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Impact derived from Prof Maggie Andrews' research was through collaboration, since 2008, with the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) in Staffordshire and, latterly, with archival and heritage organisations in Worcestershire and Staffordshire, to increase public involvement in practices of remembrance, memorialisation and commemoration and to enhance experience of them — both for those directly affected and for the general public. Andrews' collaboration with the NMA influenced development of the UK's first, national centre for remembrance during critical years of its evolution. Through assisting the NMA to envision and understand its role in the context of contemporary culture, her input informed the NMA's approach to supporting visitors' experience and framed and informed its developing approaches to visitor interpretation. Her collaboration with organisations in Staffordshire and Worcestershire supported development of approaches to forthcoming, national centenary commemoration of World War 1.
Key questions face Western military establishments and governments concerning the likely form of future defence needs and, consequently, the size and shape of their armed forces. Following dashed hopes of a long-term `peace dividend' after the collapse of the USSR, came recognition that defence remained a fundamental concern, but that military needs might be manifested in different ways. The debate about a `war on terrorism' post-9/11 further intensified questions about the nature of future conflict. Through his research on strategy, and his guiding role in the Oxford "Changing Character of War" programme, Sir Hew Strachan, Chichele Professor of the History of War (since 2002), has made a major contribution to these debates and has helped to shape military policy making in the UK and the USA.
Researchers at the Photography and the Archive Research Centre (PARC) study the practice and products of photography in terms of both artistic importance and social relevance, recognising photography's many roles including its presence in: the art world; reportage; autobiographical practice; and in social and political education. This case study demonstrates PARC's impact on cultural life via the production of work and curatorial practice, bringing new insights, challenging assumptions, and raising awareness of the role of photographic practice in the public realm.
Peter Kennard at the Royal College of Art (RCA) is a leading exponent of the art of photomontage. An avowedly political artist, his research since the 1970s has explored and critiqued the circulation of mass-media images, particularly those produced in relation to war and conflict. This case study shows that Kennard's research has achieved significant impact on public opinion and sustained impact on the operations of the media in representing war and conflict.
The impact is based on research challenging conventional approaches to state-media relations in multicultural societies, with particular reference to Russia. The body of research has (a) informed the work of policy makers and NGOs by providing them with a more nuanced view of media-state relations in Russia, and of their implications for international affairs, including the rise of new cold war tensions; (b) made these groups aware of the importance of inter-ethnic and interfaith tensions to Russian media practices, and of parallels with media practices elsewhere; (c) contributed to the enhancement of public comprehension of the complexities of the Russian media environment.
Professor Roberts' research insights into the changing character of conflict and the laws of war have informed national and international policy. They have shaped (i) initiatives to reform US and UK military training, official manuals and directives on the laws of war; (ii) improvements to UK detention policies and practices; (iii) the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee's conclusion that the UK's aims in Afghanistan should be re-focussed; (iv) the International Red Cross' view of the legal issues affecting their role in contemporary forms of occupation; and (v) UN assessments of the legal standing of UN forces in particular deployments.
In the last decade, the traditional view of military ethics among practitioners and scholars has been challenged by revisionist approaches to Just War Theory. David Rodin's work has played a significant part in the development of the revisionist school and in its subsequent impacts on Western militaries. His research on individual responsibility in war, the limitations of traditional justifications of war, and jus terminatio (the ethical norms applicable to the termination of war) has - as part of the revisionist school - opened up new approaches to military ethics and the way militaries understand their rights and responsibilities and those of others in war. Rodin's research has had significant impact in re-shaping training on ethics for military personnel and senior civil servants in the US, UK and beyond, and is informing changes in the doctrine and practice of Western militaries.
Nirmal Puwar's project, Noise of the Past, has sought to transform the public imagination of war by bringing post-colonial stories into the UK's national memory of World War II. At the same time it has worked to re-imagine the research process and its relation to publics. It has shown how the `noise' of the past, derived from narratives and situations that are usually excluded, can move cultural memory beyond a nationalistic, militaristic consensus. The research produced an award winning film, `Unravelling,' and a live musical performance, `Post-colonial War Requiem'. They were launched in 2008 at a large public event in Coventry Cathedral, opened by Martin Bell (OBE, UNICEF ambassador). On 14 November 2010, Noise of the Past was invited back to Coventry Cathedral to mark the 70th anniversary of the Blitz. The highly affective moving film (20 min) has won international awards and been screened at festivals, museums and public events and is submitted for viewing along with this ICS. Significantly the call-and-response methodology initiated by the project engaged artists and creative practitioners in music, poetry and film as active collaborators in the research process and also engaged publics not simply as audiences but as dialogic participants.
Professor Richard Grayson's research on the experiences of soldiers from West Belfast in World War I is a street-by-street analysis of a type never before carried out for any part of Britain or Ireland. It shows how Nationalists and Unionists fought together in the war, giving it significance at a local level in Belfast and for wider community groups. His research has led to him to carry out community outreach to Nationalist and Unionist groups in Northern Ireland, impacted on school curricula, and garnered a large amount of media attention, reflecting its relevance to communities in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Research from the Creative Futures Institute (CFi) has generated original understandings of how social media has triggered change within the practice of journalism. The evidence shows how findings from 3 inter-related projects were a catalyst for skills development and generated new contributions to civil society and the creative community. Impact is demonstrated across 15 organisations where new community media collectives were developed around the Vancouver 2010 Olympics (W2 Centre & True North Media House) and London 2012 Olympics (#media2012 & #CitizenRelay). UWS research led these organisations to invest £115,000 additional funds and implement these findings in their current work.