Engagement and collaboration are central to my research approach and underpins everything that I do. This page contains more information about my engagement with audiences in research, policy, practice, and the public.
Throughout my PhD, I have been keen to share free online materials and resources, as well as conducting talks and webinars and writing for a variety of audiences. This includes a series of infographics, blog posts, videos, and podcasts on topics such as online research tools, digital engagement, and best practice engagement approaches.
Online materials
Infographics
I have created several different infographics for guest blog posts, talks, and presentations to communicate my research. They're free to use and share, but please do cite the original source when doing so. View my infographics here.
Blog posts
As well as my personal blog, I have authored several guest blog posts. This includes two (sponsored) posts published with UK-based organisations on public engagement and digital methods during the COVID-19 pandemic (both posts include infographics).
- Participation for sustainable, resilient, and equitable futures: Where are we heading?
- 'Public and stakeholder engagement, Covid-19, and the 'digital explosion': are we heading towards a more 'blended' appproach?'
- 'Blending online and offline community engagement'
- Postgraduate experiences of convening a session at the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference
- Engaging communities in the sustainable management of river environments.
Podcasts and videos
I've been invited to contribute to podcasts and speak at different academic and non-academic events. Check out my podcast debut on The UK Consult with Bang The Table (Engagement HQ), or the recording of an event I co-organised on participatory research methods in research, policy, and practice.
I have recently presented some of my research on the practical and ethical issues of digital participation (focusing on geospatial tools, like participatory mapping) at the 6th International Conference on Urban E-Planning. You can view the abstract here, and the slides are free to access here.
If you're interested in finding out more about my work with automated transcription (Otter.ai), you can view a recording of one of my webinars on YouTube and view the accompanying slides on Slideshare. I've also written several blog posts on this topic which share more resources, including an introduction, tutorial, and my thoughts around some key ethical and practical issues of using the software.
Engagement and impact
I have completed two fully-funded internships/placements during my PhD.
The first was a 4-month internship conducted as part of the UKRI Policy Internships Scheme. I completed this in 2019 at the Welsh Government, conducting research with the National Survey for Wales into national indicators for people's well-being (you can read more about it in this blog post). Findings included information on people's ability to influence decisions in their local area, people's satisfaction with the place they live, local sense of community in Wales, levels of poverty and deprivation, people's views on the safety of their local area, and people's ability to speak the Welsh language. The results were published in five reports. The findings of the National Survey for Wales are used by the Welsh Government to help make Wales a better place to live, including to influence policy decision-making in Wales, specifically the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act.
In 2021, I was contracted by Natural England (NE), the government's advisor on the natural environment, to help develop evidence-led outputs to improve best practice public engagement strategies in the organisation. The duration of this placement was 3 months. This involved presenting evidence on public engagement to different teams within NE, writing an evidence review on public engagement which will be published on Natural England's Access to Evidence catalogue, as well as developing a best practice engagement toolkit which will be used and tested by practitioners.
"Caitlin was sensitive to organisational need [...]. Her careful, open minded and responsive approach to these tasks have meant that she has produced two outputs that will be of great use to us and that we can develop to help us embed evidence-led best practice engagement into the organisation. Caitlin was very proactive in engaging with existing related activity and also really helped us to make links to other organisations with expertise, resources and also those undergoing similar processes. Her work will form the foundation upon which we will continue our aspirations for continuing to embed a best practice engagement culture in NE." (Feedback from NE placement).
In 2021 I was one of the most junior participants invited to contribute to an expert discussion of public engagement at the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra). During this discussion, I contributed my views on public engagement and its contribution to effective analysis and policy-making, including different methods and approaches to engagement, key lessons learnt, and possibilities for future developments.
I have also engaged with the (then) Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government (now the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities) on digital engagement strategy and planning for the future.
In 2020 I was invited as a guest speaker to a "Lunch and Learn" session with Commonplace, an online citizen engagement platform designed for the public sector. The purpose of this was to discuss academic and market trends which were currently forming in online community engagement, promoting a more 'blended' (online and offline) approach. I was sponsored to write a blog post and infographics for Commonplace on blended community engagement approaches.
Academic servic
I have served both as a Digital Officer and Postgraduate Representative for the Participatory Geographies Research Group (PYGYRG). During this time, I contributed to the organisation of an online symposium on 'doing digital participation' which attracted over 80 registered participants. I also co-organised a 2-day transdisciplinary conference on participatory research methods.
I have previously served on the Council (Board of Trustees) of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) as the elected Chair of the RGS-IBG Postgraduate Forum (PGF) between 2019-20.
"Caitlin has been an exemplary Chair, leading the PGF through what have been exceptionally difficult times. She has directed and led the activities of her fellow committee members, and in particular has substantially updated and improved the online presence of the group. [...] This went above and beyond a PGF Chair’s usual duties, and I wanted to take the opportunity to highly commend Caitlin for her excellent work. Throughout the year, she has also been a joy to work with – professional, collegial and efficient." (Letter of commendation for work as the RGS-IBG PGF Chair, 2019-20. Signed by Dr Sarah L. Evans, Professional Officer: Conference and Research Groups).