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Meeting rapidly rising food demands at least cost to biodiversity is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Since 2005, research in the Department of Zoology has demonstrated that measures to reconcile biodiversity and agricultural production are sometimes best focused on spatial separation (land sparing) rather than integration (land sharing).This work has had a significant impact on policy debate, and has informed policy decisions relating to management of the agri-environment at both national and international levels. Policy statements on increasing food production at least cost to nature now make explicit the potential role that land sparing may have, and place greater emphasis on the need for clear scientific evidence of costs and benefits of different approaches.
Research carried out at the University of Exeter into the ancient religious traditions reflected in biblical texts has been at the centre of two major TV documentary series. Advised and, for one series, written and presented by the main researcher, Francesca Stavrakopoulou, the documentaries contributed to the content and delivery of public broadcasting and greatly extended public understanding of the evidence concerning foundational aspects of the Jewish and Christian faiths. These documentaries, each episode of which was seen by over 1.5 million viewers, became the subject of intense public debate, generating much discussion and response in both national and international media. Stavrakopoulou, dubbed "the BBC's new face of religion" by the Telegraph, also communicated the research in numerous other broadcasts and public events.
The Centre for Econics and Ecosystem Management is the product of six years of international collaborative research and sector-based consultancy between Writtle College and Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (Germany). Activities at the Centre include developing a core body of internationally recognised research in the fields of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, complex systems science and adaptive management, and using the research to work with conservation organisations around the World to resolve significant environmental problems. Our sponsors include GIZ, Germany and WWF Germany, and our operations extend from Central America to the Ukraine, Russia, South Eastern Europe, China and Korea.
For over 40 years, the Urban Pollution Research Centre has undertaken pioneering work in understanding the sources, behaviour and fate of urban diffuse pollution and its mitigation using sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS). Relevant impacts claimed here include the adoption of SUDS into UK practice and legislation, the role of SUDS as key components in achieving EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) requirements and the embedding of our research within national best practice guidelines. In response to recent policy drivers, we are collaborating with Arup to commercialise SUDSloc and are informing policy developments in the fields of diffuse pollution mitigation and urban ecosystem services.
Michael Cullinane's research on anti-imperialism has influenced the way in which history is taught in a number of secondary schools across the United States. By making the research for his book Liberty and American Anti-Imperialism available through lesson plans on his website www.antiimperialist.com, Cullinane has given students and teachers access to relevant learning resources. As a result, lesson plans and state curricula have changed. Secondly, Cullinane has promoted a transnational and global perspective of the Philippine-American War, which has been adopted by heritage organisations, such as the Lopez Foundation of Balayan and the Filipino-American Association of New England (PAMAS).
Research at Imperial College led to the saiga antelope being included in the World Conservation Union's Red List at the highest level, Critically Endangered (2001). Imperial research underpinned the Medium Term International Work Programme (MTIWP) for the species under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS, 2006, 2010). It led to the formation of the Saiga Conservation Alliance (UK registered charity since 2010), and supported conservation interventions carried out in the five range states, including public education, alternative livelihoods, improved law enforcement, better scientific monitoring by governments and NGOs, and improved capacity of in-country scientists. Recipients range from Government ministers to local communities. The global saiga population increased by almost 190% between 2006 and 2012 as a result of these conservation efforts [section 5, source F]. The conservation processes set in place as a result of Imperial research are now seen as a model of best practice within the CMS.
Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) is a very well known, international specification for secure mobile radio and `walkie-talkie' communication, that is extensively used and relied upon by emergency and public safety services such as police, ambulance and fire services, as well as governmental and private bodies. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) began standardising TETRA in the 1990s and it is now widely used throughout the world. Foundations of its success include resilience and reliability, but security is a major feature, being underpinned by expert cryptographic design. In particular the authentication and key generation mechanisms in TETRA rely on a block cipher (HURDLE) which was designed by a team of cryptographers at Royal Holloway.
The work carried out at Royal Holloway underpins the integrity and security of TETRA safety- critical networks throughout the world to the present day. A secure design for emergency service communications minimises both the amount of disruption criminals can cause to service operations, and the amount of operational information such criminals can glean from eavesdropping, contributing to the safety and security of society as a whole as well as the economic benefits to manufacturers of TETRA-based equipment.
This case study focuses on the right to assemble and to protest through International human rights' law. It has impacted upon judicial rulings of human rights' compliant approaches to monitoring and policing peaceful protest. Sustained research with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has increased national and international understandings of and respect for one of the fundamental human freedoms through the development of the Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly (Jarman et al. 2010). These guidelines are increasingly recognised as international soft law standards and they have been used by international and national human rights' organisations throughout eastern Europe and the south Caucasus including the United Nations. The beneficiaries of this research impact are governments and NGOs working across eastern Europe, the south Caucasus and central Asia. They include Amnesty International, Human Rights' Watch, Helsinki Foundation and the International Foundation for Human Rights (FIDH).
Research conducted by the Centre for the Study of Poverty and Social Justice (CSPSJ) led to a new way of assessing child poverty in developing countries. This novel method (termed the Bristol Approach) resulted in the United Nations General Assembly's adoption, for the first time, of an international definition of child poverty (2006). It also underpinned UNICEFs Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparities (2008-10), which was run in over 50 countries. In the last ten years, the CSPSJ's work has put child poverty at the centre of international social and public policy debates. Its researchers have advised governments and international agencies on devising anti-poverty strategies and programmes that specifically meet the needs of children, and have significantly influenced the way child poverty is studied around the world. The Centre has developed academic and professional training courses for organisations like UNICEF on the issues of children's rights and child-poverty. Our work has also spurred NGOs such as Save the Children to develop their own child-development indices, and so has had a direct and profound impact on the lives of poor children around the planet.
Emerging from investigations of social exclusion during the 1990s, the Unit's research into minority rights has led to outputs and consultancy ranging across political participation, identity, rights protection and international criminal law. The impact claimed here falls in two main channels. Firstly, research on socio-economic group rights, amplified by Castellino's work as co-chair of the relevant UN delegated group, has made a significant input into the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2015-30. Secondly, research has been incorporated into practice and capacity- building through projects involving judiciaries, advocates, statutory bodies, and NGOs. Beneficiaries include the public across 194 states who will benefit from implementation of SDGs over their 15 years lifespan; and civil society bodies and their users.