Impact Global Location: Syria

REF impact found 25 Case Studies

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Weller

Summary of the impact

This project, which commenced in 2000 and continues to this day, has addressed the settlement of conflicts within states. The project has yielded important findings in the areas of complex power-sharing, autonomy and self-governance, political participation mechanisms for non-dominant groups, peace-making and transitional arrangements in peace agreements. These findings have flowed into the policies and practices of major international actors (United Nations, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), and have been implemented in a number of sensitive contexts. The project findings were also applied directly in a significant number of international negotiations and settlements. This includes the independence of Kosovo and South Sudan, the peace negotiations on Darfur, UN planning for the transition in Libya, the United Nations-led negotiations on a settlement for the conflict in Syria, and the peace agreement and transitional arrangements addressing the deep crisis in Yemen.

Submitting Institution

University of Cambridge

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science
Law and Legal Studies: Law

Countering the Spread of Chemical and Biological Weapons

Summary of the impact

This case study documents the research and impact of Sussex members of the Harvard Sussex Program (HSP) on chemical and biological weapons (CBW). Since 2008, HSP has provided a wide range of benefits to CBW expert and policy communities, through information gathering and dissemination, advisory work, outreach events, and briefings and reviews, as well as single-issue advocacy and policy innovation. At the same time, HSP has contributed to changes in national and international CBW policies through its research on such issues as yellow rain, incapacitating agents, and processes of Science and Technology review.

Submitting Institution

University of Sussex

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Sociology

Developing technical textiles products and processes

Summary of the impact

Heriot-Watt University (HWU) led the development of a supportive infrastructure for the sustainable advancement of Technical Textiles (the fastest growing textiles sector in an industry worth $25bn globally and £3bn per year to the UK economy). 452 companies have had their products or processes created or improved. (e.g. patents awarded, new companies established and research and development sustained). The research transformed how Technical Textiles were understood as marketable products in their own right; from purely functional entities to materials that operate at the interface of design and technology. This enabled the development of new technologies that enhance wellbeing and quality of life, e.g. in the health and defence sectors.

Submitting Institution

Heriot-Watt University

Unit of Assessment

Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry
Engineering: Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Engineering

Embedding information behaviour in information systems development

Summary of the impact

Research in Sheffield since 1993 has focused on developing information-rich systems and services from a user-oriented perspective rather than a more technology-driven approach. This has ranged from the development of theoretical models that describe information behaviour and processes, to the design and evaluation of information-rich systems and services that are based on information behaviour models and that involve end users throughout the design process. The impact includes: (1) enhancements in the practices adopted in systems development within cultural heritage institutions (The National Archives, UK) and libraries (Online Computer Library Centre, US; M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries, UK), (2) improved support for further development and commercialisation of technologies by IT companies (Gnowsis, Austria; Intempra, Italy), and (3) downstream impacts in the form of knowledge transfer leading to new projects to further develop existing technologies and systems (led by Language Technology Centre, UK).

Submitting Institution

University of Sheffield

Unit of Assessment

Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management 

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Information Systems

Los Niños - Life Histories of Child Exiles of the Spanish Civil War

Summary of the impact

The Los Niños oral history project has added a new voice to the discourse around conflict and migration, and in doing so has brought a forgotten chapter of Spanish Civil War history to the attention of the public and media. The insights gathered have found resonance locally, nationally and internationally, as people across three generations gained greater awareness and understanding of the experience of exile. Outputs have been widely disseminated through a digital archive of life stories, a popular oral history book, a virtual and a touring exhibition, a set of online education resources and two documentary films.

Submitting Institution

University of Southampton

Unit of Assessment

Modern Languages and Linguistics

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Framing Transitional Justice Practice: Dealing with the Past in Northern Ireland

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

University of Ulster

Unit of Assessment

Law

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Other Studies In Human Society
Law and Legal Studies: Law

Improving access to mental health care in low- and middle-income countries

Summary of the impact

Research carried out by LSHTM into mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries has promoted new approaches to mental health care and influenced donors, practitioners and policy-makers, contributing to changing global priorities in this area. WHO launched a flagship action plan based on the research, governments and NGOs made substantial financial allocations for implementing the research innovations, and the findings have been translated into treatment guidelines used to train health workers in managing mental illness in many countries.

Submitting Institution

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Unit of Assessment

Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care

Summary Impact Type

Health

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Increasing Awareness of a Non-Essentialist Approach to Intercultural Communication

Summary of the impact

Holliday's research is at the core of paradigm change in intercultural communication. For this reason it has provided a conceptual underpinning for the design and writing of the new syllabus for English language teacher education proposed by the Chinese National Institute of Education Sciences. Holliday was invited to use his research to write the part of this syllabus which describes teacher knowledge and methodology necessary for recognising the cultural contribution of school students in learning English.

This research has also increased the intercultural awareness of English language educators in Asia and Central America through a range of seminars, workshops and internet material, and has produced a textbook which has carried this awareness to university students in the humanities and social sciences in a range of countries.

Submitting Institution

Canterbury Christ Church University

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Curriculum and Pedagogy
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Linguistics

Promoting Understanding of Syriac Christianity

Summary of the impact

Sebastian Brock's research on Syriac language, literature, and religion has changed public understanding of the history of Christianity and directly influenced the practices and beliefs of several Christian communities, helping to overturn centuries of theological opinion and persuading the leadership of western churches that Syriac Christianity is not a heretical offshoot but a central part of its history and development. The impact of his research is significant not just for followers of the Syriac traditions, for whom he has authored many resources for instruction and liturgy, but also for other denominations, including the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches and Roman Catholicism. His research opened the way to stronger relations among these communities, leading to official doctrinal agreements between the Roman Catholic church and the Syriac language-using churches. His publications have cemented his reputation as the voice of scholarly authority within the Syriac church.

Submitting Institution

University of Oxford

Unit of Assessment

Area Studies

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies
Philosophy and Religious Studies: Religion and Religious Studies

Simms

Summary of the impact

This research, on (i) Britain's refusal to intervene militarily in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995 and (ii) the history of humanitarian interventions in general, has received considerable attention from policy makers and attentive publics. It has contributed to the questioning in British political circles of the `conservative pessimism' which in the past often led to an unwillingness to act over humanitarian disasters. It has also contributed to the wider emergence of the norm of a `responsibility to protect', whereby governments qualify the classical presumption of non-intervention with a degree of commitment to protect a people when it is under attack from its own government.

Submitting Institution

University of Cambridge

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

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