Lead supervisor:
Dr Kirstie O’Neill 
Other supervisor(s):
- Dr Helen Mussell
Start date: October 2024 (Full time)
Award: General
Subject Pathway:
Environmental Planning
Thematic Cluster:
Place, Environment and Development Cluster
Practices and Perceptions of gender, leadership, and the governance for sustainable development: a place-based case study of Wales
Wales provides a unique opportunity to examine leadership with its distinct SD/CC governance framework in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (WBFGA) which mandates public bodies to integrate SD as their central organising principle. My research will explore how this intentionally transformative framework, has impacted leadership (or not), and how it is changing SD/CC governance. Building on scholarship in transformative feminist leadership (TFL) and feminist institutionalism (FI), the PhD will address this research lacuna, exploring how gender shapes leadership in Wales, and how this relates to the [in]sufficiency of SD/CC governance.
Research aim and questions
My research will develop an innovative theoretical and empirical framework for effective leadership for SD/CC governance, drawing on ideas from place-based governance, organisational and feminist scholarship.
- How do actors involved in SD/CC policy delivery construct, interpret, and enact ‘leadership’, and how is this influenced by gendered traits?
- How is the legislation, policy and place-based governance of SD/CC in Wales influenced by gendered leadership traits and behaviours?
- What are the potential benefits and implications of a gendered approach to leadership of SD/CC?