Background

Roles and Responsibilities

Head of Geography 2018-2022

Qualifications

BA Geography (1st), University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1998

PhD Geography, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2003

Positions

Fellow of the Regional Studies Association (RSA)

Member of the Regional Studies Association Research Committee

Member of Senate, Newcastle University, 2014-2017

Memberships

Royal Geographical Society (RGS-IBG)

Regional Studies Association

Research

Research Interests

An economic geographer and policy researcher with research interests in the multi-scalar governance of economic development and growth. I have published in a range of leading international journals, most recently contributing to debates around evolutionary approaches within economic geography. My current research focuses on the role of low carbon and renewable energies in the regeneration of peripheral regions, ranging from offshore wind to industrial decarbonisation clusters. I have considerable experience in undertaking research work for international, national and regional agencies and organisations, including the European Commission, Norwegian Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, Trades Union Congress and a range of UK sub-national authorities. Between 2018 and 2022 I served as Head of Geography at Newcastle University. 

Recent research focuses on:

• Economic geographies of the energy transition
• Sector and regional development of analysis of 1). Offshore wind 2). Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and industrial decarbonisation
• Evolutionary approaches to local and regional development, focusing on the notions of path creation and development within and across renewable and low carbon sectors
• Global Production Networks and understanding the 'coupling' dynamics between regional assets and focal firms.
• Understanding the geographical (re) making of labour markets during times of industrial restructuring

Current and Recent Work

Powering up coastal economies: path development in low carbon and renewable energy industries

Funder: ESRC Standard Grant

Total project funding: £810,993.90

March 2024 to August 2026

Stuart Dawley and Danny Mackinnon (CO-I’s)

Project is led by Peter Sunley (Southampton) with a further CO-I partner in Jane Wills (Exeter)

The project is designed to speak directly to the twin challenges of levelling up and meeting net zero. The aim of the research is to examine how and why the growth of low carbon and renewable energies varies across coastal regions, by exploring and comparing the development trajectories of key industries (offshore wind, tidal, hydrogen and carbon capture, battery and storage technologies) in four regions of the country (the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside, Eastern Scotland and the South West).

Making the green shift work for regions

Funder: Norwegian Research Council (Projects for Scientific Renewal)

Total project funding: £1.16 million.

March 2024 to March 2028

Stuart Dawley and Danny Mackinnon (CO-I’s)

Project is led by Asbjørn Karlsen (NTNU, Trondheim), with research partners at NTNU, SINTEF and FAFO (all Norway).

This project looks to develop a new understanding of how regional labour markets are adapting to the energy transition. We will use three regional case studies of Oil and Gas sector regions: Rogaland, Trøndelag and Northeast Scotland, to develop a systematic understanding of how local and regional labour markets evolve and adapt with the transition to new low-carbon energy landscapes.

2023-2024: Pipeline or Hub? Harnessing critical energy infrastructure on the North Norfolk Coast (iPACT Network: EPSRC) This pilot project examines the opportunities and challenges for North Norfolk in harnessing and valorising Bacton as an infrastructural asset within the UK’s broader energy transition.

https://ipact.org.uk/projects/pipeline-or-hub-harnessing-critical-energy-infrastructure-on-the-north-norfolk-coast/

2016-2021 Internationalization of Norwegian Offshore Wind Capabilities (InNOWiC), with NTNU and SINTEF

2017 ‘How to deliver good jobs: towards a regional industrial strategy for Tees Valley’, Trade Union Congress (TUC), with Peter O'Brien, Mike Coombes, Andy Pike and Lewis Evans.

2015: The NE1 Model and Comparative Approaches to City Centre Management. Report produced for Newcastle NE1 Business Improvement District (BID). (with John Goddard, David Bradley: CURDS; Kevin Ward, Manchester University). http://www.ncl.ac.uk/curds/news/item/new-curds-report-on-business-improvement-districts-bids

2014: UK Dept for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Feasibility study: The economic impact of industrial plant closures in the UK. (Contribution to project led by ICF GHK)

2012: 'Foresight: Future of Manufacturing and Resilience', UK Dept for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) (with Andy Pike and John Tomaney)   

2010: SUSTAINE. World class thinking: regional sustainable development dialogues. The two policy workshops – first “How shall we live?” and then “Where shall we live?” – were designed to provide a forum for policymakers and stakeholders to consider evidence from leading-edge sustainability practice and debate the implications, opportunities, barriers and catalysts to practical sustainable development outcomes in the North East. Together, the two workshops were attended by over 110 delegates drawn from a wide array of local, regional and national stakeholder bodies

2007-2010: CURDS and One NorthEast: 'Regional Insights'.

Hosted by CURDS, the Regional Insights programme features policy experts and academics from across the globe sharing best practice in local and regional development. Funded by One NorthEast and Newcastle University, the programme builds on One NorthEast’s recent study “What Works in Regional Economic Development” and seeks to inform our understanding of policy challenges and interventions 

2009: City of Greater Bendigo/Regional Development Victoria, Australia:‘The regional impact of international skilled migration'. Project undertaken in conjunction with the Institute for Regional Studies, Monash University.

2008-09 ONE North East, ‘Evaluation of the Impact and Policy Response to Restructuring at Northern Rock' with Regeneris Consulting. CURDS team includes Professors Neill Marshall and John Tomaney, Drs Andy Pike and Jane Pollard.

2008 - 'Placing' Accession state migration in the North East labour market. This pilot project (also involving Dr Alison Stenning and Helen Lowther) seeks to better understand the processes through which migrants from the EU accession states (mostly Poland) engage with the North East's labour market and examine the implications for local and regional development. Special attention is focused upon the role of labour market intermediaries in regulating the demand-supply interface.

2008: LSC and Atmel Response Group: 'Advanced Manufacturing Skills Survey'.

2004- Recasting Steel Geographies: Mapping Corporations, Connecting Communities.

Research Team: Dr Alison Stenning (Project Leader); Dr Andy Pike; Dr Stuart Dawley

2005-2006, ODPM: New Horizons Programme: An assessment of the local and regional impacts of migration from the new EU member states (the A8 states), on which I am working with CURDS colleagues Alison Stenning, Mike Coombes, Tony Champion, Ranald Richardson, Cheryl Conway and Liz Dixon.

2006: One North East (RDA) funded project entitled: What Works in Regional Economic Development - Learning from International Best Practice. A comparative exploration and examination into international local and regional development policy making, drawing key lessons for the North East region

2004- Recasting Steel Geographies: Mapping Corporations, Connecting Communities.

Research Team: Dr Alison Stenning (Project Leader); Dr Andy Pike; Dr Stuart Dawley

2003- 2006 European Commission Framework 5 Programme: City-Regions as Intelligent Territories: Inclusion, Competitiveness And Learning (CRITICAL)

Newcastle University Research Team: Prof. David Charles (Project co-ordinator); Dr Stuart Dawley; Cheryl Conway

Project website: http://research.ncl.ac.uk/critical/

Research Roles

 Regional Studies Association (RSA) Research Committee

Postgraduate Supervision 

Current:  

David Dodds: 'Tech Nation UK?: 'placing' the local geographies of path creation in the digital sector (ESRC Collaborative Studentship with Tech North) (Co-supervised with Jane Pollard)

Completed:

Lewis Evans: 'Creating new paths: the conversion and diversification of North Sea ports' (ESRC Collaborative Studentship with Humber LEP) (Co-supervised with Danny Mackinnon)

Robert Pollock: 'Placing regions in the path creation of the UK's offshore wind industry' (Co-supervised with Danny Mackinnon)

Fraser Bell 'Place branding, origination and reputations’. (ESRC Collaborative Studentship with NGI) (Co-supervised with Prof Andy Pike and Prof Ray Hudson)

Emil Evenhuis: 'Political Economy of Adaptation in Old Industrial Regions' (ESRC) (Completed in 2016 and co-supervised with Professor Andy Pike) 

Ben Fisher: 'Path Creation in Regional Economic Development'. (Completed in 2015 and co-supervised with Prof Andy Pike).

Paul Vallance: "Work practices and learning in the knowledge communities of the UK games development sector" (ESRC)(Completed 2008 and co-supervised with Prof Jane Pollard)

Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching (Semester 2 23-24)

GEO2111: Doing Human Geography Research (Module Leader Sem 2)

GEO 2124: Berlin Fieldtrip: Economic Geography

GEO 2099 Economic Geography 

GEO 3099 Dissertation 

Tutor

Publications

• Articles

  • MacKinnon D, Karlsen A, Dawley S, Steen M, Afewerki S, Kenzhegaliyeva A. Legitimation, institutions and regional path creation: a cross-national study of offshore wind. Regional Studies 2022, 56(4), 644-655.
  • MacKinnon D, Dawley S, Pike A, Cumbers A. Rethinking Path Creation: A Geographical Political Economy Approach. Economic Geography 2019, 95(2), 113-135.
  • MacKinnon D, Dawley S, Steen M, Menzel MP, Karlsen A, Sommer P, Hansen GH, Normann HE. Path creation, global production networks and regional development: a comparative international analysis of the offshore wind sector. Progress in Planning 2019, 130, 1-32.
  • Dawley S, Mackinnon D, Pollock R. Creating strategic couplings in global production networks: regional institutions and lead firm investment in the Humber region, UK. Journal of Economic Geography 2019, 19(4), 853-872.
  • Marshall N, Dawley S, Pike A, Pollard J, Coombes M. An Evolutionary Perspective on the British Banking Crisis. Journal of Economic Geography 2019, 19(5), 1143-1167.
  • Marshall JN, Dawley S, Pike A, Pollard JS. Geographies of corporate philanthropy: The Northern Rock Foundation. Environment and Planning A 2017, 50(2), 266-287.
  • Pike A, MacKinnon D, Cumbers A, Dawley S, McMaster R. Doing evolution in economic geography. Economic Geography 2016, 92(2), 123-144.
  • Dawley S, Mackinnon D, Cumbers A, Pike A. Policy activism and regional path creation: the promotion of offshore wind in North East England and Scotland. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 2015, 8(2), 257-272.
  • Dawley S. Creating New Paths? Offshore Wind, Policy Activism, and Peripheral Region Development. Economic Geography 2014, 90(1), 91-112.
  • Dawley S, Marshall JN, Pike A, Pollard J, Tomaney J. Continuity and Evolution in an Old Industrial Region: The Labour Market Dynamics of the Rise and Fall of Northern Rock. Regional Studies 2014, 48(1), 154-172.
  • Marshall JN, Pike A, Pollard JS, Tomaney J, Dawley S, Gray J. Placing the run on Northern Rock. Journal of Economic Geography 2012, 12(1), 157-181.
  • Dawley S, Pike A, Tomaney J. Towards the resilient region?. Local Economy 2010, 25(8), 650-667.
  • Pike A, Dawley S, Tomaney J. Resilience, adaptation and adaptability. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 2010, 3(1), 59-70.
  • Stenning AC, Dawley S. Poles to Newcastle: Grounding New Migrant Flows in Peripheral Regions. European Urban and Regional Studies 2009, 16(3), 273-294.
  • Dawley S, Stenning AC, Pike AJ. Mapping Corporations, Connecting Communities: Remaking Steel Geographies in Northern England and Southern Poland. European Urban and Regional Studies 2008, 15(3), 265-287.
  • Dawley S. Making labour-market geographies: volatile 'flagship' inward investment and peripheral regions. Environment and Planning A 2007, 39(6), 1403-1419.
  • Dawley S. Fluctuating rounds of inward investment in peripheral regions: Semiconductors in the north east of England. Economic Geography 2007, 83(1), 51-73.
  • Benneworth PS, Dawley SJ. Managing the university third strand innovation process? Developing innovation support services in regionally engaged universities. Knowledge, Technology, and Policy 2006, 18(3), 74-94.

• Book Chapters

  • Dawley S, Karlsen A, Mackinnon D. Agency, skills and workforce adaptation: examining the challenge of green industrial restructuring for regional labour markets. In: Karlsen, J; Rypestøl, JO; Trippl, M, ed. Sustainable Regional Restructuring: Insights from Economic Geography and Regional Innovation Studies. Edward Elgar, 2025. In Press.
  • Evenhuis E, Dawley S. Evolutionary Perspectives on Economic Resilience in Regional Development. In: Williams N; Vorley T, ed. Creating Resilient Economies: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Development in Uncertain Times. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2017.
  • Goddard J, Vallance P. Universities and regional development. In: Pike, A., Rodriguez-Pose, A., Tomaney, J, ed. Handbook of Local and Regional Development. London, UK: Routledge, 2011, pp.425-437.
  • Coombes M, Champion T. Migration and commuting: local and regional development links. In: Pike, A., Rodríguez-Pose, A., Tomaney, J, ed. A Handbook of Local and Regional Development. London: Routledge, 2011, pp.182-192.
  • Henry N, Dawley S. Geographies of economic growth 1: Industrial and technology regions. In: Lee R; Leyshon A; McDowell L; Sunley P, ed. The SAGE Handbook of Economic Geography. London: Sage Publications, 2011, pp.273-285.
  • Dawley S. Transnational corporations and local and regional development. In: Pike, A; Rodriguez-Pose, A; Tomaney, J, ed. Handbook of Local and Regional Development. London: Taylor & Francis, 2010, pp.394-412.
  • Dawley SJ, Jones I. The labour market challenge. In: Tomaney J, ed. The future of the North East. London: The Smith Institute, 2009, pp.80-89.
  • Benneworth PS, Dawley SJ. The territorial development of innovation support assets through university / business interactions: towards a dynamic model. In: Oakey R; During W; Kauser S, ed. New technology based firms in the new millennium. Oxford: Elsevier, 2005, pp.41-62.
  • Benneworth P, Dawley SJ. The territorial development of innovation support assets through university-business interactions: towards a dynamic model. In: Wink R, ed. Academia-Business Links: European Policy Strategies and Lessons Learnt. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, pp.197-223.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Dawley S. Understanding the ebb and flow of high-technology investment and disinvestment within host region economies: a multi-scalar socio-institutional approach. In: Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Session: 'The Political Economies of Inward Investment'. 2005, Denver, Colorado.
  • Dawley S, Conway CD, Charles DR. The dynamics of learning and knowledge within community-led urban regeneration: the Lower Ouseburn Valley as a ‘community of practice’?. In: Regional Studies Association Annual Conference; Gateway 3a Enabling Knowledge Strategies, CRITICAL Theme, Regional Growth Agendas. 2005, Aalborg, Denmark.
  • Henry N, Dawley S, Conway CD. Skills-led economic development? Regional futures, a demand-led system and the North East of England. In: Regional Growth Agendas, Regional Studies Association Annual Conference. 2005, Aalborg, Denmark.
  • Conway CD, Dawley S, Charles DR. An investigation of the learning dynamics involved within the creative industries sector in the Newcastle City Region. In: Regional Studies Association Annual Conference; Gateway 3a Enabling Knowledge Strategies: CRITICAL Theme, Regional Growth Agendas. 2005, Aalborg, Denmark: Regional Studies Association.
  • Dawley SJ, Pike AJ. The ebb and flow of TNC's (dis)investment in host regions: microelectronics in North East England. In: 97th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. 2001, New York.
  • Dawley SJ. MNC's High Technology (Dis) Investment in Peripheral Region Economies: Institutional and Labour Market Insights. In: DivesT-Desinvestmento e Impactos Economicos, Socias e Territoriais. 2001, Lisbon: University of Lisbon.

• Reports

  • O'Brien P, Coombes M, Dawley S, Evans L, Pike A. How to Create Great Jobs: Towards a Regional Industrial Strategy for Tees Valley: A Report for the TUC by the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies, Newcastle University. Trades Union Congress, London: Newcastle University, 2017.
  • Dawley S, Marshall JN, Pike A, Pollard J, Tomaney J. Placing Labour Markets in the Evolution of Old Industrial Regions: the Case of Northern Rock. Institute of Education, London: Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies, 2012. LLAKES Research Paper Series 38.
  • Dawley S, Marshall JN, Pike A, Pollard J, Tomaney J. The Labour Market Impact of the Run on Northern Rock: Continuity and Evolution in an old Industrial Region. Utrecht, Netherlands: Utrecht University, 2011. Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography.
  • Dawley S, Tomaney J. What works in international skilled migration and regional development. City of Greater Bendigo Council, Victorian State Government: City of Greater Bendigo Council, Victorian State Government, 2010.
  • Dawley S, Pike A, Tomaney J. 'Towards the resilient region?: Policy activism and peripheral region development'. London: Spatial Economics Research Centre (SERC); London School of Economics, 2010. SERC Discussion Papers SERCDP0053.
  • Dawley S, Bradley DP. Mapping and Analysis of Employer Representative Groups / Networks in the North East of England. CURDS; Newcastle University: Skills North East (Regional Skills Partnership) and One North East, 2007.
  • Henry N, Pike AJ, Tomaney J, O'Brien PE, Coombes MG, Conway C, Dawley SJ, Champion T. What works in regional economic development: learning from international best practice. Newcastle upon Tyne: One North East, 2006. Research and Evaluation Reports.
  • CURDS, GHK. What Works in Regional Economic Development Policy: Final Report. Newcastle upon Tyne: One North East, 2006.
  • Stenning AC, Champion AG, Conway CD, Coombes MG, Dawley SJ, Dixon E, Raybould SR, Richardson RGW. Assessing the local and regional impacts of international migration. London: Department for Communities and Local Government, 2006.
  • Conway CR, Conway CD, Dawley S, Dawley S, Consulting GHK, Consulting GHK. Regional Skills Foresight: Skills Scenarios for the North East. Newcastle: Skills Intelligence North East, 2004.
  • Conway CD, Dawley S, Henry N. Regional Skills Foresight Research (Phase II). Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Skills Intelligence North East, 2004.
  • Charles DR, Dawley SJ, Hodgson C. The place of SMEs in the European research programmes: enrolling high technology small firms in the less favoured regions’. 2003.
  • Charles DR, Dawley S, Benneworth P, Conway CD. The contribution of Universities to Northern Ireland. Department of Education Northern Ireland, 2002.
  • Benneworth PS, Dawley SJ. How do innovating small and medium sized enterprises use business support services?. CURDS, University of Newcastle: Small Business Service, 2002.