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Limitations in public access to water environments for recreation are a longstanding source of stakeholder conflict in which previous policy initiatives have been ineffective. Our research has demonstrated how recreational access to inland waters can be increased through stakeholder capacity building and partnership working. In England and Wales the research led to changes in policy decisions for access to water, revised planning policy guidance, improved recreational access, the creation of 102 new jobs, and the modification of management practices by private and public bodies. In Europe the research has shaped new approaches for the management of small waterways in 11 countries.
A sustained joint research partnership with Biocompatibles UK Ltd has stimulated innovation underpinning the company's product development pipeline. Products include a family of soft contact lenses, enhanced medical device coatings, and novel treatments for liver cancer. Innovative enhancements, such as the unique non-biofouling nature of the company's ocular and cardiovascular devices and the practical utility of its drug eluting therapies for targeting liver malignancies, have delivered improved clinical performance and differentiated these products from those of competitors in the same markets. The company's continuing success in developing innovative medical technology products was recognised by the sale of Biocompatibles UK for £177m in 2011.
The University of Brighton's (UoB) research has reduced information misuse and decreased the threat of data and identity theft in Nokia Location and Commerce (L&C). Further impact has been to lower the risk of corporate liability and consumers' personal loss. UoB's innovative research in the creation of concept diagrams now underpins and provides rigour to Nokia L&C's privacy engineering processes. Consequently, they can now communicate complex information across diverse teams in an intuitive and accessible manner. Ultimately, the impact is on all customers and users of Nokia's L&C's services worldwide.
Since 2003, participatory action research in Brighton and Hove has identified the specific health and well-being needs of LGBT people in mental health, safety, housing, drugs and alcohol. The research changed local and national policy and reshaped services to reflect the diverse needs and experiences of LGBT communities. In the UK, the research influenced policy resulting in the first local LGBT housing strategy and the first suicide strategy in Brighton that centralises LGBT people. The research played a key role in ensuring the survival of the only LGBT mental health charity in the UK. Recommendations from the research have been adopted in the UK by the Department of Health, the UK Drug Policy Commission, the Cabinet Office and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. The research has influenced policy developments in Australia through the National LGBTI Health Alliance and has been incorporated into a guide to GLBTI inclusive practice for health and human services in the state of Victoria.
Our research led to the creation of Football4Peace (F4P), which is a vehicle for conflict resolution and peace building in divided societies. By challenging cultural prejudice F4P has transformed passive citizens into active ambassadors for peace. More than 8,000 children, 595 coaches and many community leaders have participated in F4P projects during the census period, generating political discourse in the community and in governments up to ministerial level. Innovative community relations research in the context of Northern Ireland's peace process led to the development of the F4P initiative. Subsequently it changed the policies of sporting organisations in Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Ireland, South Africa and South Korea.
The University of Brighton's sustained musculoskeletal research programme has, through the development of novel standardised data collection tools, improved data capture, communication, policy and business planning at local practitioner level and at organisational/regulatory body levels (e.g. Physio First, the private physiotherapy practitioner group of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) UK and the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC)). Secondly, research findings from a study exploring patients' expectations have significantly informed the recent revision of the GOsC's osteopathic practice standards and a new revalidation scheme for osteopaths. Thirdly, as a result of studies identifying research priorities for the physiotherapy profession, changes have occurred in the direction and focus of research funding applied by the CSP's charitable trust.
The University of Brighton (UoB) has developed a new corpus-evidence-based approach to lexicography along with supporting tools and training resources. This approach has resulted in the development of a computational lexicography tool, the Sketch Engine, commercialised by Lexical Computing Ltd. The Sketch Engine has been adopted by four of the UK's five major dictionary publishers, national language institutes in nine European countries and over 100 universities, to support commercial dictionary production, language technology products and to enable language teaching. It has also been used to substantiate arguments in a pervasive debate about language use in the art world.
Cardiff Researchers in 2009 discovered the new antibiotic resistance determinant NDM-1 and in 2010/11 characterised its rapid worldwide spread through Gram-negative bacteria (e.g. Escherichia coli and Vibrio cholerae). NDM-1 redefined how antibiotic resistance can spread locally and internationally and create new extensively-drug resistance (XDR) that severely limits therapeutic options. This discovery has resulted in: 1) new policies for the admission of overseas patients to hospitals in the UK, France, USA, Australia and China, 2) linkage between MDR transmission and poor sewerage treatment, 3) potable water treatment in Southern Asia 4) positioning papers for the World Health Assembly and 5) policy-changes by the World Health Organisation.
This impact case study focuses on the effects of digital technologies on rural communities, including networks of inter-tribal relationships in Kenya. It emanates from a social model of user needs that, having transcultural applications, enabled rural communities across Kenya to document their suppressed histories, identify their community needs and become empowered agents in a process of peace and reconciliation. Parallel research on digital activism in rural and urban communities has helped citizens to understand their democratic place in a wider society in order to enhance their political participation. International policy-makers and campaigners in voluntary associations and NGOs have adopted the model.
The impact of this research has been to improve the performance of elite athletes and safeguard the well-being of Paralympians. It has affected the management of athletes' dynamic physiological responses and advanced the regulatory frameworks of sporting bodies. This has changed the strategies of the USA Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee and the British Paralympic Association. The indirect impact of this primary research has been to change the routine training practices of recreational athletes and influence the advice on exercise given to military personnel and people with disabilities.