Current CCSE Projects
Commonwealth Games Research Legacy Network
Through external funding from Spirit of 2012 and in partnership with Glasgow 2026 Organising Company, CCSE is delivering a project to understand how the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games can achieve a sustainable social legacy. This involves creating a research networking group with charities, public and private sector entities, leveraging the Games for their strategic ambitions. This network will harness collective expertise to develop an evaluation framework for assessing the Games’ social and cultural impact—including diversity, equity, inclusion, employment, and well-being. This initiative aims to produce a robust research legacy by strategically documenting sustained community developments collaboratively with the community stakeholders identified and involved in the formation of the Research Legacy Network.
Exploring the barriers and enablers experienced by female off-pitch volunteers within grassroots football
This research is led by Dr Andrew Bailey, funded through the UEFA Research Grant Fund, and is working with the English, Swedish, and Austrian Football Associations. As women’s participation in football continues to grow, there is a desire to see an increase in the number of female volunteers in the game, including in off-pitch roles (administrative, governance and organisational roles within clubs and leagues). The aim of this research is to explore the barriers and enablers experienced by female volunteers in the context of off-pitch volunteering and in turn help national federations identify strategies to help make the volunteering workforce more inclusive. Several theoretical approaches are used to frame the research- Cunningham’s (2022) multi-level lens; institutional theory (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983); and self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2002). Two primary data collection methods are being used- 1) online questionnaire; and 2) photovoice.
Covenanting Heritage Tourism in Scotland:
Scholars have argued that tourism resources in Scotland are largely the product of history. However, despite being one of the prominent historical resources in the southwest of Scotland, Covenanting memorials do not appear in the tourism imagery of Scotland. This is interesting as there has been an increased interest in the sites of deaths, atrocities and disasters as tourism attractions in the last two decades. This study attempts to examine the dialogues that explain the invisibility of Covenanting memorials of the southwest region in Scottish tourism. It applies qualitative methodology and data will be collected through open ended questions, interviews, field observations, a workshop with tourism stakeholders and regional policy makers (N=75). The study will help enrich the conceptual understanding of the relation between death, atrocities, religion and tourism and explore the possibility of developing Covenanting memorials as heritage tourism attractions in Scotland
The Role of Regenerative Tourism in Fostering a Sustainable for Small Heritage Sites in Post-Industrial Towns:
This study aims to explore the potential of regenerative tourism as a means of revitalizing small post-industrial heritage sites in Scotland, specifically in the towns of Paisley, Greenock, and Clydebank. Deindustrialization in the late 20th century resulted in the loss of industry and community networks, leading to a crisis in Europe’s industrial areas. While efforts to transition post-industrial areas into new spaces of production have been stalled or slow, tourism presents a potential avenue for development. Small heritage sites in post-industrial towns provide a unique study setting as they can provide unique experiences for visitors while promoting sustainable tourism practices that benefit local communities and the environment. The study will use qualitative research methods such as interviews with stakeholders, participant observations, and focus groups with local community residents. The findings can provide valuable knowledge transferable to other regions and countries facing similar challenges in revitalizing local communities through sustainable tourism.
SSHRC, Disability Rights & Sport Events
Since Darcy (2012) called for a more inclusive events research agenda that firmly embeds the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) ensures people with disability equality of experience in all areas of citizenship, there has been an increase in events and disability related research. Despite the proliferation of research on various aspects of sport events and disability, events, even those focused on disability such as the Paralympic Games, Commonwealth Games or Para Pan American Games remain firmly entrenched in ableist practices.
This study builds upon our two previous SSHRC/Sport Canada Research Participation Initiative-funded projects where we examined the leveraging strategies of different major sport events for persons with disabilities (parasport events), and the impacts of these strategies at the individual and organizational level beyond the timeframe of the events. Our work examines how different types of sport events (sizes, scales and scope) integrate disability rights through their emphasis on inclusion, access and opportunity for persons with disabilities in all aspects of the event – from bidding, to delivery, to legacy for spectators and participants. The overall aim of the study is to develop a framework with tangible mechanism for translating a ‘rights-based approach’ to inform policy action, practice and improve sport participation for persons with a disability. The work will be guided by the following overarching research questions:
- What are event owners, event managers, and host cities doing to ensure that policies and practice around events improves the experiences of persons with disabilities?
- How are various forms of ableism limiting event stakeholders and owners from recognizing disability in their own event context?
- What can event owners, organizing committees and host agencies do to foreground a disability rights perspective in future events?
- What mechanisms can be implemented to ensure that events are appropriately leveraged to benefit persons with disabilities?
Sports for the Planet? The Sustainability of Major Sport Events
Major sports events such as the Commonwealth Games, the Olympic Games, the Rugby World Cup or the World Athletics Championships have become a central fixture of late modern societies: they are at once occasions for profound urban transformations, expensive economic ventures, global media spectacles, and the object of frequent controversies, for example around human rights and corruption. As resource-intensive and often socially divisive undertakings, major sports events have a heightened responsibility to become sustainable, all the more so in their role as multipliers followed by millions of people around the world. Despite their importance for the sustainability transition, however, there is a lack of conceptual work and systematic, longitudinal research on the sustainability of these events.
Filling this conceptual and empirical gap, this project will develop a conceptual model and indicator framework for analysing sustainability in major sports events. In a major empirical effort, it will then collect data to evaluate the sustainability of a broad range of these events from 1990 to 2022 and to investigate the factors behind differential outcomes. For this purpose, it will employ a mixed methods approach. Building on a pilot project (Müller et al. 2021), the quantitative part will involve the creation of a database from official documents and public sources, containing some 60 indicators of 248 editions of 24 major single-sports and multi-sports events. This database will allow a systematic comparative analysis of the sustainability outcomes of major sports events over time. The qualitative part will use semi-structured interviews, media and document analysis to deepen the inquiry for eight in-depth case studies to develop context-sensitive explanations for observed outcomes.
To adequately capture the cross-cutting nature of major sports events, our multi-disciplinary team will examine the sustainability of major events along four thematic axes:
1) Cities & Environment 2) Governance & Performance 3) Integrity & Human Rights 4) Media & Diversity
The project stands to reorient debates in sports research and event studies through providing systematic, longitudinal knowledge on the sustainability of the sports events sector over the past 30 years. Creating and sharing an unprecedented database, it will pioneer a novel method and knowledge base for the field that future researchers can use. The policy outcome will be the establishment of the Lausanne Observatory of Major Events (LOME), which will draw on the new database to monitor and benchmark future events, encourage greater sustainability, and provide an independent source of information for event organisers, policy-makers, journalists and citizens.
Engaging Outsiders in Sport: Transforming Major Sport Event Legacy Planning Through a Co- Creation Approach
This Australian Research Council funded project investigates intersectional inequities affecting sport participation for girls, women and non-binary people in Queensland by working with them to envision inclusive legacies for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Using a co-creation approach the research will identify what and how benefits can be achieved through legacy planning by engaging with diverse end-users who have historically been marginalised as ‘outsiders’ in sport. In doing so, the project will deliver evidence-based resources to i) improve engagement with marginalized groups about inclusive sport participation and ii) build capacity to sustain meaningful change for communities and organisations.
Specifically, this project draws attention to Australian women, girls and nonbinary people with diverse abilities who are disengaged or marginalised in organised sport, specifically examining the gender and intersectional based drivers of engagement, with a view to informing future sport legacy plans. The project’s three key aims are to:
1. Generate deep insights into the complexity of sport participation – constraints, benefits and aspirations – through a co-creation methodology with end-users.
2. Develop a gender lens to address intersectional inequalities and advance inclusive sport legacy planning processes.
3. Create innovative and accessible methods of engaging key stakeholders in sport legacy planning (including end-users) to develop evidence-based strategies for change.