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Research carried out by the Department of Sociology at the University of Aberdeen into the nature and extent of communal division in societies emerging from conflict — particularly in Northern Ireland — has directly benefitted policy makers and community leaders through personal briefings and exposure on influential electronic media. The research findings have also benefitted action groups, peace practitioners, churches and other civil society groups in Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka and elsewhere through workshops and training materials; and they have raised awareness and understanding and stimulated debate through the purposeful use of online media outlets.
Prior to Stevenson's 2007 biography, the work of the mid-twentieth-century artist Edward Burra was neglected within and beyond the academy. Following the publication of this biography, a major reassessment of his work has taken place. This has generated cultural capital, particularly through exhibitions based on Stevenson's research, including the first exhibition of Burra's work for 25 years, and a BBC4 documentary. The rediscovery of Burra has had a material impact on the price of his paintings, generating business for auction houses which, moreover, depend on Stevenson's research (disseminated through consultation) for attribution purposes and auction catalogue entries.
This case study details the impact of collaboration between three colleagues at the University of Aberdeen - Mealor, Stollery (Music) and Davidson (History of Art) and how the resulting work has contributed to a reassessment of opera in the twenty-first century in the context of the work of Scottish composers such as Thea Musgrave, Peter Maxwell Davies, Judith Weir and Sally Beamish. In 2010 the team created the opera 74 Degrees North, commissioned by Scottish Opera for its FIVE:15 series of new operas.
The impact of the work can be evidenced in the following ways:
a) Securing of excellent reviews in national press;
b) Near capacity audiences over eleven performances at three national venues;
c) Plans with Scottish Opera to create a new longer version of the work for future performance nationally and internationally;
d) Further collaboration between composers in Music department to create new work with the capacity to achieve impact;
e) sound festival 2012's commitment to a weekend of new approaches to opera composition;
f) Development of a substantive and continuing relationship between Scottish Opera and University of Aberdeen.
University of Aberdeen research into financial and economic relations between Westminster and Scotland has informed public debate concerning Scottish Constitutional Change and influenced Scottish and UK policy makers in light of Devolution in 1999 and the Independence Referendum in 2014.
Impact emerged through two main channels: First, through UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) research investigating the nature and extent of shares of investment, production, gross revenues and UK treasury tax revenues attributable to an independent Scottish parliament. Second, through accurate research information about the Barnett formula's post-devolution role in fiscal transfers between Westminster and Scotland.
The issue of spiritual care is enshrined within both health and social care policy in Scotland. Both sectors often struggle to meet these needs. This impact case study relates to two unique initiatives arising from the research of Swinton that have sought to address this gap in knowledge and practice. The Kairos Forum for People with Intellectual or Cognitive Disabilities has focused on putting academic research into practice for issues relating to spirituality and intellectual disabilities. The Community Chaplaincy Listening Project has taken chaplaincy provision and spiritual care and extended it into the community. Together these initiatives have contributed to better practice in relation to healthcare (especially relating to mental health) and the lives of people with disabilities, for the NHS, churches and social care.
Research by Dr William Tuladhar-Douglas on biocultural diversity and religion in sacred landscapes in the Himalayas has had significant impact on conservation policy and practices for ecosystems in the Himalayas. His research has reinvigorated debate about culturally appropriate modes of engagement and challenged the concept of `religion' that conservationists use in their work with indigenous communities. This is particularly the case in terms of concepts of personhood which are held by certain indigenous peoples in relation to non-human creatures, and the ways in which traditional practices engage with non-human persons in the form of animals, plants and deities. Through directly influencing the policy and practice of the World Conservation Union (the leading international body in world conservation), Tuladhar-Douglas' research has led to culturally appropriate understandings of `personhood' being recovered into the management of protected areas. This has changed the interplay between local cultural variation, threats to biodiversity, indigenous perspectives and international conservation norms. Furthermore, his work has determined that there is greater capacity to engage with traditional peoples in conservation, helping to transform them from being `paper stakeholders' to genuine participants. The resulting policy changes are likely to help achieve resilient and successfully protected sites.
This case study describes the reception and impact of Patrick Crotty's Penguin Book of Irish Poetry (2010), an unprecedentedly capacious anthology drawn from many languages and seventeen centuries of poetic composition in Ireland. The anthology presents poems in modern English and Scots alongside verse translations from Middle English, Old French, Old, Middle, Classical and Modern Irish, Latin and Old Norse. Many of the book's specially commissioned translations are by internationally renowned poets. The study considers responses to the anthology terms of its high sales, wide range of reviews, coverage by news media, and engendering of public events.
At a time of decline in church attendance in the UK, the models and patterns of leadership that churches have traditionally utilized have been questioned and rethought. In this context, aspects of the research carried out in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen have focused on the leadership of the church, as a key user group of research in Divinity. This research has led to changes in models and patterns of leadership within the churches. To illustrate this, this case study examines two related examples of the impact of research carried out in the UoA in different sub-disciplines. Drane's (1998-2004) work in Practical Theology has impacted the church leadership's approach to spirituality and Fresh Expressions of Church through Mission Shaped Ministry and through his work with the Church of Scotland. Clarke's historical and theological research into New Testament texts and first-century contexts have been brought to bear on contemporary contexts of church leadership, within both Scottish Baptist and Church of Scotland settings. Claimed impact is, therefore, on the patterns and practice of ministry in these churches as a result of the research of Drane and Clarke.
This case study explores the way in which unforeseen, serendipitous impact can lead to planned and managed impact. Mealor's research in choral music led to serendipitous impact when a student group's performance of Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal was heard by HRH The Duchess of Cambridge. Unforeseen impact on one person led to an invitation to write Ubi caritas for the 2011 Royal Wedding. Alongside all the music performed at the ceremony, this piece reached a worldwide audience through its dissemination on broadcast media. Unlike the rest of the music, this particular piece has achieved impact on a global scale.
Property market investors (from large institutional investors to potential home buyers) need to have confidence on the level of risk and returns associated with their transactions. Without such confidence, property markets will fail to operate efficiently.
This case study reports on the development of a number of different property indices by Aberdeen-based researchers which have increased information on, and therefore the transparency of, specific markets. The commercial real estate and urban regeneration indices have been widely adopted by industry and influence investment portfolio decisions. The residential indices are used by surveyors, mortgage lenders and influence the housing choices of the general public.