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About Helen Woolley BSc, BPhil, MLI

Helen Woolley is a Chartered Landscape Architect and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Landscape at The University of Sheffield. She worked both in and for the public and private sectors before returning to academic life in January 1992.

Helen teaches social aspects of design, site planning for housing and professional modules. Her research is focused in two areas: strategic issues relating to open spaces where recent research has included: Improving Urban Parks, Play Areas and Green Spaces (ODPM) which fed into the Urban Green Spaces Taskforce, Value of Public Space (CABE Space) and Urban Parks: Do you know what you're getting for your money (CABE Space)?

Her second research area is that of social inclusion in open spaces with a specific focus on children and disabled people Over the years this has included projects about Young People's Use and Perception of Town Centres (funded by the ESRC), Skateboarding, Pakistani Children's and Young People's Use and Barriers to use of Public Open Space in Sheffield (Research Fellow who was funded by the High Commission of Pakistan) and the Inclusion of Disabled Children in Primary School Playgrounds (funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation). Currently Helen has a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Timberplay, to provide landscape design skills for play in 'natural environments'.

Helen is a Director of the Centre for the Study of Childhood and Youth, at The University of Sheffield, and one of 9 CABE Space Strategic Advisors who will be working with local authorities on the development of play strategies and play spaces. Helen has sat on a variety of national advisory and steering groups for research projects, spoken at and facilitated workshops at a wide variety of academic and professional conferences. Helen is Chair of the Steering Group for the award winning, £6.75 million, Restoration of Sheffield Botanical Gardens, where the partnership is now in its tenth year and she is the author of the book Urban Open Spaces, together with a wide range of other publications.

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