Nuclear Societies Research Group

    • Nuclear Societies Research Group

    Dr Catherine Queen

    Senior Lecturer in Planning, University of Liverpool

    Catherine Queen is a human geographer and chartered planner based at the University of Liverpool. She works on public engagement with, and disengagement from, planning for infrastructure, particularly grid transformation.

    Catherine’s research has focused on energy futures, and she works with stakeholders and communities to investigate the legacy of nuclear and other infrastructure and the importance of place in understanding the public’s willingness to engage with proposals for major infrastructure. Her current research is focussing on community aspects of Geological Disposal Facilities for nuclear waste.

    Staff Profile

    Catherine’s research activity also investigates gendered aspects of planning and design with a focus on intersectionality including marginalised, stigmatised and peripheralized communities achieving global impact through a partnership with Arup and the UNDP (Shortlisted for International Collaboration of the Year at the Times Higher Education Awards 2023).

    Select publications

    Govt. Office for Science (2025) Principles for navigating the social aspects of grid transformation. [link]

    Govt. Office for Science (2024) Public Engagement on Grid Infrastructure. [link]

    Queen, C. (2023) ‘Maximising the benefits of cross-organisational and interdisciplinary collaboration’, Times Higher Education Spotlight article.

    Arup, UNDP, University of Liverpool, (2022) ‘Cities Alive: Designing cities that work for women’, in partnership with Arup and UNDP. [link]

    Queen, C. (2022) ‘On Balance: Thoughts on Levelling Up’, in The Planner, Redactive Publishing Ltd.

    Queen, C. (2021) Investigating public disengagement from planning for major infrastructure projects: A high voltage powerline case study. University of Exeter. Thesis. [link]

    Conference presentations

    Queen, C. (2023) ‘Bourdieu, Power and Place: A reflexive approach to infrastructure planning’, UK Ireland Planning Research Conference, September 2023, Glasgow.

    Queen, C. (2022) ‘Hearing voices: introducing a novel Typology of Engagement to capture seldom heard voices and widen public engagement with planning’, UK Ireland Planning Research Conference, September 2022, Manchester.

    Queen, C. (2021) ‘The role of symbolic violence in planning for major infrastructure’, Royal Geographical Society Conference, September 2021, online.

    Other presentations

    ‘Investigating public disengagement from planning for grid transformation’, Government Office for Science, London, as part of the Community of Practice on People Centred Grid Transformation. November 2024.

    ‘Engaging local people in the planning process’, Northern Powergrid Community Energy Training Session. October 2023.

    ‘Examining nuclear legacy through the lens of symbolic violence in West Cumbria’, Nuclear Futures Workshop at the University of Exeter. July 2023.

    ‘Place Matters! Examining the tensions between public (dis)engagement and place specificity in rural planning’, Rural Research Network seminar series at University of Liverpool. May 2023

    ‘Widening Public Engagement with Planning for Energy Futures’, RTPI and UWE Renewables Live Seminar Series. February 2023.

    ‘Widening Participation with Disengaged Groups: Understanding public disengagement from planning for communities’, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. June 2022.

    ‘Understanding public disengagement from planning for overhead power lines’ Irish Rural Link and EirGrid National Area Committee. June 2022.

    ‘Investigating public disengagement from planning for major infrastructure projects: A high voltage powerline case study’, Environment and Sustainability Research Group Seminar, University of Exeter. June 2022.