About
Catherine is Professor of Public Policy, and Co-Director of the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place at the University of Liverpool. She is recognised as a leading expert on urban governance and public policy, and has written widely on policy design and implementation, devolution, urban transformation, social and democratic innovation, participation and community ownership.
Her work is highly cited, and has been published in leading peer-reviewed academic journals, including Political Studies, Governance, Public Administration Review and Urban Studies. This work has been supported by a portfolio of high-value research awards from funders, including the Economic and Social Research Council, Arts and Humanities Research Council and Joint Partnership Initiative Urban Europe.
Catherine is particularly well-known for her work on co-production and its value in forging creative and inclusive solutions to economic, social and policy challenges. She has written for Nature on how the academy can better value co-production in research and is now co-lead of the Co-Production Futures Inquiry, convening UK higher education leaders to address institutional barriers to co-producing research . She also contributes her expertise on co-production to University of Liverpool research projects, including the NERC-funded Community Vision for Resilient Riverscapes (CONVERSE) project.
Catherine is an engaged scholar and has worked extensively with policy, practice and community partners, and has consulted to organisations including the UK government and Equality and Human Rights Commission. She recently contributed to the Public Design Evidence Review published in July 2025 by the UK Cabinet Office. A global first, the Review sets out the role of public design in driving more effective and innovative government. This is also the emphasis of a wider body of work on Positive Public Policy (PoPP). Catherine also convenes the University’s interdisciplinary Feminist City network, using feminist, gendered and queer lenses to re-imagine the city.
Catherine is an institutional leader on Place and Innovation, and leads on key University civic initiatives, including the annual Vice Chancellor’s Conference. She also serves on the Leadership Group for Liverpool Citizens, a broad-based alliance of civil society organisations using community organising for social change, and a local chapter of the national charity, Citizens UK.
A Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Catherine has specialised in post-graduate teaching of students in policy and practice roles seeking to advance their public service careers. She is a mentor on the Fleming Fund’s professional development programme and a contributor to the Australia and New Zealand School of Government’s Executive MPA and the UK Cabinet Office’s Leadership for Government programmes, along with the University of Liverpool’s new Masters in Public Administration and Policy. She has previously taught at the Universities of Birmingham, De Montfort and Manchester.
Catherine is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and was the recipient of the Joni Lovenduski Prize for Outstanding Professional Achievement in a Mid-Career Scholar in 2020, awarded by the UK’s Political Studies Association. Before joining the University of Liverpool, she was Director of Research at the Institute of Local Government Studies, and the School of Government at the University of Birmingham, where she retains an Honorary Professorial position. She has also held International Visiting Research Fellowships at the Great Cities Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), the Institute for Governance and Policy at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Tilburg University’s School of Politics and Public Administration, and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). She is Chair of the Editorial Board for Local Government Studies.
Catherine convenes the Women@Liverpool staff equality network by and for academic women across disciplines and career stages. She acts as a mentor across a range of initiatives, including UKRI Future Leader Fellowships. She is a highly experience PhD supervisor.
For further updates, you can connect with Catherine on LinkedIn