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Research at Bradford has focused on the Biological Non-Proliferation work of the Bradford Disarmament Research Centre (BDRC). The research-informed impact of this work is two-fold. Firstly BDRC has influenced, and continues to influence, decision- and policy-making involving 170 States on how to strengthen global governance through improvements to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC). As a consequence of this influence BDRC has changed the practices of institutions and individual researchers and thus has, through novel training and curriculum development, helped foster a culture of biosecurity to reduce the risk of inadvertent or deliberate misuse of life and associated science research.
Professor Spagat's ground-breaking research on civilian conflict casualties has had a demonstrable impact on the practices of NATO, the British military and humanitarian organisations operating in Afghanistan. The output from the research has been used to reduce the civilian casualties arising from military actions in Afghanistan.
This research has directly impacted the development of resources to enhance professional practice and had an influence on professional standards guidelines or training in these organisations. There are numerous examples of citations in a public discussion, consultation document or judgement and also of citation by journalists, broadcasters or social media. In Section 5 we provide documented evidence of influence on guidelines, legislation, regulation, policy or standards on NATO, the British military and humanitarian agencies in the form of an authorised statement and a podcast made by Lieutenant Colonel Ewan Cameron, a senior medic in the British Army.
In the present document we highlight one particular underpinning study (reference 1 of Section 3) that introduced the Dirty War Index (DWI). Joint follow-up work with Cameron (reference 2) applied the DWI concept to create the Civilian Battle Damage Assessment Ratio (CBDAR). Cameron then brought this construct to the field where NATO forces and humanitarian organizations used it to minimize the civilian impact of military and humanitarian operations in Afghanistan (sections 4 and 5). The DWI research agenda, including further applications (references 3, 4 and 5), has generated substantial public discussion by journalists and broadcasters (Section 4).
The Build the Truce (BTT) project, undertaken at the University of Manchester (UoM), considers the challenges involved in establishing and maintaining a truce during times of conflict. Findings from the research provided the basis for two innovative exhibitions, co-funded by the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS). First, an interactive multimedia display at the Imperial War Museum London (IWML), included as an official part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Second, a Big Picture Show (BPS); part of the rolling programme at the Imperial War Museum North (IWMN). Together these exhibitions, associated public engagement activities and workshops, have both challenged and altered public perceptions of truce, as well as offering a valuable example of how complex and controversial topics can be presented within a museum setting.
This case study demonstrates how psychological and political science research has been utilised to inform policy and practice responses to violence and conflict. Work with the Forgiveness Project has utilised social-psychological research to develop the Forgiveness Toolbox. This is designed to assist key stakeholders, victims, perpetrators and civil society organisations in dealing with the psychological consequences of violence and conflict. The political consequences of violence and conflict were addressed, for example, through our collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Bosnia, which resulted in new material for their work on state and welfare reform.
Professor Gareth Stansfield's research at the University of Exeter into aspects of post-2003 Iraq has informed UK government and international policy towards Iraq since the invasion, and has had impact on policy makers in the US and the UN, through interventions raised and derived from his research. Specifically, his research has had an impact in three areas:
Research led by Professor Sultan Barakat of the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) has had substantial impact in the UK and internationally on the design and use of strategic conflict and stability assessments of war-affected and fragile states. The PRDU enjoys a strong and sustained relationship with the Department for International Development (DfID) and has directly informed the UK's approach to strategic conflict assessment, leading to the creation of the Joint Assessment of Conflict and Stability (JACS) methodology. Impact has now reached beyond the UK with the PRDU commissioned to undertake conflict analyses for other bilateral and multilateral donor organisations using the approach developed with DfID, including a £487,391 project for UNICEF in Somalia that began in 2013.
Professor Richard Caplan's research explores the challenges that arise in the context of post- conflict peace- and state-building. His work on exit strategies and peace consolidation led the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) to ask him to examine specific challenges to designing and implementing transitional strategies in peace operations, and to suggest how these challenges could be met more effectively. This work initiated a process within the UN to introduce more rigorous benchmarking practices for peacebuilding, laid the foundations for the development of a common UN methodology for measuring peace consolidation and played an instrumental role in the production of a United Nations handbook on peace consolidation monitoring, entitled Monitoring Peace Consolidation - United Nations Practitioners' Guide to Benchmarking (United Nations, 2010). The handbook is being used to support practitioners engaged in peacebuilding across the UN system.
The development of chemical and biological warfare (CBW) in Britain is surrounded by secrecy and controversy, and attracts great public interest. Professor Brian Balmer's research has made him a leading commentator on this aspect of national defence policy, and as such he has had a major impact on public awareness and understanding of CBW, in the UK and abroad. His expertise has often been called upon to explain to the general public the import of newly declassified documents. His research has also had an impact on policy-makers, NGOs and others by informing them about the history of policy debates about the control of CBW weapons.
Based on its internationally recognised reframing of transitional justice (TJ) theory and practice, TJI demonstrates singular influence on the tone, language, framing and outcomes of key debates, policies and advocacy in Northern Ireland (NI) since 2003. TJI research has informed political debate and influenced official recommendations on institutions to address the legacy of the conflict; shaped the policy positions and enhanced the capacity of local non- governmental organisations (NGOs); shared in the production of cultural knowledge in a unique law-led artistic collaboration; raised public awareness of the intergenerational aspects of the conflict's legacy; and empowered marginalised individuals. TJI's critiques of local TJ approaches and our development of the TJ Toolkit have demonstrable global applicability. The impact has been primarily regional, with national and international dimensions.