Similar case studies

REF impact found 22 Case Studies

Currently displayed text from case study:

Security sector reconstruction through a conflict transformation approach in war-torn societies

Summary of the impact

The primary impact of this research has been the adoption and implementation of its recommendations at both field and policy levels, by a wide range of donor institutions, non-governmental organisations and local authorities working on peacebuilding and security challenges. At field level, the research has led to an observable change and quantifiable improvement in operations, primarily through engaging with major service providers such as the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). At policy level, the research has informed donors and other policymakers on matters related to security sector reconstruction — most notably the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT).

Beneficiaries: The case study outlines these strands of work with the IOM and DFAIT, which have both had an impact in Afghanistan and elsewhere. It also provides detail of work specific to the Philippines, which informed the approach of the Philippines' Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and a number of local and international NGOs, towards local security provision and post-conflict reconstruction in Mindanao.

Submitting Institution

Coventry University

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science
Law and Legal Studies: Law

Political and Psychological Responses to Violence and Conflict

Summary of the impact

This case study demonstrates how psychological and political science research has been utilised to inform policy and practice responses to violence and conflict. Work with the Forgiveness Project has utilised social-psychological research to develop the Forgiveness Toolbox. This is designed to assist key stakeholders, victims, perpetrators and civil society organisations in dealing with the psychological consequences of violence and conflict. The political consequences of violence and conflict were addressed, for example, through our collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Bosnia, which resulted in new material for their work on state and welfare reform.

Submitting Institution

Canterbury Christ Church University

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science, Sociology

The Big Picture Show: Depictions of Truce at the Imperial War Museum

Summary of the impact

The Build the Truce (BTT) project, undertaken at the University of Manchester (UoM), considers the challenges involved in establishing and maintaining a truce during times of conflict. Findings from the research provided the basis for two innovative exhibitions, co-funded by the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS). First, an interactive multimedia display at the Imperial War Museum London (IWML), included as an official part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Second, a Big Picture Show (BPS); part of the rolling programme at the Imperial War Museum North (IWMN). Together these exhibitions, associated public engagement activities and workshops, have both challenged and altered public perceptions of truce, as well as offering a valuable example of how complex and controversial topics can be presented within a museum setting.

Submitting Institution

University of Manchester

Unit of Assessment

Anthropology and Development Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Political Science, Other Studies In Human Society

Improving the outcomes of post-conflict peace-building and security reforms: Sierra Leone and Nepal

Summary of the impact

Jackson's research on post-conflict state-building has shaped processes of international intervention and internal reconciliation during and following conflicts in Africa and South Asia. His work has had impact in two main areas.

First, in Nepal where Jackson has directly contributed to securing successful implementation of the peace agreement to demobilise, rehabilitate and reintegrate 20,000 Maoist combatants though involvement in mediation between the Nepali military and government on the one hand, and Maoist combatants on the other.

Second, Jackson's research along with a government commissioned evaluation of the UK's peace intervention in Sierra Leone has resulted in the provision of expert advice on security sector reform to UK and foreign governments and non-governmental organisations, through:

  • delivery of major continuing professional development programmes to high-ranking security officials from around the world (many of whom have subsequently been deployed on peace-building missions);
  • policy evaluation for the Department of International Development (DFID) in the implementation of Security Sector Reform (SSR) programmes;
  • development and delivery of programmes of practitioner training for UK government agencies and NGOs;
  • acting as a senior security and justice adviser to the UK government's Stabilisation Unit and the DFID Head of Profession on security and governance.

Submitting Institution

University of Birmingham

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science

POL01 - Shaping the assessment of conflict-affected and fragile states

Summary of the impact

Research led by Professor Sultan Barakat of the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) has had substantial impact in the UK and internationally on the design and use of strategic conflict and stability assessments of war-affected and fragile states. The PRDU enjoys a strong and sustained relationship with the Department for International Development (DfID) and has directly informed the UK's approach to strategic conflict assessment, leading to the creation of the Joint Assessment of Conflict and Stability (JACS) methodology. Impact has now reached beyond the UK with the PRDU commissioned to undertake conflict analyses for other bilateral and multilateral donor organisations using the approach developed with DfID, including a £487,391 project for UNICEF in Somalia that began in 2013.

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Political Science, Other Studies In Human Society

Using the ‘horizontal inequalities’ concept to improve development policy in fragile states

Summary of the impact

Research at Oxford funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) showed that countries with highly unequal resource distribution between culturally defined groups (`horizontal inequality') are more likely to experience conflict. This key insight contributed to changes in: DFID strategy towards conflict-affected areas; UNDP policy on post-conflict reconstruction; the work of the World Bank towards conflict; and OECD guidance on state-building in fragile states. The research also made a contribution to national policy discussions in a number of developing countries, including Nepal, Malaysia and Kenya.

Submitting Institution

University of Oxford

Unit of Assessment

Anthropology and Development Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science, Other Studies In Human Society

The Institute of Middle East, Central Asian and Caucasus Studies (MECACS): Influencing this unstable region’s triadic nexus of Policy Community, Civil Society and the Individual

Summary of the impact

The Middle East, Central Asia and Caucasus (the MECAC region) houses some of the most intractable conflicts in the world that demand fresh ideas and proposals about building stable societies and economies. The Institute of Middle East, Central Asia and Caucasus Studies (MECACS) has co-ordinated underpinning research to grapple with these challenges, and its impact includes (a) the local and Western policy-making community reassessing their policies and behaviour in key areas of foreign policy-making and conflict resolution; b) reports, cultural artefacts and exhibitions that have been used by civil society activists and cultural entrepreneurs to strengthen inter-communal dialogue and reflection; and c) a radical improvement in the career opportunities of individuals and the sustainability of institutions of higher education. The research has encouraged diverse benefits to Western policy-makers and to a broad set of regional actors. Involving both the political and regional elites representing sectors of society, culture and education, the influence of the research has been penetrating, comprehensive and self-sustaining.

Submitting Institution

University of St Andrews

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Introducing benchmarking practices for UN peacebuilding

Summary of the impact

Professor Richard Caplan's research explores the challenges that arise in the context of post- conflict peace- and state-building. His work on exit strategies and peace consolidation led the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) to ask him to examine specific challenges to designing and implementing transitional strategies in peace operations, and to suggest how these challenges could be met more effectively. This work initiated a process within the UN to introduce more rigorous benchmarking practices for peacebuilding, laid the foundations for the development of a common UN methodology for measuring peace consolidation and played an instrumental role in the production of a United Nations handbook on peace consolidation monitoring, entitled Monitoring Peace Consolidation - United Nations Practitioners' Guide to Benchmarking (United Nations, 2010). The handbook is being used to support practitioners engaged in peacebuilding across the UN system.

Submitting Institution

University of Oxford

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science

Political Dynamics in Post-2003 Iraq

Summary of the impact

Professor Gareth Stansfield's research at the University of Exeter into aspects of post-2003 Iraq has informed UK government and international policy towards Iraq since the invasion, and has had impact on policy makers in the US and the UN, through interventions raised and derived from his research. Specifically, his research has had an impact in three areas:

  • Research into conflict management in Iraq's disputed territories has informed the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) recommendations for resolving the dispute.
  • Research on political mobilization and civil war dynamics in Iraq informed guidelines for asylum/human rights determination process for the UK Borders Agency (UKBA).
  • Research into post-conflict stabilization and approaches to state building contributed significantly to public awareness and policy debate through the media on managing the situation through federal and power-sharing arrangements in Iraq.

Submitting Institution

University of Exeter

Unit of Assessment

Area Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science

Responding effectively to the changing character of conflict

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

University of Oxford

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science
Law and Legal Studies: Law

Filter Impact Case Studies

Download Impact Case Studies