s.bussu@bham.ac.uk

I study and teach public policy, or what governments do or do not do, why and how. My main research interest is participatory governance, or ways of involving citizens, and particularly those groups often at the margins of social and political life, in making policies that affect them directly, in a way that responds to their needs and demands. I’m also interested in doing research with citizens as co-researchers to reframe problems and research questions, by taking their perspective. My research has a strong practical focus and this is also why, after my PhD in Government at the London School of Economics, I spent a few years working in the third sector, before coming back to academia, where I helped to design and evaluate innovative processes to strengthen democracy through citizen participation and community engagement. I joined the University of Birmingham in January 2023.

• PhD in Government, London School of Economics - thesis on participatory governance
• MSc in Globalisation and Development, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, SAS, University of London 
• Certificate in International Relations and European Studies, Birkbeck College
• MA in Bilingual Translation, University of Westminster
• BA + MA (First Class with Distinction) in Modern Languages (English and French), University of Sassari, Italy 
• Liceo Classico (classical studies, Ancient Greek and Latin), Sassari, Italy

Teaching qualifications:

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy