Ruth Lightbody is a lecturer in politics in the Department of Social Sciences. Her research focuses on deliberative democracy and democratic innovations, particularly exploring how they can be used to implement policy changes which tackle social inequalities and environmental issues. In the past she has been involved in projects around Scotland including a series of citizens’ juries looking at wind-power and public dialogues on local planning, and carrying out an evidence review on community engagement in Scotland for What Works Scotland and the Centre for Family and Relationships. She is on the Scottish government Working Group on Community Engagement for Transforming Planning in Practice. Her recent publications have focused on the role of experts and evidence giving in deliberative processes.
Ruth joined GCU in 2014 after completing her MSc in Political Research from the University of Strathclyde. She was awarded her PhD from the University of the West of Scotland in 2016 which looked at the role of public hearings in institutionalising deliberative democracy to promote environmental policy making
