Academic shares passion for empowering communities
Visual artist and academic researcher Professor Azadeh Fatehrad, whose work focuses on historical representation, has joined the University’s School of Arts & Creative Industries as Professor of Art and Public Policy.
Professor Fatehrad’s research explores the complexities of societal integration and migrant homemaking. She will lead Inclusive and Empowerment Research at the University’s Institute for Collective Place Leadership (ICPL).
Teesside University’s ICPL is dedicated to empowering communities and fostering sustainable regional growth through innovative, research-driven approaches. As Programme Director for the Inclusive and Empowered Places Programme, Professor Azadeh Fatehrad brings extensive expertise in art, public policy, participatory research, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
With over a decade of experience leading numerous projects across 15 countries, Professor Fatehrad has successfully combined research, artistic and curatorial practices to explore historical representation, adopting an interdisciplinary approach to bridge public policy, ethnography, and artistic practice.
Professor Fatehrad’s recent project Nature-Based Integration:Connecting with/in Communities, funded by The British Academy and The Nuffield Foundation, examines community cohesion through green and blue spaces across the UK, Sweden, and Denmark.
The study showed how engagement with nature, such as parks and woodlands, can have a vital role in helping people to integrate in a new country. Professor Fatehrad emphasises co-designing projects with community members, grassroots organisations, and policymakers. Working with communities, for communities, and about communities, her work explores connections to nature, cultural heritage, and community resilience.
In addition to her academic contributions, Professor Fatehrad is an internationally renowned artist and curator.
Her work, spanning still and moving images, fictional stories, short films, and artist books, has been exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art, Weltkulturen Museum, and Somerset House among others. Her work has also been featured in media outlets including The New York Times, Financial Times, BBC, CNN, Euro News and The Guardian.
Her recent fiction-documentary, Home Away from Home, produced with communities across the UK, Sweden, and Denmark, reflects on migration, return, and integration, while exploring the intersection of modern technology and deeply personal memories of home. Watch the trailer here.
She has curated projects across Europe and the Middle East, reflecting her dedication to cross-cultural dialogues and societal change.
Professor Fatehrad, who is based in the University’s School of Arts & Creative Industries, has received numerous research fellowships, including the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI) in Essen, The Warburg Institute in London and St John’s College at the University of Oxford and St John’s College at the University of Oxford.
Led by Professor Fatehrad, the Empowered and Inclusive Places Programme focuses on developing research and strategies that enable communities to create sustainable, inclusive, and resilient environments. It emphasises addressing complex societal challenges, fostering social equity, and ensuring all members have a voice in shaping their communities. This theme engages a wide range of disciplines, including environmental science, sociology, and the arts, to create holistic solutions that address the needs of diverse communities.
The programme focuses on collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches that engage marginalised populations and support inclusive models of placemaking. Through active participation in networks across the UK, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands and the Middle East, Professor Fatehrad contributes to the development of a thriving and inclusive research culture.
Looking ahead, she envisions developing new interdisciplinary projects and partnerships that drive economic regeneration and cultural engagement across the North-East.
Professor Fatehrad, whose commitment to equity, social impact, and community-driven research is at the core of her work, said: “I am passionate about empowering communities through participatory research that truly makes a difference.”
