Simone Wesner

Simone Wesner is a Senior Lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London, affiliated with the School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication. Her research bridges cultural policy, arts management, and craft cultures, with a focus on non-economic value creation and digital maker culture.

She holds a BA in Cultural Studies from the University of Leipzig, an MA in Cultural Policy and Arts Administration, and a PhD from the University of Warwick. Her teaching emphasizes cultural policy developments and arts management, with modules such as 'Comparative Cultural Policies' and 'Researching the Creative Industries.'

Wesner's recent work includes the Dataweave project, a mapping study on provenance in crafts, and a blockchain-based research system for community archives. Her publications span cultural policy, craft provenance, and virtual arts, with a 2024 book on qualitative research in creative industries and a 2022 editorial on mutual aid in creative practice.

Scientific awards include the 2022 Public Engagement Award - Innovation from Birkbeck. She supervises research in areas such as 'Arts policy and artists’ careers' and 'Cultural value creation in craft production.'

Key affiliations include Birkbeck Interdisciplinary Research in Media and Culture (BIRMaC), Birkbeck Institute for Social Research (BISR), and Birkbeck Institute for Data Analytics (BIDA). Her methodological focus is grounded theory and participatory databases.