GroundsWell: Community-engaged and Data-informed Systems Transformation of Urban Green and Blue Space for Population Health
Lead Research Organisation:
Queen's University of Belfast
Department Name: Centre for Public Health
Abstract
There is strong evidence that natural environments within urban areas, such as parks, woodlands, lakes and beaches, have positive impacts on health. These urban green and blue spaces (UGBS) could be huge assets for protecting and equalising health if they were available, accessible, valued and well-used, particularly by less advantaged groups. The problem is that they are not. This is largely because the many policies, organisations and communities involved in designing, creating, managing, promoting, maintaining and using UGBS are disconnected. Also, the voices of less advantaged communities that UGBS could be helping most are either not heard or not persuasive. Perhaps as a consequence, those communities are much less likely to benefit from these spaces. We know that the UGBS we have are not the UGBS we need to make the best possible contribution to better and more equal health. GroundsWell aims to change that. We propose a new partnership - researchers working together with communities and those who currently create and control UGBS, to plan, design and manage it better so that it benefits everyone, especially those who need it most.
The main research will take place in three cities - Belfast, Edinburgh and Liverpool. These have sufficient similarities (such as large and diverse low-income communities) but also distinct features (such as geography and culture) making them, collectively, an ideal laboratory. Each city already has policies and programmes in place to improve UGBS, but there is much room for improvement. GroundsWell will take a systems approach. This means understanding the multiple and interconnecting components of policy-making, practice, perception and people which together affect the presence, location, character and use of UGBS. It also means working to transform the system so that the components function together. To do this, GroundsWell will mix co-development of new theoretical frameworks, novel data science including simulation, health economics and policy analysis, but at its heart will be community engagement and partnership. We will develop and use meaningful community engagement, co-production and citizen science to understand the system, identify how and where it is broken, and co-create solutions. We anticipate interventions aimed at how the UGBS system operates, and small-scale interventions around actual spaces and their use.
Data play an important part in understanding systems. GroundsWell will develop an accessible, trustworthy and policy-relevant system to collate, collect, house and share data on UGBS across the three cities. These data will be used to help the whole Consortium understand the UGBS there, identify possible interventions, and then assess whether they work, for whom and why, creating feedback loops to help us continually monitor, learn and adapt what we do. Novel simulation approaches will also be used to suggest interventions, and in particular what could be effective beyond the three cities. Health economics will suggest what would be best value for money.
An important part of putting actions and solutions in place is understanding if they work (or not). Evaluation of our actions and the Consortium as a whole will be undertaken in partnership with our communities, drawing on the new data system we establish, and enabling them to directly see whether and how the process has benefited them. In particular, we will assess and share our impacts on health inequalities. We are realistic about the likely scale of our impacts. Small actions within existing UGBS and local communities are unlikely to affect population level health and inequalities within our funded period. That is why we are going to focus on improving the UGBS system as a whole, laying foundations for long-term benefits. We know that the use and enjoyment of UGBS is something that adults pass on to their children. If GroundsWell can improve and equalise the role of UGBS, it will achieve a lasting impact.
The main research will take place in three cities - Belfast, Edinburgh and Liverpool. These have sufficient similarities (such as large and diverse low-income communities) but also distinct features (such as geography and culture) making them, collectively, an ideal laboratory. Each city already has policies and programmes in place to improve UGBS, but there is much room for improvement. GroundsWell will take a systems approach. This means understanding the multiple and interconnecting components of policy-making, practice, perception and people which together affect the presence, location, character and use of UGBS. It also means working to transform the system so that the components function together. To do this, GroundsWell will mix co-development of new theoretical frameworks, novel data science including simulation, health economics and policy analysis, but at its heart will be community engagement and partnership. We will develop and use meaningful community engagement, co-production and citizen science to understand the system, identify how and where it is broken, and co-create solutions. We anticipate interventions aimed at how the UGBS system operates, and small-scale interventions around actual spaces and their use.
Data play an important part in understanding systems. GroundsWell will develop an accessible, trustworthy and policy-relevant system to collate, collect, house and share data on UGBS across the three cities. These data will be used to help the whole Consortium understand the UGBS there, identify possible interventions, and then assess whether they work, for whom and why, creating feedback loops to help us continually monitor, learn and adapt what we do. Novel simulation approaches will also be used to suggest interventions, and in particular what could be effective beyond the three cities. Health economics will suggest what would be best value for money.
An important part of putting actions and solutions in place is understanding if they work (or not). Evaluation of our actions and the Consortium as a whole will be undertaken in partnership with our communities, drawing on the new data system we establish, and enabling them to directly see whether and how the process has benefited them. In particular, we will assess and share our impacts on health inequalities. We are realistic about the likely scale of our impacts. Small actions within existing UGBS and local communities are unlikely to affect population level health and inequalities within our funded period. That is why we are going to focus on improving the UGBS system as a whole, laying foundations for long-term benefits. We know that the use and enjoyment of UGBS is something that adults pass on to their children. If GroundsWell can improve and equalise the role of UGBS, it will achieve a lasting impact.
Technical Summary
Urban environments are powerful contexts that influence lifelong health and wellbeing. They are not consistently nor equitably beneficial for communities, driving social inequalities in non-communicable disease (NCD). Our interdisciplinary researchers, collaborating with stakeholders and citizens, will use urban green/blue spaces (UGBS) as an exemplar to optimise innovative systems-based approaches that work with, and for, communities at high risk of NCD. We will transform systems and community approaches to create urban environments optimising health and co-benefits, while reducing inequalities. Initiating a step change in inclusive research and policy, we work towards the democratisation of research and evidence use. Communities as partners will enable delivery of optimal solutions to inform and innovate action on health inequalities and NCD prevention. Whole system mechanisms of action will be determined through interconnected work packages: 1) co-developing a systems-oriented framework of how UGBS impacts NCD; 2) agent-based modelling to simulate complex adaptive systems to explore how UGBS transformations will reduce inequalities; 3) working with communities and stakeholders to co-develop and evaluate local UGBS interventions using citizen science approaches; 4) curating a shared data repository with UGBS features valued by policy and communities, developing health and NCD indicators at multiple scales to inform and evaluate UGBS interventions; 5) generating evidence on economic impacts of UGBS interventions; 6) identifying pragmatic, systems-level actions to improve policy- and decision-making for equity and sustainability; 7) implementing a stakeholder-informed impact strategy. Our cross-cutting health inequalities theme will embed the consideration of inequalities throughout GroundsWell. Groundswell will be shaped and developed in 3 pioneer cities (Belfast, Edinburgh, Liverpool), with embedded translational mechanisms to ensure UK-wide and global reach.
Organisations
- Queen's University of Belfast (Lead Research Organisation, Project Partner)
- Translink (Belfast) (Collaboration)
- Administrative Data Research Centre for Northern Ireland (Collaboration)
- Edinburgh & Lothians Health Foundation (Collaboration)
- Positive Futures, N Ireland (Collaboration)
- University College Cork (Collaboration)
- NHS Scotland (Collaboration)
- Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) (Collaboration)
- CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCIL (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Collaboration)
- Department for Infrastructure (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Street Fit Scotland (Collaboration)
- Teagasc (Collaboration)
- Public Health Scotland (Collaboration)
- THE CYRENIANS LTD (Collaboration)
- Eastside Partnership (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Public Health Agency (PHA) (Collaboration)
- Belfast Healthy Cities (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- University of Glasgow (Collaboration)
- LIVERPOOL CITY REGION COMBINED AUTHORITY (Collaboration)
- EVERTON IN THE COMMUNITY (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER (Collaboration)
- BELFAST CITY COUNCIL (Collaboration)
- BELFAST HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE TRUST (Collaboration)
- United Kingdom Research and Innovation (Collaboration)
- The Mersey Forest (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Maynooth University (Collaboration)
- Sustrans (Collaboration)
- Groundwork (Collaboration)
- World Health Organization (WHO) (Collaboration)
- The Paul Hogarth Company (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Greenspace Scotland (Collaboration)
- AGRI-FOOD AND BIOSCIENCES INSTITUTE (Collaboration)
- Changes Community Health Project (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Colorado State University (Collaboration)
- Health All Round (Project Partner)
- Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland) (Project Partner)
- Global Innovation Institute (Project Partner)
- AECOM Limited (UK) (Project Partner)
- Wirral Council (Project Partner)
- Greenspace Scotland (Project Partner)
- Cycling UK (Project Partner)
- NatureScot (Project Partner)
- Bradford Inst for Health Research (BIHR) (Project Partner)
- NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL (Project Partner)
- University of Liverpool (Project Partner)
- Ashton Community Trust (Project Partner)
- WHALEArts (Project Partner)
- Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust (Project Partner)
- Climate Northern Ireland (Project Partner)
- University of Bristol (Project Partner)
- Resilient Belfast (Project Partner)
- Heath and Social Care (HSCNI) (Project Partner)
- Translink (Project Partner)
- Dock Branch Neighbourhood Community Pane (Project Partner)
- University of Glasgow (Project Partner)
- Safe Regeneration (Project Partner)
- Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation (Project Partner)
- Paths for All (Project Partner)
- Edinburgh Health & Social Care Partnrshp (Project Partner)
- Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) (Project Partner)
- Sustrans (Project Partner)
- Anaeko (Project Partner)
- Belfast Innovation Team (Project Partner)
- Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (Project Partner)
- Administrative Data Research Centre - NI (Project Partner)
- Warrington Borough Council (Project Partner)
- Spotteron Gmbh | Citizen Science Platfor (Project Partner)
- Carlisle City Council (Project Partner)
- Liverpool Health Partners (Project Partner)
- Public Health Scotland (Project Partner)
- Regenerus (Project Partner)
- Glasgow Centre for Population Health (Project Partner)
- Belfast City Council (Project Partner)
- LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL (Project Partner)
- Mae Murray Foundation (Project Partner)
- NHS Liverpool CCG (Project Partner)
- The Welcoming Association (Project Partner)
- Scottish Forestry (Project Partner)
- Moai Digital Ltd (Project Partner)
- SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT (Project Partner)
- Canal & River Trust (Project Partner)
- East Belfast Community Development Agenc (Project Partner)
- Belfast Hills Partnership (Project Partner)
- Fountainbridge Canalside Community Trust (Project Partner)
- Cyrenians (Project Partner)
- National Inst. Health & Care Research (Project Partner)
- HDRUK Wales and Northern Ireland (Project Partner)
Publications
Belfast Healthy Cities
(2022)
Greening the City Evidence Report
Belfast Healthy Cities
(2022)
Greening the City Stakeholder Discussions
Browning M
(2023)
Measuring the 3-30-300 Rule to Help Cities Meet Nature Access Thresholds
Browning MHEM
(2024)
Measuring the 3-30-300 rule to help cities meet nature access thresholds.
in The Science of the total environment
Corcoran R
(2023)
The Wellbeing in Place Perceptions Scale: Structure, Validity, Reliability and Correlates During COVID Times
in International Journal of Community Well-Being
Garrett J
(2023)
Applying an ecosystem services framework on nature and mental health to recreational blue space visits across 18 countries
in Scientific Reports
Garrett JK
(2023)
Visiting nature is associated with lower socioeconomic inequalities in well-being in Wales.
in Scientific reports
Glover S
(2024)
Exploring the epigenome to identify biological links between the urban environment and neurodegenerative disease: an evidence review
in Cities & Health
| Title | Community journalism magazine |
| Description | Magazine created by community members on the topic of GroundsWell. |
| Type Of Art | Creative Writing |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | Advertising GroundsWell, up-skilling of local community members. |
| Title | How to use Our Outdoors |
| Description | An instructional video about how to use the Our Outdoors app. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | Increased uptake in using the app and contributing to data collection. |
| Title | Informational video about GroundsWell and the six steps in quality interrvention development (6SQuID) framework. |
| Description | Informational video about GroundsWell and the six steps in quality interrvention development (6SQuID) framework. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | Co-production with NHS, Cyrenians, Thrive, etc. |
| Description | Contributor to POST note 7076 What is a just transition for environmental targets', Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), UK Parliament |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| URL | http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/POST-PN-0706/POST-PN-0706.pdf |
| Description | Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Urban Green Spaces Oral Evidence |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| URL | https://committees.parliament.uk/event/19407 |
| Description | Invited participant in the NI Chief Executives Forum 'Harnessing Behavioural Science to Support the Transition to Net Zero' Symposium |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Report to City of Edinburgh Council, exploring health and wellbeing in Leith parks |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Description | TCPA/Green Infrastructure Partnership conference: Hope for the future: why caring for green infrastructure is vital for thriving people and places |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | A conference attended live by 230 participants, mostly from local authorities, and a further 300 signed up to view recordings of presentations, with the aim of helping local authorities to better manage their green infrastructure resource and be equipped with the scientific arguments for benefits arising from investment in green infrastructure, especially for public health and wellbeing. |
| URL | https://www.tcpa.org.uk/event/hope-for-the-future/ |
| Description | Written submissions to public consultation on NI Carbon Budgets and GHG Emission Reduction Targets |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | http://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/consultations/carbonbudget |
| Description | Active Travel Grant |
| Amount | £18,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Sustrans |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2022 |
| Description | Active Travel Grant |
| Amount | £18,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Sustrans |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2022 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Description | Co-Centre for Climate Plus Biodiversity and Water |
| Amount | £5,400,627 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | Ireland |
| Start | 01/2024 |
| End | 01/2030 |
| Description | Department for Economy Northern Ireland - 6 leveraged PhD studentships |
| Amount | £360,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2022 |
| End | 09/2026 |
| Description | Department for the Economy PhD studentship - leveraged (mental ill-health) |
| Amount | £60,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2023 |
| End | 09/2026 |
| Description | ERSC Social Science Festival |
| Amount | £1,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2022 |
| Description | ESRC Festival of Science - Climate Action - Belfast, Nov 22 |
| Amount | £1,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2022 |
| End | 12/2022 |
| Description | ESRC Festival of Science - intergenerational time capsule, Belfast, Nov 2022 |
| Amount | £1,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2022 |
| End | 12/2022 |
| Description | ESRC Festival of Social Science |
| Amount | £1,500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | GroundsWell consortium - Opportunity-led Award (QUB) |
| Amount | £516,846 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | COM/5634/20 |
| Organisation | Northern Ireland HSC R&D |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2022 |
| End | 03/2026 |
| Description | Health Data Research UK (HDR UK): UKRI Innovation/Rutherford Fund Fellowship |
| Amount | £195,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | STL/5528/19 |
| Organisation | Public Health Agency (PHA) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2019 |
| End | 08/2023 |
| Description | Researcher Links Challenge Pize UK - Germany |
| Amount | £9,500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | British Council |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2022 |
| Description | Researcher Links Challenge Prize UK-Germany |
| Amount | £9,500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | British Council |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2022 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Description | Scottish Research Programme |
| Amount | £19,250 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Sustrans |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2022 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Description | Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Open Fund |
| Amount | £5,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Paths For All |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2023 |
| End | 07/2024 |
| Description | University of Edinburgh - Travel Grant |
| Amount | £5,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2022 |
| Description | University of Edinburgh CAHSS KEI grant |
| Amount | £5,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2022 |
| End | 07/2023 |
| Description | UoE Community Grant |
| Amount | £5,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2022 |
| Title | Our OutDoors - part of it is a psychometric assessment of how people feel in outdoor spaces |
| Description | Our Outdoors is a citizen science App which aims to find out more about what you and others experience when you are in public spaces such as parks, beaches, canals, and town squares. It was developed by researchers in the Scottish Collaboration of Public Health Research and Practice (SCPRHP) at the University of Edinburgh in partnership with Sustrans, and citizens like yourself. |
| Type Of Material | Physiological assessment or outcome measure |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Sustrans (https://www.sustrans.org.uk/) is now a major partner, and wishes to use it to characterise its cycle routes and walkways. It will also be used as a measurement and outcome tool for the GroundsWell Consortium |
| URL | https://www.spotteron.com/ouroutdoors/info#%2Finfo |
| Title | Agent-based model for stakeholder coordination |
| Description | The model is coded in NetLogo and it is designed to help stakeholders understand how their decisions and actions impact a group decision-making. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Capacity building of wider GroundsWell team on agent-based modelling; peer-review paper in preparation |
| Title | Car owners' discrete choice experiment |
| Description | Dataset containing data that pertains to the stated preferences of car owners' and their willingness to pay for a congestion charge to improve public transport infrastructure in Belfast. The data were generated using an online survey which contained a series of attitudinal questions, sociodemographic questions, and a discrete choice experiment. In addition to the discrete choice experiment, the survey contained a contingent valuation question designed to elicit willingness to accept a monetary incentive to reduce car usage by one day per week. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The data have been used to create a piece of research that investigates car owners' willingness to pay for different policy instruments that reduce car usage and improve transport infrastructure in Belfast. Supplementary to this, we also assessed the individual-level factors that are correlated with willingness to accept a monetary incentive to reduce car usage. These analyses have resulted in a relatively novel paper combining both willingness to pay and willingness to accept elicitation methods. It has been submitted to Environmental and Resource Economics. |
| Title | Connswater Community Greenway - Causal Loop Diagram |
| Description | We have co-developed a causal loop diagram with stakeholders in Belfast of the impact of the Connswater Community Greenway. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | This model has been used to inform the wave 3 evaluation of the Connswater Community Greenway. |
| Title | Evidence Gap Map |
| Description | This Evidence Gap Map serves as a publicly available, open access online repository of studies whose outcomes have been linked to each of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. Data for each study that is included in the Evidence Gap Map include: study type; country; year of publication; country income status; population subgroup(s); and type of urban green and blue space. Within the map, each cell contains a link to the various studies, as well as an abstract. This interactive visualization tool was rendered using Eppi-Mapper (https://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The results of the evidence synthesis that led to the production of the Evidence Gap Map, and the tools employed to do so, have been presented to a number of target audiences that include policymakers, third sector organizations, professional practitioners, undergraduate students, postgraduate students, and academics. |
| URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275123005188 |
| Title | NCDs and Climate Change |
| Description | We have co-developed a causal loop diagram with the WHO NCD Office and Environment Office detailing the pathways between climate change and NCDs. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | This work is being written up for publication and further developed as part of a formal working group led by the WHO. |
| Description | Access Place |
| Organisation | NHS Scotland |
| Department | NHS 24 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Started process of co-production and evaluation of greenspace improvements at the Access Place primary care practice. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Offered assistance in accessing facilities, gaining permissions, collaborated on logic model building. |
| Impact | None as yet |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Access Place |
| Organisation | The Cyrenians Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Started process of co-production and evaluation of greenspace improvements at the Access Place primary care practice. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Offered assistance in accessing facilities, gaining permissions, collaborated on logic model building. |
| Impact | None as yet |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Administrative Data Research Centre (ADRC) NI |
| Organisation | Administrative Data Research Centre for Northern Ireland |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Regular discussions have taken place between the GroundsWell Belfast WP4 team and ADRC-NI re: joint projects. |
| Collaborator Contribution | ADRCNI provide expertise on health and education data sources and access guidance in NI, and UK-wide proposals. |
| Impact | To date, a joint paper has been submitted to Environmental Research Letters exploring the UGBS spatial disparities and health outcomes. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Assessment Panel Member |
| Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Amanda was invited to act as an Assessment Panel Member to review funding applications submitted to the ESRC UKRI funding stream 'Place Based Approaches to Sustainable Living'. |
| Collaborator Contribution | UKRI is a major funder of research in the UK |
| Impact | Amanda reviewed funding applications in Autumn 2023 as part of the outline review stage; due to competing work pressures, she withdrew from the final application rview |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Belfast City Council - Belfast Innovation Team |
| Organisation | Belfast City Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Members of the GroundsWell Belfast team have met with Deborah Colville and Ciara Campbell in the Smart Cities team on a number of occasions to discuss potential collaborative opportunities between GroundsWell and their Lighthouse projects. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Innovation Team lead Belfast Smart Cities Lighthouse Projects which are city-wide big data demonstrator projects. |
| Impact | Further discussions re: big data linkage for evaluating the Stranmillis Embankment initiative. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Belfast City Council - Resilient Cities team |
| Organisation | Belfast City Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Prof Ruth Hunter has met with Mura Quigley and Richard McLernon from the Belfast City Council Resilient City team on 22nd June, 26th July and 23rd Sept 2022 to discuss collaborative projects such as co-design of the Belfast Million Trees project with the GroundsWell team in Belfast. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Belfast City Council are leading the development and implementation of the Belfast Million Trees project. |
| Impact | Further discussions are planned. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Belfast Healthy Cities |
| Organisation | Belfast Healthy Cities |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Members of the GroundsWell team have meet with Belfast Healthy Cities on many occasions. Prof Ruth Hunter is an executive board member of Belfast Healthy Cities, and GroundsWell in Belfast are partners in the Greening the City programme, co-delivered with Belfast Healthy Cities. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Belfast Healthy Cities co-lead WP7, lead on the development of the GroundsWell Ambassador programme, and co-lead the joint partnership model, Greening the City in Belfast. |
| Impact | A draft action plan and terms of reference for the Greening the City programme has been developed. This is part of the WHO Phase VII Healthy Cities programme. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Belfast Urban Greenway |
| Organisation | Belfast City Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Members of the GroundsWell team in Belfast met with Cailie Persic, Martin O'Neill and Chris McNaney from Belfast City Council Parks and Leisure team to introduce GroundsWell and discuss possible support that we can provide for co-design and evaluation of the Belfast Urban Greenway building on our extensive knowledge and expertise from the Connswater Community Greenway. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Belfast City Council are leading on the development of the Belfast Urban Greenway as part of the Belfast Bolder Vision programme. |
| Impact | Further meetings have taken place re: the potential role of GroundsWell to collect baseline data for the Belfast Urban Greenway project. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | CHANGES |
| Organisation | CHANGES Community Health Project |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We are working closely with CHANGES to identify areas where we can add benefit in helping them either evaluate their work or develop and evaluate new interventions |
| Collaborator Contribution | CHANGES have been a partner in the original Consortium proposal and were very active in the community conversations which took place during our Consortium Development Grant phase. We are currently working with them to see how they can help us test out the citizen science App and also the standardised outcome measures. We also hope that in the future we can develop and test interventions with them |
| Impact | We have worked for many years with CHANGES which is a community health project specifically working with people with mental health issues |
| Start Year | 2012 |
| Description | City of Edinburgh Council |
| Organisation | City of Edinburgh Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | GroundsWell researchers have attended a number of events with CoEC and invited representatives to our Hub meetings. We have also hosted events to link this organisation with other UGBS stakeholders of their interest. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provided various examples of UGBS and health case studies and overview of CoEC GS policies. |
| Impact | Overview of key projects; contacts; field work staff |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Co-organiser of public policy consultation event |
| Organisation | Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Amanda collaborated with senior civil servants to co-organise a public consultation event on Carbon Budgetsfor NI, as part of their NI-wide public policy consultation derived from NI's Climate Change Act |
| Collaborator Contribution | Five civil servants from DAERA participated in the event; two gave talks on the climate legislation and carbon budgets and all five facilitated group based discussions on areas for consideration within carbon budgets. |
| Impact | Carbon Budget for NI public consultation in partnership with the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Queen's University Belfast, 22 September 2023; conversations ongoing around further collaborative events |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Collaboration to add new module |
| Organisation | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| Country | Sweden |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are working together to develop another domain to add into the app that considers the quality of the space |
| Collaborator Contribution | They have developed the domains |
| Impact | None as yet |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Colorado State University [Team Science] |
| Organisation | Colorado State University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Prof Jeni Cross, Colorado State university is a partner on GroundsWell leading on embedding principles of Team Science throughout the Consortium. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our collaborators have provided training and intellectual input regarding Team Science and Leadership training. |
| Impact | Prof Jeni Cross was a collaborator on our Stage 2 UKPRP consortium application, and has continued to work with the team embedding principles of Team Science across the consortium, including leadership training, developing a shared language, facilitating our 1st in- person consortium workshop and conducting a social network analysis across the consortium. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Consultant Public Health Nurses across the NI Health and Social Care Trusts |
| Organisation | Belfast Health and Social Care Trust |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Prof Ruth Hunter and Prof Frank Kee have met with Catherine Magennis, a consultant Public Health Nurse in the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust to discuss possible collaborative opportunities for UGBS interventions/policies and NCD prevention, which is a central remit of their work on 2 Aug 2022. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Each Health and Social Care Trust has just appointed a consultant public health nurse to work specifically on NCD prevention. |
| Impact | Further discussions have taken place re: provision of public health training on systems science to the consultants. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Cyrenians |
| Organisation | The Cyrenians Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | GroundsWell researchers have discussed the potential of the project to assist Cyrenians evaluate their work, particularly re individuals experiencing homelessness |
| Collaborator Contribution | Offered access to UGBS interventions for evaluation. Provided examples of successful community working and advice on how best to engage with people experiencing homelessness. |
| Impact | Health and well-being data; access to marginalised groups |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Department for Infrastructure - NI Greenways Strategy |
| Organisation | Department for Infrastructure |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Members of the GroundsWell team in Belfast met with Liz Loughran (Head of Planning, DfI) and Andrew Grieve (Head of the Walking/Cycling Unit, DfI) to introduce GroundsWell and discuss possible opportunities for GroundsWell to support the implementation and evaluation of the NI Greenways Strategy. |
| Collaborator Contribution | DfI are leading a £100m investment in new UGBS infrastructure across NI. |
| Impact | Further discussions have taken place, and small pilot projects identified. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | EU Go Green Nature Plus consortium |
| Organisation | Maynooth University |
| Department | Department of Psychology |
| Country | Ireland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | GroundsWell QUB team members co-investigators and WP lead of an EU application on nature-based solutions (NBS). Our research team provide expertise on development, implementation and evaluation of NBS via their extensive experience over 10 years on the Connswater Community Greenway. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Maynooth, along with 26 others partners from UK, Ireland, Malta, France, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal, Norway, and the Netherlands, led an innovative action EU bid on NBS for health (6.5m euros). |
| Impact | A submitted stage 2 funding application to an EU fund in Sept 2023. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | EU Go Green Routes (GGR) consortium |
| Organisation | Maynooth University |
| Country | Ireland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | GroundsWell members have provided presentations at the GGR Academy and Autumn School. Discussions are taking place led by Prof Ruth Hunter about possible future collaborations and training opportunities with the GGR consortium. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Maynooth University lead the EU GGR consortium. |
| Impact | GroundsWell members have provided presentations at the GGR Academy and Autumn School. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | EU UPSURGE - Belfast City Council |
| Organisation | Belfast City Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | GroundsWell team members in Belfast have attended co-design workshops for a new redevelopment site at the Stranmillis Embankment. GroundsWell are providing expertise on public health intervention design and evaluation for the nature-based solution site. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Belfast City Council have received funding from the EU UPSURGE project to design the nature-based solution site. |
| Impact | A co-designed NBS site report. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | EastSide Partnership |
| Organisation | EastSide Partnership |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Members of the QUB team have over 12 years experience partnering with EastSide Partnership. We bring expertise in intervention co-design and evaluation, and natural experiment of the Connswater Community Greenway wave 3 (5 year follow-up). The QUB team are also working closely with EastSide Partnership re: the GoEastSide webinar series, co-design of interventions of UGBS for sustainability and use of greening at conflict interfaces. |
| Collaborator Contribution | EastSide Partnership chair the GroundsWell community steering committee and provide expertise re: development of greenways and community engagement. |
| Impact | 12 year natural experiment evaluating the public health impact of the Connswater Community Greenway including supporting many stakeholder and community engagement activities. |
| Start Year | 2009 |
| Description | Edinburgh & Lothian Health Foundation |
| Organisation | Edinburgh & Lothians Health Foundation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | GroundsWell researchers have attended a number of events with ELHF and invited representatives to our Hub meetings and provided opportunities to discuss various UGBS projects in the city. We have also hosted events to link this organisation with other UGBS stakeholders of their interest. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provided various insights on emerging trends in UGBS policy and research. |
| Impact | Overview of key projects; contacts; field work staff |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Everton in the Community - Goodison Legacy - Health Zone |
| Organisation | Everton in the Community |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Work alongside Everton in the Community (co-production) - scoping out potential support GroundsWell can offer to their Legacy Health Zone |
| Collaborator Contribution | Working in partnership through the Goodison Legacy Health Zone - providing community gardens focusing on dementia patients. |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | GALLANT - NERC funded consortium |
| Organisation | University of Glasgow |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Prof Ruth Hunter met with the PI (Prof Jaime Toney) from the NERC-funded Glasgow as a Living Lab Accelerating Novel Transformation (GALLANT) consortium re: possible future collaborative projects in the areas of systems science methods and city dialogues re: UGBS for climate action. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Prof Jaime Toney is the PI of the GALLANT consortium. |
| Impact | Further discussions are planned re: collaborative opportunities, particularly in the application of the systems science methods. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Greening the City Partnership Model |
| Organisation | Belfast Healthy Cities |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Members of the GroundsWell team in Belfast have formed a formal partnership with Belfast Healthy Cities to co-deliver the Greening the City programme, a WHO PHASE VII Healthy Cities programme. Prof Ruth Hunter co-chairs the partnership. The partnership involves members from Belfast City Council, Department for Infrastructure, EastSide Partnership, Department for Communities, Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland Environment Link, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, RSPB NI, West Belfast Partnership, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners provide expertise on UGBS and fed into the joint action plan. |
| Impact | Agreed Terms of Reference and Action Plan. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Greenspace Scotland |
| Organisation | Greenspace Scotland |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | GroundsWell researchers have opened communication pathways between GS Scotland and other key UGBS stakeholders . |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at key events. Various contributions including GS data, policy overviews and general guidance. |
| Impact | Overview of key projects; contacts; field work staff |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Groundwork Collaboration |
| Organisation | Groundwork |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Pete Dixon attended a meeting to establish if there were synergies between Groundwork and GroundsWell. There is a lot of synergy with the work undertaken by various groups within and aligned to ARC NWC and GroundsWell. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Potential for work in Merseyside as well as planned work on the PeaceLine in Belfast to link with the GroundsWell project - potential to link in with Work Package 3 Community Innovation, co-production and citizenscience for Urban Green Blue Interventions and Work Package 4 Developing a dynamic data repository for pioneer cities to evidence system-wide benefits of UGBS interventions. |
| Impact | Groundwork would like to become more involved in projects such as nature-based therapy for hospital patients and its continuation in the community once they are discharged. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | HEA North-South research programme grant [Strand II] - CREATE |
| Organisation | Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Prof Ruth Hunter is the work package lead and Dr Leandro Garcia co-investigator for the Strand II application entitled "Shared Sustainable Future: Combining Renewable Energy Technologies for Net-Zero Solutions for Agriculture, Heavy Transport and Enterprise (CREATE)" - awaiting outcome. The work package explores the public and planetary health impacts of net-zero solutions, including green and blue space policies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | UCC are the lead administrative partner for the application, and led the overall bid. The various named partners provided policy and practice expertise. |
| Impact | Submitted application to the HEA North-South funding scheme. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | HEA North-South research programme grant [Strand II] - CREATE |
| Organisation | Teagasc |
| Country | Ireland |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Prof Ruth Hunter is the work package lead and Dr Leandro Garcia co-investigator for the Strand II application entitled "Shared Sustainable Future: Combining Renewable Energy Technologies for Net-Zero Solutions for Agriculture, Heavy Transport and Enterprise (CREATE)" - awaiting outcome. The work package explores the public and planetary health impacts of net-zero solutions, including green and blue space policies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | UCC are the lead administrative partner for the application, and led the overall bid. The various named partners provided policy and practice expertise. |
| Impact | Submitted application to the HEA North-South funding scheme. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | HEA North-South research programme grant [Strand II] - CREATE |
| Organisation | University College Cork |
| Country | Ireland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Prof Ruth Hunter is the work package lead and Dr Leandro Garcia co-investigator for the Strand II application entitled "Shared Sustainable Future: Combining Renewable Energy Technologies for Net-Zero Solutions for Agriculture, Heavy Transport and Enterprise (CREATE)" - awaiting outcome. The work package explores the public and planetary health impacts of net-zero solutions, including green and blue space policies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | UCC are the lead administrative partner for the application, and led the overall bid. The various named partners provided policy and practice expertise. |
| Impact | Submitted application to the HEA North-South funding scheme. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | LCRCA - green bus routes |
| Organisation | Liverpool City Region Combined Authority |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Members from the Liverpool team have met regularly with a members from the LCRCA working on the delivery of their Green Bus Routes project. The conversations have emphasised in agreeing how we can mutually benefit from this partnership, which has led the GroundsWell team to create a plan to establish a baseline of health outcomes for the population living along the bus route to evaluate changes over time short and longer term for short- and long-term monitoring. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Safe Regeneration have been established since 2000 and their work shifted to focus on community regeneration in 2015. They have offered to share learnings from their experinces of working within the 'system' in Bootle, Merseyside with other community groups/hubs affilated with GroundsWell who are in earlier stages of their work. |
| Impact | None |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Liverpool City Region Authority |
| Organisation | Liverpool City Region Combined Authority |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority are currently leading a development of a large scale improvement to bus networks in Liverpool. One strand of this project involves a new green bus network and green infrastructure from South Liverpool to Liverpool City Centre. GroundsWell will evaluate the health and well-being impact of this project with a particular focus on NCD risk. GroundsWell researchers will also provide training in and assist in promoting the use of Our Outdoors (a citizen science tool), which LCRCA intend to use to gather data on perceptions of well-being in and around the new bus route. |
| Collaborator Contribution | LCRCA have provided internal overviews of their bus route plans and have provided approx. 30 hours of staff time to support meetings with GroundsWell this year. |
| Impact | The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority are currently leading a development of a large scale improvement to bus networks in Liverpool. One strand of this project involves a new green bus network and green infrastructure from South Liverpool to Liverpool City Centre. GroundsWell will evaluate the health and well-being impact of this project with a particular focus on NCD risk. GroundsWell researchers will also provide training in and assist in promoting the use of Our Outdoors (a citizen science tool), which LCRCA intend to use to gather data on perceptions of well-being in and around the new bus route. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Postitive Futures - Board Member, Trustee, Positive Futures |
| Organisation | Positive Futures, N Ireland |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Amanda Slevin was invited to become a Trustee of the charity to help embed stronger focus on sustainability and climate action. So far she has contributed to a corporate planning day (15 Feb. 2024). |
| Collaborator Contribution | This is a new and evolving relationship and we hope to enable a two-way process of information and collaboration to help ensure equality for all, regardless of needs or (dis)ability, is embed across our work on just transition so no-one is left behind. Positive Futures is charity that helps transform the lives of people with a learning disability, acquired brain injury or autism. |
| Impact | This multi-disciplinary collaboration is new and evolving. The organisation has expertise in social work, social care, and health care; Amanda brings a focus on environmental sociology and interdisciplinary climate action. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Public Health Agency - Relink project |
| Organisation | Public Health Agency (PHA) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Prof Ruth Hunter met with Dr Frances Dowds and David Tumilty from the Public Health Agency on 25 May 2022 to discuss possible collaborative opportunities between GroundsWell and the Relink (greening of bridges for mental health improvement) project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Public Health Agency commissioned the co-design work for the Relink project. |
| Impact | Further discussions are planned to further develop the evaluation work. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Public Health Scotland |
| Organisation | Public Health Scotland |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | GroundsWell researchers have liased with PHS on a number of occasions to discuss data avalability in Scotland and general issues related to NCDs. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provided guidance on emerging health and data issues. |
| Impact | Data expertise |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Street Fit Scotland |
| Organisation | Street Fit Scotland |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | GroundsWell research team members have engaged with the organisation and shared proposed research plans and community engagement activities that will likely involve the organisation this coming year |
| Collaborator Contribution | CEO of Street Fit Scotland has met with a member of the research team to discuss potential for SFS to be involved in GroundsWell |
| Impact | advice on recruiting vulnerable groups to resaerch (homeless) |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Sustrans |
| Organisation | Sustrans |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | "A number of GroundsWell researchers had previously worked with Sustrans and Sustrans were a supporter of the initial GroundsWell funding bid. This partnership has been extended further over the last year and a number of research projects have been planned. GroundsWell will assist in the development of a strategy for Sustrans to evaluate projects in Edinburgh related to green space interventions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Sustrans have allocated staff time to engage closely with GroundsWell in evaluation related work in Work Package 3 and attend Edinburgh Hub meetings where overviews of projects and suggestions on the direction of GroundsWell have been provided. |
| Impact | Hub attendance |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Sustrans and sensors |
| Organisation | Sustrans |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Meeting with Sustrans to co-produce research ideas around use of personal monitors and sensors to record exposure data |
| Collaborator Contribution | Co-production of research ideas and potential to collaborate on developing new proposals |
| Impact | None as yet. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | The Mersey Forest & Cheshire West and Chester Council meeting (Innovation Fund) |
| Organisation | The Mersey Forest |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Meeting with The Mersey Forest and Cheshire West and Chester Council to discuss an application for the innovation fund. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Meeting with The Mersey Forest and Cheshire West and Chester Council to discuss an application for the innovation fund - plans made for future activity |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | The Mersey Forest Advisory Group |
| Organisation | The Mersey Forest |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Advisory Group for their Planning Refresh in 2022 onwards TTMF have emphasised the need to have funds to pay for social prescribing activities. Including green gym leaders or yoga teachers, or sustainable gardening leaders. Or to buy materials (e.g. planters, compost, hall hire) to create the activities to be prescribed to. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Prof Rodgers and the team ensured that there is funding for the time of Clare Olver to be recompensed written into the GroundsWell application. Additionally, we added in a community innovation fund for £20,000 in each city. The rules for applying to this fund will be created within our Community Stakeholder Group meeting. |
| Impact | Invited to become member of Advisory Group |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | The Paul Hogarth Company |
| Organisation | The Paul Hogarth Company |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Preliminary discussions with James Hennessey have taken place re: their role in supporting co-design workshops for the greening of interfaces work. |
| Collaborator Contribution | See above. |
| Impact | Preliminary discussions with James Hennessey have taken place re: their role in supporting co-design workshops for the greening of interfaces work. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Translink |
| Organisation | Translink (Belfast) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Members of the GroundsWell Belfast team are working with GroundsWell re: programmes, including UGBS, to support public transport use and mixed mode use with Damien Bannon. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Translink are co-developing plans to connect cycle and footpath networks with public transport routes. |
| Impact | Discussion have def into a citizen jury taking place on 8-9th Oct and a future plenary discussion on 18th Nov 2022. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | UKPRP SIPHER consortium |
| Organisation | University of Glasgow |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Prof Ruth Hunter met with Prof Petra Meier (PI of the SIPHER consortium) on 6th June 2022 to discuss possible collaborative opportunities between the GroundsWell and SIPHER consortia, particularly in the area of systems science methods. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Prof Petra Meier is PI of the SIPHER consortium and an expert in systems science applications in public health. |
| Impact | Further discussions are planned re: collaborative opportunities. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | University of Manchester - Wellcome Trust Fellowship application |
| Organisation | University of Manchester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Members of the GroundsWell team in Belfast are supporting a postdoc researcher from the University of Manchester in the development of a fellowship application to the Wellcome Trust. This wok includes the use of video imagery to capture use and issues of safety in UGBS, and partners with the Connswater Community Greenway as a test site. |
| Collaborator Contribution | University of Manchester is leading the funding application. |
| Impact | A funding application will be submitted in October 2022. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | WHO Collaborating Centre on Complexity Science and Network Science for NCD prevention and control |
| Organisation | World Health Organization (WHO) |
| Country | Global |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | QUB have formally been awarded WHO Collaborating Centre status in Complexity Science and Network Science for NCD prevention and control. The WHO Collaborating Centre is directed by Prof Ruth Hunter, and includes GroundsWell team members Dr Leandro Garcia, Prof Mike Clarke, Prof Ciaran O'Neill and Prof Frank Kee. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This is a 4-year collaborative programme including research, training and capacity building activities. |
| Impact | QUB have formally been awarded WHO Collaborating Centre status in Complexity Science and Network Science for NCD prevention and control. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Title | Agent-based model for stakeholder coordination |
| Description | The model is designed to help stakeholders understand how their decisions and actions impact the system as part of Work Package 2 of the GroundsWell Consortium. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | Capacity building of wider GroundsWell team on agent-based modelling; peer-review paper in preparation - ABM GW Retreat 2023.html |
| Title | Our Outdoors website redesign |
| Description | A website that provides general information, signposting to resource (mobile app for download), team biographies for the Our Outdoors mobile app. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | A more streamlined, accurate resource that will allow users of the app to access the right information and find out further details not included in the app alone. |
| URL | https://www.ouroutdoors.org.uk/ |
| Title | OurOutdoors |
| Description | https://www.spotteron.com/ouroutdoors/info#%2Finfo Our Outdoors is a citizen science project which aims to find out more about what you and others experience when you are in public spaces such as parks, beaches, canals, and town squares. It was developed by researchers in the Scottish Collaboration of Public Health Research and Practice (SCPRHP) at the University of Edinburgh in partnership with Sustrans, and citizens like yourself. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | Is now part of the measures and tools used in GroundsWell Consortium. It is currently being updated and further piloted. |
| URL | https://www.spotteron.com/ouroutdoors/info#%2Finfo |
| Description | 'Connecting with Nature' workshops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The 'Connecting with Nature' drawing workshops have been designed as a process and experience to enable people to go into nature and, through the medium of outdoor drawing, consider our relationships with nature differently. Since summer 2023, we have held 4 workshops, with two more scheduled for spring 2024, through which a diverse range of people from different backgrounds have had the opportunity to be in and with nature in a creative way. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | 'Making peace with people, planet and place' seminar, 23rd Sept 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Members of the GroundsWell team were invited to speak and attend the Belfast City Council led seminar on 'Making peace with people, planet and place' 23rd Sept 2023. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | 49th Spanish National Congress of Parks and Public Gardens (PARJAP) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 'Healthy Parks and Open Space: the Salutogenic Environment'. Invited keynote to 49th Spanish National Congress of Parks and Public Gardens (PARJAP) on theme of 'Parks and Gardens - Natural Health Systems', Asociación Española de Parques y Jardines Públicos (AEPJP), Madrid 2023, 15-17th February 2023. Presented to an international (but mostly Spanish) audience of c. 200 parks, gardens and public open space planners and managers, public authority representatives and a few academics. https://twitter.com/AEPJP/status/1625957285775257601 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.aepjp.es/parjap-2023/ |
| Description | A Community Garden Success Story - Blog 7 June 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | GroundsWell blog - 7 June 2023 on North Park garden, part of The Gateway Collective on the impact it has made to the community and the social social value it brings to Bootle, Liverpool, showing the value of such spaces. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://groundswelluk.org/GroundsWellBlog/ACommunityGardenSuccessStory.html |
| Description | A framework for co-creating sustainable and effective community projects |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | To share the 6SQUiD framework and how it could be used in Urban Green and Blue Spaces. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | AI at Queen's (AIQ) seminar - 2nd Sept 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ruth Hunter was invited to provide a seminar on the use of satellite and imagery data to capture urban green and blue space metrics to a multi-disciplinary, cross-faculty audience of over 30 researchers from computer science, maths, physics, philosophy, economics, public health. This has resulted in further discussions around future grant applications using computer vision techniques. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | APIs and Plumber |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Olly Butters and Roberto Villegas-Diaz gave a 2 hour introduction and practical session on APIs on 27 June 2023 and how to use them to 20 researchers based across the N8 region (North of England). This included how to access health data as well as geospatial data. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Annual Retreat 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In November, over 70 members of GroundsWell came together for our annual retreat in Edinburgh. Researchers, policy makers and community partners took part in two days of workshops and discussions on what GroundsWell has achieved so far and all the exciting things still to come. The first day of the retreat kicked off with an interactive icebreaker building structures using Lego. There were lots of interesting designs including outdoors gyms, a wildlife corridor and a Swedish spa. After the icebreaker, we started the main sessions of the day with a panel discussion between co-directors and community partners talking about what they had gained from their GroundsWell partnerships. In the afternoon, we went on a site visit to one of two UGBS in Edinburgh: Saughton Park or Linking Leiths. At Saughton park we heard about the refurbishment of the park, including the installation of a micro-hydro which provides all of the electricity that the park requires. At Linking Leiths we heard about the plans they had co-produced with the community aiming to connect a neighbourhood of small parks, while also improving biodiversity and access to quality urban greenspace. Following the site visits we continued with more workshops on climate action and co-production before being treated to dinner and a ceilidh at Edinburgh botanic gardens in the evening. The second day was also packed with workshops on a range of topics including agent-based modelling, communicating our work and geographic data. There was lots of time dedicated to discussing progress within each of the work packages and next steps for the consortium as a whole. Overall feedback at the end of the day was positive and most of us left feeling inspired and energised by the new ideas and perspectives generated over the two days. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Asthma UK Postgraduate Training Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Members of GroundsWell presented at the training day on projects relating to air pollution, green space and respiratory health. Postgraduate students were introduced to some of the methodologies used by GroundsWell researchers (citizen science and personal air pollution monitors) prompting discussion on how these methods could be used in their own research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Attendance at Dock Branch Community Panel |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Rebecca Crook has joined the panel as an affiliate member, bridging between the panel, council and GroundsWell consortium to progress work on the Dock Branch Neighbourhood Regeneration evaluation and co-production. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | Attendance at Dock Branch Community Panel |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Elly King attended the Dock Branch Community Panel on 15th August to discuss GroundsWell's work and see how co-production would work for them. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Attendance at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Summer Institute course entitled "Gender-Based Violence Research, Practice and Policy" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Attendance at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Summer Institute course entitled "Gender-Based Violence Research, Practice and Policy" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Attendance at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Summer Institute course entitled "How to Design Gender Transformative Programs " |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Attendance at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Summer Institute course entitled "How to Design Gender Transformative Programs " |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Attendance at the Mae Murray Adapt My Beach Launch |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Attendance at the Mae Murray Adapt My Beach Launch |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Attendance at the Mae Murray Adapt My Playground Consultation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Attendance at the Mae Murray Adapt My Playground Consultation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Attendance at the VISION annual conference: Responding to violence across the life course. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Attendance at the VISION annual conference: Responding to violence across the life course. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | BBC Inside Science - 24 November 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Inside Science Interview with BBC Radio 'Inside Science Programme'. Dr Elly King provided an overview of the work of GroundsWell on 24 November 2022 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001fd08 |
| Description | Belfast Hub Meeting - 20th September 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Meeting among researchers to discuss green space and health projects in Belfast and present work being carried out by all parties. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Belfast Hub Meeting - 21 June 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Meeting among researchers to discuss green space and health projects in Belfast and present work being carried out by all parties. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Belfast Live article on GroundsWell research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The Belfast Live periodical picked up news on recently published work from GroundsWell, which highlights the economic benefit of the Connswater Community Greenway. https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/connswater-community-greenway-investment-boosts-27059692 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/connswater-community-greenway-investment-boosts-2705... |
| Description | Belfast Live news article covering the positive return on investment generated by the Connswater Community Greenway |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Following the publication of an article in Cities & Health titled "The social return on investment of an urban regeneration project using real-world data: the Connswater Community Greenway, Belfast, UK", Belfast live published an article online summarizing and providing context to the main results of the analysis. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/connswater-community-greenway-investment-boosts-2705... |
| Description | Belfast stakeholder meeting - 6-8 June 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Large meeting between GroundsWell researchers and 7 key Belfast-based stakeholders (including East Side Partnership and Belfast Healthy Cities). Presented planned action of work for different GroundsWell Work Packages and allowed for input and direction from Stakeholders. Stakeholders also shared opportunities for future research. 6-8 June 2022 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Belfast-Liverpool KE |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Meeting held between Eastside Partnership and Wirral Council to exchange knowledge between GroundsWell and staff working on two large infrastructure projects in Belfast and Liverpool. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Belmont Forum - Unlocking the potential of UGBS scoping workshop - 14 June 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Members of the GroundsWell consortium were invited to attend the Belmont Forum, including small group discussions which help shape future international funding directions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.ukri.org/publications/unlocking-the-benefits-of-urban-green-and-blue-spaces/ |
| Description | Blog: An Orchard in a Food Desert |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | GroundsWell blog - 19 October 2023 by community blogger on the role our urban green spaces can play during the cost of living crisis. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://groundswelluk.org/GroundsWellBlog/Foodinsecurityblog.html |
| Description | Blogs for Our Outdoors website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Creating a series of blogs for the new Our Outdoors website, which will launch shortly. This includs contribution from a variety of stakeholders and voices. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Brink climate action event, Belfast - 22nd April 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Ruth Hunter and John Barry were invited panel members to discuss community climate action around heat, health, food and energy in collaboration with Brink (a community organisation), showcasing some of the work with GroundsWell and the Connswater Community Greenway. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Cambridge Zero Climate Change Festival 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Environments for Mental Wellbeing: Salutogenic Landscapes. Invited talk as part of Cambridge Zero Climate Change Festival 2022, organised by Cambridge Public Health, on the theme of 'Climate change - what's health got to do with it?' 14th October 2022. (Presented online to a virtual audience of 6 panellists and 24 academics and policy-makers/advisors.) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://climatechangefestival.zero.cam.ac.uk/ |
| Description | Canal & River Trust Partnership Exploration |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | CEO reached out after ARC NW about designing a joint project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Clean Air Day (Liverpool) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Two GroundsWell researchers had a stand at the Clean Air Day event at Alder Hey Children's Hospital on 16th June 2023 - with leaflets on the Our Outdoor App, a lego activity for young people to create an ideal green space out of lego, and the opportunity to talk with members of the public about GroundsWell's work on air quality, green/blue space and health. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Climate NI seminar - 11 Aug 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ruth Hunter provided a seminar on the GroundsWell consortium and role of UGBS for climate action. The seminar is part of the Climate NI roundtable discussion series and includes attendees from multi-sector organisations. Since the seminar, future discussions have taken place with the Department for Infrastructure and involvement in their £1.4bn Living with Water programme, and Derry and Strabane District Council re: urban farming. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Climate and Good Relations, Policy, and Practice event, Belfast - 18 Sept 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Dominic Bryans gave a presentation at this event, detailing the work in GroundsWell re: positive peacebuilding, climate action and public health with members from Belfast City Council and others partners. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Climate workshop (East Belfast) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As part of our commissioned piece of work with Eastside Partnership and The Paul Hogarth Company, we held a climate workshop in East Belfast on 25th October 2023. The aim of the workshop was to present an overview of our work on planning for sustainability & climate action on the Connswater Community Greenway, coproduced with communities. Those who attended included individuals working as landscape architects, those from charitable and third-sector organisation (e.g. Keep NI Beautiful) and individuals from Belfast City Council. Prof Ruth Hunter introduced GroundsWell and the context surrounding the project. Jacqueline O'Hagan (EastSide Greenways) presented an overview of the Greenway, and the local context and demand for this work. James Hennessey (The Paul Hogarth Company) then presented an overview of the findings, including the key areas for focus which were identified through the work. Participants to the workshop were then assigned one of these key areas to focus on in a discussion group. The discussions yielded further ideas for how to take this work forward. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Co-design of nature-based interventions with The Welcoming: intervention evaluation; community researcher; research methods; acceptability/suitability; dissimination and translation of findings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | A series of meetings with the third sector organisation 'The Welcoming' to co-develop an evaluation study of their well established nature-based interventions. Particularly the approach of using a community researcher as a novel pathway to engagement and participation of hard-to-reach communities in health interventions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Co-design of the Access Place Nature Health Plan evaluation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Plans to evaluate a green social prescribing programme for people experiencing homelessness in Edinburgh were finalised and agreed upon between GroundsWell, Cyrenians (third sector) and the Access Place (primary care GP surgery). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Collaboration meeting with NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Social Value team |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Discussion of GroundsWell support with data anlysis of green space and health project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Collaboration with Mersey forest meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | How groundswell can influence tree planting and collaborating on research ideas together with local communities, TMF director attended several meetings and comments on the research proposal. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | Community Magazine Published |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Creating and printing a community journalism magazine on the topic of GroundsWell. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Conference paper: 'Socio-ecological (in)justice in Ireland' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 24 August 2023 - Slevin, A. 'Socio-ecological (in)justice in Ireland'. Paper presented as part of the 'Ireland and the Planetary Emergency: Past, Present and Future' panel, EFACIS Conference 2023, Queen's University Belfast. Amanda's conference explored various dimensions of socio-ecological injustice, including impacts on public and planetary health |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Conference paper: Community climate engagement: Beyond academia as usual |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Slevin, A. 'Community climate engagement: Beyond academia as usual.' Paper presented at the Environmental Politics Panel 'What is to be done? The role and responsibility of the Academy in responding to the Planetary Crisis.' 2023 Annual Conference of the Political Studies Association of Ireland, Europa Hotel Belfast, 22 October 2023. Amanda Slevin presented an academic paper on community climate engagement, exploring practical and conceptual approaches to involving citizens in sustainability transitions. Paper was part of a conference panel and it sparked conversations with colleagues from other universities around further collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Connecting with Nature' drawing workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 15th June 2023. A drawing workshop 'in the field' with Dan Shipsides, artist, Senior Lecturer in Art & Design at Ulster University and SECA member, organised by Dr Amanda Slevin. Dan took a small group drawing in the local natural environment in the vicinity of Queen's University Belfast. Based on observation, spatial and structural embodiment and performance, rather than picture making, Dan tutored participants to help them engage with a process of drawing that aims to create 'drawing as' rather than 'drawing of' nature Reality not representation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Connswater Community Greenway Group Model Building workshop - 8 Aug 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Members of the GroundsWell team hosted a group model building workshop with 18 attendees representing the local community living along the Connswater Community Greenway and multi-sector organisations who have a role in the management and maintenance of the greenway. The workshop helped co-develop a causal loop diagram representing the impact of the greenway. The workshop discussions and outputs have helped inform our wave 3 evaluation (including new measures on biodiversity and social identity) and identification of priority actions to inform future co-designed interventions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Connswater Community Greenway field trip - 6 Oct 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Members of the GroundsWell team will participate in a field trip to the Connswater Community Greenway, hosted by EastSide Partnership. This will provide the team the opportunity to learn more about the greenway and future research needs in the area. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Creating an atlas for environmental change workshop - 6 July 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Members of the GroundsWell team attended the workshop for a MRC-funded project creating an atlas for environmental change, including discussions about the possibility to extend this resource to Northern Ireland. RH has been invited as a member of the project advisory committee. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Cross Cutting Theme on Health Inequalities Steering Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Our inaugural steering group meeting brought together representatives from research, policy and practice in the field of greenspace, including colleagues from Public Health Scotland, Greenspace Scotland, Forest Research etc. The meeting aimed to: i) establish our steering group; ii) discuss the wider GroundsWell project and the role of the cross-cutting theme on health inequalities; and iii) provide feedback on a theoretical model exploring factors that drive low and non-use of urban green and blue spaces. The meeting sparked discussion on barriers and facilitators to greenspace for those, in particular, who don't use or have low-use of these spaces. We will continue collaborative discussions in this area to advise on wider applicability and ensure the relevancy of our work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Data Linkage meeting with NHS England x NHS Arden & Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit DSCRO |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Steered the development of data linkage mechanisms in England, with particular focus on the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (NHS C&M ICB). These mechanisms will enable GroundsWell researchers to ingest spatial datasets (e.g., environmental indicators of greenest) into the ICB. These datasets will be pseudonymised, linked to patient records and made accessible via the Secured Data Environment (SDE) of the NHS C&M ICB. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Data Linkage meeting with NHS England x NHS Arden & Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit DSCRO |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Steered the development of data linkage mechanisms in England, with particular focus on the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (NHS C&M ICB). These mechanisms will enable GroundsWell researchers to ingest spatial datasets (e.g., environmental indicators of greenest) into the ICB. These datasets will be pseudonymised, linked to patient records and made accessible via the Secured Data Environment (SDE) of the NHS C&M ICB. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Data Linkage meeting with NHS England x NHS Arden & Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit DSCRO |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Steered the development of data linkage mechanisms in England, with particular focus on the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (NHS C&M ICB). These mechanisms will enable GroundsWell researchers to ingest spatial datasets (e.g., environmental indicators of greenest) into the ICB. These datasets will be pseudonymised, linked to patient records and made accessible via the Secured Data Environment (SDE) of the NHS C&M ICB. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Data Linkage meeting with NHS England x NHS Arden & Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit DSCRO |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Steered the development of data linkage mechanisms in England, with particular focus on the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (NHS C&M ICB). These mechanisms will enable GroundsWell researchers to ingest spatial datasets (e.g., environmental indicators of greenest) into the ICB. These datasets will be pseudonymised, linked to patient records and made accessible via the Secured Data Environment (SDE) of the NHS C&M ICB. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Data Linkage meeting with NHS England x NHS Arden & Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit DSCRO - 12 & 26 May, 9 & 30 June, 14 July, 7 Sept; |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Steered the development of data linkage mechanisms in England, with particular focus on the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (NHS C&M ICB). These mechanisms will enable GroundsWell researchers to ingest spatial datasets (e.g., environmental indicators of greenest) into the ICB. These datasets will be pseudonymised, linked to patient records and made accessible via the Secured Data Environment (SDE) of the NHS C&M ICB. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Data and security meetings with Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Steered the development of data access mechanisms for the ICB in order to enable GroundsWell researchers to access the data. Also developed case for geospatial data to be ingested into ICB environment to enable GroundsWell work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Data into Action Design Authority |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Steered the development of data access mechanisms for the ICB in order to enable GroundsWell researchers to access the data. Also developed case for geospatial data to be ingested into ICB environment to enable GroundsWell work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | DataLinkage Workshop at The University of Liverpool - 17 April 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop held on 17 April 2023 at University of Liverpool to discuss key issues with linking together the home environment to health records of residents and obtaining stakeholders' perspectives of the formation of a comprehensive data linkage system. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Development of a Scottish Open Space and Health Outcome Framework |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Invited participation in a workshop chaired by Public Health Scotland to contribute to development of an Open Space and Health Outcome Framework. This will contribute to Scottish Government Open Space Strategy guidance and subsequently help local authorities in the development of open space strategies to ensure these maximise health benefits and consider the impact on health inequalities. Identifying the outcomes and the routes by which to achieve these will both help inform local decision-making and support monitoring and evaluation. The first workshop was held on 2nd February 2022 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Dock Branch Park - Evaluability Assessment Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Workshop held on 13 September 2023 to discuss the theory of change for dock branch park, tease out the the healtha dn wellbeing outcomes for the park and co-produce these plans with wider stakholders and lesser heard voices. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Dock Branch Park - Evaluability Assessment workshops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Workshop to discuss the theory of change for dock branch park, tease out the the health and wellbeing outcomes for the park and co-produce these plans with wider stakeholders and lesser heard voices. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | Dock Branch Park Public Engagement initiative meeting: Co-design of research methods |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | GroundsWell team provided methodological advice to Liverpool City council research team on plans to collect data from hard-to-reach population groups in the Dock Branch Park area. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Dock Branch Second Evaluability Assessment |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Dock Branch Second Evaluability Assessment on Health and Wellbeing Outcomes of the Park |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Dream park competition |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | As part of the Edinburgh Science Festival, we ran a competition which was open to the public, where participants could submit a photo of their dream park to win a prize. This photo could be of something they made, saw, or envisioned. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | EFRA Urban Green Spaces Inquiry |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Attendance as invited expert witness at Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Urban Green Spaces Oral Evidence Session 2, House of Commons parliamentary inquiry, Westminster, London. There were 5 members of the committee present, plus the chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, several support staff/ and a Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology Fellow to assist. The session was filmed and streamed on Parliament Live TV, and the recording made freely available afterwards on the UK Parliamentary website for the public. The transcript is also freely available via the same website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/8f0b4a81-e9e7-42d7-aba1-07be3fb46f57 |
| Description | ERSC Social Science Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Discussed project and objectives with general public at multiple locations across Edinburgh. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | ESRC Festival Event - "Climate Crisis in Conversation" 3rd November 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | On 3rd November 2022, the Belfast GroundsWell team, in collaboration with EastSide Partnership, organised a townhall meeting in East Belfast, discussing the climate crisis and how it impacts on the community in East Belfast. Dr Niamh O'Kane gave an overview of the GroundsWell project to kick off the evening, including the role of environmental injustice and inequalities. Jacqueline O'Hagan from EastSide Partnership then provided an overview of EastSide Partnership's role in the community, the Connswater Greenway and the opportunities for climate action it provides. Prof John Barry discussed the climate crisis and highlighted the impact on people's day to day lives. Participants then designed and displayed poster boards on which they were asked to highlight their key concern with regards to the climate crisis. It was a lively evening with lots of discussion on climate change and how GroundsWell might be able to integreate some of the concerns and actions raised by community members. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | EU GoGreenRoutes Academy presentation - 1 June 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ruth Hunter gave a seminar on the GroundsWell consortium, and the role of UGBS for NCD prevention and reducing health inequalities to the GoGreenRoutes Academy (EU funded consortium re: nature-based solutions). Approx 50 early career researchers across Europe (Ireland, Bulgaria, Sweden, Estonia, France) attended. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | EU GoGreenRoutes Autumn School 10-12 Oct 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ruth Hunter has been invited to attend and present at the EU GoGreenRoutes Autumn School, Maynooth, 10 Oct 22. The audience includes all members of the GoGreenRoutes EU consortium on nature-based solutions from Ireland, Sweden, Bulgaria, France and Estonia. There will also be a working group discussing possible future collaborations with GroundsWell. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Economic and Social Research Council Festival of Social Science 2024 - Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I presented a brief overview of an article I had published in Cities titled "The Contribution of Urban Green and Blue Spaces to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals". The theme of the event was "How do urban green spaces play a role in shaping sustainable cities?" Following the presentation, I responded to questions about the current distribution of evidence in this space, and about the ways in which the most critical evidence gaps could be addressed in future research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://festivalofsocialscience.com/ |
| Description | Edinburgh Garden Partners |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Short conversation with 4 Edinburgh Garden Partners explaining aims and objectives of GroundsWell and demonstrating Our Outdoors Citizen Science App at Saughton Park. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Edinburgh Hub Meeting #1 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Meeting between researchers and 8 policy makers to discuss green space and health projects in Edinburgh and present work being carried out by all parties. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Edinburgh Hub Meeting #2 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Meeting between researchers and 8 policy makers to discuss green space and health projects in Edinburgh and present work being carried out by all parties. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Edinburgh Lothian Green Space Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Invited to contribute to policymakers event in Edinburgh to discuss and promote GroundsWell project and build connections. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Edinburgh Science Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Multiple events at the Edinburgh Science Festival |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Edinburgh Science Festival: How can you shape outdoor spaces? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A presentation introducing members of the public to citizen science and the Our Outdoors App as part of the Edinburgh Science Festival. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/brochure-downloads |
| Description | Engagement with GPs from Liverpool Medical Council |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Meeting with members of the Liverpool Medical Council to discuss GroundsWell's data needs and ability to help patients Prof Rodgers and Craig McDougal met with two members from the Liverpool Medical Council to discuss benefits of partnering with GroundsWell. This resulted in general support and an invitation to present at the next formal LMC meeting to get all regional GPs on board. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Engagement with Liverpool Public Health Team |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Sarah and Mark met with the Public health team, presented and were given directions on how to gain access to the GP data needed. They were also advised on who would be useful to engage going forward and what upcoming interventions there were across Liverpool. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Everton in the Community |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Initial meeting to discuss how EiTC and Groundswell could work together in the future. Review possibilities and meet up again in next few weeks. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Expert panel on UGBS and climate action, Belfast - 22nd May |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Ruth Hunter (QUB, Jacqueline O'Hagan (EastSide Partnership) and James Hennessey (The Paul Hogarth Company) provided a presentation and facilitated an expert panel discussion with 12 members of Belfast City Council around the climate resilient community consultation outcomes and recommendations with the Connswater Community Greenway. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Expert panel on UGBS and sustainability with UMASS Boston - 28 July 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Ruth Hunter was invited to give a presentation and be a member of an expert panel to a delegation of interdisciplinary academics from UMASS, Boston to discuss GroundsWell and the role of UGBS in sustainability and climate action. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Film launch of ACT NOW! The race to get a Climate Act for Northern Ireland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The ACT NOW! Film documents the multi-stakeholder, collaborative journey behind Northern Ireland's first Climate Change Act and features interviews with key people, including Amanda who chaired Climate Coalition NI during key stages of the legislative journey. The film launched engaged a diverse range of people, including senior civil servants, journalists, ENGOs, students, academics, development organisations and members of the public. Impacts include audience sharing changed views on issues, requests for collaboration with civil service, and invitations for further film screenings. Amanda Slevin co-organised, hosted and served as a panel discussant during the film launch of 'ACT NOW! The race to get a Climate Act for Northern Ireland' (Queen's Film Theatre). The event involved a broadcast (film), expert panel, press release, and conversations with journalists. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Future of UGBS in NI workshop - 4 Oct 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Members of GroundsWell have been invited to attend the Future of UGBS in NI workshop hosted by NI Environment Link (NIEL). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Future of UGBS in NI workshop - 5th Dec 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Ruth Hunter was invited to participate in the second workshop to co-develop a strategic plan led by the Northern Ireland Environment Link on the future of UGBS in NI. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Future proofing the greenway webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In March 2023, GroundsWell partnered with EastSide Greenways and the Paul Hogarth Company to run a full-day workshop with drop-ins and five structured discussions targeting various groups: community sector, interest groups, professionals and academics, councillors and MLAs, and local businesses. Two primary school classes from a local school also came along. All provided insight into how we can best future-proof the Connswater Community Greenway in the face of the climate and biodiversity crisis. We also ran an online survey to gather insights from those unable to attend the event, which captured approximately 200 responses. A webinar was held on 26th April wherein the Paul Hogarth Company presented initial findings from the activity to a public audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | GoEastside Climate workshop - 7th Oct 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Prof John Barry will lead a workshop, co-hosted with EastSide Partnership, involving a community dialogue around the role of local communities for climate action. The audience includes local community members living along the Connswater Community Greenway. The workshop is a continuation of the GoEastSide webinar series that Prof Ruth Hunder co-hosted with EastSide Partnership during the consortium development phase. The workshop discussions will help shape the future programme of research in partnership with EastSide Partnership and the local community. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Good Relations and the Environment meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | There is a working group on "good relations and environment" based at Queen's University Belfast, convened by Amanda Slevin, Dominic Bryan and John Barry, as there are overlaps between good relations practices and environmental policies and projects, and valuable opportunities exist for conflict transformation and co-creation of ecologically and socio-economically sustainable communities. In these meetings, we discuss issues and potential for collaboration between GroundsWell and colleagues in Queen's University Belfast, as well as the Connswater Community Greenway, Belfast City Council, and beyond. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Green Bus Routes Collaboration Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Further development on how GroundsWell could support health evaluation of green bus routes project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Green Bus Routes Collaboration meeting with the LCRCA |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Further development on how GroundsWell could support health evaluation of green bus routes project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Green Bus Routes Collaboration meeting with the LCRCA |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Further development on how GroundsWell could support health evaluation of green bus routes project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Green Bus Routes Collaboration meeting with the LCRCA and Mott MacDonald |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Attended a meeting with LCRCA contacts (green bus routes engagement lead, marketing team) and the Mott MacDonald team leading the green bus routes engagement strategy and design. Topics included stakeholder mapping and engagement, public engagement, consultation material, analysis and reporting, and creating a programme/timeline for engagement and collaboration. GroundsWell incorporated in to green bus routes engagement & consultation strategy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Greening for Health Training Workshop 23 June |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The aim of the workshop was to support stakeholders to use evidence to improve greening policies and projects and support funding applications for new initiatives |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.belfasthealthycities.com/news/greening-health-training-workshop-using-evidence-practice |
| Description | Greening for Health Training Workshop: Using Evidence in Practice - 27th June 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The Greening for Health Training Workshop: Using Evidence in Practice invited participants to consider how to formulate the right questions when searching for evidence, and how to identify, find, and appraise the evidence needed. Prof Ruth Hunter, Prof Mike Clarke, Dr Claire Cleland and Dr Chris Tate facilitated the training. Prof Mike Clarke, who led the discussions said,"Having access to reliable and robust evidence, and being able to understand the quality and relevance of that evidence will strengthen policy and action across society. This partnership will help to achieve this for greening and health across Belfast and beyond." Prof Ruth Hunter, GroundsWell co-director and co-chair of the Greening the City Advisory Group said, "We really appreciated the opportunity to be able to deliver this workshop on evidence synthesis to a wide range of partners working in policy, practice, and the community as part of the GroundsWell consortium." Joan Devlin, Chief Executive of Belfast Healthy Cities, said "the training has been highly engaging, and the enthusiasm of partners to better use evidence linked to greening, health, and inequalities is really important and will help strengthen delivery of greening for health policies and projects in Belfast" Jacqueline O'Hagan, EastSide Greenways Manager, EastSide Greenways attending the workshop said, "This was a fascinating training session from Belfast Healthy Cities and the GroundsWell Consortium. It is so important to know how to understand and interpret evidence and research relevant to our work to better inform our practices." The workshop supported delivery of Belfast Healthy Cities Greening the City Programme. Further information is available here. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Greening the City Cork Visit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Representatives from the Belfast Healthy Cities' Greening the City Advisory group visited Cork City included Anne McCusker and Aranvir Gawera of Belfast Healthy Cities, Mura Quigley and Simon Rees of Belfast City Council, Jacqueline O'Hagan, Manager for EastSide Greenways, and Niamh O'Kane from GroundsWell/Queen's University Belfast. The two day trip offered opportunities for 25 representatives from Belfast, Cork and Limerick to come together to look at a range of innovative projects and share experiences in delivering impactful programmes. We explored Cork City, visiting multiple sites to witness the great work being done across the city by Cork Healthy Cities and the Green Spaces for Health initiative: First stop, Páirc Eoin - former cemetery now a public park which everyone can enjoy. A site for wilding, a dye garden, a tree nursery, as well as art workshops and Tai Chi classes Next, the People's Parklet Douglas Street, combining seating, green planting, art, and bike parking. Providing a hub for the community, to Foster a sense of place and environment, and a fantastic spot to stop for a coffee Next, a new sand martin house recently erected in the lough. We had a wonderful time meeting (and feeding) the locals, and enjoyed a lovely walk around the water Next, we headed to the roof of St John's Central College to visit bee hives, set up in conjunction with Hive Mind. Up close and personal with our favourite pollinators and honey producers Then, lunch and a chat in the Togher Community Garden in Clashduv Park. An incredible example of community involvement - featuring a pond hand dug by 80 volunteers, a polytunnel, and raised beds. Even cooking workshops for children with produce grown in the garden Next, Marina Park Greenway, a recently pedestrianised recreational and commuter corridor. Play related place making investment makes for slides for young (and young at heart) to enjoy Next, the Seed Library recently sprouted up in Hollyhill Library. Where gardeners can borrow, sow and return seeds, as well as pass on planting tips to their fellow gardeners Finally, a visit to the Veterans Garden, initiated by army veterans in Cork City. A recent project which provides therapeutic recreation to users Speaking after the trip Anne McCusker, Programme Manager from Belfast Healthy Cities said "One of the most important elements of the Healthy Cities Network is the opportunity we have to share knowledge and experience, which allows all of us to bring home new and innovative ways of approaching health and well-being. Visiting so many projects across Cork city, and being able to engage with representatives from Cork and Limerick has helped us gain valuable insights into the practical work on the ground and the impact it has on local communities. "The projects we visited included community gardens, biodiversity, growing initiatives and regeneration. Each of them is having a clear impact on the people using them, from children right through to older people. Our local environments and how we interact with local communities has an important role in our health and wellbeing, and we hope that we can use what we have learned as we work with local organisations to improve the health and well-being of communities across Belfast." Belfast Healthy Cities Strategic Plan sets out 'greening the city' as a key programme for the organisation during Phase VII (2020-2025) of the World Health Organization (WHO) European Healthy Cities Network, to support the themes of Place, Planet, Participation, People, Prosperity, and Peace. Underpinning the overarching goal of the greening the city programme are four strategic objectives that Belfast Healthy Cities have committed to working towards. These are to: Promote inclusive green environments for all, increasing physical activity and mental wellbeing to reduce the risk of long term disease. Encourage the greening of public spaces to mitigate the consequences of climate change, support bio-diversity, and increase recognition that trees and other vegetation are critical urban infrastructures. Increase stakeholder collaboration and community engagement in the design of green spaces. Promote green space interventions to reduce health inequalities Further information on the Greening the City Programme is available here Further information on Green Spaces for Health is available here |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Greening the City Cork visit write up in the Daily Mirror |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The Irish Daily Mirror picked up the story about the Greening the City site visit to Cork and reported it in print in July 2023. The piece included quotes from Anne McCusker of Belfast Healthy Cities and a photo of the delegates on the trip. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/okaneniamh/status/1680954011287994368 |
| Description | Greening the City advisory committee - 20th Jan 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ruth Hunter co-chairs the Greening the City advisory committee. This is a joint partnership between QUB and Belfast Healthy Cities, established as part of the GroundsWell consortium. The advisory committee meeting discussions included reviewing the Greening the City Action Plan and Terms of Reference, discussing Green Walking for Health maps, and a Belfast City Council demonstrator project. The committee was attended by partners from policy, implementation and the third sector. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Greening the City advisory committee - 30 Sept 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ruth Hunter co-chairs the Greening the City advisory committee. This is a joint partnership between QUB and Belfast Healthy Cities, established as part of the GroundsWell consortium. The advisory committee meeting discussions included agreeing the terms of reference for the committee and 3 year action plan. The committee was attended by 15 partners from policy, implementation and the 3rd sector. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Greening the City advisory committee - 5th April 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ruth Hunter co-chairs the Greening the City advisory committee. This is a joint partnership between QUB and Belfast Healthy Cities, established as part of the GroundsWell consortium. In our April meeting, there were updates from all stakeholders from previous meeting and a presentation on urban farming/agriculture from Patricia Wallace (Social Farms and Gardens). Prof Ruth Hunter and Dr Christopher Tate then presented a session entitled "GroundsWell Consortium Evidence and Training". There was then a discussion on the Greening the City Mapping Topic Paper. Lunch and networking followed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Greening the City webinar - 29 March 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Belfast Healthy Cities hosted a webinar series, involving members of the GroundsWell team, providing an overview of the Greening the City programme. This involved speakers from different sectors, and small group discussions which helped shaped the future programme. The Greening the City programme is co-led with QUB (RH) as part of the GroundsWell consortium. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DqLozp9xMo&feature=youtu.be |
| Description | Greening the City workshop - 10th August 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Greening the City workshop led by Belfast Healthy Cities (with input from GroundsWell - Prof Ruth Hunter) - representation from Belfast City Council, Outdoor Recreation NI, EastSide Partnership, WestSide Partnership Board, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, DfI. Discussed priority actions for the Greening the City programme (2022-2025) and generated interest in GroundsWell. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | GroundsWell Blog - Urban Greenways Provide Economic and Mental Health Benefits for Local Communities |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | This blog post combines the work of myself and another member of the team to give a brief synopsis of the work conducted assessing the social return on investment of the Connswater Community Greenway. The blog summarizes the main findings from the analysis, and adds further perspective on the benefits of urban green and blue spaces by drawing on the results of another set of analyses conducted by Dr Ruoyu Wang. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | GroundsWell Retreat workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 16 November 2023 - Amanda Slevin was the lead facilitator of workshop 'Climate and GroundsWell: Developing a shared agenda for climate action', held as part of the GroundsWell Retreat, Edinburgh. Amanda lead this workshop with GroundsWell Consortium members from across the UK around how to develop a shared agenda for climate action. The workshop featured talks by Amanda, Ruth Hunter, Jacqueline O'Hagan and group based activities to raise awareness of climate issues and explore how GroundsWell can respond to these. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Groundswell Blog |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Hannah Burnett wrote a blog for the GroundsWell website discussing the tour of Dock Branch Park in Feb 2023 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.groundswelluk.org/GroundsWellBlog/ATourofDockBranchPark.html |
| Description | Grow-Wellbeing Meeting (Innovation Fund) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Meeting with Duane Chong of Grow-Wellbeing to discuss an application for the innovation fund |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Has the situation changed? The relation between urban green spaces and blue space change and socio-economic status in Liverpool UK presention to the American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting 23-27 March 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Has the situation changed? The relation between urban green spaces and blue space change and socio-economic status in Liverpool UK - presentation by Dr Wendee Zhang (University of Liverpool) to the 'Contextualising urgan green space in the changing city' session at the American Association of Geographers 2023 Annual Meeting |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.rgs.org/research/annual-international-conference/ |
| Description | Healthy City Design Conference Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Healthy City Design Conference where many stakeholder relationships were formed and developed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Healthy Parks Event for Festival of Social Science |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Up to 20 people attended the FOSS event at The Florrie to discuss healthy parks and GroundsWell collaborations. The event was organised by Elly King and included presentations from Hannah Burnett, Ellen Schwaller and Emilia Trepasso as well as facilitation during Lego activities by Rebecca Crook and Wendee Zhang. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://groundswelluk.org/Newsandevents/HealthyParksEventinLiverpool.html |
| Description | How Can We Future Proof The Connswater Greenway? 1st March 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | GroundsWell partnered with EastSide Greenways and the Paul Hogarth Company to run a full-day workshop with drop-ins and five structured discussions targeting various groups: community sector, interest groups, professionals and academics, councillors and MLAs, and local businesses. Two primary school classes from a local school also came along. All provided insight into how we can best future-proof the Connswater Community Greenway in the face of the climate and biodiversity crisis. We also ran an online survey to gather insights from those unable to attend the event, which captured approximately 200 responses. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Inclusive Urban Green and Blue Spaces, with GroundsWell and the Mae Murray Foundation - 19 Sept 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Over 45 people attended a webinar in inclusive green and blue spaces hosted by GroundsWell. The Mae Murray Foundation and Dr Sarah Bell (GroundsWell Exeter team) provided presentations on their work on inclusive beaches and sensory issues. This was followed by a facilitated discussion panel. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a2M8HwVGeQ |
| Description | Inclusive beach working group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Established Inclusive beach working group. This group includes members from across Queen's University Belfast, Ulster University and the Mae Murray Foundation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Interview on BBC Radio 4 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Discussion about how to improve access to and use of green spaces, particularly for health benefits in areas left behind |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001fd08 |
| Description | Interviewed by Anna Curran, BBC Radio Ulster for the Sunday Sequence show, as part of a panel discussion on 'Saving the World: The Climate Change Question', 20 August 2023. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 'The Sunday Sequence' is a regional radio show which holds weekly discussions on matters of societal importance. Amanda was one of three discussants and contributing her knowledge on sustainability, equality and climate action. Following the interview, Amanda received positive feedback from a range of people and was also invited to become a Trustee of the charity Positive Futures to assist them to embed action on sustainablilty and climate across their organisation, which employs over 800 people. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Invited Chair of QUB Institutional Sustainability Lecture 'The Climate Crisis: Why we need to dig deeper', delivered by Sir Jonathon Porritt, QUB, 19 October 2023. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As part of its new Net Zero Strategy, QUB invited the renowned environmentalist Sir Jonathon Porritt to launch the strategy. Due to her work as Director of QUB's Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action, Amanda was invited to introduce Sir Porritt and chair the Q&A session that followed his lecture |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | http://www.qub.ac.uk/about/sustainability/net-zero/ |
| Description | Invited seminar - Maynooth University/EU Go Green Routes - 3 March 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Ruth Hunter was invited to give a seminar on environment and health showcasing the GroundsWell consortium at the Department of Psychology, Maynooth University, Ireland on 3rd March 2023. There were also discussions re: future collaborations with the EU Go Green Routes consortium. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Invited seminar re: UGBS and health, Maynooth University, Ireland - 3rd March 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Ruth Hunter was invited to present a seminar on UGBS and health at the Department for Psychology, Maynooth University, Ireland on 3rd March 2023. The seminar showcased GroundsWell and further developed collaborations leading to an EU application submission in Sept 2023. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Ireland Masterclass in Health Economics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Ireland Masterclass in Health Economics was primarily set up to provide a showcase for research being conducted in the field of health economics, and provide an opportunity for individuals from diverse professional backgrounds to learn more about this field from experienced researchers and journal editors. The event encouraged attendees to discuss and share with one another information about the work they are engaged in. There was also a series of interactive workshops and Q&A sessions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Joint Public Health Conference - Healthy People, Healthy Planet, 30 Nov 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ruth Hunter and Prof Frank Kee are invited members of the Joint Public Health Conference - Healthy People, Healthy Planet scientific advisory committee. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Keynote speech at Italian Consulate in Edinburgh |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The talk provided an overview of the impact that behavioural economics methods can have to affect people's decisions to improve their health, diets, and other activities. The talk was attended by about 400 people from an international audience, including consular staff from several countries |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | LCC Public Health and Planning Facilitation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Defining the role of GW in bringing public health and planning together in LCC - specific pilot projects discussed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | LCC Public Health and Planning Facilitation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Discussion on how public health and planning could align better and GW could facilitate |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | LCRCA Blue Green Space Scoping Exercise |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Discussion on multiple panning and natural capital strategies that could use data from CIPHA to inform policy on investment |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | LNRS Technical advisory panel |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | See how groundswell can help Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has been selected by government as the Responsible Authority for developing a Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) covering the Liverpool City Region (LCR). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | Launch event of ADAPT my beach report by the Mae Murray Foundation, NI - 31st May 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Members of the GroundsWell QUB team worked in collaboration with the Mae Murray Foundation to launch their ADAPT my beach report around developing inclusive beaches for all abilities in Northern Ireland on 31st May 2023. The event had approximately 80 members of the general public and members of the Mae Murray Foundation attend to experience an inclusive beach. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/featured-research/adapt-m-beach-guide-inclusive-beaches-queens-un... |
| Description | Launch of Future of Greenspaces NI - 19th June 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Approximately 80 people attended the launch of the Future of Greenspaces NI event hosted by QUB, and led by the Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL). Ruth Hunter provided an opening presentation providing an overview of the GroundsWell consortium. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Linking Leith's Parks community co-design workshops x3 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 20-50 members of the public, local Councillors and politicians attended two in-person and one online co-design workshop(s) run in the Leith area of Edinburgh, to share their views on and shape the proposed designs of six parks in Edinburgh that are due to be redeveloped. In collaboration with the City of Edinburgh Council and landscape architects, GroundsWell researchers learned of the preferred park designs of attendees. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Linlithgow Our Outdoors campaign x 3 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A series of meetings with community members who were attempting to save a local green space. We learned about the project and then used Our Outdoors data to create a range of maps and graphs showing people's perceptions of wellbeing in the space. This data was used in a planning objection. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Liverpool City Region Combined Authority |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Meetings with members of the LCRCA from the Transport teamon 25 April and 5 June 2023 to discuss ongoing collaboration between LCRCA and GroundsWell on the Green Bus Routes project. Decisions were made on the next steps of the project, including introducing an embedded researcher from GroundsWell, discussion of future evaluability assessments taking place, and existing and new data being collected. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Liverpool One Partnership Exploration |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Discussion on Chavasse Park Forest School and greening initiatives |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Liverpool University Hub Meeting - 17 October 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Meeting between researchers and policy makers ato discuss green space and health projects in Merseyside area and present work being carried out by all parties. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Liverpool University Hub Meeting - 25 January 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Meeting between researchers and policy makers to discuss green space and health projects in Merseyside area and present work being carried out by all parties. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | MRC Participatory Systems Mapping workshop - 25 Jan 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Members of the GroundsWell team participated in the workshop developing MRC Participatory Systems Mapping workshop to help inform future guidelines using these methods. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | MRC Updating Natural Experiment guidelines expert workshop - 17 June 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Members of the GroundsWell team participated in expert panel workshops re: updating the natural experiments MRC guidance. This guidance will help guide future research in the consortium. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Making peace with people, place and planet seminar - 23 Sept 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Prof John Barry co-hosted (with Belfast City Council) a half-day seminar and discussion on the role of green and blue spaces to address issues of health, climate, peace and inequalities. Further discussions have taken place re: how GroundsWell can support future work in this area working in partnership with Belfast City Council. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Media interview - interviewed by Claudia Savage, The Irish News, 'Students lead the fight against climate crisis at mock COP28 conference.' Published online, 30 November 2023. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Media interview about world climate simulation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2023/11/30/news/students_lead_the_fight_against_c... |
| Description | Meeting Architects developing a masterplan for Seacombe "left bank" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Meeting between researchers and policy makers to discuss the masterplan design for the regeneration of Seacombe and how the blue space and health focus can fit into those designs. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Meeting at The Woodland Trust |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Dr Mark Green and Dr Wenxin Zhang met with members of the Woodland Trust on 8 August 2023 to scope and evaluate the rewilding of Frodsham Golf Course |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Meetings with Safe Regeneration |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Meetings with Safe Regeneration Ltd - a not-for-profit Ltd company and registered charity based in Bootle, Merseyside whose work involves collaborating with communities to deliver regeneration projects with an emphasis on social value. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | Mersey Forest Advisory Group Meeting held on 26th September |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Sarah Rodgers represented the GroundsWell Consortium at this Advisory Meeting - she hoped to provide longitudinal data to evidence to Mersey Forest as to whether Poorer communities could be forced out of their areas by rewilding because of "green gentrification" (by linking health and environment data at individual level and household levels via GroundsWell) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | MerseyCare Innovation Fund meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Meeting with Mersey Care, M-RIC and Life Rooms service users to discuss an application for the innovation fund |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | NCD Alliance Scotland Parliamentary Reception |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A reception in the Scottish Parliament organised by the NCD (Non-communicable disease) Alliance and hosted by MPs from across the parties. After some brief scene setting, this was an opportunity to interact with, and highlight our research to, policy makers and others promoting greater action to address NCDs. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Natural capital working group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Further development on how groundswell can work with natural capital group in research and data sharing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | Newham Fabian Society panel debate |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk and Q&A session for Panel event organised by Newham Fabian Society, 3rd February 2022 Active Design: Building Healthier Cities. It was advertised as follows: "We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us," said Sir Winston Churchill in his speech to the meeting in the House of Lords, October 28, 1943. People have the power to design our built environment. But how we design our homes and cities can also have power over us, from our health to how we socialise. A University of Cambridge study found that about 676,000 deaths each year were down to inactivity, compared with 337,000 from carrying too much weight. He said eliminating inactivity in Europe would cut mortality rates by nearly 7.5%, or 676,000 deaths, but eliminating obesity would cut rates by just 3.6%. So with that in mind, how can we design a healthier, active built environment? Come join us as we find out! On Thursday the 3rd of February Newham Fabians will be joined by Kris Sangani, LCC Trustee and former coordinator for Redbridge LCC, Councillor Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader of Waltham Forest Council, and Prof Catherine Thompson, Professor of Landscape Architecture. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Newsletter edition 4 - Summer 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Edition 4 of our Newsletter was Summer 2023, disseminated at the beginning of September 2023. This edition included updates from our hub cities, an introduction of a member of GroundsWell (Dr Charlotte Wendelboe-Nelson), and various news and events, including: the upcoming inclusive UGBS webinar, a link for the MOHAWk observation tool webinar, a write up of the Greening for Health Training Workshop: Using Evidence in Practice which was delivered by QUB members in Belfast. Other news included the Clean Air Day at Alder Hey, the Greening the City Advisory Group Visit to Cork, and the Women in Cities Belfast launch webinar. New publications were shared in this edition, including: 1) Advancing urban green and blue space contributions to public health from Hunter et al., The Lancet Public Health 2) Visiting nature is associated with lower socioeconomic inequalities in well-being in Wales from Garrett et al., Scientific Reports Nature portfolio 3) The social return on investment of an urban regeneration project using real-world data: the Connswater Community Greenway, Belfast, UK from Tate et al., Cities & Health We also shared four pieces from our blog, including: 'Urban Greenways Provide Economic and Mental Health Benefits for Local Communities', 'A Community Garden Success Story', 'Site Visit to Cornwall' and 'Public Perspectives on "Big Data". This edition of the newsletter was opened/read 81 times. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://mailchi.mp/fa67ef58a412/groundswell-may-newsletter-9134940 |
| Description | Newsletter edition 5 - Winter 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The fifth edition of our Newsletter was the Winter 2023 edition, disseminated in December 2023. This edition covered an introduction to a team member (Kate Morley, PhD Researcher in University of Exeter) and spotlighted one of our GroundsWell partners (Jacqueline O'Hagan, Manager for EastSide Greenways, Belfast). We also shared various news and events including: Annual retreat in Edinburgh, The Lancet Voice podcast, work on the role of urban green and blue space for climate and nature action, Webinar: Environmental Factors in Maternal and Child Health, Webinar: Inclusive Urban Green and Blue Spaces, Healthy Parks event in Liverpool, GroundsWell researcher awarded RSPB Medal, and Submission to the Inquiry on Prevention in Health and Social Care. New publications were shared, including: 1) Climate and Nature Action report 2) The contribution of urban green and blue spaces to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals: An evidence gap map from Tate et al., Cities 3) Evidence calls 4) Data resource/publicly accessible consent form We also shared a blog item from our community blogger: an orchard in a food desert. We used this edition to launch our new LinkedIn platform. The edition had 110 opens (43.7% open rate) and 21 clicks within (8.3% click through rate). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://mailchi.mp/8dcbfc714107/groundswell-may-newsletter-9167484 |
| Description | OPENspace/GroundsWell seminar: Transforming Urban Green and Blue Space for Population Health |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The GroundsWell Consortium: Transforming Urban Green and Blue Space for Population Health Exposures to urban green and blue spaces have the potential to positively influence health and wellbeing, particularly in the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, maximising the benefits of such exposures requires that access to such spaces is maximised across society. The GroundsWell consortium aims to use community-engaged and data informed systems transformation of urban green and blue space for the benefit of population health. The consortium consists of seven interlinked work packages, each working towards the collective long-term aim of reducing NCDs through the appropriate utilisation of urban green and blue space. The consortium will consider impacts at both population and individual level, and use approaches such as co-design and citizen science to increase the sustainability of any interventions that are developed within GroundsWell. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Online news article - Slugger O'Toole |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Niamh O'Kane and Bakul Budhiraja wrote an article for Slugger O'Toole, entitled "The importance of urban green and blue space and nature based solutions..." which briefly explored the importance of our outdoor spaces and why they are relevant for health and climate. It also acted as a promotional tool for ESRC Festival of Social Science events. At time of reporting, the article has been read 1277 times and received 101 comments from the general public. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://sluggerotoole.com/2023/10/25/the-importance-of-urban-green-and-blue-space-and-nature-based-s... |
| Description | Outdoor Outreach at the Access Place |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | We have been working with Cyrenians and the Access Place to provide free lunches in their newly developed outdoor green space. This has brought people into the garden, encouraged social cohesion, and was part of our approach to responding to the cost of living crisis. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Participated in civil service event on behaviour change and net zero |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | 27 February 2024 - Invited participant in the NI Chief Executives Forum 'Harnessing Behavioural Science to Support the Transition to Net Zero' Symposium, which included the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and senior civil servants from across all government departments. The NI Chief Executives Forum is a primary vehicle for NI senior civil servants to engage with pressing policy issues. By participating in the symposium on harnessing behavioural science to support the transition to net zero, Amanda shared information on QUB work on sustainability and climate and made connections with key personnel as a basis for future collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Participation by Dr Mark Green at the UK-South Korea Geospatial Data Science Knowledge Exchange on 9 June 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Participation by Dr Mark Green to the UK-South Korea Geospatial Data Science Knowledge Exchange - Geospatial Data Science for Future Cities and Society (University of Seoul) - 9th June |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Pint of Science Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A science festival which aimed to provide the general public with a information on how we age, why we age, and what we can all do to promote healthy ageing. Experts in the field of cell biology, exercise and nutrition science, alongside a panel of professional healthcare workers and happy seniors educated and entertained the general public at this event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://pintofscience.co.uk/event/healthy-ageing-for-the-future |
| Description | Podcast on climate change impacts |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 16 February 2024 - Interviewed by Stiofán Ó Nualláin (Trademark Belfast), with Prof. John Barry, for 'the Coming Storm' podcast on climate change for the series 'A Workers' Guide to Everything' - Amanda and John Barry participated in this podcast offering a critical assessment of climate breakdown, multi-level impacts and opportunities for transformation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | http://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/trademark-belfast/episodes/111--The-Coming-Storm-e2fsdnt/a-aa... |
| Description | Post-doctoral course: From junior to senior researcher in research on ageing and health 11-15 09 23 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The main objective of the course is to prepare junior researchers for successful careers as independent senior researchers within the research field of ageing and health. A further aim is to enable participants to develop and deepen an interdisciplinary and integrative approach to research on ageing and health, including international perspectives. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.sweah.lu.se/en/post-doctoral-activities/post-doctoral-course-junior-senior-researcher-re... |
| Description | Poster teaser session on developing and piloting the Our Outdoors citizen science App Urban Transitions congress 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This consisted of a traditional poster presentation preceded by a 2 minute powerpoint presentation about the Our Outdoors citizen science App and its development. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation at the Belfast Healthy Cities Greening for Health Training Workshop: Using Evidence in Practice |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at the Belfast Healthy Cities Greening for Health Training Workshop: Using Evidence in Practice entitled "Assessing the quality and relevance of the evidence". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation at the Belfast Healthy Cities Greening for Health Training Workshop: Using Evidence in Practice |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The purpose of this workshop was to inform attendees about the role of evidence synthesis and the application of evidence to shape their decision-making and how this translates into practice. Specifically, I gave a short presentation outlining specific tools that can be used to collate evidence from a variety of sources and the importance of making these resources available for others outside academia. An example of an evidence gap map was presented to give attendees insight into the ways in which data are collected and stored using this tool. Attendees were guided through the steps required to access evidence that is stored in evidence gap maps. Attendees noted at the end of the workshop that they would be more cognizant of how they synthesize evidence from different sources, evaluate the quality of evidence, and give additional consideration to the ways in which they make their findings available to others (e.g., through the use of visualization tools such as an evidence gap). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation at the Belfast Healthy Cities, Greening the City advisory committee meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This meeting was attended by members of the Belfast Healthy Cities Greening the City advisory committee and I was invited to deliver a presentation covering the results of a piece of research that examined the contribution of urban green and blue spaces to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. The presentation concluded with various discussions around the specific role of urban green and blue spaces in promoting sustainable development, improving the health outcomes of urban populations, and the way in which the research landscape has been shaped by the effects of climate change and growing urban populations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation at the Joint North-South Public Health Conference 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The presentation was delivered at the Joint North-South Public Health Conference 2022, the theme of which was "Healthy Planet, Healthy People". The purpose of the presentation was to provide an overview of the findings from an evidence gap map developed by Christopher Tate that examined the contribution of urban green and blue spaces to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://healthyplanetconference.org/ |
| Description | Presentation by Dr Charlotte Wendelboe-Nelson at a launch event for the Policy Brief on Eco-Directed and Sustainable Pharmaceutical Prescribing in the United Kingdom |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The Event highlighted the outcome of consultations with a broad set of stakeholders (e.g., civil servants, academics, industry, and learned society representatives) to reduce pharmaceutical pollution in the UK through eco-directed and environmentally sustainable interventions. In line with this, GroundsWell Researcher Dr Charlotte Wendelboe-Nelson was invited to provide a presentation about her recent work on Nature-Based Public Health Intervention for Refugees as one of the alternative solutions for this health and environmental concern. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation by Prof Rhiannon Corcoran at the British and Irish Council Placemaking in Practice Symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Prof Rhiannon Corcoran presented on the topic of, "Collective Place Keeping: Living High Streets Northern Ireland" at the British and Irish Council Placemaking in Practice Symposium on 8th September at Cornerstone , Cardiff. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation of Data Asset Request Form to the Data Asset and Access Group/ NHS Cheshire and Merseyside |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Sarah Rodgers presented the project commissioned by Liverpool's City Council and briefly talked about GroundsWell. Request approved to start the process of obtaining access to Combined Intelligence for Population Health (CIPHA) database |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation/panel discussion at 7th Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation and panel discussion on nature based solutions during WHO European Region 7th Ministerial Conference, raised issues on environmental inequality-health inequality links |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.who.int/europe/event/seventh-ministerial-conference-on-environment-and-health |
| Description | Preventing violence against women and girls in public spaces working group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Establishing a preventing violence against women and girls in public spaces working group. This group includes members from nine disciplines across Queen's University Belfast and project partners from Belfast Healthy Cities, Belfast City Council, EastSide Partnership and The Executive Office. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Prevention Research 2023 conference- 14-15 Nov 23 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | "This is the first conference organised by the Community of Practice of the UK Prevention Research Partnership, and is open to members of UKPRP funded groups and the wider prevention research and stakeholder community. The conference will showcase NCD prevention research from UKPRP-funded consortia and networks as well as the wider UK research community. There will be opportunities for discussions on emerging research practice including collaborations between academics and public or policy stakeholders, maximising impact, systems approaches, and managing large scale prevention research projects." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://preventionresearch2023.stir.ac.uk/programme/ |
| Description | Public consultation on carbon budgets, Belfast - 22 Sept 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Approximately 50 people attend a public consultation on NI carbon budgets co-hosted by GroundsWell, DAERA and QUB. The introductory session provided an overview of GroundsWell and their climate action work as exemplar projects, and several members of the GroundsWell QUB team attended. The event was organised and led by Dr Amanda Slevin (GroundsWell QUB team). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Public engagement at Balmoral Agricultural Show - 11th May 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Niamh O'Kane, Belfast-based science communication officer was involved with the Queen's University Belfast stand at the annual NI Balmoral Agricultural Show. "Body MOTs" were conducted with members of the general public, where they were then engaged in discussion about GroundsWell and the health benefits of urban blue and green space. Key audience was members of the general public but also schools and pupils, and individuals in the food industry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | QUB Planetary Health Winter School: 9-13 Jan 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ruth Hunter is leading a Winter School entitled Transdisciplinary Solutions for Public & Planetary Health, 9-13 Jan 2023. This is an interdisciplinary Public and Planetary Health Summit, designed to stimulate thinking and accelerate key debate on the health impacts of human-caused disruptions of the Earth's natural system. A number of members of GroundsWell (Ruth Hunter, Leandro Garcia, John Barry, Amanda Slevin) and partners including the WHO and NI Human Rights Commission, will present live interactive seminars from areas as diverse as improving human and environmental health, tackling infection and disease, building healthier and sustainable cities using UGBS, addressing health equity issues, and ethics and data challenges. This virtual interdisciplinary event is open to any student across all disciplines studying at any university. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.qub.ac.uk/International/International-students/Studyabroad/mhls-winter-school-2023/ |
| Description | QUB Research Insights seminar series - 22 Feb 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ruth Hunter gave a presentation on the development of the GroundsWell consortium application as part of a research insights seminar series at QUB. Over 50 academics and students across the university attended. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Quarterly meetings - Greening the City |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ruth Hunter and Dr Niamh O'Kane are co-chairs (with Belfast Healthy Cities) of the Greening the City Advisory Board. This group is made up of individuals and organisations representing the various greening activities happening across NI. It includes city council, charities and third-sector, multiple government departments (health, infrastructure), as well as representation from research. The group meets quarterly and has achieved impact in a variety of ways. Two examples: 1) Green Health Maps. The development of three (so far) green health maps in East and West Belfast arose from discussions in the Greening the City meetings. These maps provide the general public with an overview of the green walkways in their area, as well as signpost various facilities (e.g. pharmacies). Two maps were developed in the first instance, by EastSide Partnership and the West Belfast Partnership Board, however, upon attending the launch of the latter, the Upper Springfield Development Trust got in touch with Belfast Healthy Cities to develop a third. 2) Demonstrator project. Through discussions in the meetings, colleagues in the city council applied for a vacant piece of land, to develop a 'meanwhile' project. They were successful and have begun development on the land, which is in the city centre of Belfast. The space will be greened, and will have multiple animation activities. Other members of the group (e.g., Belfast Hills Partnership, Social Farms and Gardens) are in discussions to run additional animations with the space once it is up and running. The meetings act as an opportunity to share the research from GroundsWell, and gather input and feedback from stakeholders working in greening and health across the region. Other potential impact opportunities continue to arise, for example, through the potential implementation of a policy placement of an ECR from GroundsWell within the Department of Health. This would provide a valuable opportunity to directly influence policy decisions and demonstrate policy impact. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | Quench Event held at Anglican Cathedral, 22nd September 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Sarah was one of the Keynote Speakers at the QUENCH Meeting on 22nd September held at the Anglican Cathedral - this event showcased some of the research projects that have emerged from QUENCH and Sarah was given opportunity to introduce GroundsWell'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | R Project Sprint 2023 - 30 Aug-1 September 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Roberto Villegas-Diaz, Data Manager, attended an event to further develop his skills with R; an environment for statistical computing and graphics. This event brought together novice and experienced contributors, to work alongside members of the R Core Team (people responsible from developing and maintaining R). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Regenerus Evaluability Assessment |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Workshop with Regenerus contacts as well as the local community living near Poets Street. Discussing possible outcomes and methods for evaluation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Regenerus project meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Discussion of GroundsWell evaluating Our Beautiful Grotspots project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | Research Software Engineering (RSE) in Data and Artificial Intelligence Workshop 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | "Roberto presented part of his work about using Google Map reviews to better understand the usage of local green spaces, and explore the feasibility of using this information to inform the local authorities about necessary changes in the existing infrastructure. The RSE in Data & AI Workshop provided an excellent opportunity for networking and knowledge exchange. Participants gave talks that highlighted the contribution of RSEs/DRIs (Digital Research Infrastructures) in facilitating Data & AI research, for example: Tools, software, and pipelines developed for applications in data & AI Data stewarding/management Systems for big data Good practices for open and reproducible research Software sustainability and contribution to open source Communicating with academics and industrial partners Training in data science skills." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://warwick.ac.uk/research/data-science/warwick-data/news/events/research-software-engineering-w... |
| Description | Royal Geographical Society - 29 August - 1 September 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentation by Wenjing Zhang and Mark Green on 'Why do urban green and blue spaces matter for health and wellbeing'? The purpose of the session was to connect with scholars working on the urban green and blue spaces and health benefits, promote the groundswell project work, as well as further conduct research in response to the green infrastructure framework, and the environmental improvement plan that will affect the UK in the coming 25 years. The Session was sponsored by geographies of Health and Wellbeing Research Group (GHWRG) and Quantitative Methods Research Group (QMRG) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.rgs.org/research/annual-international-conference/ |
| Description | Royal visit showcasing GroundsWell research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Supporters |
| Results and Impact | Her Royal Highness Princess Anne visited the University of Edinburgh as part of a nursing studies showcase. The Edinburgh GroundsWell team was chosen to present our work to her, and other academics within the university. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | SECA Annual Sustainability Lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 29 November 2023: Co-organiser of 'Who owns the Future?' public lecture by Prof. Molly Scott Cato, SECA Annual Sustainability Lecture and launch of Socio-Ecological Justice series, Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action, Queen's University Belfast |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | SLU Landscape Architecture 50th anniversary talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Landscape architecture in the 21st century - creating salutogenic environments. Invited keynote presentation to the Landscape Architecture department of Swedish Agricultural University (SLU), as part of the 50th Anniversary celebrations of their Landscape Architecture Programme, given as part of the 'Landscape Days' event, Alnarp, Sweden,12th-13th October 2022. (C. 40 attendees, mostly faculty of the University). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Schools greenspace competition |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An online video competition run throughout September 2023 aimed at schools along the 10a bus routes in Liverpool, to raise the profile of GroundsWell and the Our Outdoors app working with Liverpool city council. Entrants were asked to send in something about their favourite part of their journey to school. This raised awareness and use of Our Outdoors app. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Schools greenspace competition |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An online video competition aimed at schools along the 10a bus routes in Liverpool, to raise the profile of GroundsWell and the Our Outdoors app working with Liverpool city council. Entrsnts are asked to send in something about their favourite part of their journey to school. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Seminar presentation on GIS, public health and outdoor space |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to partners and research team members outlining the potential of GIS data and GIS analysis to be used as a tool to improve public health. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Seminar presentation on research methodologies for measuring outdoor space use |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of plans to use the MOHAWk space use observation tool in GroundsWell projects; specifically Linking Leith's Parks and The Access Place evaluations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Shared Island Youth Forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 20/10/2023 - The Shared Island Youth Forum is co-hosted by the office of the Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseah's office) and the National Youth Council of Ireland. Amanda was invited to join the forum to speak with young people about her work on sustainability and climate action, held at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/8cb46-shared-island-youth-forum/ |
| Description | Slevin, A. 'Creating fairer, healthier and sustainable societies for an ageing population - how to implement policy-engaged research'. Invited talk and facilitated workshop for ECRs working within the GroundsWell Consortium and on the UKRI funded Social, Behavioural and Design Research Programme, Queen's University Belfast, 23 August 2023. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 23 August 2023 - Amanda Slevin gave an invited talk and facilitated a workshop on 'Creating fairer, healthier and sustainable societies for an ageing population - how to implement policy-engaged research'with Early Career Researchers working within the GroundsWell Consortium and on the UKRI funded Social, Behavioural and Design Research Programme, Queen's University Belfast, 23 August 2023. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Stranmillis Embankment (Belfast) co-design workshop - 16 Sept 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 2 members (RH, RW) of the GroundsWell team attended the co-design workshop (n=28 attendees) of the Stranmillis Embankment. This is an area identified by Belfast City Council as a redevelopment site for a nature-based solution. The GroundsWell team are leading on the public health theme of the co-design and evaluation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Swedish national graduate school on ageing and health Post-doctoral course and mentor program |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | January 24-25, 2024 - The training course is to prepare junior researchers for successful careers as independent senior researchers within the research field of ageing and health |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.sweah.lu.se/en/post-doctoral-activities/post-doctoral-course-and-mentor-program?q=post-d... |
| Description | TV interview - 30 November 2023 - Media interview about world climate simulation. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Co-facilitated World Climate Simulation with Dr Peter Doran (QUB School of Law) and the British Council Northern Ireland for over 100 young people from 34 secondary schools to mark the start of COP28, Belfast City Hall |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | http://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/2023/QueenspartnerswithBritishCouncilonCOP28simulatednegotiation.h... |
| Description | Team Science Workshop - Leading Effective Meetings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Attendance at a workshop entitled "Leading Effective Meetings". During this workshop, attendees participated in a series of discussions and exercises catered towards developing a better understanding of how to lead and co-ordinate effective meetings. This included designing ideal meeting formats and critiquing other attendee's ideas for how to structure a meeting. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Team Science Workshop - Roles and Responsibilities and Team Performance |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Participation in a Team Science Workshop entitled "Roles and Responsibilities and Team Performance". The purpose of the workshop was to discuss how individuals working as part of large teams can create role clarity and improve time management when working across multiple projects. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | The Lancet Podcast, December 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Ruth Hunter contributed to a podcast on urban green and blue spaces published by The Lancet in December 2023: https://www.thelancet.com/lancet-200/health-climate-change?dgcid=buzzsprout_tlv_podcast_lancet200_rfh |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.thelancet.com/lancet-200/health-climate-change?dgcid=buzzsprout_tlv_podcast_lancet200_rf... |
| Description | The Mersey Forest & Cheshire West and Chester Council meeting (Innovation Fund) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Meeting with The Mersey Forest and Cheshire West and Chester Council to discuss an application for the innovation fund. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | The Mersey Forest and Groundswell Collaboration |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Regular meetings with The Mersey Forest (TMF) to discuss collaboration and networking which will investigate the role of city trees (12 June, 10 July, 18 Sept). Groundswell will contribute to TMF's data platform and are on board with TMF's decision-making working group. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | The Mersey Forest and Groundswell collaboration |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Groundswll team meet with TMF, discussed colloboration, with ongoing connects made on investiagte the role of city trees, groundswell contribute to TMF's data platform, Groundwell on board with decision making working group |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | UK PRP Community of Practice 2023 Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 14/15 November 2023 - UK Prevention Research Partnership funded researchers attended for a two-day conference, which sparked questions and discussion afterwards. The researchers presented their projects which also facilitates further collaboration. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://ukprp.org/resources/ukprp-annual-conference/2023-prevention-research-conference/ |
| Description | UKPRP Communities of Practice |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A number of members of the GroundsWell team are active members of a number of the UKPRP COP, including Systems Development Theme (co-chaired by 2 members of GroundsWell), Impact Theme and Management Theme. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | UKPRP Community of Practice presentation - 27 Sept 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ruth Hunter gave a presentation to the UKPRP COP introducing the GroundsWell consortium and work conducted to date. The audience included researchers and partners from several other UKPRP consortia and networks. There was discussions around the integration of our systems science methods, team science, data integration and citizen science methods. Connections have since been established with the VISION consortium around potential future collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | UKPRP Prevention Research Conference 2023 Poster Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I attended this conference to present a poster which provided a summary of a social return on investment analysis of the Connswater Community Greenway. This provided me with an opportunity to discuss the piece of work with conference attendees from other Universities. Specifically, this prompted a discussion with attendees from University of Liverpool that were interested in further discussions regarding the application of the social return on investment model to an ongoing urban regeneration project in Birkenhead, UK. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://preventionresearch2023.stir.ac.uk/ |
| Description | UKPRP Special Interest Group on Systems Thinking and Complex Systems |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Multiple meetings during 2023 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | UKRI Planetary Health advisory committee |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ruth Hunter was invited to be a member of the UKRI Planetary Health advisory committee since March 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.ukri.org/publications/ukri-planetary-health-workshop-report/ |
| Description | Urban Rewilding seminar: new vision or repacking of the old? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | To encourage discussion and debate around urban rewilding. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Urban Transitions Conference - Integrating urban and transport planning, environment and health for healthier urban living |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Sarah Rodgers presented a paper on "The impact of exposure and access to green/blue spaces on mental health inequalities: a population-wide dynamic longitudinal panel study with linked survey data" to the Urban Transitions Conference in Sitges, Barcelona on 9th November 2022. Urban Transitions 2022 aimed to promote healthy urban development by bringing together different disciplines working within cities. Meet world leading experts on urban and transport planning, architecture, environmental exposure assessment, environmental epidemiology, physical activity, climate change, and public health and governance to discuss current challenges and solutions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.elsevier.com/events/conferences/urban-transitions/programme |
| Description | Using remote sensing and new forms of geospatial data for environmental health assessments - presention by Mark Green at the European Environment Agency |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentation by Dr Mark Green to the European Environment Agency workshop on health and place - 19th June. This workshop reviewed existing scientific evidence on the various causal pathways that connect place and health, identify possible datasets and methodologies to assess socio-spatial differences in exposure to environmental pressures and related health outcomes, and discuss the role that Earth observation and other remote sensing data (with a focus on CLMS products) can play in this field. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | VSM verification workshop (Belfast) - 9 Aug 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Members of the GroundsWell team held an expert dialogue meeting with stakeholders involved in the development, management and maintenance of the Connswater Community Greenway to verify the Viable Systems Model (VSM) which details the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders involved at each stage. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | WHO Climate Change and NCDs workshop - 1-2 Dec 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Ruth Hunter and Leandro Garcia co-led a workshop with ~40 WHO delegates to co-develop a causal loop diagram detailing the pathways between climate change and NCDs. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | WHO summer school on systems thinking, NCDs and healthy ageing - 18-20 July 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Ruth Hunter led a 3-day summer school with the WHO NCD Office in Nice, France from 18-20 July 2023 on systems thinking for NCDs and healthy ageing. This involved providing a background to systems thinking, core concepts and methodologies, and practical experience developing causal loop diagrams. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Webinar: Environmental Factors in Maternal and Child Health |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | On Thursday 7th December 2023, we hosted a webinar entitled Environmental Factors in Maternal and Child Health. Prof Ruth Hunter chaired the session and introduced our speakers: Dr Selin Akaraci. Selin's expertise is in environmental epidemiology and her research explores the health impact of urban environments, specifically maternal and child health. Selin discussed a piece of work conducted in QUB, an evidence gap map of the relationship between blue and green spaces and pregnancy outcomes. The next speaker was Prof Sarah Rodgers who discussed the C-GULL study, a longitudinal birth cohort linked with civic data. The final speaker was Prof Pia Hardelid from UCL. Pia's research focuses on how we can use linked, administrative data for research into the epidemiology of respiratory infections in children and how physical environment impacts child health. Pia discussed linked, national data for environmental child health research in England. The online session was well attended and participants were engaged - asking informed questions of the speaker and getting involved in the Q&A session with the chair. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELwQ3K4ecXI&t=2441s |
| Description | Webinar: Inclusive Urban Green and Blue Spaces |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | On 19th September 2023, we hosted a webinar entitled Inclusive Urban Green and Blue Spaces. We heard about the importance of inclusion in green and blue spaces, guidance for developing an inclusive beach, and what we need to do next. Prof Ruth Hunter chaired a session with presentations from Kyleigh Lough (Chief Executive, Mae Murray Foundation) and Dr Sarah Bell (Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter) on the importance of inclusivity in public spaces, how this can be achieved, and work to date, followed by a reflection from Alix Crawford (Chairperson, Mae Murray Foundation). This was followed by a facilitated Q&A session. Mae Murray Foundation is a lived-experience, membership led organisation which makes it possible for people of all ages and abilities to experience the world together, taking part in activities and building friendships in environments which are genuinely inclusive. They recognise all people to be of equal and inseparable value, regardless of physical or learning ability, sensory, medical or undiagnosed condition, age or caring role. They are particularly focused on making sure that people with more complex needs, whose requirements are often overlooked, are able to participate fully. Mae Murray Foundation run a comprehensive range of innovative and inclusive projects for children, teenagers and adults. These range from outdoor activities, to music and social events, and a popular powered wheelchair loan scheme for small children. Crucially, they draw on members' lived experiences to co-design and implement permanent solutions in everyday environments like beaches so that everyone can participate together. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a2M8HwVGeQ&t=1s |
| Description | Webinar: The role of urban green and blue space for climate and nature action |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | On Wed 29th Nov 2023, we hosted a webinar on 'The role of urban green and blue space for climate and nature action'. The aim was to discuss the role of urban green and blue space in climate and nature action, and hear from speakers working in climate and nature action. We also aimed to discuss the recommendations from the consultation process with The Paul Hogarth Company looking at 'futureproofing the Greenway'. The session was chaired by Jacqueline O'Hagan from the Connswater Community Greenways, who set the scene and introduced the Greenway context. Prof Ruth Hunter provided a brief overview of GroundsWell. James Hennessey (The Paul Hogarth Company) presented an overview of the report, findings from workshop, and overall recommendations from the consultation process with GroundsWell and EastSide Greenways. Dr Jonathan Bell (Head of Land and Sea Policy in RSBP) discussed the role of nature based solutions - looking from policy into practice. Prof Jenny McKinley from QUB discussed the UPSURGE project and how it is investigating nature based solutions. Finally, Julie Procter, Chief Executive of greenspace Scotland provided a fascinating insight into the possibilities of parks and the huge impacts they can have across communities. The session was well attended and the audience asked some engaging and informed questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGqWJq0HJdo&t=4s |
| Description | Website development |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Our Outdoors website has been developed and is being updated to share information internationally about the Our Outdoors Citizen Science App. A review of website traffic and Our Outdoors data suggests international engagement. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Women in Cities webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Women in Cities Belfast is a new initiative being led by Callie Persic (Belfast City Council), Prof Ruth Hunter, Agustina Martire (QUB Architecture), Nuala Flood and Laura Michael (QUB Planning).In April, GroundsWell supported the launch of the Women in Cities Belfast group. The role of women and girls in urban public spaces has been increasingly studied in academia, but is still largely neglected in policy. New initiatives are bringing issues of safety, comfort and play to the conversation and we welcomed these to Belfast in April. The Women in Cities Belfast launch webinar welcomed Susannah Walker, founder of Make Space for Girls and Nicole Kalms, Associate Professor, Monash University XYX Lab, Australia. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Workshop on community climate action - Connswater Community Greenway - 1st March 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Over 200 people participated in an all day workshop as part of a community consultation on creating a climate resilient Connswater Community Greenway and how to can support local community needs in the future. A report has been drafted and is due to dissemination 5th October 2023. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Workshop on'Good Relations, Health and the Environment: Developing a shared agenda' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | 21/02/2024 - 'Good Relations, Health and the Environment: Developing a shared agenda' workshop with civil servants, academics and practitioners, Queen's University Belfast. Amanda Slevin, Dom Bryan and Ruth Hunter co-designed and co-facilated this workshop that was designed to advance collaboration on interconnected themes. outcomes include willingness of participants to engage further. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Workshop: Data and Data science for measurement, understanding and mitigation of place-based disparities |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Dr Wenjing Zhang presented research from groundswell on green space and IMD - 10/3/2023 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Workshop: Nature based Solutions (NbS) and the Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, Belfast - 26 Sept 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Ruth Hunter was invited to present at the workshop hosted by RSPB and DAERA showcasing the work of GroundsWell and the Connswater Community Greenway as a nature-based solution. Over 40 people attended with representatives from all government departments across Northern Ireland, including the departmental climate leads. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | World Climate Simulation with second level students and the British Council |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 30 November 2023 - Co-facilitated World Climate Simulation with Dr Peter Doran (QUB School of Law) and the British Council Northern Ireland - Over 100 young people from 34 secondary schools across NI participated in this world climate policy simulation to mark the start of COP28, during which they experienced global climate policy formation and associated tensions, creating deeper insights into difficulties surrounding multi-level climate action. The event was held in Belfast City Hall, organised by the British Council, and was co-facilitated by Amanda and Dr Peter Doran (QUB School of Law). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | invited presentation: AI at QUB - 2nd Sept 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ruth Hunter was invited to present at the AI at QUB seminar series about AI-related research in the area of health and environment which included showcasing this research project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |