Profile
Graham Hitchen is Director of the Loughborough University Policy Unit and a senior member of the London School, where he is a Professor within the Institute for Creative Futures.
Graham leads the work of the Policy Unit, promoting policy engagement and policy impact across the University. He is also co-Director of the Creative Research and Innovation Centre (CRAIC) at Loughborough London. He has led research projects on creative technologies, data and policy, and the Creative Industries in India, and brings a wealth of experience in a number of social policy areas. Graham was the Corporate Policy Director for Arts Council England and has worked for DCMS, as well as London government. He has run a successful consultancy business since 2007, advising government agencies, cities and universities.
He is also a member of the University’s Digital Decarbonisation research group, and Chair of its Strategic Advisory Group.
Academic background
Graham's early research focused on cultural policy in the UK. He has contributed lectures and articles for multiple institutions on topics such as cities and regeneration, creative innovation, and government arts and cultural policy. He subsequently worked with regional and national government on Creative Industries, Design and Innovation policies, and has built a significant research interest in these topics. He was, until recently, working with the Industrial Strategy team at UKRI, leading evaluation and strategy for the Audience of the Future and the Creative Industries Clusters programmes.
Research
Current research and collaborations
Graham is a co-Director of the CoSTAR Foresight Lab working on creative technologies, and part of the AHRC Creative Economy Champion team, working alongside Professor Chitty on Creative Industries applied research and innovation. He has recently led studies on the application of technologies in the Creative Industries, mapping the Creative Industries in India, and assessing the impact of Covid-19 on creative businesses in Hackney Wick. He is also part of the East London Policy Innovation Partnership, which is a collaboration with UCL, University of the Arts London and other partners at SHIFT.
Interests and activities
- The application of research to policy
- Digital decarbonisation in the creative industries
- Cities and regeneration
- Creative clusters
- Applied research and innovation in the Creative Industries
- Government policy on culture and the creative industries