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Research at the University of Manchester (UoM) using a `sustainable practices' approach has made a significant contribution to reconceptualising behaviour change in relation to sustainable consumption. Impact emerges via a landmark report written for the Scottish Government (focusing broadly on the field of environmental sustainability) which provides an alternative framework, alongside policy guidance for considering behaviour change. Working with policy partners, the ISM (Individual, Social, Material) approach to behaviour change, outlined in the report, has been converted into a scalable ISM toolkit; positioned as a `practical device for policy makers and other practitioners' who want to influence people's behaviours and bring about social change.' (Scottish Government Website).
Research undertaken by Dr Barr and colleagues at Exeter has examined pro-environmental behaviour policy and notions of behavioural change for environmental sustainability. This body of research has resulted in three main types of impact: it has informed public policy making, it has promoted product development, and it has informed public debate on the issue of sustainability. These impacts have been achieved through: reports for DEFRA that relate to UK behaviour change policy, collaboration with social marketing businesses that has resulted in mobile application development for UK and EU travellers, and informed public debate around issues of consumer behavioural change and flying. The latter has been achieved through citation by journalists and the instigation of debate in national (UK) and international media outlets.
Interdisciplinary research undertaken by Shaw, Barr and Coles at Exeter has examined the use of social marketing to influence pro-environmental behaviour policy and behaviour change for environmental sustainability. This body of research has resulted in three main types of impact: it has influenced public policy making, it has promoted product development for SMEs and it has informed public debate on the issue of sustainability. These impacts have been achieved through: reports for Defra that relate to UK behaviour change policy; collaboration with social marketing businesses that has resulted in mobile application development for UK and European travellers; and informed public debate around issues of behavioural change and flying. The latter has been achieved through coverage by journalists and the instigation of debate in national (UK) and international media outlets.
Lived experiences of ordinary people and how they rationalise events provides rich insights for several disciplines e.g. medicine. With climate change, whilst the value of anthropogenic activity is increasingly recognised, models based on positivist scientific rationality still dominate. What is yet unclear is how a global citizenery understands climate change through its own individual and group "lived experiences". This research is significant in that it seeks to conceptualise and theorise what is meant by the "lived experience" of climate change and how this shapes the "lay rationality" and actions of people in both the developed and the developing world.
The research has explored the impact of welfare transformations on the activities of social workers on the frontline. A key concern has been to explore the gap between, on the one hand, social work ethical statements and the commitments of practitioners on entering the field and, on the other, the workplace reality of marketization, austerity driven cuts and a range of restrictions placed on workers by new regulatory regimes. The research explores the potential, internationally, for a new `engaged' social work practice that draws service users, carers, academics, and practitioners together in defence of good quality, value driven social work.
Research by the University of Southampton into ageing, intergenerational relations and the life course has influenced policy debate and practice at national and international levels, highlighting the importance of adapting social policy to take account of the changing shape of the life course. Empirical research evidencing the impact of earlier life course events on women's resources in later life informed the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Other research has informed the policy work of the European Commission, the UN Economic Commission for Europe and national and local governments, potentially affecting the lives of millions of people.
This case study draws on work undertaken by the Centre for Social Action (CSA) to improve publicly funded services through service-user engagement in both research processes and service delivery. The centre combines applied social research with service and policy evaluation, consultancy, training and information services to the fields of youth work, community development and social and health care. The social action methodology for practice and research undertaken using this participatory approach has had an impact on services and policy internationally (e.g. classroom teaching in the US and the development of social work services in Eastern Europe), nationally (e.g. evaluations of national youth participation projects such as Participation Works and U R Boss for the Howard League) and locally (e.g. work with Leicester City Council). Impacts have been wide ranging, and include methodological innovation, development of training curricula and materials for practitioners, and policy changes which have a profound impact on people's lives.
University of Glasgow research on desistance from crime and reintegration has contributed powerfully to a paradigm shift in approaches to offender rehabilitation, resulting in significant reforms of penal policy and practice. By fostering and sustaining relationships with criminal justice policymakers and stakeholders, the researchers catalysed a number of meaningful impacts. These included significant shifts in rehabilitation policy in all three UK jurisdictions; the delivery of a new practice skills model by the National Offender Management Service of England and Wales, and the ongoing redesign of service provision and prison staff training in Scotland and Northern Ireland. More broadly, the research has challenged conventional wisdom around approaches to `offender management', effecting a widespread cultural change in the penal system.
This case study focuses on the impact of research undertaken within the European Research Centre (ERC) and the Centre for the Study of International Governance at Loughborough University between 1993 and 2009, primarily by Professor Linda Hantrais (1993-2008 and now Emeritus). The impact of the research has been created through high quality cross-national socio-demographic analysis which has underpinned policy formation and delivery at the European and national levels, with particular reference to social policy, citizenship and family policy. It has had a substantial further impact by generating advances in international comparative research methods and training.
One of the main impacts of Bradford's ethnicity research is its influence on how the Substantive Equality Unit (SEU) was set up and continues to operate within the Equal Opportunities Commission of Western Australia. The SEU was established to address the challenge of creating equal and inclusive services, and ensuring their delivery, by all the departments of the Western Australian government for a diverse population. Its central role in promoting equality in the region is on-going and long-term. The beneficiaries of this impact are the government and minorities in the region, particularly Aboriginals and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.