Dr Katherine Champion

Senior Lecturer

Communications, Media and Culture University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Dr Katherine Champion

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http://www.stir.ac.uk/people/kmchampion

About me

Katherine is a Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication, Divisional Research Director for CMC and Programme Director for the MSc Media Management.

She is an interdisciplinary scholar of the Cultural and Creative Industries whose work is concerned with the intersections of creativity, place and work examining for example the role of creative hubs and distinct patterns of creative work in non-metropolitan geographies; and regional screen production with a focus on the Scottish film and television sector. She has been have been committed to extending the geographical scope of research on the CCIs beyond ‘the usual suspects’ to more vernacular sites of creativity, to highlight the richness of activities taking place outside of metropolitan areas that have traditionally been the focus of creative economy interventions, and to highlight shortcomings in some of the provision of policy in these areas due to their historically receiving less attention from both academia and policymakers. Most recently in her work at Stirling she has also extended this to mission-orientated research and impact work aimed at exploring and addressing local and regional challenges in Stirling in the context of the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal and the impact of the contraction of local authority funding, Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis. She is currently Co-investigator and Work Package Lead for Culture and Natural Heritage on the £5m ESRC Local Policy Innovation Partnership FORTH20 and Academic lead on the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) funded project ‘Evidencing the social value of public libraries’.

Recent projects include RSE funded project "Mapping networks of care in creative hubs during COVID-19" with Stirling colleagues Dr Maria-Velez Serna and Dr Susan Berridge. Focused on Creative Stirling, the project aims to explore further the ecologies of care mobilised by hub during the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, which were critical in addressing challenges in the local community. She also led the RSE funded project: ‘’From the margins to the centre: the role of creative hubs in supporting contemporary craft and creative workers in rural and remote geographies’, the AHRC-funded project ‘Design Innovation for New Growth (DING)’ and the Carnegie funded project ‘Nurturing Scottish Screen Industries Talent: The Case of Outlander’. 

Prior to taking up her current post at Stirling, she was employed as a Research Fellow at The Glasgow School of Art on the AHRC-funded Knowledge Exchange Hub ‘Design in Action’ project and the ‘Creative Futures Partnership’ between GSA and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Katherine holds a PhD from the Urban Studies Department at the University of Glasgow. Her thesis examined the role of place to creative industries sector within the context of a transforming regional city, Manchester UK. Since completing her thesis she has worked in a range of roles in academia (Institute of Design Innovation, The Glasgow School of Art; Dundee Business School, University of Abertay; Centre for Cultural Policy Research, The University of Glasgow) as well as in the private sector (New Media Partners; CCA Global). She has also undertaken a range of freelance work for the Work Foundation, Local Government Association, Creative Scotland and CCA Global. 

Event / Presentation

‘Imagining the Local Provocation’, Situating the Local in Cultural Policy Workshop Event
Queen Margaret University

https://www.qmu.ac.uk/…cultural-policy/
August 2019 ‘Imagining the Local Provocation’, Situating the Local in Cultural Policy Workshop Event (Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh)

CAMEo Conference, University of Leicester. ‘Relocation, Relocation: Examining the significance, value and legacy of the Channel 4 move to regional production hubs’.

5th-6th September 2019, CAMEo Conference, University of Leicester. ‘Relocation, Relocation: Examining the significance, value and legacy of the Channel 4 move to regional production hubs’. Joint paper with Lee, D and Kelly, L.

Northern Television Studies Research Group Outlander: A ‘Television Studies’ Study Day, University of Glasgow, ‘Outlander, Scotland and the Screen Industries’
University of Glasgow

26th April 2019, Northern Television Studies Research Group Outlander: A ‘Television Studies’ Study Day, University of Glasgow, ‘Outlander, Scotland and the Screen Industries’ Linked to project on which I was Co-I: September 2016- September 2017 Co-investigator - Carnegie £7450.24 ‘Nurturing Scottish Screen Industries Talent: The Case of Outlander’

Roundtable, MeCCSA Annual Conference University of Stirling, Stirling, ‘Media Production in Scotland’.
University of Stirling

9-11th January 2019 Roundtable, MeCCSA Annual Conference University of Stirling, Stirling, ‘Media Production in Scotland’. September 2016- September 2017 Co-investigator - Carnegie £7450.24 ‘Nurturing Scottish Screen Industries Talent: The Case of Outlander’.

10-12th January 2018, MeCCSA Annual Conference, London South Bank University, London, ‘Lighthouses for island creative economies? Interrogating the role of creative hubs in supporting creative workers in Shetland’.

10-12th January 2018, MeCCSA Annual Conference, London South Bank University, London, ‘Lighthouses for island creative economies? Interrogating the role of creative hubs in supporting creative workers in Shetland’.

Division of Communications, Media and Culture Seminar Series, University of Stirling, Stirling ‘I’m just the lucky one I guess’: Accounts of Scottish screen industries workers from the Outlander Trainee Placement Scheme
University of Stirling

21st March 2018, Division of Communications, Media and Culture Seminar Series, University of Stirling, Stirling ‘I’m just the lucky one I guess’: Accounts of Scottish screen industries workers from the Outlander Trainee Placement Scheme. Joint paper with Kelly, L. September 2016- September 2017 Co-investigator - Carnegie £7450.24 ‘Nurturing Scottish Screen Industries Talent: The Case of Outlander’.

‘DING Studios: Collective Innovation’ AHRC funded workshop
Glasgow School of Art

October 2017 ‘DING Studios: Collective Innovation’ AHRC funded workshop delivered in partnership with Shetland Arts (Mareel, Shetland)

‘DING Studios: Craft Challenges and Trajectories’ AHRC funded workshop

October 2017 ‘DING Studios: Craft Challenges and Trajectories’ AHRC funded workshop delivered in partnership with Emergents and XPO North on the Road (Cove Park, Argyll)

26th October 2017, Academic Research Showcase, USSH, HCMC, Vietnam, ‘Competition, clusters and talent development in the Scottish Screen Industries’.

26th October 2017, Academic Research Showcase, USSH, HCMC, Vietnam, ‘Competition, clusters and talent development in the Scottish Screen Industries’. Linked to project - September 2016- September 2017 Co-investigator - Carnegie £7450.24 ‘Nurturing Scottish Screen Industries Talent: The Case of Outlander’.

BSA Early Career Regional Event: Caring for Ourselves and Others as ECAs, University of Glasgow, Glasgow. ‘‘Poster children of precarity?’: Mapping the similarities between creative and academic labour’.

20th June 2017, BSA Early Career Regional Event: Caring for Ourselves and Others as ECAs, University of Glasgow, Glasgow. ‘‘Poster children of precarity?’: Mapping the similarities between creative and academic labour’. Joint paper with Kelly, L. Linked to project: September 2016- September 2017 Co-investigatorCarnegie-funded project £7450.24 ‘Nurturing Scottish Screen Industries Talent: The Case of Outlander’.

Harmonics: Towards Enlightened Evaluation. 12th European Academy of Design Conference

http://www.designfornext.org/

Materiality Matters: Exploring the use of design tools in innovation workshops with the craft and creative sector in the Northern Isles of Scotland. 12th European Academy of Design Conference

http://www.designfornext.org/

Mediating Cultural Work: Texts, Objects and Politics CAMEo Conference, University of Leicester. ‘”I’m just the lucky one I guess”: Accounts of Scottish screen industries workers from the Outlander Trainee Placement Scheme’. Joint paper with Kelly, L.

6th-8th September 2017, Mediating Cultural Work: Texts, Objects and Politics CAMEo Conference, University of Leicester. ‘”I’m just the lucky one I guess”: Accounts of Scottish screen industries workers from the Outlander Trainee Placement Scheme’. Joint paper with Kelly, L. September 2016- September 2017 Co-investigator - Carnegie £7450.24 ‘Nurturing Scottish Screen Industries Talent: The Case of Outlander’.

RGS IBG, Royal Geographical Society, London.,‘From the margins to the centre: the role of creative hubs in supporting craft and creative workers in the Northern Isles of Scotland’.

29th August- 1st September 2017, RGS IBG, Royal Geographical Society, London.,‘From the margins to the centre: the role of creative hubs in supporting craft and creative workers in the Northern Isles of Scotland’.

The 27th International Screen Studies Conference, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, ‘Status, Skills and a Sustainable Legacy? Outlander and Scotland’s Screen Industries’. Joint paper with Kelly, L.

23rd-25th June 2017, The 27th International Screen Studies Conference, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, ‘Status, Skills and a Sustainable Legacy? Outlander and Scotland’s Screen Industries’. Joint paper with Kelly, L. Linked to project - September 2016- September 2017 Co-investigator - Carnegie £7450.24 ‘Nurturing Scottish Screen Industries Talent: The Case of Outlander’.

Professional qualification

Rowena Murray Academic Writing Retreat Facilitator

September 2017, Rowena Murray Academic Writing Retreat Facilitation Training, Gartmore, Scotland.

Research

Katherine's research interests include the spatial organisation of CCIs, cultural policy, creative labour and management practices within the sector, cultural regeneration and creative cities, craft, Scottish screen industries and she particularly welcomes PhD students whose work relates to any of these areas.

Outputs (24)

Outputs

Conference Paper (published)

Materiality Matters: Exploring the use of design tools in innovation workshops with the craft and creative sector in the Northern Isles of Scotland

Broadley C, Champion K & McHattie L (2017) Materiality Matters: Exploring the use of design tools in innovation workshops with the craft and creative sector in the Northern Isles of Scotland. In: volume 20. 12th European Academy of Design Conference, Rome, Italy, 12.04.2017-14.04.2017. Taylor and Francis, pp. S550-S565. http://www.designfornext.org/; https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2017.1353003

Conference Paper (published)

Harmonics: Towards Enlightened Evaluation

Champion K & Jaramillo G (2017) Harmonics: Towards Enlightened Evaluation. In: volume 20. 12th European Academy of Design Conference, Rome, Italy, 12.04.2017-14.04.2017. Taylor and Francis, pp. S3226-S3237. http://www.designfornext.org/; https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2017.1352828

Conference Paper (published)

Beyond the bottom line: redefining the value of design in SME formation

Johnson MP, Champion K, McHattie L & White G (2016) Beyond the bottom line: redefining the value of design in SME formation. In: The 20th dmi: Academic Design Management Conference Proceedings. 20th DMI: Academic Design Management Conference ADMC16, Boston, MA, USA, 22.07.2016-29.07.2016. Boston, MA, USA: Design Management Institute, pp. 121-149. http://radar.gsa.ac.uk/5016/

Conference Paper (published)

From Participation to Collaboration: Reflections on the Co-Creation of Innovative Business Ideas

Broadley C, Champion K, Johnson MP & McHattie L (2016) From Participation to Collaboration: Reflections on the Co-Creation of Innovative Business Ideas. In: Lloyd P & Bohemia E (eds.) Proceedings of DRS 2016: The 50th Anniversary DRS Conference 2016, Future-Focused Thinking, Volume 5. DRS International Conference Series. DRS2016: Design Research Society 50th Anniversary Conference, Brighton, 27.06.2016-30.06.2017. London: Design Research Society, pp. 1739-1758. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2016.191

Book Chapter

Problematising a homogenous spatial logic for the creative industries

Champion K (2013) Problematising a homogenous spatial logic for the creative industries. In: Hotho S & MacGregor N (eds.) Changing the Rules of the Game: Economic and Management Issues in the Computer Games Industry. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 9-27. http://radar.gsa.ac.uk/4310/

Presentation / Talk

Cheap Space: The Foundation of a Creative Milieu?

Champion K (2009) Cheap Space: The Foundation of a Creative Milieu?. RSA Research Network Conference: Creative Industries, Scenes, Cities, Places: Idiosyncratic Dimensions of the Cultural Economy, University of Cardiff, 22.04.2009-22.04.2009. http://radar.gsa.ac.uk/4152/

Article

The business of creative cities

Champion K (2008) The business of creative cities. Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal, 2 (2), pp. 111-123. https://www.henrystewartpublications.com/jurr/v2

Conference Paper (unpublished)

Developing Creative Cities

Champion K (2007) Developing Creative Cities. The Vital City, European Urban Research Association (EURA) 10th Anniversary conference, University of Glasgow, 12.09.2007-14.09.2007. https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_42038_en.pdf

Conference Paper (unpublished)

Developing creative cities: a perspective from the UK

Murray K, Adams D & Champion K (2007) Developing creative cities: a perspective from the UK. When Creative Industries Crossover with Cities, Hong Kong, China, 02.04.2007-03.04.2007. http://www.hkip.org.hk/ci/eng/page2.html

Research centres/groups