project
Generating Policy Impact with Bude Area Community Jury on Climate Change
27 May 2024 - 31 October 2024
PI/s in Exeter: Dr Ben Hudson
Research partners: Bude Climate Partnership and Policy@Exeter
Funding awarded: £ 5,000
Sponsor(s): ESRC Impact Accelerator Account Impact Cultivation Funding
About the research
Bude, in north Cornwall, has a long history of flooding that is now being compounded by a real risk of climate change-induced sea level rise. In 2023, Bude Climate Partnership (BCP) commissioned the Bude Area Community Jury on Climate Change, which sat from September-November 2023. The Community Jury is a deliberative process that meaningfully engages residents; it is the first of its kind to focus on adaptation to the climate emergency and sea level rise. The Community Jury initiative is now reaching arguably its most critical and most difficult phase translating the principles and recommendations report it launched in January 2024 into policy and concrete actions. Central to this work, this project takes necessary initial steps towards generating policy impact from the Community Jury's recommendations, namely by getting key policy/decision-makers to take action towards realising these recommendations.
The project has the following objectives:
1. To translate the Community Jury's™ report into a series of shorter policy briefs tailored to specific key policy/decision-makers.
2. To support upskilling and community capacity-building, through Community Jury members participating in two half-day workshops led by Policy@Exeter, namely a) writing for policy audiences, and b) communicating with and influencing policy/decision-makers.
3. To co-host a policy engagement event, namely a town hall meeting with invited policy/decision-making audiences, opening a pathway to impact.
4. To develop contacts between Dr Hudson, BCP and the Community Jury for future co-created research that responds to community needs. Realising community-led change is vital to achieving effective climate adaptation in accordance with international principles.
Dr Hudson, BCP and Community Jury members will work together on every aspect of the project, thus ensuring that the project is informed by social sciences research and is place-based (i.e. appropriate to the Bude context).