Established in 2018, the Centre for Culture, Sport and Events (CCSE) undertakes collaborative research across the social sciences, business and humanities. Research outputs produced by the Centre have been deemed 4* world leading, and our impact case study Events as Social Change was judged as 4* internationally outstanding in the UK REF 2021 review.
Renfrewshire Council is a key local partner; CCSE provides research and evaluation support for the local authority. More widely, we conduct research with international partners with a focus on sport mega-events and human rights, sport and disability, cultural heritage and inclusion, culture, sport and soft power, sport and art diplomacy, tourism development, and tourism, sustainability and cultural regeneration. We have four key research themes:
Current Blogs and Tweets
EventRights Mobility to USA (20th February – 21st April 2023)
I recently returned from a two-month mobility to the US; its purpose to carry out observation and conversations, as the first phase of my study, entitled: ‘Mega Events, Governance and Human Rights: A Case Study of the United 2026 World Cup’ The mobility encompassed a...
The Elephant(s) in the Room
The Elephant in the Room exhibition opened in Paisley’s Art Department space in early May and ran for just about two weeks, (until 13th). The works on display were produced as a result of collaboration between local artist and social historian, Lil Brookes (aka...
#FestivalsConnect and So Do In-Person Launch Events!
On a bright Tuesday morning a couple of weeks ago, members of the CCSE team found themselves walking briskly about the corridors of UWS’s Paisley campus, counting chairs, tracking down pens, collecting printouts from photocopiers. The reason for this bustling...
What Physical Activity ‘Is’: Intervention & the Concept of Immanence
Do you end at your skin? This philosophical head-scratcher of a question may hold insights for our understanding of health and is inspiring new avenues of physical activity research. Physical inactivity has reached pandemic proportions and is the fourth leading cause...
Measuring Wellbeing. Gauging (Mental) Wellbeing Benefits of Arts & Cultural Participation
Over the years, collaboration with Renfrewshire Council has been an important part of the work undertaken at CCSE. Much of this has focussed on the activity taking place as part of Future Paisley, a range of cultural events, activities and targeted investment which...
Women on the Move
This excellent film has been made as part of an ERC funded project - Politics of Patents, POP - led by Dr Kat Jungnickel at Goldsmith's University of London, it's well worth a look. As well as a rather entertaining romp though matters sartorial and women's...
Handbook of Methods for Researching Festive Spaces
One of the outputs that the Festspace team has produced from the project is a Handbook of Methods for Researching Festive Spaces. This Handbook draws on insights from the academic team on the methods they used during their fieldwork enquiries into festivals, events...
Representing Paisley, Culture and Placemaking: Policy Insights from PhD Research
Culture has become increasingly implicated in regeneration and placemaking in peripheral (sub)urban places in recent years (Richards and Diuf, 2019; Miles, 2020). Whereas discussions about culture-led regeneration and so-called creative cities used to be the reserve...
Qatar 2022: Sportswashing Success?
As the dust settles on Qatar’s World Cup, it is worth returning to consider some of the questions that were raised in the run-up to the tournament. Amid a public conversation about sportswashing – the use of sport to distract attention from human rights violations –...
What Lies Beyond Objectives and Definitions in Arts and Mental Health?
The arts and health sector is being mapped out by potential funders using a tight definition. Creative Scotland sees this activity as being led by professional artists, with explicit artistic and health/wellbeing objectives, and designed to improve health and...
The Centre will build on the University’s local, national and international expertise in these areas, bringing a range of interdisciplinary perspectives to its research enquiries into policy and practice, advancing the production of new knowledge.
Research evidence produced through the Centre will contribute to academic excellence and influence policy makers and practitioners working in culture, sport and events and social policy and change.