Professor Lisa Jones

Professor Lisa Jones is a Professor of Education and Environment based in the School of Education. She is the Director of Research in the School of Education and is also the REF Coordinator for Education Unit of Assessment. Lisa's research focuses on educational, social and environmental injustices and engages participatory, place-based and creative approaches, particularly in relation to advancing climate action. Lisa is currently a Co-convenor for the World Education Research Association (WERA), international Research Network on: Emotions in Environmental and Sustainability Education Research (EMESER).

Lisa is the PI on the British Academy-funded 'SHEroic Journeys: Vietnamese Women's Eco-Trekking Tales for Climate Action' project. She was also PI on the 'Youth-led adaptation for climate change challenges in Vietnam: social action, intergenerational and intercultural learning' project funded by the British Academy’s Youth Futures Programme, supported under the UK Government's Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), as well as the British Academy's maximising impact project 'Advancing Policy and Practice on Climate Action (APPOCA)' project. These projects have involved partnerships with the Central Institute for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies (CRES), Vietnam National University, Loughborough University and Newcastle University as well as a number of non-academic partners, in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. These projects have used participatory and arts-based collaborative approaches to support underserved groups and communities, including young people and ethnic minority and Indigenous women, to explore culturally diverse traditional practices and indigenous knowledges to offer important insights into mitigating against the challenges of climate change.

Lisa was the academic lead on the Just Like Our Lives project working to support the educational experiences of young people who are looked after. The project was very successful in foregrounding the voices of young people through its co-production approach including the creation of an animated film that been widely used in training and public outreach across a range of educational settings and social/children’s services. The film was shortlisted for a range of prestigious national and international film festivals and awards including the World Health Organization’s Health for All Film Festival (from 1265 entries from 119 countries) and the prestigious Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Research in Film Awards (see the film at https://youtu.be/Al3vtGKcqhg).

Along with her colleague Dr Martin Nickson and their partner the Borashabaa Refugee Community Organisation, Lisa has also received funding from the Wellcome Trust funded, British Science Association initiative - the 'Ideas Fund' - an inspiring and innovative pilot, which changes the relationship between communities and researchers to work in partnership around mental wellbeing.

Lisa was also the CI on INSECURE - Capturing Intergenerational Narratives of Coastal Change The project's film featuring the stories collected from youth and community members was a finalist in the AHRC's Research in Film Award (RIFA) 'climate change' category 2021.