This public talk and discussion with Dr Zhu Biyun explores how participatory system dynamics research can help cultural organisations and policymakers mobilise and strengthen multi-stakeholder networks in cultural governance.
Drawing on research developed with UNESCO UK, Dr Zhu’s presentation will demonstrate how this approach can be used to map relationships, identify shared challenges, and reveal leverage points within complex governance systems, supporting more strategic collaboration and greater collective impact.
The discussion will also consider how more effective multi-stakeholder networks can generate public value, inform policy, and expand the role of culture in addressing wider societal and global challenges.
This event is presented by LASALLE’s MA Arts and Cultural Leadership programme.
Biyun Zhu is a lecturer and assistant professor in cultural policy and governance at the University of Manchester. Her research focuses on comparative cultural policy, cultural diplomacy, and soft power.
She has received multiple grants from international funders, including the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She has published in world-leading journals across disciplines such as cultural studies, diplomacy and political science. She recently edited two issues on cultural diplomacy for leading journals in the field.
Professionally, as a Chinese-born scholar with advanced degrees from the UK and the US, she has collaborated with government and non-governmental agencies across all three countries, as well as with international bodies including UNESCO and cultural diplomacy institutions in Europe. These experiences have provided her with first-hand insights into the regional and global dynamics of cultural diplomacy and soft power, from both empirical and theoretical perspectives.
