David Blunkett is Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough. A member of the House of Commons since 1987 he held a number of posts within the Cabinet between 1997 and 2005 (Education and Employment Secretary, Home Secretary, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions). A former student of Sir Bernard Crick, David Blunkett was made an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2012 and is Visiting Professor of British Government.

Hendrik Wagenaar is a policy scholar with a wide experience in research, engagement and training in the domain of urban policy/politics. In the last decade his research has focused on participatory democracy in the context of the transformation of capitalist democracy. Currently he researches civic enterprises in the domains of energy and long-term care. In addition he works on understanding and promoting collaborative governance in public administration. He contributes to the Centre’s research clusters ” Research into new democratic experiments” and ” What works in relation to fostering public engagement and participation”.  Hendrik is an expert on the co-production of research with citizens and policy makers and “Research-led and partnership-based teaching with a strong skills element