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20112025

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

🌿 Senior lecturer and researcher in Business, Marketing, and Management whose work explores how places, people and service create meaningful, sustainable value. Core interests include botanic garden tourism, transformative service and sustainability, connecting deep ecology, visitor experience, stewardship and community and planetary well‑being. With a background across ecology, environmental science, geography, horticulture and garden design, Nick links research, teaching and practice via live briefs, place‑based learning, and collaboration with gardens, heritage organisations and community partners.

#NicholasCatahan #TransformativeService #Sustainability #BotanicGardenTourism #Place #Marketing #Management #Development

Academic and professional experience spans higher education, social enterprise and horticulture/ecosystem management. Recent focus is on research and teaching excellence, inclusive pedagogy, widening participation, and education that changes lives.

Service to the field includes reviewing for journals and conferences such as Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Cultural Heritage Management & Sustainable Development, Journal of Place Management & Development, Journal of Outdoor Recreation & Tourism, Plants, People, Planet, Biological Diversity, and Sustainability. University and regional networks include SustainNet, the Community Led Businesses Research Group, and LancsCAN. Professional communities include ServSIG, QUIS, ServCollab, Academy of Marketing SIGs (Arts/Heritage/Non‑Profit & Social; Place; Sustainability; Tourism; Transformative Service), and tourism networks TRINET, NTAN and the Responsible Tourism Network.

Partnerships span the gardens sector: Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), BGEN (personal member), PlantNetwork (institutional via Edge Hill), Liverpool Botanical Trust (personal), and associate research partner for the Garden Tourism Alliance - supporting co‑created projects that connect conservation, research and education with place vitality, visitor economies and well‑being.

Leadership & Management at a glance

  • Programme leadership (2004–2011; 2019–2021; 2024–2026) across Business & Management and joint pathways (Leisure & Tourism; HRM; Marketing; Accounting & Finance; Economics), plus Business Analytics and International Business - with emphases on FHEQ/RQF alignment (Levels 4–6), sustainability integration, authentic assessment, stakeholder engagement and student‑voice‑led enhancement.
  • Programme authorship & international collaboration
    • DipHE Tourism Management (RQF 4–5), Edge Hill × Chengdu University of Technology (author/developer; ongoing consultation since 2011).
    • FdA Leisure & Tourism Management (RQF 4–5), Edge Hill × KCC (co‑author; programme leadership period 2006–2011).
  • Leadership in vocational/leadership education
    • Developer, Lead Assessor & Internal Verifier for ILM/City & Guilds VRQs & NVQs in Leadership & Management (RQF 2–7), with portfolio management of clients, trainers and assessors.
  • Pre‑HE and vocational curriculum leadership
    • Delivery and leadership across A‑Level & BTEC (RQF 1–3); author of Leisure & Tourism 14–19 Diplomas gateway documentation; EU‑funded vocational projects.

AcronymsRQF = Regulated Qualifications Framework. FHEQ = Framework for Higher Education Qualifications

Honour-Awards

Research interests

Co‑creation with botanic gardens, sector bodies and communities to integrate ecosystem thinking and joined‑up communications across research, conservation, education and plant collections, strengthening place vitality, visitor economies and well‑being.

  • Environmental, social, governance
  • Botanic garden tourism innovation
  • Sustainable service ecosystem design
  • Equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility
  • Transformative service, health & wellbeing

Open to botanic garden tourism research collaborations, guest lectures/panels, live briefs, external examining, and community partnerships that align education, transformative service, sustainability and place.

Teaching

Student‑centred design with authentic assessments, live briefs, fieldwork, reflective learning and inclusive delivery. Supervision of undergraduate research/dissertations via group methods/ethics sessions and 1:1 coaching from research design through analysis and write‑up.

Module leadership/teaching (selected)

  • Leisure, Travel & Tourism: Introduction to Leisure & Tourism; Leisure & Tourism Planning; Tourism Development; Green/Sustainable Tourism; Heritage; Events Management; Managing Impacts of Leisure & Tourism.
  • Marketing: Marketing for Business; Integrated Marketing Communications; Branding & Integrated Digital Campaigns.
  • Business & Management: New Venture Creation; Business Start‑up; Enterprise & Innovation; Human Resource Management; People & Organisations.

 

Education/Academic qualification

Education with Distinction, MA, Liverpool John Moores University

Education (Post Compulsory), PGCert, Liverpool John Moores University

Environmental Studies with Geography (& Information Technology 1st Yr), BSc, Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods, University of Liverpool

Keywords

  • H Social Sciences
  • Transformative Gardens
  • Transformative Service Research (TSR)
  • Sustainability
  • Marketing
  • Management
  • Service
  • Place
  • Ecology
  • Ecosystem
  • Business
  • Innovation
  • Enterprise
  • Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
  • #NicholasCatahan

Research Groups

  • SustainNET
  • Community Owned Businesses Research Group

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 1 - No Poverty
    SDG 1 No Poverty
  2. SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
    SDG 2 Zero Hunger
  3. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
  4. SDG 4 - Quality Education
    SDG 4 Quality Education
  5. SDG 5 - Gender Equality
    SDG 5 Gender Equality
  6. SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation
    SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation
  7. SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
    SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
  8. SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
    SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
  9. SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
    SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  10. SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
    SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
  11. SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
    SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
  12. SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
    SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
  13. SDG 13 - Climate Action
    SDG 13 Climate Action
  14. SDG 14 - Life Below Water
    SDG 14 Life Below Water
  15. SDG 15 - Life on Land
    SDG 15 Life on Land
  16. SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
    SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
  17. SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals
    SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals

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