BU Research Blog

As we move into an era where the emphasis on carbon reduction will come to the fore, we are sharing with you a brief summary of the Paris Agreement and the implications for Bournemouth University. This is an extract from a longer paper that includes the implications for Industrialised and Developing Nations as well as  policy implications. Aplologies but it was just too long for a blog post.

At Bournemouth we have achieved much to reduce carbon and to develop iniatives to secure more sustainabel development. In the light of the Paris Agreement, we need to do more in 2016!

Main Points of the Paris Agreement:

• The main difference between this treaty and others that have gone before it is its scope. In particular, the draft lays out plans to limit temperature rises until at least 2050 – this is much longer term than has ever been agreed before.
• 187 countries have put forward plans to cut and curb carbon emissions to 2020, and beyond.
• Within the agreement, the targets are known as Intended National Determined Contributions (INDCs). All 187 countries have submitted their INDCs.
• Developed and developing countries are required to set targets to limit their emissions to levels which would see warming of 2°C, with an aspiration of limiting warming to 1.5°C. Vulnerable countries – like the Marshall Islands in Micronesia – pushed for a 1.5°C limit but the draft deal only promises to make it a target rather than a pledge.
• However, observers have calculated that all of the targets, if delivered, will not keep warming to 2°C but to 2.7°C above pre-industrial levels. Above this 2°C threshold, effects of climate change such as droughts, floods, heat waves and sea level rises are likely to become catastrophic and irreversible.
• Additionally, emissions targets are not legally binding and are determined by individual countries. However, it promises to hold countries to account if they fail to meet the targets they set out in their plans to reduce emissions during the 2020s.
• Countries are required to review and submit their emissions targets every five years with the “first global stocktake in 2023 and every five years subsequently”. The review process is to ensure that targets are in line with the latest scientific advice. This review process is legally binding.

• The agreement covers “loss and damage”: finance will be provided to poor nations to help them cut emissions and cope with the effects of extreme weather. The agreement makes some concessions to developing countries, acknowledging “urgent need to enhance the provision of finance, technology and capacity” and promote “universal access to sustainable energy” – particularly in Africa – with a focus on renewables. There will be a $100 billion fund from developed economies to help emerging and developing nations decarbonise their energy mix. Countries affected by climate-related disasters will gain urgent aid.

• The agreement also requires a limit on the emissions of greenhouse gases from human activity to the same levels that trees, soil and oceans can absorb naturally, beginning at some point between 2050 and 2100.
• IMPLICATIONS FOR BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY

• In the aftermath of the Paris Agreement, it is more important than ever that BU makes a commitment to reduce its carbon emissions as much as possible, as quickly as possible. However, commitment alone is insufficient if it does not translate into effective action.
• The EU is one of the top greenhouse gas emitters accounting for 9% of global emissions.
• As a large organisation, we emitted 7,680 tonnes of carbon in 2014. BU needs to play its part in helping the UK meet its reduction targets.
• With social and environmental responsibility at the heart of the BU ethos, we must take our role in curbing global warming seriously.
• BU2018 states: “We will consider corporate social responsibility as we develop policies and procedures across all relevant areas for example corporate governance, environmental management, stakeholder engagement, employee and community relations, social equity, and responsible procurement.” This is directly in line with the Paris Agreement, with regards to ensuring the poorest people in developing nations are protected from the worst effects of climate change.
• BU is committed to “ensuring we operate an affordable, sustainable and secure estate”. It is quite possible that in order to control UK greenhouse gas emissions, we will see higher energy prices and increased taxation on emissions in the future. From a financial standpoint, BU needs to do everything it possibly can to reduce its emissions as a business as usual scenario is likely to seeing spiralling costs over the coming years and reduce the competitiveness of the University as a whole.
• Embedding sustainability into the culture of BU will be important to secure further reductions; technological solutions alone will not suffice.
• BU aims to “ensure that graduates develop a global perspective and understand the need for sustainable development by seeking to embed sustainable development across the curriculum”. If sustainable development is more fully embedded within the curriculum and across the extra-curricular sphere the impact will be to reduce unsustainable behaviours (with reductions of carbon and utilities) but also BU graduates will be better prepared for an employability context where carbon reduction is a key focus.

Thanks to Victoria Penson (for starting the paper) and  Dr. Neil Smith for their contributions. Please contact me if you would like to read the other sections.

Monday

Green Paper

The independent reports that Oliver Letwin, David Cameron’s policy advisor, thinks that green paper reforms, such as increasing tuition fees, could be introduced as secondary legislation rather than as an Act of Parliament. Government trying to ‘sneak’ tuition fee increases into controversial reforms (Independent).

State School Access

The latest Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission report has revealed that Oxford and Cambridge recruit a much lower proportion of state school pupils than their calculated benchmark suggests. Oxford and Cambridge condemned over failure to improve state school access (Guardian).

Tuesday

TEF

The president of the Higher Education Policy Institute has claimed that English universities are “not very good at teaching”. He said he welcomed the TEF because universities needed “a counterweight to the imperative to do research”. English universities ‘not very good at teaching’, says Hepi president (THE).

NHS Student Funding

The Guardian looks at the impact of replacing student nurse bursaries with loans, including the idea that this move will reduce the diversity of those able to access a career in healthcare. George Osborne considers axing student nurse bursaries (The Guardian).

Wednesday

University Research Funding

Baron Stern of Brentford, president of the British Academy, will lead a review into university research funding. The review will look at how to cut the “administrative burden” on academics and will also “strengthen the focus on excellence”. REF sceptic to lead review into research assessment (THE).

Thursday

UCAS

Following the publication of the UCAS 2015 End of Cycle Report, women are 35% more likely to start a degree course than their male counterparts. Among those from disadvantaged backgrounds, the report reveals that young women were 52% more likely to go into higher education than their male counterparts.  Women take record number of university places (BBC News).

Friday

Curriculum Design         

THE looks at the different ways in which students are helping to shape curriculum, teaching and assessment – leading to better teaching, more effective learning and graduates who are better prepared for the workplace. Should students be partners in curriculum design? (THE).

The Centre for Qualitative has received approval to continue as a Research Centre within Bournemouth University.  Kip Jones will act as Centre Director, with Caroline Ellis-Hill acting as Deputy Director. The Centre will be part of the new Department of Health Sciences & Public Health in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences. Members are welcome from across departments and faculties at BU.

The Centre for Qualitative Research (CQR), a long-standing resource for research practice and postgraduate learning at BU, has recently undergone a ‘refit’ of its web pages.  Content from the old site has been moved over to the new platform for Bournemouth University groups and centres. The new format now makes it possible to link with work taking place in other Schools and research sites. In addition, Impact, Public Engagement and Postgraduate Research links feature on every page.

CQR is held in high esteem globally for its innovative work and commitment to qualitative research. The refreshed web pages provide an international ‘shop window’ for CQR, School of Health & Social Care and BU more generally in regards to cutting-edge qualitative work. CQR has always engaged across Schools at BU and welcomes new opportunities for collaborate efforts.

The new CQR pages include information, resources and links organised around the following areas of research:

• Humanising Health and Social Care
• Novel and Innovative Research Methodologies
• Performative Social Science

In addition, areas such as Biographic Narrative Interpretive Research, Cut-up Technique and Appreciative Inquiry are covered. A new page outlining the ‘Gay and Pleasant Land? Project and Rufus Stone’ has been added. The recently organised, cross-Schools ARTS in RESEARCH (AiR) collaboration is also featured.

The new web pages include new information and resources, links to further information and even videos for viewing pleasure! Last but not least, a photo has been added as a ‘Featured Image’ highlighting the essence of each page.

Have a look around this interesting site!

WAN celebrated Christmas with a networking event, and an inspirational presentation from Felicity Aston, MBE.

Felicity started her career as a Senior Meteorologist working with the British Antarctic Survey. When she started in Antarctica (having completed her MSc), she knew that she would not be returning home for some time – she spent three summers and two winters at the station, as is typical for staff. Her love affair with a snowy landscape went from there….

Felicity shared some of her subsequent experience, including:

• The Polar Challenge – in 2005, she was part of the first all-female team to complete the race across Arctic Canada to the North Magnetic Pole coming 6^th out of 16 teams
• In 2006, she was part of the first all-female British expedition across the Greenland ice sheet
• In 2009, she was the team leader of the Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition. The team comprised women from six Commonwealth member countries and they skied to the South Pole to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth.

However, most of her presentation was about the motivation and endurance required to complete her most extreme journey, crossing the Antarctic, by herself, using muscle power alone – an accomplishment that was truly astounding.

She started by asking the audience: “When were you last actually alone?” This prompted the audience to think about how little time any of us spend completely by ourselves; who we are is very often a product of those around us. Would we want to experience ‘self’ in a period of long isolation? Could we do so without any other human reference points? What would be the cognitive dissonance?

It was good to hear that Felicity is very human (rather than a super warrior) – once the intrepid achiever had been dropped off and her transport had departed the first thing that Felicity did, was to sit down on her sledge and cry! Being reduced to tears when a hurdle seems un-surmountable is a common experience for many; hearing that this courageous woman did likewise, was heartening.

She experienced physical anxiety, including breathing difficulties, a raised pulse and actual shaking. But then she pulled herself together and just got on with it, although ‘getting on with it’, required more endurance than any of us can imagine! She was pulling her supplies in two sledges, weighing approx. 85kg, in temperatures of -22F (-30C), on a journey that would take 59 days, many of which were complete white-outs.

She became anxious about losing kit, or things not working. Her broken lighter left her with just 46 matches to light her stove. She had panic attacks at times and had to focus on her breathing. Her mask to protect her from exposure froze like iron against her face each morning. She had to remember to break her food into postage-stamp sized peices to pass through the small gap in the mask during the day. She started thinking that “if you think something will go wrong, it probably will – so take action”. She spent ages one day, securing her one and only spade, as the thought of it falling off the top of her sledge without her notice, had occupied her thoughts.

As days passed, it became harder and harder to motivate herself. The little voice inside her head would say “just stay in your tent another hour” but another voice would come up with incentives to continue: “if you get up and go, you can eat all your chocolate in one go.” In the end, common-sense prevailed and the over-arching ‘mantra’ became “just get out of the tent”.

“Just get out of the tent” was a powerful message – once the first step is taken the next one follows.

She spent Christmas and New Year alone. Eventually after so little visual stimulation, she started talking to the sun; eventually the sun spoke back. She then had hallucinatory episodes where she saw dismembered floating hands pointing the way, and a gnome-like man who rode off on a small dinosaur. She shared her photos, made jokes and laughed at herself. She spoke with frankness about her weaknesses, demonstrating true humility and lack of ego – something that is uncommon in male achievers.

The audience were endeared to her!

In conclusion, it now makes applying for promotion, submitting that publication, going for that award etc., seem like an easy step in comparison. So, as Felicity would suggest, “just get out of the tent” – achievement begins with that first easy step!

Finally, big thank you to Sara who had organised the event but was off sick – get well soon and a very Happy Christmas, to our WAN community from your co-convenors – Heather, Chris and Sara.