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Transforming thinking, policy and practice in international development agencies on customary land tenure and land tenure security

Summary of the impact

NRI's research in Africa has been influential in shifting thinking, policy and practice on customary land tenure and promotion of land tenure security. In particular it has promoted the recognition that customary tenure systems can sometimes provide a high degree of tenure security and do not need to be replaced wholesale, and that a variety of alternative approaches to conventional land titling are available. This led international agencies to develop new approaches and guidelines for land policy and set the stage for a new generation of land tenure projects and programme interventions in Africa, to which NRI is also actively contributing.

Submitting Institution

University of Greenwich

Unit of Assessment

Anthropology and Development Studies

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Law and Legal Studies: Law

'I'll fight you for it'

Summary of the impact

With national and international impact, Home's research on land titling and Islamic land law has helped develop donor aid policy, through UN-Habitat initiatives on post-disaster issues and Islamic land law, and World Bank initiatives on the rule of law in Africa. Impacts of his research within the UK include his contribution to the UK Government's Foresight Land Use Futures Project (2010), and to current policy discussions on future new housing provision. The case study title comes from a well-known story illustrating the legally dubious origins of land ownership in land-grabbing.

Submitting Institution

Anglia Ruskin University

Unit of Assessment

Law

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Law and Legal Studies: Law
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Promoting the role of land law in economic and social development and changing law and practice in developing and post-conflict countries.

Summary of the impact

Professor Patrick McAuslan's research changed the international development community's view about the role of land law reform in sustainable development and poverty alleviation. Until his research identified how policy-makers should and could use land law reform to achieve their development aims, international agencies did not consider that land law reform had a significant role in furthering economic and social development.

McAuslan disseminated and continued his research during many consultancy assignments for the World Bank (WB), the EU, UN agencies, DFID and other international development bodies. He also reviewed planning and land law in many countries, often significantly shaping the resulting legislation.

Submitting Institution

Birkbeck College

Unit of Assessment

Law

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Law and Legal Studies: Law, Other Law and Legal Studies

Common Land Past and Present: historical research and contemporary debates on the sustainable use of commons in England and Wales

Summary of the impact

Research at Lancaster has reconstructed the governance systems on common land since the medieval period, informing stakeholders and the wider public about the history of the 554,000ha of surviving commons, mostly in upland terrains in England and Wales treasured for their natural beauty and heritage. By engaging with contemporary users of commons through the Foundation for Common Land, The National Trust, and local commoners' groups, the research has enabled hill farmers to reclaim a sense of ownership over their commons, enhancing the cultural life of upland communities and informing debates about conservation and sustainable use of common land in the shifting legal landscape following the Commons Act 2006.

Submitting Institution

Lancaster University

Unit of Assessment

History

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration
Law and Legal Studies: Law
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Strengthening land rights and gender equality in the Muslim world

Summary of the impact

Research conducted at UEL has been instrumental in efforts to strengthen land and property rights and gender equality in Muslim countries. These impacts arise particularly from its influence on the incorporation by the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) of a much stronger emphasis on Islamic issues in the implementation of land tools. The research has also contributed to UN-Habitat policies; enhanced the capacity of over 200 officials and representatives from dozens of Muslim countries; and contributed to the development of land laws, particularly in the Benadir Region of Somalia. Beneficiaries include United Nations agencies, governments, GLTN members, professionals and members of civil society working on pro-poor land governance as well, ultimately, as the many millions of people whose land and property rights have been enhanced.

Submitting Institution

University of East London

Unit of Assessment

Law

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Law and Legal Studies: Law
Philosophy and Religious Studies: Religion and Religious Studies

Wild Lands

Summary of the impact

Research on modelling wildness has resulted in the development of a wildness mapping tool for Scotland's national parks which provides a basis for supporting decision making relating to planning applications that are potentially detrimental to wildness. The methodologies developed have been adopted by Scottish Natural Heritage to map wildness and wild land across Scotland. In 2013, the Scottish Government proposed that the identified `core areas of wild land' should be protected through Development Plans and spatial frameworks for onshore wind energy; this proposal is currently out for consultation. These methodologies have also been used to map wildness and identify priority sites in Europe.

Submitting Institution

University of the Highlands & Islands

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

A framework for establishing how to increase global food production at least cost to biodiversity

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

University of Cambridge

Unit of Assessment

Biological Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Ecological Applications, Environmental Science and Management
Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

'The Land for the People'

Summary of the impact

Professor James Hunter's research focuses on the relationship between land and people in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. This research established that land reform could lead to the economic and social regeneration of rural communities and has had considerable impact on public policy debate in Scotland during the REF 2014 period. In particular, Hunter's recent research into community ownership of land led to his appointment (2012-13) to the Scottish Government's Land Reform Review Group (LRRG) by Scotland's First Minister, the Right Hon. Alex Salmond and his activism has led to changes in Scottish Government policy. Moreover, Hunter's research has informed community buyout schemes, leading to a range of economic, social and environmental impacts.

Submitting Institution

University of the Highlands & Islands

Unit of Assessment

History

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Sociology

Aboriginal Land Rights Case Study

Summary of the impact

Paul McHugh's academic research on the legal status and rights of tribal peoples in Australasia and North America has had a direct impact on legal decisions on tribal land rights; on the political management as well as settlement of land claims in those jurisdictions; and has influenced the evolving legal systems and political developments in these matters in New Zealand, Australia and Canada. His work has contributed significantly to a fundamental shift in the legal and constitutional foundations of government relations with the indigenous peoples and to the political and economic consequences of that shift.

Submitting Institution

University of Cambridge

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Legal

Research Subject Area(s)

Law and Legal Studies: Law
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies
Philosophy and Religious Studies: History and Philosophy of Specific Fields

Improving access to land rights through research on gender and property

Summary of the impact

Whitehead's research on gender, economic liberalisation and land changed the way in which international organisations (the UN, the World Bank and the EU) approach the gendered impacts of land policy. Her work changed policies and programmes to improve women's and poorer people's access to land rights. In particular the International Development Law Organization and national governments in sub-Saharan Africa have acknowledged her findings in their development of best-practice guidance. In Ghana this has helped to deliver changes on the ground by transforming the `Ghana Land Administration Project' to incorporate a gender perspective and civil-society participation in local land administration, advocacy and debate.

Submitting Institution

University of Sussex

Unit of Assessment

Anthropology and Development Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Other Studies In Human Society

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