Dr Margarida Sardo's Outputs (67)

Be less scientist, be more human: Scientists and policymakers mastering the art of public engagement in environmental governance (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

In environmental psychology, a disconnection from nature is often studied but a disconnection from one another is less commonly discussed. Through a similar process of industrial growth, researchers and policymakers have been distanced from fellow hu... Read More about Be less scientist, be more human: Scientists and policymakers mastering the art of public engagement in environmental governance.

The role of enjoyment and affective arousal in air pollution and climate change decision-making (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Diverse citizens need to be involved in net zero transitions to ensure policy interventions do not entrench inequalities for people from minoritised or disenfranchised groups and ensure public engagement with rapid social changes. This talk draws on... Read More about The role of enjoyment and affective arousal in air pollution and climate change decision-making.

Measuring the impacts of participatory citizen science: Lessons from the WeCount sustainable mobility project (2024)
Journal Article

WeCount was designed to empower citizens in five case studies across Europe to take a leading role in the production of data, evidence, knowledge and solutions for local sustainable mobility. This practice insight aims to explore the suitability and... Read More about Measuring the impacts of participatory citizen science: Lessons from the WeCount sustainable mobility project.

Evaluating large-scale participatory projects: what works? (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Delivering citizen science online and hybrid: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on recruitment and engagement (2024)
Journal Article

This small-scale study explores the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on running and delivering a large-scale, international participatory citizen science project. In doing so, it seeks to identify the challenges posed by the pandemic for the research... Read More about Delivering citizen science online and hybrid: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on recruitment and engagement.

Citizen-led emissions reduction: Enhancing enjoyment and understanding for diverse citizen engagement with air pollution and climate change decision making (2024)
Journal Article

Diverse citizens need to be involved in net zero transitions to ensure policy interventions do not entrench inequalities for people from minoritised or disenfranchised groups and ensure public engagement with rapid social changes. This paper illustra... Read More about Citizen-led emissions reduction: Enhancing enjoyment and understanding for diverse citizen engagement with air pollution and climate change decision making.

Citizen science to improve patient and public involvement in GUideline Implementation in oral health and DEntistry (the GUIDE platform) (2023)
Journal Article

Background: Citizen science is a way to democratise science by involving groups of citizens in the research process. Clinical guidelines are used to improve practice, but their implementation can be limited. Involving patients and the public can enha... Read More about Citizen science to improve patient and public involvement in GUideline Implementation in oral health and DEntistry (the GUIDE platform).

Experiences of ‘citizen science’, Pushing the boundaries: Exploring ‘citizen science’ and community participation across research (2023)
Preprint / Working Paper

This is the first in a series of short discussion papers, sharing learnings and reflections from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-funded Citizen Science Collaboration Grants (CSCG). It focuses on the experience of doing ‘citizen science’.1 This... Read More about Experiences of ‘citizen science’, Pushing the boundaries: Exploring ‘citizen science’ and community participation across research.

Embedding citizens within airborne microplastic and microfibre research (2023)
Journal Article

Microplastics are ubiquitous in our environment but their presence in air is less well understood. Homes are likely a key source of airborne microplastics and microfibres to the environment owing to the frequent use and storage of plastics and textil... Read More about Embedding citizens within airborne microplastic and microfibre research.

HOMEs under the microscope: Final evaluation report (2023)
Report

HOMES was a citizen science project which aimed at investigating the presence of airborne microplastics in people's homes. The project took place in two stages, Phase 1 was the Pilot in Bristol and Phase 2, the roll out in Bristol and Bradford. Citiz... Read More about HOMEs under the microscope: Final evaluation report.

Airborne Microplastics measurement: Putting people at the heart of the science (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Citizen-led emission reductions: Behaviour change intention is positively correlated to citizen enjoyment and learning in public engagement activities (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Science communicators need to co-create engagement activities which are enjoyable, inclusive, and attractive to diverse citizens representing regional demographics. Over 8,300 people from six European countries took part in the ClairCity project, aim... Read More about Citizen-led emission reductions: Behaviour change intention is positively correlated to citizen enjoyment and learning in public engagement activities.

Circular economy landfills for temporary storage and treatment of mineral-rich wastes (2023)
Journal Article

Many countries face serious strategic challenges with the future supply of both aggregates and critical elements. Yet, at the same time, they must sustainably manage continued multimillion tonne annual arisings of mineral-dominated wastes from mining... Read More about Circular economy landfills for temporary storage and treatment of mineral-rich wastes.

Reflecting on deepening participation in recruitment and evaluation in citizen science - lessons from the WeCount project (2022)
Journal Article

This paper focuses on an urban mobility citizen science project in which citizens participated in several ways, from technical development to engagement and evaluation. Drawing on asset-based community development, the WeCount project aimed to empowe... Read More about Reflecting on deepening participation in recruitment and evaluation in citizen science - lessons from the WeCount project.

The Christmas Lectures: extending the experience outside the lecture theatre (2022)
Journal Article

Traditionally, the Royal Institution’s Christmas Lectures have always adopted a deficit model for communication, with one or two invited scientists giving lectures to an audience present at the Royal Institution (Ri) and, since 1936, an audience watc... Read More about The Christmas Lectures: extending the experience outside the lecture theatre.

WeCount project evaluation summary: Citizen science on urban mobility (2022)
Report

WeCount was a Horizon 2020 project which aimed at quantifying local road transport, produce scientific knowledge in the field of mobility and environmental pollution and co- design informed solutions for several road transport challenges. Uniquely, t... Read More about WeCount project evaluation summary: Citizen science on urban mobility.

Transforming tradition: how the iconic Christmas Lectures series is perceived by its audiences (2021)
Journal Article

The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are a landmark in the history of science communication. With today’s changing media landscape, it is important to know who is currently watching, how they are watching, and how they are perceiving the content.... Read More about Transforming tradition: how the iconic Christmas Lectures series is perceived by its audiences.

Citizen science on urban mobility - A practitioner's guide to evaluation, engagement and policy change (2021)
Other

This guide emerged from the WeCount project and sets out to scale general guidelines for evaluating similar citizen science projects for improved urban mobility, and draw best practice models for engagement and policy recommendations. It accompanies... Read More about Citizen science on urban mobility - A practitioner's guide to evaluation, engagement and policy change.

WeCount Advocacy Toolkit (2021)
Report

This toolkit is for all citizens who want to advocate for change to urban mobility. Within you will learn about data collection and analysis and the types of advocacy we can be a part of. You'll also learn how to diversify both campaign groups and au... Read More about WeCount Advocacy Toolkit.

“Britain's rainforests”: Engaging the public with brownfield sites for conservation in the U.K. (2021)
Journal Article

This small-scale study aims to understand what different environmental organisations are doing to engage people with brownfield sites in the U.K. Interviews with staff members from different environmental organisations found a wide range of initiativ... Read More about “Britain's rainforests”: Engaging the public with brownfield sites for conservation in the U.K..

Transforming tradition: Evaluating the iconic Christmas Lectures series (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Community engagement on air quality - Environment agency air quality inequalities (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Engaging young people as active citizens and citizen scientists (2020)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

The climate emergency and air pollution sit alongside the biodiversity and ecological crises as the most pressing issues of this generation. Inextricably linked to these environmental problems is social justice; poorer and vulnerable people, and thos... Read More about Engaging young people as active citizens and citizen scientists.

Are we on the same page? Making project engagement and evaluation work across European cities and cultures (2020)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

WeCount (Citizens Observing UrbaN Transport) is an H2020 project under the SwafS-programme which aims to empower citizens to take a leading role in the production of data, evidence and knowledge around mobility in their neighbourhoods, and at street... Read More about Are we on the same page? Making project engagement and evaluation work across European cities and cultures.

Citizen engagement and behaviour modelling for clean air and net zero carbon (2020)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

The environmental and health impacts of climate change and air pollution are being felt around the world and yet cohesive and collaborative policymaking to mitigate emissions are moving too slowly. Behaviour change campaigns instead focus on individu... Read More about Citizen engagement and behaviour modelling for clean air and net zero carbon.

Evaluation of the Q Method as a public engagement tool in examining the preferences of residents in metal mining areas (2020)
Journal Article

In this study, we describe and present an evaluation of how the Q Method was used to engage members of local communities, to examine how those living in former metal mining landscapes value their heritage and understand their preferences for the long... Read More about Evaluation of the Q Method as a public engagement tool in examining the preferences of residents in metal mining areas.

Citizen-led air pollution reduction in cities (ClairCity) Final evaluation report (2020)
Report

"Every day, air pollution and carbon emissions are produced by our commutes to work, by heating our homes, or through our daily lifestyles. Understanding how we live - and the restrictions we face in those choices – is key to improving air quality. S... Read More about Citizen-led air pollution reduction in cities (ClairCity) Final evaluation report.

Former metal mining landscapes in England and Wales: Five perspectives from local residents (2019)
Journal Article

This study uses Q Method to examine how those living in former metal mining landscapes value this heritage and their preferences for the long-term management of abandoned mine waste. There are around 5000 former metal mines in England and Wales, many... Read More about Former metal mining landscapes in England and Wales: Five perspectives from local residents.

The evaluation of the INUDGE project (“Citizen Engagement in Healthy Urban Development”) (2019)
Report

This report details the main findings of the evaluation of the INUDGE project (“Citizen Engagement in Healthy Urban Development”), Provision for Public Engagement project linked to the Wellcome Trust funded research project UPSTREAM (“Factoring long-... Read More about The evaluation of the INUDGE project (“Citizen Engagement in Healthy Urban Development”).

Making the invisible visible. Using art to engage people in healthy urban development (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

“Shape our City” is a UWE Bristol creative engagement project working with researchers and Bristol-based citizens and organisations on understanding the city's priorities for achieving healthy urban development.

In this project we developed a ran... Read More about Making the invisible visible. Using art to engage people in healthy urban development.

Evaluation of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (2019)
Report

This report aims to detail the key findings of the evaluation of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures and its relevance to the Royal Institution. It brings together the findings from the three interim reports previously produced and showcases new... Read More about Evaluation of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.

Evaluation of the Q Method as a public engagement tool (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

There is continuing encouragement for more researchers to engage with the public around their research. One of the goals of public engagement is to ensure that there is public input about policy decisions that may require difficult choices among comp... Read More about Evaluation of the Q Method as a public engagement tool.

What works in the field? Evaluating informal science events (2017)
Journal Article

Around the world, increasing numbers of people are attending informal science events, often ones that are part of multi-event festivals that cross cultural boundaries. For the researchers who take part, and the organizers, evaluating the events' succ... Read More about What works in the field? Evaluating informal science events.

Environmental consultants, knowledge brokering and policy-making: A case study (2017)
Journal Article

This small-scale exploratory study examined the role of environmental consultants in the policy-making process using one European country (Portugal) as a case study. The study focused particularly on the role of environmental consultants as knowledge... Read More about Environmental consultants, knowledge brokering and policy-making: A case study.

“Robots Vs Animals”: Establishing a Culture of Public Engagement and Female Role Modeling in Engineering Higher Education (2017)
Journal Article

© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017. A widespread culture supporting public engagement activities in higher education is desirable but difficult to establish. Drawing on social cognitive theory, this science communication project aimed to enhance culture ch... Read More about “Robots Vs Animals”: Establishing a Culture of Public Engagement and Female Role Modeling in Engineering Higher Education.

Science in Culture: Audiences’ Perspective on Engaging With Science at a Summer Festival (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. In this commentary, we explore the factors that contributed to festival goers’ choice to attend science-based events at a summer cultural festival. We evaluated the impact of such events on the audiences: their levels of... Read More about Science in Culture: Audiences’ Perspective on Engaging With Science at a Summer Festival.

Evaluation of the Bristol Bright Night 2015 (BBN15) (2016)
Report

This report details the key findings of the evaluation of Bristol Bright Night 2015 (BBN), an event funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, which was part of the European Researchers’ Night. BBN took place on Friday the 25th September 2015, bet... Read More about Evaluation of the Bristol Bright Night 2015 (BBN15).

Evaluation of the Wellcome Trust strand at the Latitude Festival 2015 (2015)
Report

This report details the key findings of the evaluation of a series of events sponsored by the Wellcome Trust at the 2015 Latitude Festival, which took place between 16th and 19th July. In addition, the report includes the complete evaluation kit.
Th... Read More about Evaluation of the Wellcome Trust strand at the Latitude Festival 2015.

Beyond dissemination - Science communication as impact (2015)
Journal Article

The drive for impact from research projects presents a dilemma for science communication researchers and practitioners - should public engagement be regarded only as a mechanism for providing evidence of the impact of research or as itself a form of... Read More about Beyond dissemination - Science communication as impact.

Robots vs animals: Learning from the ingenuity of nature. Final summary report (2015)
Report

‘Robots vs Animals’ was a creative collaboration between engineers and zoologists, exploring the ingenuity of both nature and humankind. The project was organised and managed by the Science Communication Unit at the University of the West of England,... Read More about Robots vs animals: Learning from the ingenuity of nature. Final summary report.

Emotional engineering – the story of Robots vs Animals (2015)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

We are told that engineering is in crisis, with double the number of engineers needed by 2020. Only 7% of the UK’s engineering workforce is female, so many outreach programmes now focus on girls as the next generation. However, engineering is portra... Read More about Emotional engineering – the story of Robots vs Animals.

Engagement: Knitting up the ravelled sleeve? (2013)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

The poster aimed to explore the big questions around partnerships in public engagement and consider how, as public engagement researchers, we can draw these threads together and tie them in a strong knot that supports university research.

The post... Read More about Engagement: Knitting up the ravelled sleeve?.

Leisure and Pleasure: Science events in unusual locations (2012)
Journal Article

Building on concepts relating to informal science education, this work compares science-related activities which successfully engaged public audiences at three different 'generic' locations: a garden festival, a public park, and a music festival. The... Read More about Leisure and Pleasure: Science events in unusual locations.

Exploring the ways environmental science is used and valued by policy-makers in Portugal: A case study (2012)
Journal Article

Policymakers, researchers and the general public seem to agree that there is a need for evidence based policies. Here we report on a case study which explores environmental policy making at the national and local levels in one European country, Portu... Read More about Exploring the ways environmental science is used and valued by policy-makers in Portugal: A case study.

You can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink: Exploring the science-­policy interface (2012)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Social scientists: Knowledge brokers for the natural sciences? (2011)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Short- and long-term exposure of Lumbriculus variegatus (Oligochaete) to metal lead: Ecotoxicological and behavioral effects (2011)
Journal Article

Metals are naturally occurring constituents of the environment and although many are essential nutrients for living organisms, at higher concentrations they can be toxic. Some aquatic species can help understand and even predict the impact of those c... Read More about Short- and long-term exposure of Lumbriculus variegatus (Oligochaete) to metal lead: Ecotoxicological and behavioral effects.

Negotiated boundaries: The role of social scientists in Public Engagement with Science and Technology (PEST) (2011)
Report

Effect of the exposure to metal lead on the regenerative ability of Lumbriculus variegatus (Oligochaeta) (2011)
Journal Article

Lumbriculus variegatus is a recommended species for use in sediment toxicity tests and is known to have a remarkable power of segmental regeneration. Here, we tested the effects of a chemical stressor on the regenerative ability of L. variegatus and... Read More about Effect of the exposure to metal lead on the regenerative ability of Lumbriculus variegatus (Oligochaeta).

Assessment of the effects of the pesticide imidacloprid on the behaviour of the aquatic oligochaete lumbriculus variegatus (2010)
Journal Article

Contaminants, such as pesticides, can cause direct toxic effects when released into aquatic environments. Suitably sensitive species can help us understand and predict the impacts of such pollutants. Automated sediment toxicity testing and biomonitor... Read More about Assessment of the effects of the pesticide imidacloprid on the behaviour of the aquatic oligochaete lumbriculus variegatus.

Can behavioural responses of Lumbriculus variegatus (Oligochaeta) assess sediment toxicity? A case study with sediments exposed to acid mine drainage (2010)
Journal Article

The São Domingos mine (Portugal) is, potentially, a good site for ecotoxicological studies, due to a pH and metal gradient of acid mine drainage. In this study, the toxicity of several mine sediments was evaluated using the aquatic oligochaete Lumbri... Read More about Can behavioural responses of Lumbriculus variegatus (Oligochaeta) assess sediment toxicity? A case study with sediments exposed to acid mine drainage.

Roaming robots: Evaluation report (2009)
Report

Bioblitz: Evaluation report (2009)
Report

Physics in the field: Evaluation report (2009)
Report

Latitude evaluation report (2009)
Report

Exposing the estuarine mysid mesopodopsis slabberi to heavy metal lead: An ecotoxicological and experimental approach (2008)
Journal Article

In this work, ecotoxicological tests were performed, using the estuarine mysid Mesopodopsis slabberi. After an acclimation period mysids were exposed to different sublethal lead concentrations for 48h. The concentrations tested were 0.005, 0.01, 0.02... Read More about Exposing the estuarine mysid mesopodopsis slabberi to heavy metal lead: An ecotoxicological and experimental approach.

Behavior, growth, and reproduction of Lumbriculus variegatus (oligochaetae) in different sediment types (2007)
Journal Article

Lumbriculus variegatus is an oligochaete widely used in sediment toxicity tests. The locomotory behavior of adults from a normal and a clone population was studied in the Multispecies Freshwater Biomonitor™ along with growth and reproduction to deter... Read More about Behavior, growth, and reproduction of Lumbriculus variegatus (oligochaetae) in different sediment types.

Histological evaluation of the exposure to 3,4-dichloroaniline in the estuarine mysid mesopodopsis slabberi, under experimental conditions (2005)
Journal Article

This work presents an experimental approach to test Mesopodopsis slabberi as a potential indicator of pollution. The toxic effects of 3,4-dichloroaniline (DCA) on the histology of this estuarine mysid were studied. After an acclimation period of two... Read More about Histological evaluation of the exposure to 3,4-dichloroaniline in the estuarine mysid mesopodopsis slabberi, under experimental conditions.

Mesopodopsis slabberi (Crustacea: Mysidacea): Can it be used in toxicity tests? (2005)
Journal Article

Mesopodopsis slabberi is a euryhaline and suprabenthic mysid with a wide geographic distribution and one of the most important mysid species in coastal shallow waters. Nevertheless, no references were found to its uses in ecotoxicological experiments... Read More about Mesopodopsis slabberi (Crustacea: Mysidacea): Can it be used in toxicity tests?.

Schools Under the Microscope: Children measuring airborne microplastics in the classroom - Final Report
Report

Schools Under the Microscope was a citizen science project which extended the learning and development undertaken during the HOMEs Under the Microscope project by applying and adapting methods developed during HOMEs to the school context, to facilita... Read More about Schools Under the Microscope: Children measuring airborne microplastics in the classroom - Final Report.

Evaluation of the wellcome trust strand at the latitude festival 2014
Report

This report details the key findings of the evaluation of a series of events sponsored by the Wellcome Trust at this year’s Latitude Festival, which took place between 18th and 20th July 2014. In addition, the report includes the complete evaluation... Read More about Evaluation of the wellcome trust strand at the latitude festival 2014.

Open Day 2013: Researchers' event evaluation
Other

The University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE) holds open days several times a year. These days enable prospective undergraduates and their families to visit the university and learn more about its study options, programmes and facilities. For... Read More about Open Day 2013: Researchers' event evaluation.

Former metal mining areas in England and Wales: Local residents’ preferences for the management of wastes
Presentation / Conference Contribution

This study uses the Q Method to examine how those living in former metal mining landscapes value this heritage and their preferences for the long-term management of mine waste. Such sites are often perceived as derelict or degraded, and of very littl... Read More about Former metal mining areas in England and Wales: Local residents’ preferences for the management of wastes.

Embedding communication skills: Views concerning the communication skills of graduate employees
Presentation / Conference Contribution

The presentation highlights findings from a nine month project funded via the Higher Education Innovation Fund in 2010-11. Drawing on a questionnaire survey of employers, in addition to interviews with employers and University programme leaders the p... Read More about Embedding communication skills: Views concerning the communication skills of graduate employees.

Social scientists and public engagement with (social?) science
Presentation / Conference Contribution

The need for a greater engagement with social science has been highlighted by key UK-based organisations, such as the ESRC and the Academy of Social Sciences (Benyon and David, 2008). In the UK, as Burchell and Holden (2009:4) describe, an ‘extensiv... Read More about Social scientists and public engagement with (social?) science.

Scientific evidence and environmental policymaking: A Portuguese case study
Presentation / Conference Contribution

This study provides another angle on the vexed question of the role of environmental research in informing the policymaking process and it describes research undertaken to investigate the ways in which scientific evidence is used by environmental pol... Read More about Scientific evidence and environmental policymaking: A Portuguese case study.

Reflecting on deepening participation in recruitment and evaluation in citizen science - lessons from the WeCount project
Presentation / Conference Contribution

This paper shares learnings from the evaluation of the WeCount urban mobility citizen science project, in which citizens participated in several ways, from technical development to engagement and evaluation. Drawing on asset-based community developme... Read More about Reflecting on deepening participation in recruitment and evaluation in citizen science - lessons from the WeCount project.