Dr Margaret Greenfields

Professor of Social Policy & Community Engagement

Director: Institute for Diversity Research, Inclusivity, Communities and Society (IDRICS)

Faculty of Society & Health, Buckinghamshire New University

Buckinghamshire New University Margaret Greenfields holds a first degree in Law and Anthropology from SOAS, a Masters in Medical Law and Ethics (with Distinction) from KCL in which she focused on comparative teenage pregnancy rates in the UK and the Netherlands; a Masters in Theology from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Social Policy from the University of Bath which engaged with Roma/Travellers engagement with social work and family law proceedings. She worked for the Universities of London and Manchester as a researcher before training as a community lawyer with a particular interest in homelessness, migration and gender issues, and subsequently working as a legal policy officer for several NGOs in London. In 2010 Margaret Greenfields became Founder Director of the Institute for Diversity Research, Inclusivity, Communities and Society (IDRICS) at Buckinghamshire New University (BNU). She was promoted to become Professor of Social Policy and Community Engagement in August 2012.

Since returning to academia Margaret has worked extensively in the field of social inclusion (with particular reference to accommodation issues and health), ethnicity, equalities and social justice with a specific emphasis on undertaking collaborative research with communities at risk of marginalisation, racism and ‘othering’. Margaret has worked closely with Gypsy, Traveller and more recently migrant Roma (GTR) communities for over 25 years and in recent years has been developing   participatory action research programmes with vulnerable migrants; LGBT+ members of faith communities as well as refugee and asylum seeking women. She has authored/co-authored and edited a number of books and journal articles, and numerous reports for local authorities, Central Government agencies (including the UK Department of Health; Communities and Local Government and EHRC); the European Fundamental Rights Agency, and charities. She regularly lectures and delivers training for NGOs and in academic contexts in the UK, Europe and South Africa. Margaret is a Trustee of London based youth charity (IARS) and also (until the Charity wound down in 2015) the national Gypsy, Traveller and Roma organisation Travellers Aid Trust (TAT) for over 20 years. She is currently supervising a number of PhD students in various fields relating to health and social care exclusion and marginal citizenship.