Evaluation and qualitative research for cultural, creative and civic programmes
I’m an independent researcher and evaluator based in Barcelona. I work with arts and cultural organisations, funders and public-interest initiatives who want to understand how programmes work in practice: not just what they are designed to do, but what happens where they meet the people, places and histories they are made for.
This work is informed by over twenty years’ experience in organising, facilitating and collaborating with artists, community groups and grassroots projects in Ireland and internationally. As an artist and musician, my knowledge of creative practice is informed by my experience as a practitioner. With a doctorate in anthropology from Maynooth University, I have the research training and skills for in depth analysis and meaningful results.
Recent work includes evaluating Artitude (2023), an arts and climate action programme in Derry, with Dr Peter Doran of Queen’s University Belfast. The same year I was separately invited to design and lead Nurturing the Groundswell, a workshop for environmental activists at The Gathering in Derry, in partnership with Collaboration for Change and Zero Waste North West. In 2019, I co-led the Report on the Impacts of Airbnb in Ireland, the product of a collaboration with Inside Airbnb and the Irish Housing Network, which also led to the first publicly accessible and nationwide Irish dataset.
Earlier, I worked on EU-funded research, contributing to P2Pvalue, a Horizon 2020 project with five European university partners. In 2015, as part of my communications role, I presented the P2P Foundation’s Year Two deliverables to the European Commission’s review panel in Brussels.
Alongside research and evaluation, I delivered a community development programme for Dublin Food Co-op, funded under Rethink Ireland’s Social Enterprise Development Fund, and coordinated training under The Wheel’s Training Links programme. I am a founding member of SolidNetwork, the Irish network for the co-operative and solidarity economy, and a board member of the Open Food Network Ireland co-operative.
How I work
Each piece of research is designed around its guiding questions and with care for people and community at heart. Interviews, documentary analysis and facilitated dialogue are the core. Alongside these I use participatory, place- and arts-based methods, creating spaces for reflection and conversations that support people to express themselves and share perspectives in ways that standard interviews might not reach. I work in person or remotely, with groups and individuals, to deliver findings that inform evaluation, reporting, learning and decision-making.
Work with me
I’m available for evaluation, impact assessment and research commissions, for local, national and EU projects; facilitation, training and event design; and teaching. Based in Barcelona, I work between Ireland and Catalonia, and welcome approaches about partnerships linking cultural, co-operative and community organisations in both. Get in touch.
Doctoral Thesis
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