participatory and co-design methods, action research, large-scale and complex social science data, quasi-experimental evaluations, theories of change, contribution analysis and public value frameworks, amongst others.

We take a broad and inclusive perspective of sustainability that places social, economic and environmental factors at the heart of policy analysis. The emphasis of our work is on the longevity of policy solutions by understanding how policy analysis can provide and support a longer-term and multi-dimensional perspective on governance and government programmes.

Our objective is to reach groups, communities, places, challenges, organisations, and technologies that due to their situation or complexity are often hard-to-reach or easy to overlook. We look to empower situated knowledge via methodological innovations in order to reach policy solutions that are relevant, sustainable and impactful.

Following the UN in their Sustainable Development Goals, we aim to have a positive impact on knowledge, individuals, communities and societies at a local and global levels via knowledge exchange and public engagement, by providing sustainable real-world policy solutions that matter.

Improving Access To And Use Of Organisation-level Data On The Third Sector And Civil Society

The voluntary sector is widely acknowledged as containing very large numbers of organisations that make an enormous contribution to well-being and social cohesion in the UK. We know a great deal from survey data about patterns of individual giving to charities, and about patterns of volunteering. But there is a substantial gap in the availability of high-quality data about voluntary organisations. And it is argued that better-quality information and evidence would lead to the contribution of those organisations being properly recognised, leading in turn to higher levels of public and voluntary support for them. This project seeks to respond to this need by creating the first national database on the population of organisations forming the third sector through bringing together information about charities with information about different kinds of noncharitable civil society organisations (including Community Interest Companies, Co-operatives and Mutuals, and non-profit Companies Limited by Guarantee).

Key contact: Dr Diarmuid McDonnell (Diarmuid.McDonnell@uws.ac.uk)

A Sociological Investigation Of Underemployment And The Lived Experiences Of Underemployed Workers

Increasing number of workers are underemployed, meaning that they are working below their potential or preference in terms of hours, wages, and/or skills. Underemployment is a key societal challenge that renders workers more vulnerable to the fast and continuing economic fluctuations resulting from industrial changes, recessions and austerity measures, and other events such as the Covid pandemic or food insecurity due to climate change. Even though underemployment is on the increase, existing research is dominated by supply-side economics and psychological analysis, and existing employment statistics do not fully reflect or account for this phenomenon. This study will address, through a longitudinal mixed-methods design, the knowledge gap that exists in what we know about underemployment levels, composition, predictors and outcomes and about the lived experiences of underemployed workers with and outwith work. The research will investigate the impact of underemployment on individuals, families, households, communities, and society, providing relevant policy recommendations.

Key contact: Vanesa Fuertes (Vanesa.Fuertes@uws.ac.uk)

Link to website: https://underemployment.info/

Encouraging positive bystander responses to bias-based bullying in primary schools through a serious game approach

Bias-based bullying is a serious public health issue having a negative impact on the well-being of children with socially devalued identities and characteristics. Given that bias-based bullying is driven by social-cognitive factors of stigma (e.g., social dominance orientation, stereotypes and prejudice) different strategies are needed to address this form of bullying compared to non-bias motivated bullying. This project aims to contribute to our knowledge about how best to address bias-based bullying by developing and evaluating an intervention specifically designed to encourage positive bystander responses in weight-, ethnicity-, and religion-based bullying situations. The intervention will consist of a serious game, lesson plans and teacher training and will be tested with 9- to 13-year-old children in Scotland, the Netherlands and Greece. The study aims to contribute to building a stronger evidence base for interventions targeting bias-based bullying to ensure the human rights of students with devalued identities or attributes are respected and their wellbeing does not suffer as a result of bias-based bullying.

Key contact: Maria Sapouna (Maria.Sapouna@uws.ac.uk)

Link to website: https://www.ou.nl/en/web/gate-bull

UK fisheries policy post-Brexit: multi-level challenges and opportunities

This project will look at the different levels of government in the UK in the context of fisheries policy. Using fisheries as a case study, the project aims to contribute to the academic literature on multi-level governance and rescaling by exploring the need to alter policy realities in a post Brexit UK.

Besides examining the UK’s internal dynamics, the project aims to look overseas to Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands; states and territories who are outside the EU but who govern their own territorial waters and who negotiate with each other and the EU every year to set the amount of fish that can be caught in particular parts of the seas around Europe.

Key contact: Arno van der Zwet (Arno.van-der-Zwet@uws.ac.uk)

Link to report: https://ukandeu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Governing-UK-fisheries-after-Brexit-Lessons-from-iceland-Norway-and-the-Faroe-Islands.pdf

Integrated territorial and urban strategies: How are ESIF adding value in 2014-2020?

The 2014-2020 regulatory provisions to EU Cohesion policy gave Member States new opportunities to use ESIF for sustainable urban development and other territorial strategies, particularly using Integrated Territorial Investment. This study examines how Member States are responding to these new provisions and how Cohesion policy is ‘adding value’ to regional, urban and local development. The study shows that there has been significant uptake of territorial strategies in 2014-2020, mainly in the form of sustainable urban development, across most Member States. Many of the strategies are new; the territorial provisions have encouraged innovation and adaptation in both thinking and practice. This innovation includes a more integrated approach to intervention, the implementation of strategies at different spatial scales, and more collaborative models of governance. There is scope for extending the use of territorial strategies in future, albeit with simplification of some of the regulatory requirements and more flexibility in programming. There is a need for institutional capacity-building to ensure efficient implementation at local level and greater emphasis on citizen engagement. Lastly, more attention needs to be given to monitoring and evaluating the outcomes of strategies.

Key contact: Arno van der Zwet (Arno.van-der-Zwet@uws.ac.uk)

Link to European Commission report: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/04637994-e6d5-11e7-9749-01aa75ed71a1/language-en

UWS-Oxfam Partnership - City Region and Growth Deals: Growing Equality for Scotland?

City Region Deals (CRDs) and Growth Deals are arrangements between the UK Government, the Scottish Government, local governments, and (private, public or third sector) local stakeholders.  In Scotland, CRDs and Growth Deals are expected to explicitly engage with the Scottish Government’s agenda on ‘inclusive growth’. This is in contrast, at least on the discursive level, to the UK Government’s focus on growth as more ‘traditionally’ understood and measured in gross domestic product (GDP). In that, CRDs and Growth Deals arguably have at least the potential to be a socially progressive force if they can proactively address inequalities and exclusions whilst also taking into account the impact of economic growth on the environment and on climate change.

This project examines whether, in Scotland, the potential of the deals to be a progressive force has been realised with regards to the themes of openness, partnership and inclusivity both during the early development phases of the deals and in the more concrete project-oriented phases thereafter. The project discusses the extent to which the making of the various CRDs and Growth Deals has included a wide range of communities, whether those who were involved in the deal-making processes considered equality and inclusion issues, and whether equality impacts were actively monitored. The report is underpinned by the analysis of publicly available CRD and Growth Deal documents - in particular the ‘heads of terms’ agreed for each deal by local stakeholders, the Scottish Government and the UK Government - and by data gleaned from eighteen interviews, conducted in 2018, with people involved in the making of the seven deals scrutinised in this report

Key contact: Arno van der Zwet (Arno.van-der-Zwet@uws.ac.uk)

Link to UWS-OXFAM partnership report: https://oxfampartnership.uws.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/City-Region-and-Growth-Deals-Growing-Equality-for-Scotland-REPORT.pdf

Mission Accomplished? A Cross-national Examination of Charity Dissolution

Encouraged by ‘open data’ movements, regulators have made it increasingly straightforward for stakeholders to access large-scale data about charities and their regulation. This project leverages some of these data resources to examine a topic of considerable public and regulatory importance: charity dissolution. This project undertakes work to collect, clean, harmonise and analyse international data on charity dissolution. In doing so we identify real opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration to understand this important topic.)

Key contact: Dr Diarmuid McDonnell (Diarmuid.McDonnell@uws.ac.uk)

Decent Work in Social Care

In 2020, this project explored what care workers, in the shadow of the the COVID-19 crisis, in Scotland think about their job quality and what needs changing. Chiefly, participants claimed the important factors that “make work decent” are in short supply.

Care workers want more supportive managers who themselves are supported better; decent pay which takes into account the real skills that care work requires and is based on systematic job evaluations; decent terms and conditions including sick pay beyond the statutory minimum; and job security with a curb on casual employment. A safe work environment is important too as many care workers say that their mental and physical health mattered little in their workplaces even before COVID-19. One factor crucial to making work feel decent and worthwhile is purpose and meaning. Many care workers say they remain in the job because their work has an abundance of both. However, there is a lack of social recognition and this is key to understanding why, overall, job quality in the sector is low. The lack of recognition should be understood in context of the high regard in which the NHS is held.

In the view of care workers, how Covid-19 unfolded for them confirmed long-held beliefs that existing attitudes towards older people – attitudes characterised by agism and lack of valuing them – translate directly into a lack of recognition for those who care for them.

The project report makes some suggestions on what needs to change. Certainly, dcent work improvements for care workers require a dedicated approach and specified institutionalised ‘regime’ for job quality improvement. Other social care sectors also require such a dedicated approach – each sector is too complex to allow a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. All decent work factors, in particular the seven factors focussed on in this report, should be seen as interdependent and should be addressed by all stakeholders in a coordinated way.

Starting at the top, the culture which pervades the care sector needs to change. A new ‘culture of care’ should drive institutions and operations in a more sustainable direction and potentially pave the way for finding new ways of resourcing social care. This will require the courage to accept responsibility and the need for co-operation across all stakeholders, with front line care workers having a central place in this process of change.

Key Contact: Hartwig Pautz (Hartwig.Pautz@uws.ac.uk)

Link: https://oxfampartnership.uws.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SGHPDecentWorkinScottishCareHomesReport.pdf

Romania Catching-Up Regions : Strategic Requirements for Organizational Models

Strategic requirements are a way to ensure that EU funds generate more value added than just the investments they finance. For the 2021-2027 programming period, Romania will receive around thirty billion Euro through European Structural and Investment Funds (ESFI). This sizable budget will help address a number of development challenges throughout the country. To be able to access these funds, Romania, as all other EU member states, has to meet a number of strategic requirements. Generally, these strategic requirements cover most sectors covered by EU funds, and include the national level and local levels, and from the managing authorities and intermediary bodies to end beneficiaries. Moreover, in addition to the minimum strategic requirements imposed by the European Commission, there are also a set of additional strategic requirements imposed by national governments. The report proposes a way to think about potential strategic requirements for the SUD 2021-2027, based on the types of organizational models that could be adopted. The report also discusses some of the risks that should be kept in mind when the decision for a SUD approach is taken, focusing on three types of risks: 1) contextual s; 2) implementation; and 3) collaboration.

Key contact: Arno van der Zwet (Arno.van-der-Zwet@uws.ac.uk)

Link to World Bank report: https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/898061580283295995/romania-catching-up-regions-strategic-requirements-for-organizational-models

Honour-Based Abuse in Scotland: Evidence and pathways to strengthen protection for victims

This programme draws together an international multi-disciplinary team of practitioners and experts in law, psychology, social work and social policy, government, and the women’s sector, along with the women who have experienced it, to consider Honour-Based Abuse in Scotland.

Considering the protection provided to victims of gender-based abuse through the law and policing, the project will illuminate and evaluate the effect this has on women who are impacted by the intersecting factors of gender, ethnicity, family networks, linguistic, financial, educational, immigration and other barriers in the face of Honour-Based Abuse.

The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 introduced a law to criminalise a course of conduct considered “abusive” whereby an individual who abuses their partner or ex-partner may be guilty of an offence. This legislation represents a concerted effort to recognise the complexity of domestic abuse, but there remains a legislative gap regarding protection for victims suffering abuse rooted in ‘honour’.

The project will evaluate the current law and policy on domestic abuse in Scotland; the way this influences policing, social work, agency, education and community responses; and whether explicit legislation is required to protect women experiencing Honour-Based Abuse.

Key Contact: Scott Grant (Scott.Grant@uws.ac.uk)

Link: https://www.scottishinsight.ac.uk/Programmes/OpenCall202122/Honour-BasedAbuseinScotland.aspx

UWX-Oxfam Partnership research on Scottish National Performance Framework and an outcome on care

The report presents a detailed blueprint for a new National Outcome on care as it could be added to Scotland’s National Performance Framework. The blueprint uses insights gained from research literature and existing practice from around the world. Furthermore, the views of stakeholders (unpaid carers; care workers; people experiencing care; representatives of organisations involved in providing, financing, monitoring care or in supporting care recipients or providers; and academic experts) are incorporated.

Key Contact: Hartwig Pautz (Hartwig.Pautz@uws.ac.uk)

Link: https://oxfampartnership.uws.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/NPF-Report.pdf

Director and Professor of European Governance

Email: arno.van-der-zwet@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/arno-van-der-zwet

Deputy Director and Senior Lecturer

Email: Julie.Clark@uws.ac.uk  

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/julie-clark

Deputy Director and Senior Lecturer

Email: Vanesa.Fuertes@UWS.ac.uk     


PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/vanesa-fuertes

Professor of Public Policy

Email:   Margaret.Arnott@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/margaret-arnott

Lecturer

Email: Diarmuid.McDonnell@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/diarmuid-mcdonnell

Senior Lecturer

Email: Maria.Sapouna@uws.ac.uk    

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/maria-sapouna

Senior Lecturer

Email: Scott.Grant@uws.ac.uk 
PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/scott-grant

Lecturer

Email: nidia.avilesnunez@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/nidia-aviles-nunez

Lecturer

Email: Colin.Atkinson@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/colin-atkinson

Senior Lecturer

Email: Hartwig.Pautz@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/hartwig-pautz

Lecturer

Email: Habibe.Ilhan@uws.ac.uk

Professor

nick.jenkins@uws.ac.uk

Lecturer

awais.mashkoor@uws.ac.uk

Lecturer

gareth.rice@uws.ac.uk

Professor of Social Sciences

Email: Colin.Clark@UWS.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/colin-clark

Lecturer

Email: Rosie.Alexander@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/rosie-alexander

Professor of Wireless Communications

Email: Muhammad.Shakir@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/muhammad-zeeshan-shakir-shakir

Senior Lecturer

Email: emilia.pietka-nykaza@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/emilia-pietka-nykaza

Professor

Email: david.mcgillivray@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/david-mcgillivray

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https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/research-prepared-for-parliament/contact-spice

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/

https://ukandeu.ac.uk/

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Arnott, M (2020) Missing Links: Past, Present and Future Interparliamentary Relations in the devolved UK (Cardiff: Institute of Welsh Affairs)

Arnott, M.A and J.Ozga (2016) ‘Scotland: in Federal Britain?’ Oxford Review of Education vol 42 issue 5 pp.253-265

Clifford, D., McDonnell, D., & Mohan, J. (forthcoming). ‘Charities’ income during the COVID-19 pandemic: administrative evidence for England and Wales’ Journal of Social Policy.

Connolly, J. and van der Zwet, A (eds) (2021) Public Value Management, Governance and Reform in Britain (as part of the International Series on Public Policy (series editors: Guy Peters and Philippe Zittoun), Palgrave Macmillan.)

Fuertes, V., McQuaid, R. & Heidenreich, M. (2021). Institutional logics of service provision: the national and urban governance of activation policies in three European countries. Journal of European Social Policy, 31(1), 92-107. DOI: 10.1177/0958928720974178 

Fuertes, V., Jantz, B., Klenk, T. & McQuaid, R. W. (2014). Between cooperation and competition: the organisation of employment service delivery in the UK and Germany. International Journal of Social Welfare, 23(S1), 71-86. DOI: 10.1111/ijsw.12100

McDonnell, D. (2017). ‘Improving Charity Accountability: Lessons From the Scottish Experience’ Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 46(4), 725-746.

McDonnell, D., Mohan, J., & Norman, P. (2020). ‘Charity Density and Social Need: A Longitudinal Perspective’ Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764020911199.

McDonnell, D., & Rutherford, A. (2019). Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIO): An Empirical Review. Report for Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).

Ozga, J., & Arnott, M. A. (2019). Governando para além do PISA: conhecimento, redes e narrativas. Roteiro, 44(3), 1-22.

Rutherford, A. C., McDonnell, D., & Hogg, E. (2020). ‘Incentivising Regulatory Participation: Effectiveness of a Fundraising Levy’ Public Administration Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13176.

van Der Zwet, A., Connolly, J., Huggins, C., & McAngus, C. (2022) Network resilience and EU fisheries policy engagement in third countries: Lessons for post-Brexit governance. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 13691481211067146.

Clark, J., Jenkins, N. & Noone, S.(2019) Soft power and hard choices: a critical perspective on health and inclusion in disadvantaged communities, Local Economy, 34, 7, p. 730-738

Pautz, H.; Dempsey, D. (2022) Covid-19 and the crisis of food insecurity in the UK. Contemporary Social Science, DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2044069

McCall, V., Rolfe, S., Matthews, P., Wallace, A., Manyika, G., Iafrati, S., Clark, C., and Munro, M. (2022) ‘The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on UK Housing Policy: How do we rebuild the foundations of the ‘wobbly pillar’? in Jolly, A., Cefalo, R., and Pomati, M. (eds.) Social Policy Review 34: Analysis and Debate in Social Policy, 2022, Bristol: Bristol Policy Press.

Maclean, C., Pautz, H., Gibb, S and Hay, N. (2021) Towards a Scotland that cares: a New National Outcome on Care for the National Performance Framework. UWS-Oxfam Research Report Series.

Maclean, C., and Hay, N. (2021) Young, caring and struggling to make ends meet: The worsening economic circumstances of Scotland’s young carers during Covid-19. UWS-Oxfam Research Report Series.

Alexander, R; Holm, A-E; Hansen, D; Vahl, K M (2020) ‘Career Guidance in Nordic Self-Governing Regions: Opportunities and Challenges’ in Haug, Hooley, Kettunen and Thomsen (eds) Career and Career Guidance in the Nordic Countries. Brill Sense: Leiden. pp.65-80

Alexander, R; McCabe, G & De Backer, M (2019) Careers and labour market information: an international review of the evidence Education Development Trust

Arnott, M.A. (2017) ‘"Jigsaw Puzzle" of education policy?: nation, state and globalised policy making’ Scottish Educational Review, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp3-14.

Arnott, M.A. (2016) ‘Governing Strategies of the SNP Government 2007-2016: Education Policy’ Scottish Affairs 25 (1) pp.45-61

Beck, V., Fuertes, V., Kamrāde, D., Lyonette, C. & Warren, T. (2020). Working Lives. In Parker, M. (Ed). Life After COVID-19: The Other Side of Crisis. The Bristol University Press

Browne, C., McDonagh, C. and Clark, C., (2022) 'A space for me, but what about my family?': the experiences of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller student carers in UK Higher Education, in Hook, G., Moreau, M-P. & Brooks, R. (eds.). Student Carers in Higher Education: Navigating, Resisting, and Re-Inventing Academic Cultures. London: Routledge, p.73-87.

Fuertes, V. (2021). The rationale for embedding ethics and public value in public administration programmes. Teaching Public Administration, online first. DOI: 10.1177/01447394211028275

Fuertes, V., McQuaid, R. & Robertson, P. (2021). Career-first: an approach to sustainable labour market participation for disadvantaged groups. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 21, p.429-446. DOI: 10.1007/s10775-020-09451-2

Fuertes, V. & Lindsay, C. (2016). Personalization and street-level practice in activation: the case of the UK's work programme. Public Administration. 94(2), 526-541. DOI: 10.1111/padm.12234

Hooley, T; Percy, C & Alexander, R. (2021) Exploring Scotland’s Career Ecosystem: Evidence to support the Career Review Skills Development Scotland

Pietka-Nykaza E. (2015) “I want to do anything, which is decent, and relates to my profession”: Refugee doctors’ and teachers’ strategies of re-entering their professions in the UK, Journal of Refugee Studies, 28 (4), 523-543

Alexander, R (2021) ‘Young people, out-migration and Scottish Islands: Surveying the landscape in Burnett, Burnett and Danson (eds) Scotland and Islandness: Explorations in Community, Economy and Culture. pp143-168

Alexander, R (2018) 'Geography, mobility and graduate career development' in Burke, C. & Christie, F Graduate Careers in Context: Research, Policy and Practice. Routledge: London.

Brooks, E., Clark, C. and Rostas, I. (2022) Engaging with decolonisation, tackling antigypsyism: lessons from teaching Romani studies at the Central European University in Hungary, Social Policy and Society, 21(1): p.68-79.

Campbell, L. and Hay, N., 2020. Show racism the red card. In Community Development for Social Change (pp. 227-235). Routledge.

Hay, N., Campbell, L., Kowalewska, M., Clark, C., Tammi, L., and Balogh, B. 2020. “A Hidden Community: Justifying the Inclusion of Roma as an Ethnic Identity in the 2021 Scottish Census.” Critical Romani Studies 3 (1): 46–71.

Jones, K., Ksaifi, L. and Clark, C. (2022) ‘The biggest problem we are facing is the running away problem’: placement agencies and the paradox of facilitating the mobility of immobile workers, Work, Employment and Society (online 07-08-22) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09500170221094764

Leatham, S. 2022. Data in which many worlds fit? Queering knowledge production for pluriversal post-growth futures. Proceedings of the 20th STS Conference Graz 2022. DOI: 10.3217/978-3-85125-932-2

McKeever, A. (2020) Immigration Policy and Right-Wing Populism in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan.

McKeever, A. (2021) ‘Explaining policy deadlock: The case of Sarkozy’s integration policy’, French Politics

Mulvey, G., Ahmed, T. and Clark, C. (2022) Race and migration in Scotland, in Gall, G. (ed.) A New Scotland: Building an Equal, Fair and Sustainable Society. London: Pluto Press p.195-206.

Pietka-Nykaza, E. Clark C. and Leith M. (2020) Scotland and Brexit: Citizenship, identity and belonging, Scottish Affairs, 29 (3), 293-304,

Pietka-Nykaza, E. McGhee, D (2016), From privileged to thwarted stakeholders – Polish migrants’ perceptions of the Scottish Independence Referendum 2014 and the UK General Election in 2015, Citizenship Studies, 20 (6-7), 899-913

Pietka-Nykaza, E. McGhee, D (2015), Stakeholdership citizenship: Complexities of Polish Migrants citizenship attachments in the context of the Scottish Independence Referendum, Citizenship Studies, 20 (1), 115- 129

Sapouna, M., DeAmicis, L. & Vezzali, L. (in press) Bullying victimization due to racial, ethnic, citizenship and/or religious status: A systematic review. Adolescent Research Review

Clark, J. & Kearns, A., (2016), Going for gold: a prospective assessment of the economic impacts of the Glasgow 2014 Games upon the East End of Glasgow In: Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space. 34, 8, p. 1474-1500

Clark, J., Kearns, A. & Cleland, C. (2016) Spatial scale, time and process in mega-events: The complexity of host community perspectives on neighbourhood change, Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning. 53, p. 87-97

Clark, J. & Rice, G., (2019) Revitalising rural Scotland: Loch Fyne, branding and belonging Journal of Place Management and Development. 13, 1, p. 18-29

Clark, J. & Wise, N. (Eds) (2018) Urban Renewal, Community and Participation: Theory, Policy and Practice, Springer Urban Book Series, Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Leatham, S. 2020."Natural Climate Solutions": We Aren't Seeing the Woods for the Trees. Clean Slate. 118: 26-28

Medeiros, E., & Van Der Zwet, A. (2020) Evaluating integrated sustainable urban development strategies: A methodological framework applied in Portugal. European planning studies, 28(3), 563-582.

Van der Zwet, A., Bachtler, J., Ferry, M. and McMaster, I (2017) Integrated territorial and urban strategies: how are ESIF adding value in 2014-2020?, Study conducted for the European Commission (DG Regio).

van der Zwet, A., Mendez, C., and Borkowska-Waszak (2021) Rescaling urban development policy in the EU: the impact of integrated place-based approaches in Cohesion Policy, Regional Studies, 55(6), pp 1154-65

Atkinson, C. (2022). ‘Football fans are not thugs’: communication and the future of fan engagement in the policing of Scottish football. Policing and Society, 32(4), 472-488.

Atkinson, C. (2017). Patriarchy, gender, infantilisation: A cultural account of police intelligence work in Scotland. Australian & New Zealand journal of criminology, 50(2), 234-251.

Atkinson, C., Mackenzie, S., & Hamilton-Smith, N. (2017). A systematic review of the effectiveness of asset-focussed interventions against organised crime.

Murray, K., & Atkinson, C., (2020) This Service Terminates Here? Politics, Practitioner Perspectives, and the Future of Railway Policing in Scotland. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 14(3): 752-765. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/pay074

Schinkel, M., Atkinson, C., & Anderson, S. (2019). ‘Well-kent faces’: Policing persistent offenders and the possibilities for desistance. The British journal of criminology, 59(3), 634-652.

Grant, S., Buchan, J., & O'Donnell, A. (2020). Probation in Europe: Scotland. In A. M. van Kalmthout and I. Durnescu (eds) (2020) Probation in Europe. Utrecht: Confederation of European Probation.https://www.cep-probation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Scotland-chapter-final-version.pdf

The Role of Local Political Leaders in Shaping the Planning and Implementation of Health and Social Care Integration: A Case Study from Scotland.

This thesis examines the role of local political leaders in shaping the planning and implementation of Health and Social Care Integration (H&SCI) in Scotland, as outlined in the 2014 Public Bodies (Joint Working) Act. H&SCI aims to improve care quality and efficiency for individuals using health and social services. Local councillors, integral to Integration Joint Boards (IJBs), oversee H&SCI, yet their contributions remain under-researched. This study addresses this gap by analysing councillors’ roles, leadership styles, and the political contexts shaping their actions. It also explores the dynamics between political representatives and senior bureaucratic actors, such as chief officers and planners.

Using a qualitative case study approach, the research analyses policy documents and conducts semi-structured interviews with councillors and stakeholders across eleven IJB areas. An analytical framework, informed by contingency and situational leadership theories, integrates leadership styles and political contexts to identify key themes and approaches.

Findings reveal that local political leaders adopt diverse leadership styles—ranging from cooperative to result-oriented—shaped by their environment and preferences. They face challenges such as managing stakeholder conflicts, financial pressures, and reform complexities. The study contributes to public sector reform literature, offering insights to enhance H&SCI governance and performance, while informing integrated governance theory and practice.

Completion day - 17 May 2024

Operationalising One Health for Antimicrobial Resistance: The Barriers and Opportunities for Environmental Integration and Collaborative Governance in Scotland

This research examines Scotland’s One Health approach to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR is a characteristic wicked policy problem with significant cross-cutting implications for humans, animals, and the environment. However, the environmental dimension has historically been underrepresented in both research and policy and there is a lack of comprehensive guidance for implementing One Health. This study aims to advance understanding of effective strategies to address AMR by integrating environmental considerations and incorporating a collaborative governance perspective into the operationalisation of One Health. A qualitative case study approach was employed, utilising documentary analysis and stakeholder interviews from sectors including government, public health, environmental management, research, and industry. The findings highlight Scotland’s progress in integrating environmental considerations, identifying key barriers such as weaknesses in leadership and resource silos, and opportunities for enhanced stakeholder engagement and collaboration. These insights underscore the critical role of governance factors in the implementation of One Health for addressing AMR and provide actionable recommendations for policymakers.

Date 21 January 2025

Housing Policy in Scotland: Multi-Level Governance and the Politics of (de)Commodification since 2007

Since the neoliberal turn, housing policy has been shaped by a tension between housing’s use value as a home and its exchange value as a market asset. This thesis examines how Scotland has navigated this tension since 2007, when the SNP assumed control of the devolved Holyrood parliament. Measures such as regulating the private rented sector and ending the right to buy suggest a shift toward decommodification.

Within a multi-level governance framework, the research explores how political, bureaucratic, and civil society actors articulate competing interests and shape housing policy. It assesses whether these changes represent a substantive move away from neoliberalism or a reconfiguration of its norms, focusing on distributional outcomes and the balance between financialisation pressures and social policy goals.

Drawing on Poulantzasian state theory, the study investigates how policy networks mediate tensions between use and exchange value, linking measures to broader political and economic structures. Using policy analysis and stakeholder interviews, it highlights challenges of aligning social welfare priorities with governance practices in a financialised political economy. By presenting Scotland’s housing strategy as a case study, this thesis contributes to critical geography, public policy and housing studies, offering insights into the politics of interest articulation and contested policy outcomes. 

Charitable food aid and growing inequalities in the UK

This study employs a mixed methods approach to examine the evolution and geographic distribution of charitable food aid providers in the United Kingdom from 1960 onwards, investigating their relationship with areas of material deprivation. The research aims to address a critical gap in understanding how charitable food provision intersects with socio-economic inequalities and welfare restructuring. As Lambie-Mumford and Silvasti (2020: 191) note, "the rise of charitable food assistance needs to be understood within the context of changing welfare states and the rolling back of social security provision." Findings from the literature review so far reveal significant geographical variations in charitable food provision that do not consistently align with levels of material deprivation. As McDonnell et al. (2020: 1082) demonstrate, this creates "geographies of hidden hunger" - areas where high levels of need may exist but remain unmet due to limited-service provision. Current literature also identifies complex interactions between welfare reform, local institutional capacity, and voluntary sector resources in shaping patterns of provision.
The study aims to contribute to both academic discourse and policy development by providing empirical evidence of how charitable food aid has evolved in response to changing welfare landscapes. It highlights important implications for addressing food insecurity and social inequality in the UK context, while also identifying areas requiring further research attention.

Expected submission – 01/06/2026

A Place for Everyone? Housing, Policy, and Community in Rural Scotland

This research investigates the role of housing policy in fostering sustainable, community-led development in rural Scotland, where challenges like affordable housing shortages, second-home ownership, and aging populations threaten economic and social cohesion. By examining how communities can take greater control of their housing needs, this study aims to provide actionable insights into empowering local residents to transform vacant properties and develop sustainable housing solutions.

The research explores innovative models of community ownership and governance, focusing on their potential to revitalize rural economies, enhance social cohesion, and promote environmentally conscious development. Case studies of successful community-led initiatives will inform the development of a practical toolkit to support rural communities in navigating financial, legal, and technical barriers to housing control.

This project also seeks to offer policy recommendations and best practice guides for government agencies and housing professionals to create enabling frameworks that balance local needs with broader housing and tourism pressures. Ultimately, the study aspires to contribute to sustainable rural development, offering a roadmap for equitable housing policies and community resilience in Scotland and beyond.

The Challenges and Opportunities Facing Migrant Employees Working in Algerian Oil and Gas Industry: Culture, Performance, Diversity, and Social Integration.

Globalisation has rendered workplaces into increasingly culturally diverse environments, making the impact of cultural diversity on organisational performance a crucial area of inquiry. This study examines the influence of cultural diversity on the performance and social integration of non-Algerian employees in Algeria’s oil and gas sector, a field notable for its heterogeneous workforce. Focusing on key dimensions of cultural diversity within Algerian oil and gas companies, this research explores the opportunities and challenges faced by non-Algerian employees, the importance of effective diversity management, the mechanisms underpinning cultural diversity, and its relationship to employee performance and social.
To achieve the research objectives, a mixed-methods approach was employed. Quantitative data were collected from 34 non-Algerian employees working in five distinct private and state-owned oil and gas companies in Algeria, selected based on nationality, experience, organisational role, and company type. Qualitative data were gathered through online semi-structured interviews with 16 participants. Quantitative data were analysed using cross-tabulations, while qualitative data were examined through thematic content analysis.

The findings revealed that cultural diversity significantly shapes both performance and social integration of non-Algerian employees within Algerian organisations. These employees, originating from diverse cultural backgrounds, contribute a wealth of skills, experiences, and perspectives that improve the workplace environment by introducing innovative strategies and solutions to challenges, thus fostering creativity and innovation and driving productivity. Through interacting with non-Algerian colleagues, Algerian employees benefit from their distinct experiences, ultimately contributing to a more dynamic and inclusive organisational culture.

This study addresses a gap in the literature on cultural diversity within Algeria’s oil and gas sector and offers practical recommendations for theory, policy, and practice. Findings underscore the importance of tailored diversity strategies, effective communication, and employee satisfaction, with implications for multinational corporations operating in culturally diverse contexts. These insights highlight the necessity of targeted diversity management strategies to enhance performance and social cohesion within multicultural organisations.