Society

Living With Environmental Change produces information to help a wide range of people understand and manage our natural and built environments better.

Perhaps you are a care home manager preparing a heat wave plan for older people, or a parish councillor trying to reduce energy usage in the village hall; you might be an angler concerned about water levels in your nearest trout stream or a farmer wanting to create habitat for wildlife. We are developing expertise and knowledge to help.

Since 2008, LWEC has drawn on many projects and a range of experience held by research and project managers to explore effective ways to achieve more public participation in science and science/policy issues. (See highlights below)

In future  a succession of time-limited task forces will be able to draw on the LWEC Knowledge Exchange Guidelines and Resource Bank (publication downloadable below) to ensure appropriate levels of public engagement.

Past highlights include:

1. Citizens Advisory Forum

The Forum involved 15 people from the Bristol area who deliberated on areas of concern such as flooding and climate change adaptation.

More information about the Forum can be found on the Sciencewise website and you can read the reports from the meetings and the final evaluation at the end of the page.

WATCH THE VIDEO from the Forum here.

2. Cheltenham Science Festival

Living With Environmental Change asked the public questions about various aspects of environmental change, via two large posters in the marquee at the Cheltenham Science Festival 2010.

Festival goers were also encouraged to put up their own opinions and priorities and their hopes and fears about climate change.  

This gave the Living With Environmental Change partnership an opportunity to get a feel for public opinion on environmental change.

You can read the report from the festival below.

3. Public attitudes report

One of the sources of evidence for Living With Environmental Change's continuing focus on public engagement is a specially commissioned review of theory and practice: 'Public Attitudes to Environmental Change' published in September 2009.

The report addresses the public's attitudes to

• climate change and its impacts
• energy technologies and infrastructure
• changes in ecosystems, landscapes and species.

You can download the summary and the full report here: