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Carrier's research and publications have had a strong impact on UK public and policy debate surrounding the stimulant drug khat - the stems and leaves of the shrub `Catha edulis' that have been consumed for centuries in East Africa and the Middle East and are now imported in large quantities to the UK. In particular, this research has been influential in shaping the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs' recommendations to the Government, published in January 2013. The Oxford research has played a significant role in highlighting the potential negative impact of the ban on farmers in East Africa, and though the government announced in July 2013 that it would not be following the Council's recommendations that khat not be prohibited, an argument remains urging the generation of ameliorative measures to mitigate this negative impact of UK policy.
Research carried out by the University of Nottingham has significantly informed international policies designed to transform technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and its role in development. This has been achieved through direct contribution to policy making at global, regional and national levels, most notably for UNESCO, the Southern African Development Community and the South African government. This has led to the revision of global, regional and national policy guidelines and the development of new regional and national indicators. Conventional policy wisdoms have been questioned at global and national levels and new concepts introduced into the policy debate.
In the context of the changing centre of gravity of the global economy, the Rising Powers in general, and China in particular, have become major actors on the African stage. Their relatively rapid entry is a disruptive presence and poses significant challenges to established policy trajectories in the public and private sectors, in civil society organisations, and to multilateral and bilateral aid agencies. This case study shows how Open University (OU) researchers have led much of the theoretical discussion in this field and have used pioneering primary research to interact intensively with a range of policy stakeholders, achieving high levels of impact in terms of both significance and reach. In so doing, they have helped frame the policy debate, had direct impact on policy formulation in a range of settings and contributed to changes in practitioners and professional practice.
Chang's research has covered a wide range of public policy, including industrial policy, trade policy, privatisation, and agricultural policy, as well as theories of state intervention. By successfully challenging the then prevailing orthodoxy on economic development, his research has had significant influence on the actions of many national governments, multilateral institutions (e.g., the UN, the World Bank) and NGOs (e.g., Oxfam). Chang's research has also had substantial impact on public debate concerning economic policies, especially but not exclusively those regarding development issues. He has had two best-selling mass-market books (together sold 1.15 million copies as of December 2012) and gained worldwide media exposure for his views.
The research impacts on public discourse, professional practice and cultural life. It raises public awareness and professional understanding of how contemporary development is being viewed in Africa. Analysing the work of creative artists from several countries in sub-Saharan Francophone Africa, the research has revealed that, far from presenting development as positive change, artists are depicting economic development in the region as a form of enslavement. For over a decade they have been creating a visual vocabulary to speak about `development' around the most iconic and disturbing images of the Atlantic slave trade. In public events delivered in English, French and Spanish, supported by digital resources, the author is disseminating this view from the continent to a broader audience across the world.
This project has had significant reach beyond the academy, through two main avenues. Through sustained relationships with NGOs, faith-based organisations and other members of civil society involved in the management of death in South Africa, the project has aided in the professional development of African staff, and shaped training and facilitation on responses to death, grief and loss. And, through public engagement with its research on the funeral industry — including very broad dissemination of the documentary film `The Price of Death'— the project has engaged local South African audiences in debates around the cost of death and the commodification of funerals.
PISCES (Policy Innovation Systems for Clean Energy Security) is a research consortium that is concerned with sustainable bioenergy in developing countries. PISCES has improved clean energy access and livelihoods via bioenergy for approximately 250,000 people in Kenya, India, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. The University of Edinburgh contribution reported here is that of Molony, whose research has provided evidence for the creation of improved national policy for energy and development in East Africa, for example enhancing local understandings of charcoal regulation in Kenya, contributing towards the development and uptake of renewable energy cookstoves in Tanzania, and helping establish national bioenergy working groups in both Kenya and Tanzania.
Monetary policy and its effect on the wider economy are important for South Africa's objective of achieving both high economic growth and low inflation — which are deemed to contribute to the government's and electorate's greater objectives of reducing poverty and creating employment. The central bank (South African Reserve Bank, SARB) and the National Treasury have responsibility for both monetary policy and the oversight of the financial sector. Laurence Harris's research on the links between monetary policy, financial sector development, and their connection with the financing and investment decisions made by businesses has led both institutions to seek and act on his advice.
Heather Hughes' 2011 publication of the first full-length biography of John Dube, founding president of the ANC, has had a significant impact on local and national government, public history, national media and public debate in South Africa. This work has changed public attitudes towards Dube as a political leader, and towards the role of women in early twentieth-century African nationalism. This revision of ANC history has been built into permanent exhibitions at several sites within the country. The book's use in a government green paper on land reform also reveals the depth of her work's political impact.
University of Reading research, in collaboration with a South African partner, has led to the development of materials on literacy learning in multilingual settings in Africa, transforming teaching practice across the continent.
A second, related project is helping to deepen understanding of the conditions necessary for African language publishing to thrive, attracting considerable interest from the South African book industry. The findings have also been used to justify the inclusion of African languages in a South African reading campaign; to help civil society organisations campaigning for improved basic education in South Africa; and to support the development of local language materials in seven African countries.