Dr Athena Piterou is Senior Lecturer in Sustainability at the University of Greenwich. She joined the University in 2011 after completing her PhD at Brunel University. Her thesis was linked to the ESRC project Dematerialising the printed paper text. The thesis examined earlier developments in the emergence of electronic books and anticipated impacts on the publishing industry, addressing how technological change affects our perception of books as material/cultural artefacts and reading practices. She has worked as co-investigator in INTERREG funded projects regarding the promotion of innovation in small business including the development of business support toolkits (NDI), energy efficiency and the adoption of biomass combined heat and power technology (Ecotec 21 project Project - Ecotec 21 (keep.eu), and the adoption of circular economy practices in tourism firms (FACET). The projects involved engagement with small firms and entrepreneurs and examined factors influencing their engagement with technology. She has also worked on a BA funded project regarding the emergence of electric vehicles. She has experience in using Social Network Analysis methodology as it applies to technology emergence. 

She was co-investigator in the following two projects regarding creative industries and heritage tourism in Malaysia and China. Newton Funded Project/ESRC & AHRC, United Kingdom. Social Network Analysis of Innovation Cluster in Creative and Cultural Value Chain in the UNESCO World Heritage Site George Town, Penang. British Academy-Leverhulme – Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Innovation Ecosystem of Rural-Urban Nexus (INNERUN): A Social Network Analysis and International Comparative Study of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mainland China. [email protected]