Summary of the impact

This case study examines the impact of research relating to the conceptual foundations of democracy promotion on thought and practice of the relevant practitioner communities. Practitioners affected include: officials, desk officers, policy drafters, and implementers of democracy promotion in governmental organisations and international organisations; consultants involved in democracy promotion; and members of non-governmental organisations involved in delivery and planning of democracy promotion. The impact has been primarily on enhanced awareness among practitioners of the multiple meanings of democracy; on the capacity of practitioners to identify and reflect on conceptual underpinnings of their work; and on the thought frameworks relating to practitioners' work. Additional impacts on behavioural practices have also been generated.

Summary of the impact

Research undertaken by Professor Antoni Kapcia has had far-reaching influences on policy formation (internationally) and has improved the intelligence base on Cuba for journalists, business organisations and diplomatic missions. It has:

• Helped to inform and shape UK government policy towards Cuba through a sustained advisory relationship between Kapcia and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office;
• Influenced the policy community (including U.S. government officials and foreign diplomats) in Washington and internationally through the provision of intelligence to the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.;
• Contributed new knowledge and insights to a broad-based audience of journalists, business organisations and diplomatic missions (worldwide) through the Economist Intelligence Unit, furthering their understanding of Cuba and informing their approaches and practice.

Summary of the impact

Revision of standard views of Sparta towards a less exceptional, more civic-oriented, society has:

• transformed curricula, teaching and student learning on Sparta in HEIs worldwide
• enriched teaching and inspired pupils' educational ambitions in UK schools and FE colleges
• altered the modern Municipality of Sparti's depiction of its ancient legacy and enhanced its cultural heritage policies
• helped a comics author respond to 300 with a more authentic depiction of Spartan-helot relations
• enabled a U.S. gun control activist to counteract Sparta's appropriation by the pro-gun lobby.

Summary of the impact

Leeder has played a significant role in developing public understanding and appreciation of the culture of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and its contested legacy after the unification of Germany in 1990. She has over many years promoted the understanding of culture from the former East through publications, translations, public events, work with writers and frequent radio broadcasts. This active work to engage a broad range of audiences, underpinned by high-quality research, has increased awareness of East German culture, has played a role in processes of commemoration, and has supported new forms of literary expression by bringing new works by established and emerging authors, filmmakers and artists to the forefront in public debate on these issues in the UK and beyond.

Summary of the impact

David Robb's research into folk and protest song has an impact on a wider public through its promotion at music clubs and festivals and in its use in political education in schools. The context for the impact is the general political climate in Germany since the Second World War where protest song has been supported at a national level as `democratic' heritage. Questionnaires from a recent workshop revealed how teachers have made use of Robb's recent on-line research project to promote a democratic consciousness amongst pupils. His research has also influenced the song repertoires of folk groups and performers.

Summary of the impact

The Gutzkow project, co-directed by Lauster and Vonhoff of the Department of Modern Languages (German), has transformed public access to the author's work through open-access, on-line publication. The project, which combines specialist scholarship with innovative editing, has considerably enhanced public appreciation of a widened canon of 19^th-century German literature (impact 1). User testimonies, the international press, public acknowledgement and public involvement in events in the region reveal a significant renewal of public interest in Gutzkow. The editorial results of the Gutzkow project have been requested by an interdisciplinary linguistic digitization project in Berlin and will be fully integrated in this open access linguistic database (impact 2).

Summary of the impact

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.

Summary of the impact

Historical research on refugees specifically in post-1945 Europe conducted at UoM has been incorporated in the design and delivery of the school curriculum (Key Stage 3, Citizenship and History) to encourage children to consider the responses of refugees to the challenges they faced, the role of humanitarian relief organisations, and the responsibilities of citizens. In addition, a series of exhibitions, including one on behalf of the Quaker Service Memorial Trust, has improved public understanding of refugee crises and humanitarian responses. Finally this research has instilled in NGOs a better understanding of the history of humanitarianism.

Summary of the impact

In this REF period, Christopher Young researched and published widely on the Olympic Games in twentieth-century Germany. Highlights of the impact of this research include: (i) Young's co- authored monograph was the principal reference for an exhibition on the 1972 Munich Olympics, which ran for 6 weeks in 2012 at Munich's main station; (ii) Young made a significant contribution as consultant to three of the six documentary programmes `Olympic Radio Ballads', which were broadcast on Radio 2 in the run-up to London 2012; (iii) Young's research was the basis of his April 2012 presentation at the Historian's Speaker Series at the Office of State in Washington.

Summary of the impact

The Rylands Cairo Genizah Project has had impact through its conservation, presentation, and interpretation of an internationally important archive of manuscripts which illuminate all aspects of the history, and the religious, social, and commercial life of the Jews in the Levant from the 9^th to the 19^th centuries. This collection is of deep interest to the Jewish community in the UK and abroad, and forms part of the cultural capital of this country, where the vast bulk of it is now housed. The project has also had an impact on heritage experts, by developing methods which have been applied to recording and disseminating other cultural assets.