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An exhibition stimulated reflection on and provided new knowledge and perspectives on migration — historical and contemporary — for audiences in Nottingham and Glasgow. Linked teacher resources enhanced the capacity of local teachers to deliver challenging content on cross-curricula themes such as displacement, migration and asylum.
Physical material and cultural capital (individual and group memory as embodied in audio-visual oral histories) which would otherwise have disappeared have been preserved and transformed into educational material for a local Ukrainian community organisation, adding to its resource base and capacity. A national Polish diasporic community organisation has benefitted from access to research and advice to enhance its capacity to engage new audiences with its work and histories.
Bhutan is a little visited and understood Himalayan kingdom, from which over 100,000 ethnic Nepali refugees have fled since the late 1990s as a result of the Bhutanese government's exclusive nationalist project. Professor Michael Hutt's research into the history and culture of Bhutan and Nepal, particularly his book Unbecoming Citizens (2003), has been crucial to improving international public understanding of this population, enabling the refugees' story to be told on the world stage. It has also had wider impacts beyond academia, including inspiring a best-selling short story collection that was shortlisted for the 2013 Dylan Thomas Prize for young writers.
Professor Rainer Schulze's research on the history of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp provided a new analysis of the singular role of Bergen-Belsen in the system of Nazi concentration camps. This research informed a new permanent exhibition at the Gedenkstätte (memorial site) at Bergen-Belsen. The new exhibition has educated hundreds of thousands of visitors since it opened in 2007, and has improved the reputation of the Gedenkstätte, allowing it to secure a donation from the Berlin Bundesregierung of €1million and to incr ease its permanent staff number. In the UK, Schulze's work has had effects on the teaching of Holocaust history in the UK, achieved through his participation in the annual University of Essex Holocaust Awareness week, his Key Stage 3 and 4 and A-Level workshops, and the establishment of the Dora Love Prize for schools in 2012.
One of the most important global issues today is the growing importance of Chinese nationalism. Nationalism underpins many of the international and domestic policies of China's leadership, but the phenomenon is often treated as though it emerged only in recent years. Rana Mitter's research has challenged this view by drawing links between historical Chinese nationalism (particularly as it relates to the war against Japan, 1937-45) and its contemporary manifestations. This has been eagerly taken up both within China and internationally by the media, business and governments.
Professor Bertrand Taithe's academic research on humanitarianism, medicine, conflict and disasters has had a direct impact on the policies and practices of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and medical practitioners. His research has contributed to the governance agenda of major NGOs, such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and has informed international fora on the humanitarian response to disasters. It has made a demonstrable intellectual contribution to the world of think-tanks and other bodies such as the Humanitarian Policy Group at the Overseas Development Institute and has resulted in collaborative work between Taithe and NGOs such as Handicap International. Most recently Taithe has used his research findings to influence national and international policy innovations including the UK International Emergency Trauma Database.
Staff at the UHI Centre for History are at the forefront of research on emigration and the northern Highlands of Scotland. This work has had considerable impact on the culture and society of the region through its development of public understanding of the significance of emigration to Highland history. Making good use of our geographical location in the region, the Centre's research has engaged the community through lectures, the internet, and by working with museums and other cultural bodies, transforming the way in which both local society and diasporic groups perceive their history and its culture. The impact of this research has been most clearly seen in the shaping of museum curatorial practice (at Timespan Museum, Helmsdale and Special Collections, University of Aberdeen) and in the creation of social networks that bring together academics and the public to foster new ways of thinking about the northern Highlands and emigration.
UCL research improved public understanding in Portugal of the important role that Lisbon played in WWII as an `open city' where both sides in the war operated. In particular, it showed and publicised the city's role as an exit point for thousands of refugees (mainly Jewish) trying to escape German-occupied Europe and get to North America or Palestine. This was achieved through a best-selling publication and a photographic exhibition in Lisbon attended by 10-14,000 visitors. Both were widely reviewed as providing important insights supported by research into previously unpublished archives.
Caroline Rooney's `Radical Distrust' research has generated policy advice for government officials, stimulated and informed public debate through international cultural activism and media channels of international reach, and launched trust-building initiatives to counter the effects of sectarian conflict in the Middle East. `Radical Distrust' anticipated the Arab Spring, serving to enhance the visibility and significance of the pro-democracy momentum linked to the arts in the period just prior to the uprisings. The programme generated data of historical importance for this key moment, and brought the cultural self-analyses of regional intellectuals to new audiences. It has been and continues to be a catalyst for multiple audiences in coming to terms with a new Middle East in the making.
This case study focuses on the impact of research carried out at the University of Cambridge into the history of evolution by Professor James Secord and co-workers, notably the impact of two research programmes: the Darwin Correspondence Project and Darwin Online. These projects have contributed to a substantial reorientation of public discourse on the history of evolution. The impact has been achieved through web resources; museum and library exhibitions; teaching materials for schools and universities; and radio and television programmes. These outputs have encouraged public understanding of the range of contributors to science, including women; an awareness of the diversity of positions in the evolutionary debate; and an appreciation of the complex relations between evolutionary science and faith. The projects have shown that the highest achievements of scholarship can be made freely accessible to a global audience.
Dr Richard Noakes led `Connecting Cornwall', a project working with the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum (PTM) from February 2009 - July 2012, looking at the lives and careers of the `ordinary' men who operated the Victorian and Edwardian British submarine cable network.
The project was fundamental in building a working relationship with PTM that now paves the way for future research-based collaborations. The exhibition also raised the profile of PTM. A new section of the website was created for PTM, greatly improving its online presence and user experience. Impacts on the public have included providing access to previously unseen archival material, preserving and displaying artefacts of cultural heritage and in educating people with regards to their local history.