Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Prof. Mel Woods is Chair of Creative Intelligence. Her research interests are at the intersection of creativity, technology, action-research and social innovation. She has sustained a critical enquiry into how data and technology can support decision-making and change in response to societal challenges, most recently through environmental monitoring and citizen science.
Her research has addressed a number of critical environment challenges, through the H2030 Making Sense project in which she addressed issues of air quality and noise pollution in urban settings. The research used open design for hardware, software, data with service design and co-creation as a methodology with citizens at the intersection of participatory sensing and design with an eight-step process to support change-practices. This is published in the award-winning Citizen Sensing: A Toolkit.
Prof. Woods led H2020 GROW Observatory research, having the vision to support the emergence of a movement of citizens generating, sharing and using information on growing food, soil health and issues relating to the climate crisis. GROW resources have been adapted and delivered though H2020 WeObserve a free to access education programme of online courses on the FutureLearn platform, in courses such as Citizen Science Projects: How to Make a Difference. She is currently PI for EATS Enhancing Agri-Food Transparent Sustainability funded by EPSRC Digital Economy, Sustainable Digital Sociey 2021.
Woods has contributed to policy, including by invitation from the European Commission Directorate General Environment (2019) for new Guidelines on Citizen Science for Environmental Monitoring, providing recommendations to promote the use of citizen science for environmental policy development and implementation.
Her current external roles include member of UNFCCC Technology Advisory Group for Resilience Frontiers 2022, advisory board for H2020 SCORE and UKRI Digital Economy Peer Review College.
Teaching
Prof Woods teaching portfolio is focused in Design and Making, specifically Masters in Product Design and PhD
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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Network
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Citizen-powered data ecosystems for inclusive and green urban transitions (Urban ReLeaf) (Joint with International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (lead), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Institute of Communication and Computer Systems, and eleven other organisations)
Al Waer, H., Frediani, K. & Woods, M.
1/01/23 → 31/12/26
Project: Research
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Open Design of Trusted Things (OpenDoTT) (Joint with MZ Denmark APS [Beneficiary] and the following Partner Organisations]; Officine Innesto SRL, Victoria and Albert Museum, Wevolver Ltd, ThinsCon e.V., Alexander von Humboldt Institut fur Internet und Gesellschaft gGm, Simply Secure, Quicksand Design Studio Pvt Ltd, STBY bv)
Rogers, J., Taylor, N., Thomas, P., Wilson, S. & Woods, M.
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
1/01/19 → 31/05/20
Project: Research
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An Ecosystem of Citizen Observatories for Environmental Monitoring (WeObserve)(joint with Int Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Centre of Research of Ecological and Forestry Applications, Institute of Communication and Computer Systems Greece, Assoc of European Burgewissenschaften and Alto Adriatico Water Authority)
Cobley, A., Hemment, D., Taylor, N. & Woods, M.
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
1/12/17 → 31/03/21
Project: Research
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The GROW Observatory (Joint with 17 other Institutions)
Cobley, A., Hemment, D., Rowan, J., Taylor, N. & Woods, M.
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
1/11/16 → 1/11/19
Project: Research
Research output
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Local Action with Global Impact: The Case of the GROW Observatory and the Sustainable Development Goals
Ajates, R., Hager, G., Georgiadis, P., Coulson, S., Woods, M. & Hemment, D., 16 Dec 2020, In: Sustainability. 12, 24, 17 p., 10518.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile20 Citations (Scopus)113 Downloads (Pure) -
Transforming knowledge systems for life on Earth: Visions of future systems and how to get there
Fazey, I., Schäpke, N., Caniglia, G., Hodgson, A., Kendrick, I., Lyon, C., Page, G., Patterson, J., Riedy, C., Strasser, T., Verveen, S., Adams, D., Goldstein, B., Klaes, M., Leicester, G., Linyard, A., McCurdy, A., Ryan, P., Sharpe, B., Silvestri, G., & 163 others , Dec 2020, In: Energy Research and Social Science. 70, 18 p., 101724.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile93 Citations (Scopus)166 Downloads (Pure) -
WeObserve Open Data Challenge: Reflections and implications of open data on the sustainability of Citizen Observatories
Woods, M., Ajates, R. & Coulson, S., 14 Oct 2020.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review
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Open source toolkits for Citizen Observatories
Coulson, S., Ajates, R. & Woods, M., 14 Oct 2020.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review
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Citizen Sensing: A Toolkit
Woods, M., Balestrini, M., Bejtullahu, S., Bocconi, S., Boerwinkel, G., Boonstra, M., Boschman, D-S., Camprodon, G., Coulson, S., Diez, T., Fazey, I., Hemment, D., van den Horn, C., Ilazi, T., Jansen-Dings, I., Kresin, F., McQuillan, D., Nascimento, S., Pareschi, E., Polvora, A., & 3 others , 2018, 221 p. Making Sense.Research output: Other contribution
Open AccessFile746 Downloads (Pure)
Datasets
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GROW soil moisture data
Woods, M. (Creator), Cobley, A. (Creator) & GROW Consortium (Creator), University of Dundee, May 2020
DOI: 10.15132/10000156, http://www.growobservatory.org and one more link, https://dmail.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/ResearchServicesPublicDocuments/Ekk5gKO-FtpCisic-1Dsir0BM_cv4ZL7KiQ9nuUshwPNyw?e=ZB9ZCq (show fewer)
Dataset
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Edible Plant Database
Woods, M. (Creator), Cobley, A. (Creator), Verrall, S. R. (Creator), Neilson, R. (Creator), van der Velden, N. (Creator), Hager, G. (Creator) & GROW Consortium (Creator), University of Dundee, May 2020
DOI: 10.15132/10000157, http://www.growobservatory.org
Dataset
File
Prizes
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The PIEoneer Awards 2020 Digital innovation of the year - Learning
Ajates, Raquel (Recipient), Woods, Mel (Recipient) & Cobley, Andy (Recipient), 2 Oct 2020
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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2020 Stephen Fry Award for Excellence in Public Engagement to the GROW Observatory
Ajates, Raquel (Recipient), Woods, Mel (Recipient) & Cobley, Andy (Recipient), 10 Jan 2020
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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CyberArts 2018. STARTS Prize honorary mention
Woods, Mel (Recipient), 2018
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Academy for Design Innovation Management (ADIM) Conference Top III Workshops Award for “Design for Climate Services: A Co-Design Approach” Workshop
Ajates, Raquel (Recipient) & Woods, Mel (Recipient), 2019
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
File -
Best paper at the Design Management Academy conference
Coulson, Saskia (Recipient) & Woods, Mel (Recipient), 2017
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
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EATS Policy Lab
Mel Woods (Speaker) & Stephanie Crowe (Speaker)
13 Mar 2023Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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GROW Observatory
Mel Woods (Speaker) & Stephanie Crowe (Speaker)
6 Aug 2022Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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The role of online learning in accelerating towards a green economy
Mel Woods (Speaker)
28 Oct 2021Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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The role of online learning in accelerating towards a green economy
Mel Woods (Speaker)
28 Oct 2021Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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Citizen science for transformative change
Mel Woods (Chair), Jennifer Ballie (Member) & Stevie McGowan (Member)
5 Dec 2021Activity: Other activity types › Public engagement and outreach - public lecture/debate/seminar
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Press/Media
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European Commission Factsheet: Engaging citizens to accelerate use of research results to benefit all
1/12/20
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research
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Dundee professor calls for social media climate campaigners to take practical action
11/11/19
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
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Internet of Things: Mozilla and Dundee University start joint degree program
Jon Rogers, Nick Taylor, Peter Thomas, Sandra Wilson & Melanie Woods
23/10/18
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research
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Dundee University project will produce “citizen science on an unprecedented scale”
Drew Hemment, Mel Woods, Nick Taylor, Andrew Cobley & Raquel Ajates
6/09/16
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
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Euro citizen science project aims to help home gardeners
Nick Taylor, Drew Hemment, Mel Woods, Andrew Cobley & Raquel Ajates
5/09/16
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research