Ways of Working

SWEEP’s success has been as much about how we worked, as what we delivered (the impact). We developed a suite of mechanisms, or ‘SWEEP services’, that were carefully designed to nurture relationships and deliver maximum impact. Embedded within the delivery process, they created firm and durable foundations underpinning all our projects and activities. These ‘SWEEP services’ were vital to the successful delivery of impact achieved to date, as well as ensuring a strong legacy of anticipated impact into the future.

Skilled impact delivery ​

SWEEP impact specialists and academic teams working together to shape the strongest impact pathways.

Collaboration and co-creation

Creating firm foundations for real change through joint decision-making with external practitioners.

Productive and durable partnerships​

Consolidating lasting relationships through meaningful partnership-working practices.

Capacity building​

Boosting organisational capacity through training, upskilling and consensus building.

Innovative knowledge exchange​

Generating new opportunities through the two-way sharing of state-of-the-art academic research findings and techniques, and industry working practices.

Tailored decision support​

Investing in time to develop bespoke tools and services that respond to need and enhance decision-support capabilities.

Natural Capital valuation

Bringing the value of environmental goods and services into the heart of organisational decision making, as a core pillar of SWEEP’s Natural Capital Approach.

Key roles within the SWEEP Team

There were four key elements to the SWEEP team that worked seamlessly together to deliver the services outlined above:

Impact Fellows

Hybrid roles focused on conducting applied research to translate science into environmental, economic and social benefits. With varied backgrounds, relevant subject matter and technical expertise, as well as the ‘softer’ skills to work collaboratively with external non-academic partners, embedding new capability and delivering real world benefits.

Partners

Partners were also embedded in the team, forming a key component, enabling effective planning, delivery and evaluation and also ensuring a successful two-way exchange of knowledge and impact generation.

Impact Facilitation Team

Impact facilitators with extensive knowledge and skills in project management, strategic impact delivery, evaluation, monitoring and evidencing, relationship building, knowledge transfer, design and communications. 

Academic Experts

Academic experts with diverse and interdisciplinary backgrounds (integrating the natural and physical sciences, economics and social sciences), providing academic leadership and ensuring research excellence is embedded throughout SWEEP’s activities.