National Ecosystem Assessment 2022-02-17T11:29:21+00:00

Project Description

Project summary

This project implemented a programme of public dialogue on the methods, analyses and recommendations of the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (UK NEA, 2011) and its follow-on work (NEAFO). The NEA and NEAFO both address the character, causes and consequences of ecosystem change.

Research was needed in order to understand how this work, such as the NEA’s characterisation of the natural environment, reflected wider public perceptions, aspirations and concerns. The dialogue was run by Sciencewise in partnership with the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

In total, 118 members of the public participated across nine one-day events, held across three locations: Birmingham, Exeter and Glasgow, with a finale event in London involving a subsection of 34 invited participants. The project used a mixture of stimuli: presentations, visual aids and written texts, including data, maps, cartoons and animations.

The public dialogue report was published in June 2015, with the results being publicised on the Phys.org science news service on 23 June 2015. By end of June 2015, there had been over 1,000 visits to the main page, with over 600 unique views.

The delivery contractors were the University of Exeter with assistance from Hopkins Van Mill. The dialogue was evaluated by 3KQ.