Ryan Bellinson is an action-oriented urban researcher whose work intersects cities, climate change, community engagement, and governance innovation. He is also interested in how participative research approaches can advance theoretical understanding, achieve practical impact, and help create more just cities.

Ryan has worked at the crossroads of research and policy in multiple contexts. In 2014, he held a policy fellowship in the United States with the Governor of Oregon’s Natural Resource Policy Office. During his graduate studies, he led a research project exploring the mechanisms sustainable city networks use to facilitate governance innovations within their member cities. This work particularly explored the policy and governance changes in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and Berkeley, USA, facilitated by the cities membership in the 100 Resilient Cities network supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.

Before joining IIPP, Ryan was a PhD candidate at the University of Sheffield in the Urban Institute. He led an embedded research project with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority exploring how innovative public participation methods could support meaningful and just local climate policy development. This research helped build new capabilities in the organisation to engage Greater Manchester’s diverse population and created new mechanisms for citizens and practitioners to participate in policy development.

 @rbellinson