Research
Sue’s research interests span English devolution, regional and local economic development, skills strategies, public service reform and associated policy issues. Recent examples include: Lessons from the Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) Innovation Pilots, a ‘what works’ review of employment innovation pilots in five MCA regions; and Covid-19 and the Adult Education Budget, a rapid review of the impact of the pandemic on skills and employment in Liverpool City Region.
Sue has worked closely with local partners to develop and lead a portfolio of research focused on community assets, social infrastructure and public service delivery. She was PI for the City Conversation, a UKRI-funded community-based participatory research project involving Liverpool residents in the redesign of public services. Sue led Bridging the community asset data gap: Building Back Better in Liverpool City Region which used an asset-based approach to explore gaps in the data ecosystem supporting social infrastructure provision and community assets and included a case study with St Helens Council to gather evidence. Sue was also Co-I for a British Academy project Situating climate change: understanding the importance of climate, place and community.
The City Conversation – Building Place Based Partnerships for Inclusive Growth
The City Conversation – Building Place Based Partnerships for Inclusive Growth
The City Conversation project involving the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place at the University of Liverpool, Liverpool City Council and the MyClubmoor Partnership Board was funded from the UKRI’s enhancing place-based partnerships in public engagement programme. The project aimed to develop participatory approaches to community engagement that would lead to a better understanding of local issues and contribute to the design of more effective public services. Focusing on Clubmoor ward, a neighbourhood of 15,000 people in north Liverpool, the City Conversation project aimed to better connect citizens to decisions about inclusive growth. In an era of prolonged pressure on public sector budgets, the potential applications of this research – most notably, in facilitating a meaningful dialogue between local residents and policymakers to inform Liverpool’s City Plan and the potential redesign of public services – are clear. A key objective was to strengthen dialogue and engagement of public and community partners in developing policy and services. The project also established a method of engaging and training community members and frontline workers to be researchers. This has not only created a cadre of trained individuals that can be involved in future community-led research activity, but has established community-led research as a practical tool for public agencies to use. As a case study, the City Conversation also illustrates how community-based participatory research methods have been affected by the pandemic and the wider implications for research practice.
Bridging the community asset gap in Liverpool City Region
The Heseltine Institute worked with local partners in Liverpool City Region to develop understanding of social infrastructure and its role in supporting and complementing public service delivery. Funded by the University of Liverpool’s Partnership Recovery and Resilience Fund, the research used four local authority wards in St Helens as a case study in innovative mapping methods to identify social infrastructure assets and assess their accessibility to the local community.Bridging the community asset gap in Liverpool City Region
Research grants
Eurovision 2023 Evaluation: Wellbeing and Sense of Community (HLS Work Package)
LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL (UK)
February 2023 - December 2023
The City Conversation – Building Place Based Partnerships for Inclusive Growth
UK RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
January 2020 - March 2021