Log in
Trafficked persons have benefitted directly from van den Anker's research at UWE through improved support and legislation. Her policy model on human trafficking prevention assisted changes in the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Belgium and Sweden and informed local policy development through her training of politicians, civil servants and NGOs in Bristol, Birmingham and Wales. Increased multi-agency working promoted by van den Anker has led to the establishment of new support services like a safe house and the Migrant Rights Centre in Bristol, directly benefiting migrants. International dissemination contributed to agenda changes in international organisations such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
This research within the Unit was in collaboration with TT Electronics plc. to develop a novel low-ohmic thin film resistor for precision current measurement in power management applications. TT Electronics plc. is an international company with 6,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of over £500 million to multinational clients such as BMW, Daimler and BAE Systems. Since 2008 the benefits of this research to TT Electronics plc. include:
In the mid-2000s the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) devised a new measure to compare area variations in reconviction rates across the Probation Service in England and Wales so that these differences could be taken into account when allocating resources. A number of Probation Trust Chief Executives have used Hedderman's research successfully to argue for revisions to the reconviction 'performance measure'. Her findings also influenced the Justice Select Committee's recommendation that the original measure should be replaced, as she showed that it led to unfair comparisons, was easy to manipulate, and failed to provide information which could be used by areas to improve their impact on reoffending. She has since worked directly with Kent, London and Hertfordshire Probation Trusts to address this last point.
A series of econometric methods and software, designed by a team of econometricians at Oxford, have been adopted as standard by a large range of governmental bodies, international agencies and businesses. The econometric methods are designed to model and forecast high-dimensional, evolving economic processes facing multiple structural shifts, while the econometric software (PcGive) implements the resulting best-practice procedures. The application of these methods have resulted in more appropriate empirical models, improved robust forecasts, and, consequently, better decision making by these bodies.
Dr Lawson Welsh's research is concerned with questions of power, identity and difference in the Caribbean and its diasporas as evidenced in theoretical, literary, culinary and wider cultural contexts. There are four main areas of impact to this research:
(a) Impact on the public understanding of Caribbean history and culture via the creative sector (television);
(b) Impact on pedagogic strategies and curriculum development in the field of Postcolonial Studies and Anglophone Caribbean literature;
(c) Impact on the production and interpretation of Black British Women's Writing;
(d) Impact on widening awareness of food studies, Caribbean and other ethnic minority culinary practices in a regional context.
Research by the University of Huddersfield's Centre for Applied Childhood Studies (CACS) carried out between 2008-2009 has played a major role in tackling the problem of child sex abuse in the Caribbean. A study we have undertaken which UNICEF described as a "landmark" in the field has led to government acknowledgement of the problem, growing public awareness of its effects, new policies, legislative reform, innovative child protection programmes and improvements in the capabilities of professionals and agencies. The research is also helping to shape responses to child sexual abuse in other parts of the world.
A booklet was produced to address a problem identified by A-level teachers of Philosophy. They had reported that while independent critical engagement is strongly emphasised in the A-level Philosophy marking criteria, the available teaching materials do not foster this skill. The booklet contains essays summarising research papers from three members of the Unit that represent opposing views of Nietzsche's critique of morality. Through questions and puzzles, students are able to compare the claims and take up critical positions. The booklet has contributed a new type of educational material for developing critical thinking in A-level Philosophy and has been used in the UK and overseas.
Liam Campling's (Lecturer in Work and Organisation at QMUL since 2009) research on the global tuna industry, the international trade regime and developing countries, and his ongoing policy collaboration with development agencies, trade unions and NGOs (a combination of commissioned and pro-bono work), has contributed to three sets of impacts: (1) influencing trade policy, regulation and legislation to support developing countries, including at the WTO; (2) improving labour conditions in tuna processing facilities in Papua New Guinea (PNG); and, (3) influencing public debate and understanding of fisheries industry and policy.
In the last decade, sport has earned unprecedented recognition in international policy circles as a tool to support international development. Nonetheless, many have challenged this `new social movement' (Kidd, 2008), concerned by its uncritical application of Global North models of sport to Global South contexts. Addressing these concerns, Brunel researchers and collaborators have drawn on the field of international development studies to investigate how principles of local ownership and partnership can be applied to sport. Since 2010, empirical studies and critical conceptual analyses have contributed to this. Specifically through building organisational capacity at local level, supporting partnership between funders and recipient organisations, and developing national as well as international policy guidance to ensure community level experiences and perspectives are represented in sport for development policy and strategies.
Research undertaken by the Geography Department impacted instrumentally on the Permanent Court of Arbitration's (PCA's) settlement of a unique and challenging territorial dispute in North-East Africa. Schofield's research and testimony assisted the Hague-based court in arriving at a judicial ruling on the territorial definition of a province (Abyei) long associated with conflict, establishing northern borders for the new state of Southern Sudan. Specifically, the PCA's Final Award of 22 July 2009 explicitly relied on Schofield's research-based evidence and testimony in court to interpret the boundary evolution process in its proper regional and historical context.