A qualified town planner, Caroline has for the past 20 years worked in a research and management capacity on a number of funded projects in the areas of regional development, urban and rural regeneration, spatial planning, multi-level governance, collaborative networking and community participation.  Over the last decade, Caroline has been working with local government, regional authorities, communities and other key stakeholders in the Irish border region and Northern Ireland on a range of programmes focused on place-shaping, rural revitalisation and improving the lives of people on the island of Ireland.  Caroline is Director of the International Centre for Local and Regional Development (ICLRD), a Research Fellow with the Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute and Office of Engagement and also Facilitator of the All Ireland Smart Cities Forum (AISCF).