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Archaeological, Geographical & Environmental Sciences

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Dr Liz Sharp

Geographical & Environmental Sciences

Liz Sharp has a BA in Geography and a MA in Planning. Her PhD from Sheffield University investigated public participation in the development of environmental policies and practices. Since joining the Bradford staff in 1998, her interests have developed to embrace social and institutional aspects of waste and water environmental policy, largely in a UK context. Her research is interdisciplinary, indicated by her membership of the Pennine Water Group the International Centre for Participation Studies, and the Bradford Water Group. She has taught modules relating to environmental policy at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. She is a Director of the Unit for Research on Community Engagement and the Environment, and has ongoing close connections to the community environmental sector in Bradford.

Professional activities

• Co-investigator for successful EPSRC bids AIA (Ashford’s Integrated Alternatives) (2008) URSULA (Urban Rivers and Sustainable Living Agendas) (2007) and WaND (Water Cycle Management for New Developments) (2003)
• Speaker at ‘Demand Management’ workshop panel at ‘Water 09: The Challenge Ahead’, 14th July 2009, Royal Geographical Society, London
• External reviewer of research proposals for the Norwegian Research Council
• Supported Professor Richard Ashley as specialist advisor to House of Lords Science and Technology Committee Inquiry on Water Management (2006-7)
• Keynote author at 10th International Conference on Urban Drainage (2005).
• Reviewer for ESRC, the EPSRC and for numerous journals including Environmental Management, Urban Studies and Ecological Economics.
• Chair and director of Bradford Environmental Action Trust (BEAT) 2002-5

Research

My research is concerned with the complex processes through which environmental policies and practices develop. I am interested by issues of power, and in particular, the way the public can both influence and be influenced by policy measures. My work usually employs qualitative techniques, and is concerned with moving towards a form of sustainable development which is sensitive to community needs and preferences.

One strand of my work considers environmental policy making in British local authorities. Using documentary analysis, observation and interviews, I examined the articulation between internal governance processes and external processes of public participation. This has led to ongoing research and consultancy activities concerned with methods and processes of public participation in environmental policy making.

Funding from the ESRC and the Shell Better Britain Campaign enabled me to examine the contribution of community groups to changes in public and local authority practices in relation to waste and recycling. This research promoted an interest in communication and ‘behaviour change’ strategies employed to influence the public.

My contemporary research focuses on urban water management, and the ways that more sustainable management of water could deliver a living environment which is both socially and ecologically better than our contemporary cities. Research on water efficiency and flooding focuses on the institutional arrangements which could enable a transition to a more water sensitive environment to occur. A parallel stream of work examines public perceptions and preferences in relation to water supplies and floods. These understandings are crucial in helping to frame future water policy to meet community needs, as well as assisting communications strategies focused at achieving behaviour change. Funding for this research is derived from the EPSRC, DEFRA, the Environment Agency, and a range of UK water companies. A further element of my current work is an interest in the functioning of multi-disciplinary research groups. Comparing my experiences in inter-disciplinary teams with that of a New Zealand colleague, I have examined the processes of ‘interdisciplinary learning’ and ‘research user involvement’.

Finally, I have played an active role in helping to establish these University of Bradford as an Ecoversity, dedicated to the implementation of Education for Sustainable Development through the transformation of its own estate and management, and through the formal and informal curriculum. I expect to play a role in the research, evaluation and review of these efforts as implementation of this ambitious agenda unfolds.

Publications Since 2000

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