Dr Valesca Lima is an Assistant Professor of Politics at the School of Law and Government. She researches policymaking and governance with three main areas of interest: citizen participation, housing policy, and social mobilization. Her recent research has been funded by the Irish Research Council on projects relating to housing justice in Ireland and Portugal, as well as barriers to access to affordable housing. Her work in the field of housing and urban studies focuses on the financialisation of housing, social mobilization for housing rights, and policy innovations for a more democratic and inclusive housing system. Additionally, her work emphasizes citizen inclusion at the sub-national levels, especially in contexts where participatory democracy is being implemented. This work led to the publication of the book 'Participatory Democracy and Crisis' with Palgrave. Her recent co-edited volume 'The Consequences of Brazilian Social Movements in Historical Perspectives' examines the political outcome of social movements, exploring the various consequences of social protest and was recently published with Routledge. Valesca Lima also work on the interconnections between political participation of vulnerable groups and have an ongoing interest in democratic innovations in Ireland, Latin America, the EU and beyond.

She's currently Editor of the International Review of Public Policy (IRPP), the open access journal of the International Public Policy Association (IPPA); co-director for Women in Research Ireland, a registered charity working for better representation of women and under-represented groups in academia; and co-convenor of the PSAI's Participatory and Deliberative Democracy Specialist Group.