Dr Paul Barratt is Assistant Professor in Human Geography at the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø. Growing up on the eastern edge of the Peak District instilled a love of outdoor leisure and the environment that Paul has carried with him throughout his career. He has a background specialising in the intersection between technology and leisure. His PhD explored the notion of rock climbers as technological hybrids fused through a network of relations created and strengthened during the practice. This research theme developed to examine the digital practices of cyclists, exploring how once analogue practices were becoming augmented by technology and gamified by highly scripted competitive applications. This research was extended by his PhD student Adam Caine who completed his PhD on narratives of digital creep in 2024.
Paul also engages in research and projects looking to facilitate the transition to net-zero. He undertook a post-doctoral role with the Centre for Low Carbon Futures. This was a White Rose University collaboration working in an interdisciplinary team to create a tool to help businesses map and reduce the carbon footprint of their activities and those of their extended supply chain. Paul has continued this work more recently through Carbon Literacy training and consultancy. He has recently led a team of facilitators conducting Carbon Literacy Training for a range of employers, co-designing bespoke training materials for specific sectoral use. Paul also helps guide businesses through the accreditation process to become Carbon Literate Organisations.
In line with his work on the low-carbon transition, Paul also has expertise in Doughnut Economics and green growth. Working with the Globe Group CIC and as a Steering Group member for the Staffordshire COP, he has been an invited speaker on the topic as well as
delivering training and consultation at various events to a range of audiences. He devised a programme of activity for a Net-Zero Pathfinder Project that has helped SMEs in Staffordshire to devise net-zero roadmaps and prioritise investments. Paul has also recently led the academic team designing and writing a successful Innovate UK, Knowledge Transfer Partnership bid with Lichfield Cathedral. This project is focused upon solving the market failure in the heritage building sector around employing innovative methods to inform technical decisions and expenditure leading to carbon reduction.
The breadth of Paul’s lecturing and supervision within GEES reflects his varied research interests from human geography and research methods to environmental concerns.