Emma Rothero, Gareth Davies and Jim McGinlay, The Open University
This post was jointly authored by Emma Rothero, Gareth Davies and Jim McGinlay
We applied to the OU’s Engaging Research Seed Funding Scheme based, in part, on the track record of engagement built up over a number of years through the Floodplain Meadows Partnership. In participating in this scheme as part of the OU’s Public Engagement with Research Catalyst we wanted to share some of our experiences in generating evidence of the impacts from engaged research. Of course, we also wanted to learn from other researchers trying to achieve the same ends.
Project aims
The aims of our study were to understand:
- the role of site-specific advice provided by the Floodplain Meadows Partnership, in the process of translating scheme goals to practical actions;
- the extent to which the government funded HLS agri-environment schemes benefit species-rich floodplain meadows;
- the effectiveness of these schemes in creating new species-rich floodplain meadows.
Cricklade Floodplain Meadow. Credit: Mike Dodd and Emma Rothero