Patrick Utz Email & Phone Number

I research the links between places and society from a variety of perspectives, using a range of quantitative and qualitative methods - how do people think about place, how do they shape it, and how do places impact people's attidudes, behaviours and ideas?With CoMoUK, I explore how shared transport enables people to move between places without having to own a vehicle - and what policy makers and businesses can do to support mobility that goes beyond private car use and ownership.For my PhD in Politics at Edinburgh, "No return to the borders of the past? Cross-border nationalism and European integration in times of crises", I explored how ideas about borders and border regions in Europe have changed over time. I found that more open borders have helped de-securitise formerly contested border regions, and that even crises of European integration do not reverse this process. The lasting effects of how open borders can change people's thinking about places can, for example, be seen in post-Brexit Northern Ireland, where the core of the 1998 peace settlement has remained unaltered.These interests, and the skills that acquired to pursue them, stem from longstanding work and study experience in places such as Austria, Spain, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.