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NRI's research in Africa has been influential in shifting thinking, policy and practice on customary land tenure and promotion of land tenure security. In particular it has promoted the recognition that customary tenure systems can sometimes provide a high degree of tenure security and do not need to be replaced wholesale, and that a variety of alternative approaches to conventional land titling are available. This led international agencies to develop new approaches and guidelines for land policy and set the stage for a new generation of land tenure projects and programme interventions in Africa, to which NRI is also actively contributing.
Professor Patrick McAuslan's research changed the international development community's view about the role of land law reform in sustainable development and poverty alleviation. Until his research identified how policy-makers should and could use land law reform to achieve their development aims, international agencies did not consider that land law reform had a significant role in furthering economic and social development.
McAuslan disseminated and continued his research during many consultancy assignments for the World Bank (WB), the EU, UN agencies, DFID and other international development bodies. He also reviewed planning and land law in many countries, often significantly shaping the resulting legislation.
With national and international impact, Home's research on land titling and Islamic land law has helped develop donor aid policy, through UN-Habitat initiatives on post-disaster issues and Islamic land law, and World Bank initiatives on the rule of law in Africa. Impacts of his research within the UK include his contribution to the UK Government's Foresight Land Use Futures Project (2010), and to current policy discussions on future new housing provision. The case study title comes from a well-known story illustrating the legally dubious origins of land ownership in land-grabbing.
Research conducted at UEL has been instrumental in efforts to strengthen land and property rights and gender equality in Muslim countries. These impacts arise particularly from its influence on the incorporation by the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) of a much stronger emphasis on Islamic issues in the implementation of land tools. The research has also contributed to UN-Habitat policies; enhanced the capacity of over 200 officials and representatives from dozens of Muslim countries; and contributed to the development of land laws, particularly in the Benadir Region of Somalia. Beneficiaries include United Nations agencies, governments, GLTN members, professionals and members of civil society working on pro-poor land governance as well, ultimately, as the many millions of people whose land and property rights have been enhanced.
Research at Newcastle has been used to improve the governance of common land both locally and nationally. Locally: (i) by landowners to develop new models for community management of common land; and (ii) by the Foundation for Common Land and its constituent stakeholder groups to inform the development of self-regulatory commons councils under Part 2 Commons Act 2006. Nationally: (i) by the National Trust to develop new models for community management of its extensive common land holdings across England and Wales; and (ii) the research has influenced the development of policy by the Government Office for Science, and by the UK statutory conservation bodies, for the improvement of the environmental governance of common land.
Research by Dr Garikipati identifies that microfinance is most beneficial to women when it enables them to enhance their livelihoods and participate in the local enterprise economy. It also shows that over 80% of the microfinance loans in Andhra Pradesh, India, did not meet these conditions. Using these research findings, Dr Garikipati directly lobbied the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP). This has had an impact on governmental organisations and other stakeholders within the microfinance industry and lead to the introduction of the Livelihood Enhancement Plan (LEP), which is used at the time of loan application. Dr Garikipati collaborated with the GoAP in designing and implementing the LEP. It impacts 500,000 women per year who join the microfinance program and enables them to enhance livelihoods in keeping with the demands of the local economy.
56% of the European Union (EU) population and 35% of the population of Northern Ireland (NI) live in rural areas. While rural living is sometimes portrayed as an idyllic lifestyle, the reality often differs. Lower population density means that services are more limited than in urban areas, with different impacts for particular socio-economic groups, especially women. For example, lack of childcare provision can affect rural women's ability to work outside the home. The gendered nature of farm ownership means that farming policies have not always addressed farming women's needs. The research in this case study had the following impacts:
Research on modelling wildness has resulted in the development of a wildness mapping tool for Scotland's national parks which provides a basis for supporting decision making relating to planning applications that are potentially detrimental to wildness. The methodologies developed have been adopted by Scottish Natural Heritage to map wildness and wild land across Scotland. In 2013, the Scottish Government proposed that the identified `core areas of wild land' should be protected through Development Plans and spatial frameworks for onshore wind energy; this proposal is currently out for consultation. These methodologies have also been used to map wildness and identify priority sites in Europe.
Meeting rapidly rising food demands at least cost to biodiversity is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Since 2005, research in the Department of Zoology has demonstrated that measures to reconcile biodiversity and agricultural production are sometimes best focused on spatial separation (land sparing) rather than integration (land sharing).This work has had a significant impact on policy debate, and has informed policy decisions relating to management of the agri-environment at both national and international levels. Policy statements on increasing food production at least cost to nature now make explicit the potential role that land sparing may have, and place greater emphasis on the need for clear scientific evidence of costs and benefits of different approaches.
Allwood's research into Women and Politics has looked at women's participation in mainstream and alternative forms of political activity; gender and policy, focusing on prostitution, violence and abortion policy; and the political participation of refugee women. The research has informed government advisory panels, think-tanks, and NGOs, in particular in debates around gender quotas and the relationship between gender and democracy. External voices and actors have helped shape the research process, and the audience of this research has made material and distinct decisions based on new insights effectively shared, as demonstrated by citations of research outputs in policy documents and discussion papers.