Dr Ryan Nolan
Salford Business School
Current positions
Associate Professor
Biography
Ryan Nolan is Associate Professor of Circular Economy and Organisation at the Â׸£ÀûƬ Business School. His research examines how ideas and practices circulate within and across organizational fields, drawing on relational sociology and practice theory to understand processes of collective future-making, performativity, and institutional change. He works primarily in the domain of sustainability transitions—particularly circular economy, nature-positive business, and responses to grand challenges—where questions of how new agendas gain traction, become operationalized, and are contested in practice are especially acute.
Current projects examine how relational structures within knowledge fields shape future-making capacity, how interdisciplinary research gets organized and translated into practice, and how performative processes drive (or block) sustainability transitions. He has contributed to major UK research programmes including the UKRI NICER Programme, UKRI Circular Economy Hub, and UKRI RENEW network, and works regularly across disciplinary boundaries with engineers, materials scientists, and policy researchers.
Alongside his academic research, Ryan is actively engaged in executive education, stakeholder co-creation, and research impact work with policymakers and business leaders. He serves on the editorial board of The Sociological Review.
Areas of Research
Grand challenges, circular economy, nature-positive, collaboration, practice theory, performativity, future-making, organisation theory
Areas of Supervision
Please see my profile for research interests. I am open to supervise projects that align but also stretch beyond my own areas of interest.
Ryan teachs in the areas of strategy and sustainability. He is open to PhD supervision aligned with the interests above, and related areas.