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The EU KLEMS project, of which Professor Mary O'Mahony from Birmingham Business School was a leader, resulted in impact on two groups of users: statistical offices in EU member states and the policy community tasked with analysing and promoting economic growth, such as finance ministries and central banks. The research team demonstrated how to derive productivity statistics at the industry level, highlighting how to make best use of information already in national accounts and fill gaps in the available data. This led to the formation of a Eurostat EU-KLEMS Task Force. The task force recommended that productivity measures be introduced in national accounts; this is currently being implemented by statistical offices across the EU, drawing from the methodology proposed in the research. In the meantime EU KLEMS is being used by policy makers, especially central banks and finance ministries, to inform policy interventions designed to raise economic growth.
PAM-INA was a multilateral project funded by the European Commission's Lifelong Learning programme with a consortium of eight European universities. It led to one international symposium, one international conference, the publication of peer-reviewed articles, two peer-reviewed book volumes in English, a multilingual educational toolkit on the dimension of Europe in post-primary education syllabi (based on research results), a website (www.pam-ina.eu) and a training unit for in-service teachers and teacher education students. Close-working contacts were established between project participants and educational practitioners using the project material throughout the project's lifespan and beyond. The main impact has been achieved by the toolkit.
The worst of institutional child care came to the attention of the public and policy-makers in the 1990s following the fall of Ceauşescu in 1989 when pictures of children in Romanian orphanages were broadcast around Europe and America. Following this, a series of projects at the University of Birmingham (funded by the European Union Daphne programme and the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Europe) charted the extent and consequences of institutionalised care for children across Europe, and devised best practice recommendations for deinstitutionalisation. Among the key findings were that institutionalisation was much more widespread across the EU than previously thought; that it is particularly harmful before the age of three; and that alternative care with superior outcomes for children is also less expensive to implement. During the REF period the research team has significantly expanded their role in disseminating their findings, producing policy reports and briefings, and in providing training. During this time their key findings have made a major contribution to changes in child-care policy recommendations by NGOs such as UNICEF and the UN. Following discussion at the UN General Assembly in 2009 specific guidelines were produced for all 193 member states, which implemented key recommendations from the research about the timing of deinstitutionalisation and how to achieve it (`Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children', 2009). Their research has led to changes to national child-care policies in a number of countries, including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Serbia. Through the activity of UNICEF the impact is now extending beyond Europe to central and South America. These changes have demonstrable benefits for the health and psychological welfare of children, as well as bringing cost savings to the national childcare systems that implement them.
A national UK standard on nano-labelling has been published and an international standard is imminent largely due to the efforts of Professor Geoff Hunt as an applied ethicist in nanotechnology. Hunt became interested in the labelling of nanoproducts when he saw (in 2006) a lack of recognition that nanoscale hazards would affect consumers' right to know. He raised this in his 2006 co-edited book and at a UNESCO workshop in Paris (2007), leading directly to an invitation from Dr Peter Hatto of BSI (UK standardisation body) to lead a world-first initiative on nano-labelling. He continued to steer this project for five years up to International level.
Boeger has co-produced a highly influential body of collaborative work on telecommunications regulation which had direct impact across the EU. It has led to: substantial reform of Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications ("BEREC") and its Office's working methods; dialogue shaping across the EU Commission, European Parliament, and Member States; influenced an EU Parliament report; and has been the driver of inter-institutional pressure on BEREC and its office. In summary, the research kick-started and directly shaped the substantial changes to BEREC and its office both now and for the future, and is a key reference point. The overall aim is to improve the co-ordinated regulation of telecoms markets across the EU.
The pedagogical workshops conducted in Palestine in 2012-13 on History, Culture and Memory as Sites of Life-long Learning in Palestine (LLIP) attracted teachers, civil servants and local government employees, members of cultural centres and NGOs. The project contributed to co-learning experience and a dialogue across cultures. Beneficiaries shared new ideas on critical pedagogies. The local and international partners explored how new research on "social memory from below" and oral memory methodologies can be applied to Palestinian pedagogy. The European partners gained deeper insights into the complex issues and realities confronting the Palestinian institutions. The new pedagogical material recorded at the workshops was circulated through the local media and placed on Palestinian websites in both Arabic and English. As a result of the success of the project, Nur Masalha, Professor of Religion and Politics and Director of the Centre for Religion and History at St Mary's, was consulted by the Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education and the Palestinian Quality Assurance Commission (in Ramallah) in May-June 2013 on the introduction of new MA programmes at Palestinian universities and on issues of teaching history in Palestinian schools.