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Aled Blake BA(Hons), MSc

Aled Blake

(he/him)

BA(Hons), MSc

Teams and roles for Aled Blake

Overview

I am a postgraduate research student interested in spatial inequalities, post-industrial communities, urban regeneration and new economic approaches to solving intractable socioeconomic problems.

I am a former journalist, published author and I have also worked in policy and research before taking on the challenge of a PhD.

Exploring the nature of policy, its effect on people and places and its effectiveness in improving outcomes, is something which has always interested me.

How do we create a prosperous, equitable and engaged society for citizens in the 21st century with the odds seemingly so stacked against us?

Research

Exploring perceptions and experiences of foundational and wellbeing economy policies through lived experience in low-income communities

My research seeks to critically examine how emergent approaches to regional development and economic regeneration are experienced and interpreted by residents in deindustrialised communities. Specifically, it addresses a notable gap in the literature on the Foundational Economy: the disconnection between policy frameworks and their tangible impacts on the lives of those in the communities targeted for intervention. While the Foundational Economy has gained traction as a conceptual and policy tool, there remains limited empirical insight into how such interventions are received, understood, and lived by individuals in places deeply shaped by coal mining and deindustrialisation. 

The relationship between policy and lived experience in these contexts is under-theorised yet essential to advancing knowledge in this field. This study therefore asks: how can empirical data be most effectively gathered to illuminate the lived realities of foundational economic interventions? And to what extent are these policy narratives understood, internalised, or contested by those they aim to support? 

Research Impact

This PhD will have a range of impacts:  

  1. Policymakers: by engaging with people to understand how policy relates to their lives and the impact of that policy on their wellbeing. 
  2. Practitioners: by illuminating the effectiveness of new economic policy paradigms in the context of low-income places. 
  3. Communities and residents: through formulating their responses to policy and providing a platform to voice their ideas about and responses to interventions. 
  4. Academic communities: by providing empirical research on the impact of new economic paradigms through qualitative approaches. 
  5. Advocates and think-tanks: providing new perspectives and scrutiny of government activity. 

 

Biography

I am a former journalist, policy officer and writer and have had a wide ranging career – from my time as a trainee reporter in the South Wales Valleys, to working as a news editor in an ever-changing and challenging media environment. After a career break so I could take on parenting duties of our then two-year-old child, when I also wrote a book on Cardiff City's promotion to the Premier League in 2018, I worked in policy before going back into education and undertaking a master's in politics and public policy at Cardiff University. Before starting my PhD, I worked as a research assistant with Cardiff University Business School on an international project looking at the impact of Brexit on European Works Councils. I was also policy officer at the charity, Learning Disabilty Wales.

My career in brief:

  • Policy and communications officer, Learning Disability Wales (November 2023-September 2024)
  • Research Assistant (Brexit on EWC), Cardiff University Business School (January 2024-September 2024)
  • Policy officer, Universities Wales (2020-2022)
  • Freelance writer/PR professional (2018-2020)
  • Deputy head of news, Media Wales/WalesOnline (2012-2018)

Other roles (Media Wales and Western Mail): Senior reporter/news editor (2010-2012); business correspondent (2007-2010); education correspondent (2005-2007); crime reporter (2005-2007); news reporter (2003-2005); trainee reporter, Merthyr Express (2001-2003).

Honours and awards

  • PhD (in progress), Cardiff University, 2024-
  • MScEcon Politics and Public Policy, Cardiff University, 2022-23
  • BA (Hons) Journalism, Cardiff University, 1997-2000

Contact Details

Email [email protected]

Research themes

Specialisms

  • Urban and regional economics
  • Public Policy
  • Social policy
  • Urban politics and governance
  • ethnography

External profiles