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Dr Julia Calver

Course Director

Dr Julia Calver is Course Director of UK Centre for Events Management and Hospitality Business Management courses. Julia worked across the UK in the creative industries, and undertakes consultancy projects as well as holding Director/Trustee positions in the arts sector.

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About

Dr Julia Calver is Course Director of UK Centre for Events Management and Hospitality Business Management courses. Julia worked across the UK in the creative industries, and undertakes consultancy projects as well as holding Director/Trustee positions in the arts sector.

Julia's experience includes both operational and strategic development in the arts and festival sectors. She managed the Creative Industries Sector Group for the West Yorkshire Lifelong Learning Network following ten years at Arts Council England developing strategic partnerships between the cultural, creative and education sectors. Her earlier career involved establishing an annual arts education programme at Bradford Festival; developing a marketing and education programme for Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company (London) and Business Development Manager at Audiences Yorkshire.

Julia also has experience as a Director and Trustee of cultural organisations, most recently, The Peace Museum. Prior to this she was Chair of Saltaire Festival and 'Saltaire Inspired', an arts organisation developing contemporary visual art exhibitions and community-led projects in the world heritage site of Saltaire, Bradford. This involved creative collaborations with similar organisations in Sweden, Pakistan and Brazil as well as participating in an EU project with 22 other localities across Europe, developing innovative human-centred sustainable circular cultural tourism experiences.

This experience informs both UG and PG teaching as well as PhD supervision across creative and business leadership themes.

Academic positions

  • Course Director
    Leeds Beckett University, School of Events Tourism and Hospitality Management, Leeds, UK | 01 September 2019 - present

  • Senior Lecturer - Level 6 Leader
    Leeds Beckett University, School of Events Tourism and Hospitality Management, United Kingdom | 01 September 2014 - 31 August 2019

  • Lecturer
    Leeds Beckett University, School of Events Tourism and Hospitality Management, United Kingdom | 01 January 2012 - 31 August 2014

  • Course Leader : MA Creative Enterprise
    Leeds Beckett University, Faculty of Arts Environment & Technology, United Kingdom | September 2010 - July 2012

Non-academic positions

  • Chair
    Saltaire Inspired, Saltaire, Bradford, United Kingdom | 01 September 2016 - 31 May 2023

  • Culture Sector Manager
    West Yorkshire Lifelong Learning Network | April 2008 - January 2012

  • Business Development
    Audiences Yorkshire | April 2006 - March 2008

  • Creative Partnerships Director
    Arts Council England, London, United Kingdom | April 2002 - March 2006

  • Regional Life Long Learning Officer
    Arts Council England, London, United Kingdom | April 1996 - March 2002

  • Education & Community Manager
    Bradford Festival Ltd, Bradford, United Kingdom | January 1990 - March 1996

  • Primary School Teacher
    City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Bradford, United Kingdom | September 1988 - December 1989

Degrees

  • DBA
    Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK | 01 January 2009 - 01 May 2015

  • MA (Arts Education)
    University of York, York, United Kingdom | 04 September 1989 - 31 May 1991

  • BA(HONS)
    Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, Canterbury, United Kingdom | 19 September 1983 - 23 June 1986

Certifications

  • Post Graduate Certificate in Education
    Bradford & Ilkley Community College, Bradford, United Kingdom | 22 September 1986 - July 1987

Postgraduate training

  • HEA Senior Fellow
    Leeds Beckett University, Carnegie, Leeds, United Kingdom

Languages

  • French
    Can read, write, speak and understand

Related links

LinkedIn
Carnegie School of Sport

United Nations sustainable development goals

8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

Research interests

Julia's research is focused on organisational behaviour of creative industries and most recently creativity and innovation in circus. Her current consultancy work includes a position as Associate of 'People Powered Press' in Saltaire, but has also worked with a Local Authority's Arts Development Department in Gothenburg, Sweden to establish a regional festival network. She has been an Arts Quality Assessor for Arts Council England and External Examiner for the University of Lincoln and Arts University Bournemouth.

Publications (13)

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Journal article

Action learning and the creative industries: the efficacy of an action learning set in building collaboration between a university and creative industries

Featured 07 January 2013 Action Learning: Research and Practice10(1):25-38
AuthorsCalver JM, Gold J, Stewart J

In the UK, the creative sector has been identified as a key strand in the economic recovery strategy. Composed of mostly micro and small enterprises often grouping together for particular commissions and projects, there is a tendency to operate primarily through a series of networks made up of peers. This paper presents the outcomes of a ‘peer-to-peer business programme’, or action learning set, involving 10 participants from the creative sector over a period of 6 months. The programme was based on a ‘Six-Squared’ model where participants would address their own needs alongside participating in, and developing further understanding of, action learning sets in order to establish sets with others. Assessment of outcomes indicated that the programme allowed participants to develop new skills with peers, network and strengthen relationships and collaborate in a university programme. The paper concludes by suggesting that, within the context of a growing and vibrant creative industries sector and increasing pressures on universities to engage with the business community, it is essential to develop flexible, peer-led and innovative models of collaboration.

Journal article

Creativity in the business of circus

Featured 03 May 2020 Leisure Studies39(3):307-321 Informa UK Limited

This semi-ethnographic research is an exploration of the creative process from the unique perspective of the circus business. It examines from an interpretivist perspective how circus companies collaborate in the generation and manifestation of ideas, balancing the demands of maintaining a strict physical training regime with devising the circus aesthetic for an expectant audience. The focus of the research is a retired aerial trapeze artist and company director supported by contributions from semi-structured interviews with nine contemporary circus directors and an arts policy officer. Issues were identified from attending three circus network events providing an opportunity to conduct an online questionnaire resulting in thirty-nine responses. Following thematic analysis across all data, key themes emerge identifying networked creativity, productive creativity and intrinsic creativity which correlates to conceptual models of creativity and innovation in organisations. Preliminary findings suggest that networks, skills and intrinsic motivation are integral to creativity within the circus business environment. Whilst this may not be unique to circus, the depth to which it is experienced and its inter-relationality to the form, is readily apparent. This has potential interesting implications for further research within a circus context as well as implications for further exploration of practice in other creative sectors.

Chapter

University engagement with the creative industries: How action learning can build collaboration between a university and creative industries

Featured 2012 Pioneering Minds Worldwide: On the Entrepreneurial Principles of the Cultural and Creative Industries. Eburon Academic Press
AuthorsAuthors: Calver JM, Gold J, Editors: Hagoort G, Thomassen A, Kooyman R
Journal article

Action learning and the creative industries: The efficacy of an action learning set in building collaboration between a university and creative industries

Featured 2013 Action Learning: Research and Practice10(1):25-38 Taylor & Francis
AuthorsCalver J, Gold J, Stewart J

In the UK, the creative sector has been identified as a key strand in the economic recovery strategy. Composed of mostly micro and small enterprises often grouping together for particular commissions and projects, there is a tendency to operate primarily through a series of networks made up of peers. This paper presents the outcomes of a ‘peer-to-peer business programme’, or action learning set, involving 10 participants from the creative sector over a period of 6 months. The programme was based on a ‘Six-Squared’ model where participants would address their own needs alongside participating in, and developing further understanding of, action learning sets in order to establish sets with others. Assessment of outcomes indicated that the programme allowed participants to develop new skills with peers, network and strengthen relationships and collaborate in a university programme. The paper concludes by suggesting that, within the context of a growing and vibrant creative industries sector and increasing pressures on universities to engage with the business community, it is essential to develop flexible, peer-led and innovative models of collaboration.

Journal article

HRD in 2020: a hop-on, hop-off city tour

Featured 2013 Human Resource Development International16(1):94-105
AuthorsCalver JM, Cuthbert G, Davison S, Devins D, Gold J, Hughe I, Tosey P

This article reports on the outcome of a Future Search Conference in the UK to consider human resource development (HRD) in 2020 and beyond. We firstly consider themes from the past into the present. This includes the persistence of solutions in HRD that are systematic, predictable, how apprenticeships in the UK have had to accommodate government policies to ameliorate youth unemployment and the long-standing difficulty for HRD of failing to demonstrate a return on investment (ROI) on activities. We then present four scenarios based on key questions for the future relating to value of HRD and whether this will be a future for HRD. Reponses to the questions form scenario logics which we present against the theme of city tour. Each scenario is explained against the presented logic with positive, negative, ambiguous and uncertain implications for HRD. We suggest that each scenario carries a glimpse of what might be.

Journal article

HRD in 2020: a hop-on, hop-off city tour

Featured 28 August 2012 Human Resource Development International16(1):1-12 Routledge
AuthorsCalver J, Cuthbert G, Davison S, Devins D, Gold J, Hughes I, Tosey P

This article reports on the outcome of a Future Search Conference in the UK to consider human resource development (HRD) in 2020 and beyond. We firstly consider themes from the past into the present. This includes the persistence of solutions in HRD that are systematic, predictable, how apprenticeships in the UK have had to accommodate government policies to ameliorate youth unemployment and the long-standing difficulty for HRD of failing to demonstrate a return on investment (ROI) on activities. We then present four scenarios based on key questions for the future relating to value of HRD and whether this will be a future for HRD. Reponses to the questions form scenario logics which we present against the theme of city tour. Each scenario is explained against the presented logic with positive, negative, ambiguous and uncertain implications for HRD. We suggest that each scenario carries a glimpse of what might be. © 2013 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Journal article
The lasting effect of childhood circus memories: Nostalgia and guilt
Featured 15 November 2024 Leisure Studiesahead-of-print(ahead-of-print):1-16 Taylor & Francis

Traditional Big Top Circus has experienced a decline in popularity due to changing attitudes to its former elements and to the competition from other accessible forms of entertainment. Our study explores how childhood memories of circus experiences are retold and how these are revisited in the light of changing social values and life experiences. Data was generated through sixteen discussion groups with a total of eighty people over the age of 65 who had experienced circus in their childhood. Thematic analysis found that the circus experience still creates vivid memories decades after. These memories are based around emotions engendered by the sights, sounds and smells of the circus but also the fear of danger and the unknown. Our participants fondly remembered who they were with, highlighting the importance of the relational and social aspects in such leisure experiences. These factors induced a strong sense of nostalgia, but this was tainted by the recognition that what was enjoyed then may no longer be socially acceptable. We conclude that for traditional circus to remain relevant it needs to harness the strength of nostalgia but separate this from guilt at what circus once included. In a highly competitive live experience environment circus needs to create heightened sensory experiences (including fear), alongside family togetherness appealing to multiple generations with potentially different values.

Chapter

Scholarly Practice in HRD

Featured 2015 Handbook of Research Methods in Human Resource Development Edward Elgar
AuthorsAuthors: Gold J, Spackman T, Marks D, Beech N, Calver J, Ogun A, Whitrod Brown H, Editors: Saunders M, Tosey P
Chapter

Disrupting disciplines: meeting the challenge of the industry-ready agenda for the freelance creative practitioner

Featured 12 June 2015 Creating Cultural Capital Cultural Entrepreneurship in Theory, Pedagogy and Practice Eburon Uitgeverij B.V.
AuthorsAuthors: Calver JM, Davis R, Parker S, Editors: Kuhlke O, Schramme A, Kooyman R

Cultural Entrepreneurship in Theory, Pedagogy and Practice Olaf Kuhlke, Annick Schramme, Rene Kooyman. Embracing New Theories, exploring New Pedagogies and Fostering New Skills therefore separating it from the literature on ...

Conference Contribution

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Events Management Research

Featured 01 July 2021 AEME Forum
Journal article
The development and trial of beyond 2050 polylogues as a tool for future-thinking in business tourism
Featured 21 May 2024 Current Issues in Tourism28(7):1-8 Taylor & Francis

In this methodology research letter, we describe the development, piloting and large-scale trial of an experimental concurrent group discussion approach. Specifically, we detail how we used provocative 2050 scenarios to ‘open up’ future thinking, facilitate multiple polylogues and efficiently collect large sample qualitative data. The method was trialled with 120 business tourism professionals at the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) conference in Glasgow in 2023. We conclude by reflecting on our learning from the large-scale trial and consider how this method can be developed for other tourism research applications.

Journal article
Navigating emotions in future thinking: a polylogue approach
Featured 01 January 2025 Event Management29(1):51-66 Ingenta Connect

This paper critically examines how future thinking is positioned in the mindset of event professionals through the lens of provocative far future scenarios. In debating these far future scenarios within a polylogue (multiple voices) framework, we explore how dianoetic (discursive reasoning) approaches can facilitate long-term ´civilisational´ thinking and capture stakeholder reactions and emotions to future event environments. As such, our study contributes comparative qualitative insights into how current and future industry professionals respond to the contradictions and complexities of event futures. Our findings have implications for industry resilience and strategic thinking at a time when Covid-19 pandemic recovery has coincided with other global economic challenges and unpredictable threats such as climate change. Our findings highlight the importance of developing effective tools to overcome emotional barriers to thinking about the future. They also reveal the importance of engaging a broad stakeholder demographic and learning from other sectors to diversify conversations about the future.

Journal article
The (in)visibility of equality, diversity, and inclusion research in events management journals
Featured 04 July 2023 Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events17(2):1-25 Taylor and Francis Group
AuthorsCalver J, Dashper K, Finkel R, Fletcher T, Lamond I, May E, Ormerod N, Platt L, Sharp B

The field of events management has been critiqued for being overly focused on operational and managerial concerns to the detriment of critical analysis of power and representation, of which equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) is an important aspect. This paper reports on an audit of the four leading events management journals over the period 2011-2021 to assess the current state of play in relation to engagement with EDI issues and consider whether this critique remains justified. After screening, 49 articles were included. Findings reveal that EDI remains a marginal issue in events management journals, often confined to special issues, with no evidence of increasing engagement over the review period. EDI needs to become more integrated in the core body of knowledge of events management to ensure that events research is socially useful to students, other researchers and practitioners, contributing to the development and reputation of the field.

Current teaching

  • Events Management
  • Hospitality Business Management
  • Hospitality Business Management with Marketing

Teaching Activities (4)

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Course developed

BSc(HONS) Event Operations & Production Management

23 September 2019

Course developed

Foundation Year Events Tourism & Hospitality Management

27 September 2021

Course developed

BA(HONS) Event Marketing

23 September 2019

Course developed

BA(HONS) Creative Event Design

20 September 2020

Leeds Beckett University

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Dr Julia Calver
12887
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