Research for Change: Skills and Challenges of Applied Environmental Research

Module code: GY7714

Current environmental issues present huge challenges to policy makers, delivery agencies, campaign organisations and others. In the increasingly fraught debates concerning ways forward, the role of professional researchers and policy writers has become essential to understanding environmental challenges and proposing new initiatives and policies.

Delivering salient, credible and timely research capable of making genuine impacts on environmental issues requires researchers who are not only technically skilled but also poses a range of additional applied skills in such fields as communication, administration and people management. This module introduces participants to applied research, and the skills and practices involved.

Topics covered

• Basic principles in applied research. relationship it experiences with the policy making process.
• Negotiating research briefs and contracts.
• Research project planning and implementation
• Applied research methods and practices.
• Resource management, ethics, interdisciplinarity and method selection.
• Report writing and communication.