It's been another busy one this week, but most efforts went into meetings and revisions to help shape my project approval form that outlines the core aspects of my research. I've copied it below, so I have a public record of my plans - and something to hold myself accountable to - at the end of my studies. Summarise the research, aims and key objectives or questions   The aim of this research is to critically evaluate the development process and policy context for progressing

This week starts with some great news in the form of my abstracts for both the Sounds of Climate Justice   event at the University of Southampton and the ABLE Assembl y  conference at the Berklee Institute have been accepted. I’m already booked to go out to Boston in April for other research and culture commitments, so it’s great to be headed back to one of my favourite US cities for so much academic activity.   As these wonderful opportunities get on the tracks I’m already w

2026 is moving quickly and I’m trying to get up to speed. I’ve received some exceptionally exciting news about awards and accolades forthcoming but will have to wait to share more on those. These reward based revelations were but a mere blip in my week of academic omnipotence as I managed to cover just the four continents with my meetings and conferences this week.   I’m trying to manage wordcount, so here’s diary style for you!   MONDAY   Straight to the STEAMhouse in Birmin

A week of two halves this one, whereby I tried to squeeze all reading and meetings into two days in order to allow me to travel to Groningen in the Netherlands to speak at this year’s ESNS conference. My old mug on an ESNS speaker graphic As a result Monday and Tuesday were spent hunched over the laptop pulling various affairs into order including a check in with the Jazz Festival team, a recap meeting with Ronnie Scott’s, a catch up with the Canadian Live Music Association

Week 8 11/01/25   Return of the PAF   That was a LOT of reading, but here I am refreshed and ready to get some serious miles on the clock / words on the page for my doctoral efforts in 2026!   To start the year, I wish to offer a ranked review from my Top Five research reads over the break:   1. Peril and Promise: Tackling Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean  – this is a brilliant piece of work, taking multiple economic perspectives on a variety of environmental

And now begins my annual winter break. So conditioned from academia am I that tools are downed effectively and completely until the new year. Traditionally this time has been spent balancing efforts between performance duties, perfecting my Christmas dinner strategy and panicking as I watch the Semester 1 marking mountain form into my first challenge of the new year. More recently this time has become much less academic focussed and instead polluted by private sector expectat

This week I have been pulling together my festive reading list, an annual task that pre-dates my doctoral studies and an activity I am most pleased to report brings me great joy every year. The loathing for writing I hold in my heart is thankfully balanced with a deep love of reading. Not a fan of fiction, my childhood Christmas lists were full of requests for books of facts, lists and trivia. I had a hungry brain, and it didn’t think much of stories, why waste time with fict

This week was pure academia and for the first time I felt very indulged in my research activities. So far my experience has felt a little transient, popping up to Liverpool for various events and quick email exchanges forming most of my facetime with the team – but this week saw some dedicated time to review my initial draft of the Project Approval Form for my PhD, as well as a full on meet up for the latest intake at the Music Futures Studentship Induction Meeting at ACC Liv

This week saw the long-awaited Expedition 02  taking place in the city, the feedback session to present a first look at the outputs from the UN Accelerator City  programme. Lining up a who’s who of the UK’s sustainable events sector this event neatly served a second function actings as an end-of-year works do for many of us, and it was great to see everyone from various corners of the sector come together to hear about the work that has taken place in Liverpool over the last

This week saw my first event as a newly minted Music Futures PhD student – the Pop3 Exhibition at Future Yard in Birkenhead. Future Yard opened during the COVID pandemic and has grown to become a central community asset since its launch. Offering what appears to be cradle-to-grave approach to cultural participation, you get the feeling whether you are a parent attending Raver Tots with your little party people of the future or making good use of the accessible facilities as a

I am finally enrolled on my PhD at Liverpool John Moores University and have gained accessed to the now near-mythical ‘eDocs’. Despite being enrolled since late October, I have not been able to register due to a technicality with my overlapping studies. This now being resolved I have now got access to the full suite of tools from the LMJU Doctoral Academy and have signed up to everything. So keen was I to finally get started that I managed to download my Project Approval For

Plato’s postulation is Twain’s truth: it’s all about getting shit started. Perhaps Seneca is better placed to articulate where I find myself at the start of my PhD exploring environmental regulations for the UK. “Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end” said the stoic, and finding myself at the end of my masters’ study sprinting straight into a doctorate is somewhat of a surprise. I have just completed a thesis around my work with Manchester City Council (MCC

Conferenception takes hold early this year... I had an amazing day at the AFO 2024 Conference last weekend, and it was a real privilege to share some accessibility tips with an assembled cohort of some of the UK event's finest. I got to meet some lovely friends who I've only spoken to online, got to catch up with Fiona and Leksi from BAFA as well as meeting the incredible team from TestFest - a testical cancer charity festival who are doing some amazing things. It really w

We are very excited to annouced that Harry Jones and YISKA are joining *The Very Good Solutions Co consultancy! Already running the amazing Bristol based Accessible Events , Harry joins the consultancy with an impressive portfolio of clients and experience. Working across the live events and festival sector, Harry is a well-established consultant working with a varied roster of projects and partners from Team Love to Diverse UK. YISKA joins the roster as an accessibility expe

Last week I got to stand onstage at Festival Congress - the AIF's annual conference with one of the best brains in accessibility, Alex Covell. NB this is an Alex Covell stan post. Attitude Is Everything were invited to be part of the lightning talk session at this year's AIIF conference (well, Alex was - then she kindly asked me to join her) and it was brilliant to be part of an update around "The Four Ts" in festival access. Overunnning by a considerable margin before we eve

Introducing the first look at The Very Good Solutions Co. roster - click the picture below to learn more about the team. You can view our products and services here

I am working with the incredible Continental Drifts to establish a roster of disabled artists to perform at UK events and festivals. We are currently consulting with a wide range of organisations in shaping the application process, so the roster (and it's processes) are co-designed with the community before we start recruitment. We've recevied some great feedback already from the MU's Disabled Musician Network and Next Stage and Future Leaders programmes. The consulation

The new year is here and we're not wasting any time getting our projects and partners up and running this month. We are pleased to announce: We are working with Julie's Bicycle and Vision 2025 to deliver an ACE funded national pilot with 10 local authorities to test improved (and consistent) licensing standards via the Green Events Code of Practice and Attitude is Everything Charter We are supporting Attitude is Everything with the development of their newly revised Char

Last week was filled with tech talk and donut discussions as I continued to my way around the best of UK events conferences. First up was a trip to the beautiful Bath for the annual National Outdoor Events Association Conference and Awards. It was great to be asked by the lovely Al Turner to fill in as a speaker on events technologies, and equally fun to get to talk about AI, XR environments and how Cheltenham is such a great place to work in this area , being a great spot f

Attitude Is Everything Attitude is Everything HQ, The Round House and Kirby the best boy on Thamelink It was a very busy October which somehow got busier the closer I got to November! Cheltenham Literature Festival , The Showman's Show , Inclusive Music Consortium , ATLAS conference in Austria - these things all happened before I popped down to London for a few days at the end of October to facilitate a strategic planning week for Attitude Is Everything , working towards a ve