Philip Catney

Biography

I joined Keele University in September 2007 as Lecturer in Politics and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2013. Prior to coming to Keele, I held research associate positions in both the departments of Politics and Town and Regional Planning at the University of Sheffield.  In addition, I managed Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration: Integrated Management (SUBR:IM), a £2 million research consortium funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.  

I have also been a member of the Sustainable Development Commission’s Sustainable Development Panel. In addition, I have given invited lectures and seminars to public bodies, such as HM Treasury and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE). 

Since joining Keele, I have been the lead or co-investigator on four research council-funded projects. I am also a regular commentator on politics in local, regional and national media. 

I am a co-editor of the Routledge book series 'Transforming Environmental Politics and Policy' with Professor Tim Doyle (University of Adelaide).

Research and scholarship

My research interests are principally focused on urban and environmental governance, local governance, British Politics and public policy theory. I have led and been co-investigator on various funded projects:

Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity

An ESRC-funded research centre focused on promoting sustainable prosperity within the ecological and resource constraints of a finite planet. The centre focuses not just on the economic aspects of this challenge, but also its social, political and philosophical dimensions. The centre pays particular attention to the pragmatic steps that need to be taken by enterprise, government and civil society in order to achieve a sustainable prosperity. PI: Tim Jackson (Surrey University), with various investigators from Surrey University, Anglia Ruskin University, Goldsmiths College London, University of Leeds, Middlesex University, York University (Canada), and  University of Canterbury (Christchurch, NZ) (2016-2020). I am the Keele lead for the project, working with Professor Brian Doherty on prefigurative strategies by local environmental groups.

Reducing Energy Consumption through Community Knowledge Networks

Funded through the ESRC and EPSRC Energy and Communities collaborative venture, this project compared and contrasted the energy reduction challenges in these two types of community and to see which strategies worked best in each of them. 

Regenerating Post-Industrial Medium-Sized Cities

The purpose of this ESRC seminar series was to examine the problems facing medium-sized cities: exploring the barriers inhibiting successful regeneration and the policy levers available for overcoming these. Co-investigators: Professor Chris Phillipson, Professor Graham Allan and Dr Mark Featherstone (all Keele University).

Multi-level Governance, Europeanization and Urban Politics
This project examines three policy sectors within the geographical area of Sheffield to detail the changing nature of multi-level governance at the urban level and to explore the extent to which local actors retain the capacity to coordination and negotiate discourses, policies and processes emanating from ‘higher’ levels of governance. Co-investigators: Dr Ian Bache (University of Sheffield) and Professor John Henneberry (University of Sheffield).

PhD supervision

I have supervisioned PhD theses on aspects of local governance in the UK and beyond and am currently supervising professional doctorates and PhDs on the themes of public management, local political participation.

I am interested in supervising students on the themes of British Politics, urban and environmental policy (particularly urban regeneration), public policy and public management more widely.