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Dr Ian Bradley's research on the history and practice of pilgrimage in Scotland has had an impact on public understanding of cultural heritage, on the tourist industry, and on the development of new practices by local authorities, churches and the military. Dr Bradley has been commissioned to devise and lead pilgrimages in Scotland and beyond, which have yielded quantifiable economic benefits of over £250,000. His research has contributed to the conservation of cultural heritage through a range of consultancy work, with impacts including the establishment of the Scottish Pilgrim Routes Forum in 2012 and enhancements to the visitor experience at Iona Abbey. It is continuing to shape pilgrim route infrastructure development by national and local agencies, church groups and the army.
The Pantomime in Scotland touring exhibition attracted audiences of 63,000 people between 2008 and 2010. It was supported by a national programme of community events for schools and the general public, gathering memories from older visitors to form part of an ongoing cultural archive. The discovery and re-recording of film and music from the 1930s-50s led to two concerts attended by 700 people in 2010, and the creation of a DVD, which has sold 500 copies since its production in 2009. Publicity surrounding the exhibition and related events reached an estimated circulation of 467,330 across print media and audiences of over 1 million across Scottish radio and television.
Cinema St Andrews examines and preserves the cinematic heritage of St Andrews from the medium's origins to the present day. Our historical research has supported film culture in St Andrews to the benefit of local residents, pupils and tourists in three interrelated ways: 1. by contributing to the cultural heritage of the town; 2. by influencing secondary education and its curriculum; 3. by developing film audiences in partnership with local exhibition sites. Positioning the project's scholarly research within the town's heritage industry, Cinema St Andrews has fostered and sustained a thriving community-based film culture, a major component of impact within our discipline.
This case study is based on the pilot phase of the Corpus of Scottish Medieval Parish Churches project, which provides a detailed assessment of the medieval fabric of 105 of the c.1,136 parish churches of pre-Reformation foundation in Scotland. Carried out in 2008-09 with funding from AHRC, it focused on the dioceses of Dunkeld and Dunblane. The Corpus has been invaluable in broadening knowledge of the buildings, and hence informing the decision-making processes of a wide range of bodies and individuals involved in preserving Scotland's medieval architecture. These include, amongst others: the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Historic Scotland; national and local societies from the Royal Archaeological Institute to the Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust; and professionals called to work on the buildings.
Research on the distribution, abundance and sensitivity to disturbance of marine predators has been translated into environmental and economic benefits via a series of spin-out companies with a global presence. The research enabled the following impacts:
Direct company earnings were ~£6 million turnover in the assessment period and this supported 24 employees two-thirds of whom are skilled specialists.
Virtual Worlds are challenging to develop and deploy in small community settings. Our research into their measurement, design, and usability has allowed us to radically reduce the cost and footprint of a platform needed to support the collaborative creation of content, letting communities share their histories with both local and global audiences. Integrating this platform with an approach to virtual fieldwork lets communities explore authentic recreations of historical scenes, giving new perspectives on cultural heritage that stimulate reflection and understanding across the generations and enhancing the visitor experience by making new modes of interaction available for museums. This has enabled educational and cultural heritage bodies in Scotland to connect with new audiences and increase public participation in local heritage.
Impact: Economic The light-emittingdendrimers are a new class of materials for organic light-emitting diodes, a major display technology. They have been commercialised by Cambridge Display Technology (CDT), the leading developer of polymer light-emitting diodes.
Significance Light-emitting dendrimers provided a breakthrough in the efficiency of organic light emitting diode (OLED) materials deposited from solution. This enabled the convenience of solution-processing to be combined with high efficiency, and enabled solution-processed materials to compete with evaporated materials.
Beneficiaries CDT, display manufacturers around the world and display users.
Attribution The research was performed by Professor Samuel in collaboration with Professor Burn of the University of Oxford.
Reach Materials based on light-emitting dendrimers are manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical in Japan and supplied to global displays manufacturers.
Successful planning in Scotland requires a set of geographical units for which data can be collected and analysed. Researchers at St Andrews have developed a new `small area' geography for Scotland. `Data zones' (DZs) provide a scientifically-based template for data mapping and has been adopted as the default geography used by public and private organisations to display and analyse data on topics as diverse as economic planning, health, education and transport, thus impacting how and where policy is enacted. To be statistically appropriate these units have to be compact, homogenous, with approximately the same size population and publically acceptable. This is not a trivial task, involving millions of potentially different solutions. In 2001, Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics (SNS) commissioned St Andrews to study how such units should be defined and to develop a methodology for creating them. Using the experience and skills developed over many years working in this area, the team developed a methodology and established the official small area geography of Scotland.
One of Scotland's cultural treasures, the Reformation-era Wode Partbooks (also known as the Wode Psalter), their music and their Reformation world have been brought together from locations in museums across Scotland and Europe for the first time and introduced and made better known to audiences within Scotland, the UK and internationally. Through public engagement this project has enriched awareness of the Scottish and British heritage and the value of the Wode Partbooks as a cultural object and record of the cultural impact of the Reformation. The project has also provided an impact on cultural life and education as particular interest groups, such as choirs, church groups, embroiderers and history enthusiasts have been actively engaged through choral and stitching workshops, public psalm-singing events and collaboration over publishing.
Dr Sweetman's research on the churches of the late-antique Peloponnese included a virtual reconstruction of the Acropolis Basilica in Sparta, which was developed in conjunction with a pair of publications on the pedagogical applications of virtual reconstructions. This initial work led to the development of nine other virtual reconstructions — including St Andrews Cathedral, Linlithgow Palace and the Brora Salt Pans in Sutherland — which have contributed to making cultural heritage more accessible to a wide range of users. Specifically:
i. They have helped a range of tourist and cultural heritage bodies in Scotland and beyond to improve accessibility by means of virtual tourism and to increase public interest in local heritage. (Public understanding and heritage management)
ii. They have been used in the classrooms of seven Scottish schools in projects related to the Curriculum for Excellence, resulting in increased understanding of and enthusiasm for archaeology and Scottish and classical history. They have influenced Education Scotland in their development of new plans for using digital technologies to enhance learning, and have been made available via Education Scotland's `Glow' website to schools throughout Scotland. (Education)