Sarah Ayres is Professor of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Bristol, UK. Her central research interest is the governance of place, space and territory. This core provides the basis for two main strands of work. First, her research is concerned with devolution and decentralisation in both a UK and an international context, with a particular emphasis on analysing inter-governmental relations between central government and local actors. Second, it has explored the role of partnership working and network management in the governance of territory. Sarah is a political scientist with expertise in public administration and theories of policy making. Her research is concerned with territorial and collaborative governance – how actors from state, market and civil society coalesce and work with one another in specific localities. Details on research projects, publications and professional roles can be found at Professor Sarah Ayres – Our People.