Phil Northall

Dr Phil Northall BSc (Hons), MA, PhD

Research Associate


Summary

Phil’s research interests are in urban transitions to sustainability, with a particular focus on the governance of innovations for sustainability and the implications of a transition to low carbon economies. This requires investigation of place-based and multi-actor approaches to sustainability, helping to identify, and maximise the impact of, local levers of change. His previous research projects include a study of how local authorities in the UK developed sharing economy platforms to achieve social and environmental goals, and the creation of a resilience framework to understand how to deliver slavery-free communities.

About

Dr Phil Northall is a Research Associate in Sustainable Futures at the Centre for Regional Economic & Social Research (CRESR), Sheffield Hallam University, where his research is focussed on the decarbonisation of industry and energy and ensuring a just transition to low carbon economies.

Phil is engaged in a variety of projects looking at the just transition and path development of new industrial decarbonisation technologies, notably hydrogen and Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS). This includes analysis of different regional approaches across the UK and Europe and has resulted in journal articles, policy reviews, and consultancy reports. This research has been funded by a range of bodies, including research councils, regional authorities, and industrial cluster organisations and includes his recent award from the Sheffield Hallam Research & Innovation Fund to lead a project exploring approaches to decarbonisation outside of the traditional industrial clusters.

Prior to CRESR, Phil was a Research Fellow at the Rights Lab, one of six interdisciplinary beacons of excellence at the University of Nottingham. Phil's interest in place-based approaches and the local governance of sustainability led him to investigate the role of multi-agency partnerships in responding to modern slavery, and to the production of a resilience framework for building slavery-free communities. This work involved engaging with all local stakeholders from the community, private and public sectors, and Phil also provided the secretariat for the Nottinghamshire Modern Slavery Partnership during this time. Phil completed his PhD research in 2020, looking at how local authorities in the UK developed sharing economy platforms to deliver social and environmental goals, and the implications this had on innovation for sustainability and urban governance.

Prior to working in academia, Phil was engaged in project delivery and policy analysis. This includes managing behaviour change programmes and regional development for the national active and sustainable travel charity, Sustrans; founding and running a networking, skills development and commercial services company in the creative industries; designing and delivering a capacity building programme for community leaders in the Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) Network in Greater Manchester; and providing local government policy research for the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES).

Teaching

College of Social Sciences and Arts

Research

2023-2024 Beyond the Super Clusters: Decarbonisation in Dispersed Industrial Places. Sheffield Hallam Research & Innovation Fund (SHRIF).

2023-2024 Pipeline or Hub? Harnessing critical energy infrastructure on the North Norfolk Coast. Infrastructure for Port and Coastal Cities and Towns (iPACT) Network.

2022-2023 GOZERO: SME governance for net zero. UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC).

2022 Mapping local energy infrastructure: Green Energy Parks in England. Sustainable Futures.

2022 South Yorkshire Environmental Sustainability Strategy and Climate Assembly. South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

2021-2022 Hydrogen economies and just transition: an investigation of regional hydrogen experiments in Northern Europe.

2021-2022 Humber Industrial Cluster Plan: Societal and cultural challenges study. Humber Industrial Cluster Plan.

2020-2021 Understanding the supply chain and employment impacts of energy investments. South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

Publications

Journal articles

Purvis, B., Keding, H., Lewis, A., & Northall, P. (2023). Critical reflections of postgraduate researchers on a collaborative interdisciplinary research project. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10 (1). http://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01494-w

Gardner, A., Northall, P., & Brewster, B. (2021). Building Slavery-free Communities: A Resilience Framework. Journal of Human Trafficking, 7 (3), 338-353. http://doi.org/10.1080/23322705.2020.1777828

Gardner, A., & Northall, P. (n.d.). A ‘Place’ for Stateless People?: Connecting Place-Based Research with Statelessness. Statelessness & Citizenship Review, 2 (1), 148-152. http://doi.org/10.35715/scr2001.1110

Reports

Eadson, W., Northall, P., & Jones, H. (2022). The UK hydrogen economy: a review of global, national and regional policy. Sheffield Hallam University. http://doi.org/10.7190/cresr.2022.1169638300

Eadson, W., Northall, P., Johnston, A., Parkes, S., Wells, P., & While, A. (2022). South Yorkshire low carbon energy supply chains: nuclear sector summary. Sheffield Hallam University, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research. https://www.shu.ac.uk/centre-regional-economic-social-research/publications/sector-summary-nuclear

Eadson, W., Northall, P., Johnston, A., Parkes, S., Wells, P., & While, A. (2022). South Yorkshire low carbon energy supply chains: insulation sector summary. Sheffield Hallam University, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research. https://www.shu.ac.uk/centre-regional-economic-social-research/publications/sector-summary-insulation

Eadson, W., Northall, P., Johnston, A., Parkes, S., Wells, P., & While, A. (2022). South Yorkshire low carbon energy supply chains: hydrogen sector summary. Sheffield Hallam University, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research. https://www.shu.ac.uk/centre-regional-economic-social-research/publications/sector-summary-hydrogen

Eadson, W., Northall, P., Johnston, A., Parkes, S., Wells, P., & While, A. (2022). South Yorkshire low carbon energy supply chains: heat pumps sector summary. Sheffield Hallam University, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research. https://www.shu.ac.uk/centre-regional-economic-social-research/publications/sector-summary-heat-pumps

Eadson, W., Northall, P., Johnston, A., Parkes, S., Wells, P., & While, A. (2022). South Yorkshire low carbon energy supply chains: heat networks sector summary. Sheffield Hallam University, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research. https://www.shu.ac.uk/centre-regional-economic-social-research/publications/sector-summary-heat-networks

Eadson, W., Northall, P., Johnston, A., Parkes, S., Wells, P., & While, A. (2022). South Yorkshire low carbon energy supply chains: carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) sector summary. Sheffield Hallam University, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research. https://www.shu.ac.uk/centre-regional-economic-social-research/publications/sector-summary-carbon-capture-utilisation-and-storage-ccus

Eadson, W., Northall, P., Johnston, A., Parkes, S., Wells, P., & While, A. (2022). Low carbon energy supply chains, employment and skills in South Yorkshire: headline findings. Sheffield Hallam University, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research. https://www.shu.ac.uk/centre-regional-economic-social-research/publications/low-carbon-energy-supply-chains-employment-and-skills-in-south-yorkshire-headline-findings

Kidd, A., Northall, P., Hanson, F., Tyler, S., & Smith, A. (2020). Modern slavery workshops for regional partnerships. Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre. https://modernslaverypec.org/assets/downloads/Regional-partnership-workshops-all.pdf

Northall, P., Gardner, A., & Brewster, B. (2020). Partnerships for freedom: Improving multi-agency collaboration on modern slavery. Rights Lab, University of Nottingham. https://iasctoolkit.nottingham.ac.uk/download/partnerships-for-freedom-improving-multi-agency-collaboration-on-modern-slavery/?wpdmdl=731&refresh=624710ed359c71648824557

Northall, P. (2008). Culture Led Regeneration & Local Art Communities. Centre for Local Economic Strategies. https://cles.org.uk/publications/culture-led-regeneration-local-art-communities/

Longlands, S., & Northall, P. (2007). A new role for Regional Development Agencies. Centre for Local Economic Strategies. https://cles.org.uk/publications/a-new-role-for-regional-development-agencies/

Northall, P. (2007). Housing Green Paper: More Homes, Better Homes, More Affordable Homes. Centre for Local Economic Strategies. https://cles.org.uk/publications/housing-green-paper-more-homes-better-homes-more-affordable-homes/

Jackson, M., & Northall, P. (2007). Review of sub-national economic development and regeneration: The BIG ISSUES. Centre for Local Economic Strategies. https://cles.org.uk/publications/review-of-sub-national-economic-development-and-regeneration-the-big-issues/

Northall, P. (2007). Planning for a Sustainable Future: White Paper. Centre for Local Economic Strategies. https://cles.org.uk/publications/planning-for-a-sustainable-future-white-paper/

Northall, P. (2007). The Lyons Inquiry. Centre for Local Economic Strategies. https://cles.org.uk/publications/the-lyons-inquiry/

Bradford, V., Jackson, M., & Northall, P. (2006). Rural Renaissance: Ten challenges for creating sustainable and inclusive rural communities. Centre for Local Economic Strategies. https://cles.org.uk/publications/rural-reniassance-ten-challenges-for-creating-sustainable-and-inclusive-rural-communities/

Bradford, V., Jackson, M., & Northall, P. (2006). Encouraging Entrepreneurialism – The Local Enterprise Growth Initiative – The Story So Far. https://cles.org.uk/publications/encouraging-entrepreneurialism-the-local-enterprise-growth-initiative-the-story-so-far/

Northall, P. (2006). Health Inequalities and Lifestyle Health Choices. Centre for Local Economic Strategies. https://cles.org.uk/publications/health-inequalities-and-lifestyle-health-choices/

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