MSc in Crowded Space Design, Management and Risk Analysis – Meet the Tutors

Our new MSc in Crowded Space Design, Management and Risk Analysis with Edinburgh Napier University starts in early January 2020.  Led by Professor Chris Kemp, the teaching team comprises the highest calibre, second-to-none, industry professionals.

The MSc is set to challenge, inspire and stretch the participants to a new level, raising the bar in event and crowded spaces management.

Would you like to get to know the lecturers a little better?  Here’s more from some of them…

Chris has worked in the crowded space arena for almost 35 years, starting as a practitioner in the industry, initially working as one of the top five club rock promoters in the UK, and as a venue manager; where he managed over 3000 rock, indie, theatre, comedy and dance promotions in just over a decade, sometimes promoting 10 bands a night in the club’s heyday. Secondly, as an academic, where he blazed the trail of both music and crowd management education. Thirdly, as a consultant on a range of projects in railway stations, at festivals, on event sites, and in other crowded spaces.

We asked Chris….

Who was your favourite teacher and why?

“I had two favourite teachers – one I liked and one I hated.  The one I liked taught geography and was one of the best teachers I ever had.  He was also coach of the England Basketball team, so we always nailed basketball matches!  However, he’d make us miss lunch to practice with the team… but it was well worth it to always win.

The one I hated held up my art work in class and asked, “Who did this?”.  When I raised my hand, he said “this got a 10 out of 10, so if a mug like Kemp can do it, anyone can”.  This planted the strongest seed of determination in me to prove him wrong and show him just how successful I could be…”

Chief Inspector (retd.) Andrew Brown is an internationally renowned negotiator with specialist experience in kidnap for ransom and hostage/crisis incidents. Fellow of the Chartered Management and Security Institutes and a Fulbright Alumnus, he has worked with the public, private and third sectors, along with law enforcement agencies including NYPD/USMS and the FBI. He remains an Advisor to the Editorial Boards of a range of journals including those in Criminal Psychology, Forensic Research & Crisis Response.

We asked Andrew…..

What are you most looking forward to teaching on the course?

“I’m most looking forward in helping the students build that bridge between theory and practice in leadership through real life examples. Helping them to find their true values and how creating the right culture will allow their team to thrive and grow in delivering safe events for all”

Who was your favourite teacher and why?

“My favourite teacher and mentor was an old gamekeeper who taught me how to deer stalk in the Scottish Highlands. He taught me the importance of field craft in honing my skills and also the importance of watching & respecting nature from animals to people and to the weather. He always told me, watch & listen to Mother Nature, she is a great teacher.”

Pascal Viot has been Head of Department Health, Safety & Security at Paleo Festival Nyon since 2006. Pascal is a sociologist and a researcher and achieved his PhD in 2013 with a research project dealing with urbanism and security during major events.  He is Associate Researcher at the Urban Sociology Laboratory at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and in 2016, he created iSSUE, the Swiss Institut for Urban and Event Safety.

We asked Pascal….

What are you most looking forward to teaching on the course?

“Being both an academic and a practitioner, I am looking forward to create pathways between this 2 fields of knowledge with the students. Especially on this subject of Crowded spaces management which is a very contemporary and innovative oriented area. Our cities today are a complex composition of urbanism, security and mobility, and we need a plurality of approaches to deal with that.”

Did you have a favourite teacher and why?

“I used to be a student in sociology before moving as a researcher through urban planning, risk management and security studies. Some professors I got to know when studying sociology at university changed my vision of the way the world is running. This is something I will keep with me: If you don’t understand the situation you are dealing with, try to take a step back, enlarge your vision enough to see the whole picture.”

Sofie is Crowd Safety Manager at ConCom Safety (Roskilde Festival). Sofie has a BA (Hons) in Crowd Safety Management and works with both planning and safety operations at events of all sizes, as well as an advisor for organizers and festivals. She worked as Dansk Live’s representative in a workgroup tasked with the challenge of developing a national framework for safety plans, including event risk assessments and emergency plans. The guidance was published by the Danish National Police in 2015.

We asked Sofie….

What are you most looking forward to teaching on the course?

“There’s a lot of elements in teaching on the MSc that’s exciting to me, but mostly I’m looking forward to the debates and interactions with the people participating.  As they will all be practitioners with own experiences and a lot of knowledge, I feel certain that this will give some interesting approaches to the subject.”

Did you have a favourite teacher and why?

“I was fortunate enough to have Mick Upton as teacher during my studies at Bucks New University.  Mick had his own way of teaching, which included stories from his amazingly interesting life in the industry.  These stories were told with so much passion that I just got caught up in them.  I will remember Mick and his great passion for the industry, as it has contributed to a great development.”

Tim Owen has over 30 years’ experience leading the coordination and collaboration of large teams that provide assurance in the conception, planning and completion of events overlaid on ‘business as usual’ city management.  Simply put – Tim’s knowledge and experience of what it takes to stage major London events is second to none.

Tim will be joint lead on the second module of our MSc, focusing on how theoretical concepts related to design are developed and overlaid in practice; starting from the identification of space to the finished event, and all levels in between.  He will also address the perpetual challenges of exploring solutions in practice.

Tim’s understanding of other’s viewpoints, an ability to create partnerships across organisations and attention to detail has helped conclude moments of national importance and provided lifelong memories for millions of people.

Moments of national and international attention were realised under his leadership – such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Papal Visit, World Championships for Athletics and Rugby, Jubilees, weddings and funerals, ‘F1 on the streets’, giant puppets, Lumiere, Commonwealth Heads of Government, RAF 100 and commemorative events for the end of the First World War and the first Votes for Women.

His oversight of the annual London events’ calendar has included the New Year’s Eve Fireworks, Chinese New Year, St. Patrick’s Day, The Boat Race, Pride, Notting Hill Carnival, West End Christmas Lights’ Switch Ons, mass participation running events and film premieres.

He has been personally awarded by HM The Queen twice for leading the safety and security assurance groups for Her Golden and Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Paul Foster is the founder of OnePlan, the world’s first centralised event site planning platform. It allows anyone to map, draw, plan and procure every aspect of their event site and operations.

The platform saves event planners time and money, generating consistent professional plans, reducing stress and, crucially, improving safety and security. OnePlan facilitates easy calculation of crowd density and evacuation rates, by using intuitive space planning and measurement tools. These numbers can then be agreed upon and enforced.

A multi-user functionality lets event organisers share plans with security personnel and law enforcement at the click of the button, ensuring key safety and security stakeholders have full visibility of the event as plans develop.

This gives plenty of opportunity for identifying and minimising risks and threats as they emerge. Accurate real time information about the event allows safety and security teams to plan and deliver their operations in the most effective way.

Interpol have recognised the value of a centralised event planning system and are now using OnePlan to support immersive training for major global sporting events. With other law enforcement organisations showing a keen interest in the platform and global events adopting the system, OnePlan is raising the bar for event safety and security.

We asked Paul…

Why did you want to get involved in this course?

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