Dr Simon Dickinson
Profiles

Dr Simon Dickinson

Lecturer in Geohazards and Risk

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (Faculty of Science and Engineering)

Biography

Biography

Lecturer in Geohazards within the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Plymouth. I teach into the Geography, Environmental Science, Environmental Management & Sustainability, and Geosciences programmes within SoGEES.

South-West Doctoral Training Partnership (SWDTP) Advisory Committee + Geography representative 

Research interests (see 'Research' tab for further details): social change in the disaster landscape (either DRR or recovery); community engagement and participation in disaster recovery; emergent community/non-government organisations 

Qualifications

PhD (2018, University of Exeter, UK): 'Geographies of fidelity: emergent spaces of third sector activity after the Canterbury earthquakes' (supervised by Prof Paul Cloke and Prof Clive Barnett)

MSc  (2014, Canterbury, NZ: 1st Class) 
BSc Hons (2012, Canterbury, NZ) 

Research

Research

Research interests

My research explores themes related to democracy, community organisation, and political engagement. Much of my work examines new and radical forms of community organisation and practice. I'm interested in how newly created groups learn (i.e. how knowledge is passed between groups and movements), gain legitimacy (i.e. are recognised as being able to speak for particular groups/issues), and engage with government (i.e. participate in decision-making). 


To date, much of my research has been in the post-disaster landscape, where I examine how communities and community-interest groups (including NGOs and other third-sector organisations) are engaged with, or participate in, either disaster planning or recovery. This research has largely involved examining the novel and exceptional forms of political engagement that seemingly become possible only after disasters. In these times, typical modes of democratic practice are not regarded as suitable, and are often instead temporarily replaced by new forms of engagement. These can include, for example, community 'hubs' (generating new forms of accessibility to state agencies), or creative 'Share an Idea' forms of public engagement (that seek to crowd-source public needs or desires during recovery). In doing so, my research has sought to understand how different groups seek to utilise these exceptional forms of engagement in order to 'improve' democratic practice. 

Additionally, I am interested in the politics of localisation. I write about the relationships between local-scale NGOs and International NGOs (INGOs)

I am also interested in researching pedagogical practice, particularly related to innovations in the teaching of qualitative methods. A recently published paper (Journal of Geography in Higher Education) explored the dynamics of using story-mapping with students in order to capture the messy and embodied nature of qualitative research. 

Key Words:
  • Democracy
  • Community
  • New organisations
  • Social change
  • Participation
  • Politics of disaster transformation
  • Qualitative methods
  • Participatory methodologies (including PAR and working for/within civil society organisations)  



Publications

Publications

Key publications

Key publications are highlighted

Journals

Dickinson, S & Telford, A. (2020). The visualities of digital story mapping: teaching the ‘messiness’ of qualitative methods through story mapping technologies. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, DOI: 10.1080/03098265.2020.1712686

Cloke, P. & Dickinson, S. (2019). Transitional ethics and aesthetics: Re-imagining the postdisaster city in Christchurch, New Zealand. Annals of the Association of American Geographers. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2019.1570838

Dickinson, S. (2019). Alternative narrations and imaginations of disaster recovery: a case study of relocatees after the Christchurch, New Zealand, earthquakes. Social & Cultural Geography. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2019.1574883

Tironi, M., Bacigalupe, G., Knowles, S., Dickinson, S., Gil, M., Kelly, S., Molina, F., Siddiqi, A. & Waldmueller, J. (2019). ‘Figuring’ disasters: an experiment on thinking disasters as methods. Resilience. https://doi.org/10.1080/21693293.2019.1567013

Dickinson, S. (2018). Spaces of post-disaster experimentation: agile entrepreneurship and geological agency in emerging disaster countercartographies. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 1(4), 621-640. https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848618812023

Cloke, P., Dickinson, S. & Tupper, S. (2017). The Christchurch earthquakes 2010, 2011: Geographies of an event. New Zealand Geographer, 73 [2], 69-80. https://doi.org/10.1111/nzg.12152



Articles
Dickinson S & Telford A (2020) 'The visualities of digital story mapping: teaching the ‘messiness’ of qualitative methods through story mapping technologies' Journal of Geography in Higher Education 44, (3) 441-457 , DOI
Cloke P & Dickinson S (2019) 'Transitional Ethics and Aesthetics: Reimagining the Postdisaster City in Christchurch, New Zealand' Annals of the American Association of Geographers 109, (6) 1922-1940 , DOI
Tironi M, Bacigalupe G, Knowles SG, Dickinson S, Gil M, Kelly S, Ludwig J, Moesch J, Molina F & Palma K (2019) 'Figuring disasters, an experiment on thinking disruptions as methods' Resilience 7, (2) 192-211 , DOI
Dickinson S (2019) 'Alternative narrations and imaginations of disaster recovery: a case study of relocatees after the Christchurch, New Zealand, earthquakes' Social & Cultural Geography 22, (2) 273-293 , DOI
Dickinson S (2018) 'Spaces of post-disaster experimentation: Agile entrepreneurship and geological agency in emerging disaster countercartographies' Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space 1, (4) 621-640 , DOI
Cloke P, Dickinson S & Tupper S (2017) 'The Christchurch earthquakes 2010, 2011: Geographies of an event' New Zealand Geographer 73, (2) 69-80 , DOI