Jane Ali-Knight
Jane AliKnight

Prof Jane Ali-Knight

Professor

Biography

Dr. Jane Ali-Knight is a Professor in Festival and Event Management at Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland and a Visiting Research Professor at Curtin University, Perth. She is currently leading and developing the festival and event subject group as well as lecturing at Universities internationally and facilitating training and development in the field. Her core activities fall into three main areas: event and festival related programmes; research and publications and conferences and professional events. She is currently a board member of BAFA (British Arts and Festivals Association), Without Walls, Women in Tourism and Hidden Door Festival and is a Fellow of the HEA and Royal Society of the Arts.

Research Groups

News

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Committee member for the Tourism Society Scotland

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Delivery of Cake Fest Edinburgh, 21 June 2015 as part of VisitScoland’s Year of Food and Drink.
  • Community Festival Management experience through organisation of inaugural Stockbridge Village Festival, September 2006, Stockbridge Jumboree, 2011 and Stockfest 2012, 2013.
  • Jane Ali-Knight and Paul Gudgin to deliver Executive Certificate programme to Qatar and Abu Dhabi audiences.
  • Professional conference and seminar organisation: LSA 2005 International Academic Conference; Festivals and Events: Beyond Economic Impacts. July 4 – 6 2005; Tourism Society Scotland Annual Conference, Aviemore, Scotland June 2007; Realising a Culture of
  • Event Manager/Publicity Co-ordination for the Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2007 – 2011

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • DLP course awarded ‘Leadership in the Visitor Economy: Most Innovative Project’ by the Association for Tourism in Higher Education (ATHE).
  • • Nominated for Event 100 Club, 2016 (100 most influential people in the UK Events Industry).
  • Destination Leaders Programme (DLP) Shortlisted for Times Higher Education Leadership and Management (THELMA) Award in the Outstanding Employer Engagement Initiative category.
  • • Winner, Student Event Category, Scottish Event Awards, October 2015. Commendations 2013 and 2016.
  • Fellow of the HEA
  • Fellow ofhe Royal Society of the Arts (RSA)
  • Congratulations to DLP Graduates!

 

Media Activity

  • Syn Festival Edinburgh shaping up for success
  • Are giant music festivals at the end of the road?
  • When it comes to Festivals and Events, 'Scotland is the Perfect Stage'
  • Business School's Destination Leaders Programme (DLP) recognised
  • Boost for Scottish tourism with destination leaders programme
  • Mercat Tours professionalise their Tour Guide programme

 

Date


44 results

Witch City's ‘Haunted Happenings’: Managing Authenticity and Edutainment in Salem, Massachusetts

Book Chapter
Stewart, H., Todd, L., & Ali-Knight, J. (2023)
Witch City's ‘Haunted Happenings’: Managing Authenticity and Edutainment in Salem, Massachusetts. In G. Rossetti, B. Wyatt, & J. Ali-Knight (Eds.), Festivals and Edutainment (26-40). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003305415-4
The infamous Salem Witch Trials resulted in the deaths of 20 innocent Puritans accused of witchcraft in 1692. Today, Salem, Massachusetts, has positioned itself as a modern-da...

We can make festivals fit for the climate change fight

Other
Kerr, G., & Ali-Knight, J. (2022)
We can make festivals fit for the climate change fight. [Newspaper article]. The Scotsman
As world leaders gather for COP27 in Egypt to discuss how we keep temperature rises below catastrophic levels, people may well be thinking about how they can do their bit at h...

Sustainability Toolkit for Festival Managers

Other
Barnes, C., Moore, T., Kerr, G., & Ali-Knight, J. (2022)
Sustainability Toolkit for Festival Managers
This toolkit emerged as part of the Cultura Circular (Circular Culture) programme, a British Council initiative in Mexico focused on promoting a culture of sustainability in t...

Destination Net Zero – Net Zero Events Baseline Review

Report
Robertson, M., Ali-Knight, J., Barnes, C. A., Brogan, J., Brown, C., Myers, K., & Wharmby, C. (2022)
Destination Net Zero – Net Zero Events Baseline Review. VisitScotland
Guided by the key themes of measuring, monitoring, decarbonisation and adaptation, an extensive body of knowledge in these four areas relating to carbon emission and managemen...

Covid & Innovation within Edinburgh's Festivals: Post-Covid-19 Recovery, Innovation & Technology

Report
Stewart, H., Ali-Knight, J., Kerr, G., & Holmes, K. (2022)
Covid & Innovation within Edinburgh's Festivals: Post-Covid-19 Recovery, Innovation & Technology. Edinburgh Napier University
The COVID-19 pandemic created a global hiatus for events and festivals. The requirement for whole countries to stay at home and avoid contact with other people led to numerous...

Artistic & Curation Strategies for Festivals

Other
Kerr, G., Barnes, C., & Ali-Knight, J. (2022)
Artistic & Curation Strategies for Festivals. [Course module]
To compete and succeed in any venture in the modern world, it takes thinking outside the box and strategising your actions. Artistic flair and curation strategies are what mak...

Business Planning & Governance for Festivals

Other
Kerr, G., Barnes, C., & Ali-Knight, J. (2022)
Business Planning & Governance for Festivals. [Course module]
Festival planning is not like day-to-day business in an office! Imagine an umbrella shared by several people: that’s how a festival works! Festivals are a collaboration of dif...

Starting a Festival

Other
Kerr, G., Barnes, C., & Ali-Knight, J. (2022)
Starting a Festival. [Course module]
Have you got an idea for starting a festival and are unsure where to begin? This toolkit will help you get started. The good news is that all leading festival curators have as...

Audience Development and Communications for Festivals

Other
Kerr, G., Barnes, C., & Ali-Knight, J. (2022)
Audience Development and Communications for Festivals. [Course module]
Audience development and communications are vital in modern-day festival management. Audience development is also about retaining interest from existing audiences and growing ...

Financial Management, Risk & Resilience for Festivals

Other
Kerr, G., Barnes, C., & Ali-Knight, J. (2022)
Financial Management, Risk & Resilience for Festivals. [Course module]
Good financial management is extremely important when starting a festival. The ability to manage your festival’s funds, plan your budget, manage risk and be resilient is funda...

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