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Research at the University of East London has catalysed action across a wide range of policy, science and practice activities aimed at restoring and conserving peatlands. It has underpinned the development of a government-affiliated body (IUCN UK PP) committed to ensuring effective conservation and restoration of peatlands, and helped shape carbon-management initiatives and policies at national and inter-governmental level, prompting Ministerial commitments and substantial funding for UK peatlands. It has also supported inter-governmental consensus over the sustainable management of peatlands and their carbon stores, and influenced legal decisions about windfarm development on peat. Furthermore, it has enhanced public understanding of important environmental issues relating to peatlands and their ecosystem services, particularly in relation to greenhouse-gas emissions and water management.
Research undertaken at the University of East London has confronted the historical lack of documentation, representation and participation in the British theatre by ethnic minority communities, with particular reference to the British Asian community. This work has been used to create and shape the production of important new theatre pieces, as well as to engage and develop new young and diverse audiences for them. Workshops, post-show discussions and symposia relating to the production of these pieces have increased the engagement of these new audiences both with theatre generally, and with the often sensitive, contested, and politically-charged subject-matter of the specific pieces under review. The research has also been used as the basis for the development and delivery of professional development training for emerging theatre artists from minority community backgrounds.
Empirical evidence generated by UEL research has directly influenced the reform of health financing in two Indian states with total populations of 154 million through changes to provider behaviour, the organisation and use of funds, and treatment verification processes and package rates. The impacts of this work have been commended by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the World Bank, and attracted interest from states with similar healthcare schemes. More widely, it has helped policymakers in India and the UK recognise the importance of including high quality comprehensive primary care in India's strategic planning for universal health care, and the benefits to the UK in prioritising primary care collaboration with India.
Work undertaken at UEL on public pedagogy has supported the application of pedagogical research across public and political spheres, in particular in terms of `disaster education'. This has delivered public education and social inclusion benefits to policy-makers and practitioners working in the fields of UK and international disaster education. Other key beneficiaries include local authorities, further education students, and transport operators and attendees of the 2012 Olympic Games. In addition to the benefits of its Disaster Education research, the Centre's more recent `RadioActive' community radio projects (started April 2012) have engaged disenfranchised young people and increased social inclusion.
Clinical, observational and biographical research developed at UEL has produced and supported the novel application of a practice-near methodology adapted to evaluate social work practice and social problems. The benefits of this are described here in the context of two illustrative examples exemplifying the adaptation of the UEL methodology to address self-harm/suicide prevention and the safeguarding of children's rights in London's African communities. Those benefits accrue to practitioners, policy makers, community organisations and individual health and social care service users, and include: the delivery of training leading to positive changes in professional practice; and contributions to discussion, debate and policy and guideline formulation. The research has also been used to enhance public awareness of important social and cultural issues.
Research conducted by UEL's Drugs and Addictive Behaviours Research Group (DAB) and the UEL Institute for Research in Child Development (IRCD) from 1990-2012 has provided key information about the neuro-psychological risks of the use of the drug MDMA (Ecstasy).This information has been used by the US and UK governments, medical professionals and public information organisations. The research was included in the UK government Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD, 2009) review of MDMA effects and informed government and public debate on the legal classification of MDMA. It has also supported associated debates around the potential harmful effects of MDMA. Subsequent media and public engagement with those debates has contributed to increased public awareness of the effects and risks of MDMA and engaged new audiences with important social and scientific issues. More recent research has informed parents and medical practitioners about the potential harmful effects of MDMA on specific aspects of infant functioning when taken during pregnancy.
UEL's Drugs and Addictive Behaviours Research Group (DABRG) was the first UK group to demonstrate that regular smoking can cause stress and depression. This work has had - and continues to have - a significant impact on public awareness and understanding of the effects of smoking on mood and cognition. Input into the Department of Health Consultation on the Future of Tobacco Control has directly fed into UK Tobacco Control Policy. More recent research on electronic cigarettes has informed public health professionals, smokers and users about the nature and effects of e-cigarette use. In particular, the work has underpinned the development and delivery of new and improved evidence-based information resources for use by these stakeholders. It has also delivered commercial benefits for e-cigarette manufacturers, whose marketing strategies, lobbying activities and preparations for regulatory control have been directly informed by this work.
Research conducted within the University of East London's Institute of Health and Human Development (IHHD) is reshaping the development, commissioning, delivery and evaluation of interventions to address the wider determinants of health and health-inequalities, and has had impacts on public policy, service design and, ultimately, public health and wellbeing. Grounded in close relationships with policy-makers and end users, UEL's primary research into community development and co-production has informed the design of health improvement interventions, delivered through the cross-institutional, community-based Well London project. Research findings have driven Big Lottery funding priorities, contributed to parliamentary debates on health, informed NICE and Local Government guidance, shaped Marmot Review Team and NESTA policy, and led health authorities to commission new services and adopt new approaches to service delivery.
Research at UEL has contributed to international practices of conflict prevention through applied performance practice-as-research. Initially based on the use of culture in post-genocide Rwanda, it has been extended since 2008 to applied performance practices in Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The research has had wide-ranging impacts, including on international practices of conflict prevention; public awareness and understanding of conflict issues; public access to and participation in political processes in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan; the design and delivery of school curricula and new extra-curricula opportunities for young people (especially in Kyrgyzstan); the inspiration, creation and support of new forms of artistic and social expression (particularly in performance art); and the integration of participatory practices as a teaching and learning method in the UK and abroad. The research has also delivered local economic benefits and improvements in the welfare and quality of life of individuals involved in projects in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
The findings of empirical research conducted by Professor Jim Barry and Dr Trudie Honour of UEL were shared at two focused capacity building sessions held in 2008 and 2009 for women leaders in middle and senior positions of responsibility and decision-making in the public and third sectors of a number of developing countries. Workshops were attended by women from Albania, Bahrain, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Tunisia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. Participants considered the relevance and application of the research findings for their own countries, and worked together and with the researchers to formulate potential capacity development implementation strategies for women in positions of responsibility in those countries.