https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1319-4636
Dr Clare Devaney is a Reader in Strategic and Systems Innovation. She is a Senior Researcher and Innovation Lead for GSA Rural Lab. Rural Lab is a research-led centre for innovation, enterprise and knowledge exchange, based at the GSA Highlands & Islands campus. Its research portfolio is grounded in rural and indigenous traditions, knowledge, communities and contexts.
Clare's work has been published and disseminated internationally, including through book publication (Panonomics, Springer, 2021), as an award-winning entry to The Global Indigo Prize for Economics (2017).
Clare has held strategic and innovation leadership roles with the UK Government/ NP11 as Strategic Lead for Place and Culture in the North of England and with the Greater Manchester and Liverpool City-Regions.
She is a member of UKRI AHRC's Peer Review College & moderation panels
PhD 'A Fourth Way: The role of cultural heritage in embedding place-driven innovation'
University of Salford
MA/BA English Literature
St Catharine's College, University of Cambridge
Clare's primary research interest is time and its application in systems design and innovation. Her work explores the interrelationship between place, space and time through multiple perspectives including system dynamics, place narratives and materialism.
Project Lead - "A Golden Thread: Crafting the Creative Economy from Scotland's Highlands, Lowlands and Islands"
UKRI AHRC Doctoral Focal Awards (2026-33)
A Craft-led and interdisciplinary PhD training college and enterprise development programme, driven from Scotland's rural and island communities. Led by GSA and delivered in partnership with Open University & SRUC.
Novel and emerging systems, economies and practices
Regenerative systems and practices
Craft, making and materialism
Place-driven systems change
PhD - Jiaojiao Li
'Visualisation of Knowledge in Traditional Handicrafts'
(Co-Supervisor)
MRes - Kiara Mackenzie
'Investigating the Lineage Connecting Prehistoric Survival Skills to Modern Textile Craft'
(Primary Supervisor)
