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The Centre for Disaster Resilience's (CDR) research is leading to a reduction in the vulnerability of communities world-wide to the threat posed by hazards of natural and human origin, demonstrating the following impact;
Historical research into natural disasters has underpinned emergency planning and management in the UK and overseas. Undertaken by colleagues in Hull and other HEIs, the output of this research has contributed to the setting of industry standards, informed the development of modern technology, highlighted issues of social justice, prompted cultural comparisons of `best practice', assisted in reducing communities' vulnerability and linked reconstruction work to developmental issues. Non-academic beneficiaries of the research are communities and individuals in disaster-affected areas, and the governments and NGOs involved in managing disasters.
Human health risks and population vulnerabilities are easily identifiable globally in communities exposed to the effects of climate change and the legacy of industrial contamination. Research by Dr Gagnon and Professor Hursthouse pioneered decision support frameworks and web tools that have been applied at local and national strategy level to improve environment links to public health. Authoritative Guidebooks developed by UWS researchers facilitated locally grounded adaptation to risks from climate change, while web tools enable robust case evaluation, prioritisation and new resources to be secured for the management of a variety of risks to human health from environmental contamination.
Research disseminated through the Gender and Disaster Network (GDN) has played a pivotal role in changing attitudes and increasing recognition of the importance of gender-insensitive disaster policy and practice. GDN is an international collaboration between Northumbria University, UN agencies and US and Swiss government agencies that distributes research-led resources through an open access website (www.gdnonline.org) co-ordinated by Dr Maureen Fordham at Northumbria. GDN resources are used internationally by practitioners in the United Nations, national and local governments, and non-government and corporate business organisations. Gender analysis is now routinely incorporated in training for disaster management and risk reduction and this is seen in official UN documents, for example the guidance published in 2009 `Making Disaster Risk Reduction Gender-Sensitive: Policy and Practical Guidelines' for which Fordham was a contributor.
Research undertaken in Geography and Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth University has directly led to changes in the powers and regulatory structures of parish, town and community councils in England and Wales, through legislation (Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011), and to new guidance and modifications to the Quality Parish and Town Council Scheme in England. These changes have empowered parish, town and community councils to play a greater role in service delivery and community development; promoted wider citizen engagement in community governance; and increased the democratic accountability of local councils.
Following extensive ethnographic research in South Asia, Durham Anthropology highlighted the pressing need to include indigenous knowledge (IK) in development practice and sustainable resource management. As part of our research we helped establish an NGO-based network with an explicit remit to promote and implement our research insights in Bangladesh. This network has had far-reaching effects, empowering local people and helping to promote agricultural resilience and sustainable livelihoods (e.g. in preserving seed bio-diversity). Development practitioners in Bangladeshi universities are now trained using methods based on our research. IK-aware development based on Durham research is also internationally recognised and implemented by UNESCO.
Aston Business School has changed business activities of major reinsurance firms and awareness and understandings in the global reinsurance industry. It has done so by producing an integrated suite of strategy tools to support strategic positioning, relationship management and risk analysis and trading. Reinsurance firms have adopted these tools in their internal practices, for example, to increase premium income from target clients. The implementation of these tools was facilitated through 58 tailored reports to firms worldwide, 22 commissioned company-specific strategy workshops, targeted distribution of our industry reports, invited presentations at prestigious events, and training activities for reinsurance professionals.
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.
The research highlighted here has had a major impact on the design of community led planning (CLP) and neighbourhood planning in England since 2006; initially within the voluntary and community sector and subsequently on policymakers' thinking. This has shaped the trajectory of policy development nationally since 2010 and influenced the way in which local authorities and other intermediary organizations (such as the Rural Community Action Network (RCAN) / Action in Communities in Rural England (ACRE) / Rural Community Councils (RCCs) in England) have approached community-led planning (CLP) and subsequently Neighbourhood Planning (NP). The work has had a significant impact on the NP approach and therefore on the public through the 2011 Localism Act. This legislation led to the `Supporting Communities in Neighbourhood Planning' (SCNP) programme, funded by Communities and Local Government (CLG) since 2011 to a value of circa £20m overall (which includes a 2013-15 tranche of £9.5 Million). The case study lead researcher (Parker) is now co-ordinating a large part of this programme while on 80% secondment at the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)/Planning Aid England (PAE) (2012-2014).
The research undertaken on the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic as a major natural, environmental and human disaster in the UK has changed the approach to managing such catastrophic events. By exploring a full range of interrelated political, technological and socio- cultural contexts of such events, it refocused and refined policy understanding and approach to managing similar disasters at both national and international level, by raising the profile of accounting for the personal, psychological and community impacts as well as the practical implications of such events.