In this new SAHA Conversation we are joined by Christine Wilson, Interim Director of Research and Policy Insight at the British Council. Christine has been with the British Council since 2004. She is responsible for a global research and insight portfolio spanning education, arts, youth and skills, as well as exploring the role of cultural relations in supporting the UK’s soft power and foreign policy. She is series editor of the Cultural Relations Collection, which encourages new thinking in this field.

She was previously Head of Research, responsible for global standards and practice, ethics and networks. She led the Next Generation research series, which aims to engage youth voices around the world and contribute to improved policy making, and has covered countries including Nigeria, Myanmar, Lebanon, Poland, the UK and Vietnam. In 2016-17, Christine was Director of the Hammamet Conference, an international platform for leaders from North Africa and the UK to engage in dialogue following the Arab Uprisings. In 2018, she co-chaired the steering group for Peace and Beyond, an international conference to encourage new thinking and research in peacebuilding and reconciliation, and edited the conference publication.

Christine is an Advisory Board member at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). She has previously served on the board of the Scotland-Malawi Partnership, and on the Scotland Committees of the UNESCO UK National Commission and of the RSA. She has studied at the Universities of Edinburgh and Ulster, and the Open University. Prior to joining the British Council, Christine was a journalist focusing on politics and civil society in Scotland.

As it has become customary by now in this SAHA conversations we ask Christine to reflect on her career trajectory but we discuss other subjects also, such as her work on international cultural relations, decolonisation and ongoing research exploring young people’s ambitions and aspirations across the world.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH)

Next Generation research series

The Climate Connection

International Cultural Relations Research Alliance Conference 2021