The main focus of my research is regional development—a field focused on improving economic, social, and environmental well-being to enhance competitiveness and reduce territorial disparities. This encompasses a wide array of strategies, from infrastructure investment and economic diversification to inclusive social programs, spatial planning, and environmental sustainability measures. My research has explored the ideas driving regional development processes, the institutions and governance mechanisms that shape and propel it and ways to identify territorial disparities, alongside the identification of leading practices. I have led studies focused on both urban and rural regions and developed conceptual frameworks and tools to inform practice, such as the Principles on Rural Policy that have been adopted as a Declaration by the OECD and are a legal instrument of the OECD.
Together with researchers from the CFREF-funded Accelerating Community Energy Transformation initiative, I am engaged in multiple research projects focussing on community energy policy and planning including the Northern Regional Energy Dialogues project with Sinead Earley (UNBC) and Kara Shaw (UVic). As a Research Area lead for ACET in place-based transitions, policy interactions and acceleration and scale up, I engage with researchers/students, governments and the nonprofit sector to undertake community led research and knowledge mobilization.
My research in this area explores the dynamics of different types of transitions, such as oil and gas economies, and how to effectively design and target policy instruments. I have led several multi-country studies on how to decarbonise economies and societies in a way that reduces harm to workers and communities. My SSHRC funded project How can we manage a just energy transition? (2020-2023), synthesized national and regional initiatives, strategies, policies and practices to manage transitions across 25 countries. This research was used to shape a SSHRC-funded national conference on just transitions co-organised with the Parkland Institute. I have continued expand my research on this topic including collaborative research in Ireland in Exploring Place-based Opportunities for Policy and Practice in Transition and in Türkiye on the Socially Inclusive Green Transition (World Bank project with Umut Okzan to design methodology to be used by Türkiye’s Development Agencies). This year I join the Institute for Research on Public Policy as a Visiting Scholar (2025-2026) and will contribute to their work on Community Transformations.
This thematic area of my research arose out of work at the OECD with Chris McDonald under the guidance of Indigenous leaders from across OECD countries including Dawn Madahbee Leach (Canada) and Lars-Anders Baer (Sweden) on how to better understand Indigenous economies and development ambitions and strengthen connections to regional development. I led the Canadian and Swedish country studies which involved recommendations to government and has informed the 2022 National Indigenous Economic Strategy for Canada. My collaborative research on this topic has explored leading practices for benefit sharing, development priorities, political responses, and rights recognition in Canada and Sweden. I am presently engaged with the OECD’s work on Mining Regions and Cities initiative on a study in northern Ontario that examines First Nations leadership and engagement in mining.
Industrial policy is back in vogue among policy makers but in new forms, adapted to address growing complex challenges such as the need to decarbonise our economies, address territorial inequalities, secure domestic manufacturing against rising global threats, and adopt rapid digital and AI innovations. Through a new SSHRC-funded project with Philip McCann (2025-2026), we are exploring the governance mechanisms, place-based strategies, and inclusivity measures that underpin emerging industrial policy frameworks in Canada and the UK in order to deepen understanding of how states can design interventions that balance multiple imperatives. Beyond this research, I am engaged with the OECD’s program of work in this area across various streams and am an affiliate with the Centre for Net Zero Industrial Policy.