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This project, which commenced in 2000 and continues to this day, has addressed the settlement of conflicts within states. The project has yielded important findings in the areas of complex power-sharing, autonomy and self-governance, political participation mechanisms for non-dominant groups, peace-making and transitional arrangements in peace agreements. These findings have flowed into the policies and practices of major international actors (United Nations, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), and have been implemented in a number of sensitive contexts. The project findings were also applied directly in a significant number of international negotiations and settlements. This includes the independence of Kosovo and South Sudan, the peace negotiations on Darfur, UN planning for the transition in Libya, the United Nations-led negotiations on a settlement for the conflict in Syria, and the peace agreement and transitional arrangements addressing the deep crisis in Yemen.
Research by Lisa Emberson has led to tighter controls on air pollutant precursor emissions of ozone (O3) across Europe benefiting crop and forest productivity, and grassland species composition. Emberson's research led to new risk assessment methods, based on knowledge of atmospheric exchange processes and plant eco-physiology, which assess O3 uptake and related damage using novel flux-based `Critical Levels'. These new methods are being used to optimise emission reduction policy by 26 parties (member states) who have signed and ratified the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Gothenburg Protocol established under the Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP).
Research conducted by the Centre for the Study of Poverty and Social Justice (CSPSJ) led to a new way of assessing child poverty in developing countries. This novel method (termed the Bristol Approach) resulted in the United Nations General Assembly's adoption, for the first time, of an international definition of child poverty (2006). It also underpinned UNICEFs Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparities (2008-10), which was run in over 50 countries. In the last ten years, the CSPSJ's work has put child poverty at the centre of international social and public policy debates. Its researchers have advised governments and international agencies on devising anti-poverty strategies and programmes that specifically meet the needs of children, and have significantly influenced the way child poverty is studied around the world. The Centre has developed academic and professional training courses for organisations like UNICEF on the issues of children's rights and child-poverty. Our work has also spurred NGOs such as Save the Children to develop their own child-development indices, and so has had a direct and profound impact on the lives of poor children around the planet.
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.
As a direct result of research carried out at King's, formative assessment, or assessment for learning, has become a central feature of how UK teachers interact with learners in the classroom in order to support their progression. The findings of six research and development studies have led to guidance aimed directly at, and used by, teachers. They have fed directly into national policies (including Making Good Progress and Assessing Pupil Progress) and informed guidance circulated to all schools in England. Similar initiatives informed by the research have been implemented in Wales, Scotland and overseas. Recommendations from the studies have also informed initial teacher training standards in the UK and the policy of professional teaching bodies. The research is widely used in teacher training.
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.
University of Bristol research into international, regional and national mechanisms for preventing torture is at the root of important changes in the operation and working practices of the key bodies involved. The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, the domestic legislation and policies adopted by national governments and the work of organisations set up by individual states to prevent torture have all been deeply and directly affected by Bristol's insights. The AHRC, which funded the research from 2006 to 2009, described the impact of the Bristol project as "dramatic". In the AHRC's judgment, it not only improved institutional processes but actually reduced the probability of torture taking place around the world.