Dr Timea Nochta

• PgCert in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, University of Birmingham 2023
• PhD in Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham, 2018
• MSc & BSc (joint degree) in Architecture and Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, 2012

Timea is an urban studies scholar with an interdisciplinary background rooted in public policy and architecture, with further training in urban geography. Her research focuses on the governance of socio-technical transitions (large-scale change processes in technological and social systems), towards smart and sustainable cities.

Timea’s research advances the understanding of the dynamics of multi-actor decision-making processes in public policy and implementation in the urban built environment. It also extends to the role and impact of data and digital technologies – as ‘evidence’ – in shaping governance processes and outcomes. She is an internationally recognised scholar investigating the governance and implications of ‘city digital twins’ (realistic virtual representations of urban systems), with her research having informed policy and practice in the UK and internationally.

Her research has been funded by the BIRMAC Projects and Ideas Fund, the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Data and AI, the Cambridge Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB) and the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS), among others.

Timea is Director of Postgraduate Research at DPAP, and teaches modules in public governance, collaboration and partnership and digital-era public policy. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her pedagogical approach is student-centred, with a strong emphasis on interactive, inclusive, and digitally enhanced learning experiences.

Prior to joining the University of Birmingham as lecturer in 2021, Timea worked for three years at the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction at the University of Cambridge, as Research Associate and Senior Research Associate. During her time at the University of Cambridge she co-led the ‘Digital Cities for Change’ programme, and was awarded a research fellowship at Hughes Hall, Cambridge.

Timea is currently teaching on the following modules:

• Public Management and Governance
• Partnerships and Collaboration
• Digital Era Public Policy
• Public Policy and Evidence

Timea is interested in supervising PhD students in her areas of research expertise, including

• Governance networks
• Urban governance
• Multilevel governance
• Social Network Analysis (SNA)
• Climate change and sustainability transitions
• Smart cities and digitalisation

Timea’s research interests include

• Governance networks
• Urban governance
• Multilevel governance
• Social Network Analysis (SNA)
• Climate change and sustainability transitions
• Smart cities and digitalisation

Current research

Timea’s current research covers topics such as

• Polycentricity and intermediaries in UK net zero carbon governance and policy
• Mis- and disinformation in climate change and energy policy in the UK and Canada
• Sub-national governance capacity
• Participatory methods for place-based digitalisation in urban spatial planning and development

Previous projects

‘Facilitating Policy Change for Low Carbon Mobility: The Role of Multilevel Governance’ (2020 – 2023)

(CREDS/EPSRC). Timea co-led this project, alongside Dr Louise Reardon (PI, DPAP) and Dr Li Wan (University of Cambridge). Urgent and significant change in transport policy is required if the UK wants to meet its net-zero ambitions. This project uses interpretive network and problem analysis to identify the role multi-level governance plays in influencing local-level policy responses towards low carbon mobility.

The project is comparing the multi-level governance of two city regions: Birmingham and Cambridge, using original data from policy documents, participatory mapping workshops and semi-structured interviews. In doing so, the project will provide important and timely recommendations for ways current UK governance arrangements can be supported to enable more effective local policy responses towards low carbon mobility. More information on the project can be found on the CREDS website.

Digital Cities for Change (DC2)

Timea co-led this project during her appointment at the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC), funded by The Ove Arup Foundation. DC2 seeks to demonstrate how built environment data and digital tools can be used to inform better and more cohesive decision-making.

DC2 takes an interdisciplinary approach, aiming to

• Establish the body of knowledge in smart cities and infrastructure, and identify capability gaps
• Develop a competence framework that defines the skills and competence requirements
• Identify a research roadmap which will address the capability gaps
• Enable the development and delivery of education/training content that meets the requirements of industry and public sector stakeholders.

More information on the project can be found on the CSIC website.

The Local Governance of Digital Technology – Implications for City-Scale Digital Twins

This study investigated how existing local governance systems – both in terms of their structural and processual characteristics – may influence a city’s digital twin. It followed the development of a digital twin prototype for the Cambridge area in order to establish links between local governance, digital twin design and implementation, and associated outcomes. For more information please visit the project’s webpage.

AScEnD

This scoping study, supported by EPSRC  and the Energy Systems Catapult, undertook an initial analysis  of how whole energy system analysis is currently used in decision-making processes across scales, to help identify ways in which the research and policy decision-making relationship could be improved in the future. For more information please visit the project’s webpage.