Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
CoPMRE held its Fifteenth Annual Symposium Globalisation and Healthcare: Opportunities and Challenges in October. The conference was a success thanks to the inspiring speakers and received excellent feedback. You can read a full report on the conference here and authorised presentations can be found here.
Congratulations to Dr. Miguel Moital, Principal Academic in the Department of Events & Leisure, who has just published a co-created paper in Sport Management Review, an Elsevier journal which boasts an impact factor of 3.5 and an acceptance rate of 17%. The paper is co-authored with two BA (Hons) Events Management graduates – Amy Bain and Harriet Thomas – who did their dissertation on prestigious sports events.
The paper explores the range of cognitive, affective, and behavioural outcomes of consuming prestigious sports event experiences. Amy and Harriet underpinned their dissertations on the Prestige Motivation Model, a model Miguel co-developed in 2009. Miguel covers the model in his Consumer Experience & Behaviour unit (Level 5) and in their dissertation both students went on to apply the model to sports events. Amy and Harriet did a very similar study with a difference: Amy focused on a variety of prestigious sports events, while Harriet focused on VIP sport event experiences. The two studies were combined to produce the now published paper. The full paper can be found here.
Commenting on the experience Amy said
“I’m delighted that my research has been published. I went to a great deal of effort to ensure that the subject of my dissertation was not only interesting and current, but a true and accurate reflection of the impact of prestige as a motivation to attend events. For me personally the most exciting part about the process was seeing the paper evolve in a way that it clearly demonstrates the potential of prestige to generate important outcomes for the attendee and the event organiser.”
Harriet was also delighted to have co-authored the paper:
“I’m so proud to see the research I conducted for my dissertation now included within the Sports Management Review journal- it’s something I never expected! I was really interested in the previous work carried out by Miguel on Prestige Motivation in Tourism and this acted as a starting point when deciding on my dissertation topic. The process was certainly a challenging one, and I had to edit, re-word and revisit my work many times throughout, so persistence was definitely key! The project soon started to come together and it’s so rewarding now to see I’ve contributed to an article within a top academic journal.”
Miguel said:
I am thrilled to see this paper published in a high quality journal, which gives credit to the quality of the work carried out by Amy and Harriet. I have covered prestige motivation in my consumer experience & behaviour unit since 2009, but the research on which this paper is based has greatly enhanced the content of the lecture, fulfilling an important gap in the module while at the same time inspiring other students to carry out further research on the topic. I am a strong believer in students-as-researchers and this paper in a top sport management journal is a great way of celebrating my 10th journal article co-created with BU undergraduate and post graduate students.
This paper is part of a long tradition within the Department of Events & Leisure involving the co-creation of papers based on student dissertations. In the past five years students and staff of the Department have published co-created papers in Event Management (Cognizant), the International Journal of Event & Festival Management (Emerald), the Journal of Fashion Marketing & Management (Emerald), Young Consumers (Emerald), and the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Insights (Emerald). These publications are a testimonial of the high quality research carried out by events and leisure graduates.
We have some great events coming up over the next few weeks to help support you in your research activity within the Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework (RKEDF)
We have also grouped the RKEDF events around your needs, so if, for example, you are an Early Career Researcher or need to know about external funding, you can click on the link to find all the RKEDF sessions that may assist you. You can also find related events by using the link on each session’s page.
November
December
| Wednesday 5th December | RKEDF: Writing Academy – Day 1 of 3 |
| Monday 10th December | RKEDF: Technical Bid Writing Workshop |
| Wednesday 12th December | RKEDF: Main Panel D UOA 27 – Improving the Quality Score of Your Output |
| Wednesday 12th December | RKEDF: Main Panel D UOA 32 – Improving the Quality Score of Your Output |
| Wednesday 12th December | RKEDF: Main Panel D UOA 34 – Improving the Quality Score of Your Output |
| Wednesday 12th December | RKEDF: Main Panel D – Improving the Quality Score of Your Output |
| Friday 14th December | RKEDF: Impact Case Study Writing Retreat |
| Monday 17th December | RKEDF: Main Panel A – Developing Impact Case Studies for your REF Panel: the good, bad and ugly |
| Tuesday 18th December | RKEDF: Main Panel B – Developing Impact Case Studies for your REF Panel: the good, bad and ugly |
The above list does not include events where attendance requires faculty nominations / applications or are part of the Early Career Researcher Network schedule for 18/19.
You can see all the Organisational Development and RKEDF events in one place on the handy calendar of events.
Please note that all sessions are now targeted, so look closely at the event page to ensure that the event is suitable for you. In addition, RKEDF events now require the approval of your Head of Department (or other nominated approver). Please follow the instructions given on the event page and the template email for you to initiate the booking request.
If you have any queries, please get in touch!
In February 2018 I was invited by Artercitya on a (still on-going) residency as an audio artist in a very large international project called Freiraum, organised by the Goethe-Institut and funded, amongst other important funders, by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. In the project, 38 cities in Europe, are dealing with the question of freedom in Europe today and consider where or how this freedom might be in danger.
(You can find details on Freiraum here: http://www.artbox.gr/2017_freiraum.html).
Co-creation
My involvement in the project, engaged Artecitya and ArtBOX (a big Creative Arts Management company) with my work as an educator here at Bournemouth University. They became particularly interested in the Graduate Production work created by our Level 6 students in the BA Media Production Course and particularly in the Graduate Production Project Unit, which I lead.
During the unit, ArtBOX, who organise the 3rd Artecitya Art Science Technology Festival – THE NEW NEW, realised by the Thessaloniki International Fair – HELEXPO, with the support of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, came to the university and students had a chance to present to them prototypes of their graduate production work.
As a result, two of our BAMP Level 6 graduating students and my own supervisees, Daniel Bell and George Fisher, whose work fulfilled the brief of this new media arts event, were selected and presented their work, along with mine, in this major international exhibition, THE NEW NEW, in Thessaloniki –Greece between September 8 -16 2018.
In the link below you can see video and pictures from the exhibition and read details of our artworks and involvement in this major international event: http://www.artbox.gr/AST-2018.html
The three artworks, Daniel Bell’s Spectra, George Fisher’s Echoes in Space and my own Air Free, were very warmly received by the visitors and first survey results from the even organisers suggest that the work was seen by over 10.000 people and that the exhibition was voted amongst the most popular events in this major international fair.
Echoes in Space – George Fisher
Echoes in Space consists of 8 unique soundscapes and visuals themed after each of the planets’ characteristics. These soundscapes are an artistic reimagining of the Voyager probes recordings, though scattered throughout are real excerpts from the original Voyager recordings. Echoes in Space is a blurring of reality and crafted content; it asks the viewer to consider the divide between reality and fiction. As well as to understand the difficulty in comprehending what is real and what is crafted when you find yourself confronted by the unknown, and to ask oneself if there truly is a difference?
Spectra – Daniel Bell
Spectra is an audio-visual installation focusing on the contrast and convergence between the human and natural worlds. Stemming from the artists philosophy that every new concept we face in life comes to us as a spectrum of information, and to fully comprehend new concepts we must appreciate each spectra in their entirety
Air Free Future
The first iteration of my artwork Air Free that was presented in Greece, is made up of interviews with members of local communities in Thessaloniki, responding to questions on isolation and freedom. As a response to the Freiraum brief, the artwork is now entering a second phase. During this phase, I will be visiting Carlisle (UK) in order to conduct further recordings with members of the local community there on the same themes, by bringing the recordings from Greece to them. These new recordings will then be used along with the recordings from Thessaloniki in a second iteration of the artwork, which will be presented in an exhibition organised by the Goethe-Institut in Berlin Germany, between 12-13 March 2019.
Air Free Impact
My own work for Freiraum, due to its themes and very large scale international reach, lends itself rather strongly for an impact study, which I am now working on. Particularly looking at how the work brings forth issues of isolation in Europe today by bringing the voices of local communities, including the voices of minorities, in communication with each other as well as with international audiences.
George Fisher, Echoes in Space, 2018
Daniel Bell, Spectra, 2018
Evi Karathanasopoulou, Air Free, 2018, (audience member listening).
The New New festival at TIF- Helexpo, Thessaloniki
From the successful event in 2017 titled “Putting Social Science into Project Management” and building on the presentation “Future of Project Management” …
Dr Karen Thompson of the Department of Leadership, Strategy and Organisations is delighted to be collaborating once again with Dr Paul Summers of the University of Winchester, UCL and the Association for Project Management to host a project management event in London on 8th November 2018 as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science.
‘Creative Futures in Projects and Programmes’ will bring together project practitioners and researchers for a unique dialogue about the future of project management. With a focus on the human dimension of projects, this will be a showcase for current qualitative research on projects and will feature initiatives from practice and student research. A series of presentations, posters and videos will prompt creative thinking and discussion of what the future might hold for project and programme management. Presentations will include:
Tom Taylor
Tom Taylor, Principle of Dashdot, founding partner of Buro Four and a vice-President of APM, speaking on “Looking! And Thinking Ahead! Fashions and Trends in the Management of Projects and Programmes”
Emily Miles, University College London, on “Where are the Women in Major Projects?”
Dr Clara Cheung, University of Manchester, on “Measuring what works: workplace well-being of project professionals”
Clive Powell, Middlesex University London, on “Project Management & Improvisation: Research findings from literature review and analysis of first cut qualitative data”
Dr Nigel Williams also from the Department of Leadership, Strategy and Organisations at BU and Karen will provide an overview of their work on Responsible Project Management.
And Daniel Nicholls, APM Research Manager, will provide an update on their latest research.
In addition, there will be opportunities for practitioners to share their project headaches and discuss issues with researchers and other practitioners. As last year, the event will conclude with a panel of experts sharing their views on a selection of pressing issues suggested by the audience, in an exciting BBC ‘Question Time’ style debate.
The event is free to attend but booking is required: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/creative-futures-in-projects-and-programmes-tickets-51241202817
We are organising a coach from BU. If you would like to reserve a place, you must email kthompson@bournemouth.ac.uk BEFORE 1st November 2018.
This week 8-12 October is both Mental Health Week and Library Week, and both are celebrated widely at Bournemouth University. On Thursday Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen will present on research on mental health and maternity care in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health (CMMPH) as part of in the BU Library Week celebrations. 
The presentation includes some of the findings from out recently completed THET-funded study on a maternal mental health intervention in southern Nepal as well as some reflections on working and researching in the country. The slides for tomorrow’s presentation can be found at LinkedIn, click here!
Places are going fast for our conference next month. See full programme here. If you would like to secure a place please register here.
See you there.
Dr Jaeyeon Choe in Faculty of Management successfully co-organised and co-chaired the Nexus of Migration and Tourism: Creating Social Sustainability Symposium, with Vietnam National University, University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi, 20-21 September 2018.
During the symposium, very diverse and international papers from over 15 countries and various disciplines including tourism studies, hospitality management, cultural anthropology, human geography, sociology and marketing were presented. The presentations were followed by interesting questions and discussion.
We had the honour of having four world renowned keynote speakers present:
Prof Michael Hitchcock, Goldsmiths, University of London
‘A tale of two cities: Tourism and social sustainability in Hong Long and Macau’
Prof Alan Lew, Northern Arizona University, USA
‘Diaspora Migration and Social Sustainability: A Tourism and Resilience Perspective’
Prof Sabine Marschall, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa’
‘But Is It Tourism?’ Social Sustainability and the Blurred Boundaries between Travel, Tourism and Migration’
Prof Noel Salazar, KU Leuven, Belgium
‘Migration and Tourism Mobilities: Time to Bring Sustainability into the Debate’
The keynote speakers provided inspiring talks and provoked discussion whilst suggesting future directions for research on migration, tourism and social sustainability. Whilst chairing sessions, they mentored junior researchers and local Vietnamese scholars, which was both kind and helpful.
Despite rapid tourism economic development, and research into labour and employment, research hasn’t caught up to the rapidly changing issues, such as tourism linked migration, precarity of employment and social and cultural aspects of sustainability. Thus, we discussed, reflected and developed upon issues pertaining to sustainability and the nexus of migration and tourism. We were particularly interested in the complexities of trends, issues, challenges and opportunities around migration linked tourism, which remains a relatively minor part in the field of tourism.
As a follow up step, Dr Choe is organising ‘Migration and Tourism: Creating Social Sustainability’ special issue in the Tourism Geographies Journal (http://www.tgjournal.com/). This call is with the support of the editor in chief and one of the keynote speakers, Prof Alan Lew. The Tourism Geographies Journal is one of the top journals in both tourism studies and geography, with a high impact factor. We expect to have quality articles in this issue directly from the symposium presenters and beyond.
It was also great to see local Vietnamese scholars present their work. The international participants learned a lot about opportunities, challenges and issues in Vietnam tourism. Supporting the local Vietnamese scholars work to be published in an international journal, Dr Choe is organising another special issue, ‘Tourism and Sustainable Development in Asia’ in the Journal e-Review of Tourism Research. Growing quickly with the new editor-in-chief, Dr Cody Paris, this journal is open access, and the editorial board are very supportive of early career researchers, graduate students, and international scholars. We are very happy to encourage local scholars, who, with English as a 2nd or 3rd language, often find obstacles publishing.
The symposium also offered a formal yet interactive and fun networking workshop to discuss how to build educational links, work on grant projects or publications across disciplines, institutes and continents.
The local host, Dr Long, Dr Dung and Dr Nhat and other academic staff and students at Vietnam National University, University of Social Sciences and Humanities all worked very well together, and they showed exceptional Vietnamese hospitality throughout. This has been an excellent international collaboration project, and we look forward to collaborating again in the near future.
[VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities Event Management students did a wonderful job assisting the sympousium. Well done!]
The PalaeoGo! Team is running a major user trial in the autumn of 2018. Over eight weeks this autumn we are seeking your help to both test and develop our ideas. Our aim is to give you access to our test app and with it the resources for you to use with your friends and family. The beasts are coming, and you can join in the fun!
To join the trial, you need to visit our website and leave details of your phone and a live email address. You will also find a Participant Information Sheet and Participant Agreement Form which gives you more details on the study. We seek your consent to use your feedback anonymously in our work, and to keep on file your email for the duration of the trial. We will contact you directly with everything you need for your smartphone. This will be either via our own PalaeoGo! Test App or via the commercial App Zappar depending on the make and model of your phone. We may ask some ‘super-users’ to explore both.
Register by the 21 September 2018 and you will receive the app during the week of the 24 September 2018. We will be on hand during Fresher fair and Induction to sign you up and show you how.This project is an interdisciplinary collaboration between computer animators, computer scientists and natural scientists. The project is led by Peter Truckel, Marcin Budka and Matthew Bennett.
The Early Career Researcher Network at BU was launched at a full day event on 12th September.
The event was attended by many of BU’s Early Career Researchers, from across all four faculties, and other academics with a passion for supporting the career development of our ECRs.
The day opened with a rousing welcome to all attendees by Prof Jens Hölscher, Head of Department in Accounting, Finance & Economics (Faculty of Management) and elected Academic Staff Member on the Bournemouth University Board. The joint academic leads, Prof Ann Hemingway and Dr Sam Goodman (himself an ECR), then led the audience through the rest of the day hosting sessions where ECRs discussed what they would like to see in their Network and how they, themselves, can contribute to the delivery of sessions.
In the afternoon, all six of the BU ECR Acorn Award recipients for 17/18, presented to the audience, all keen to ask questions and engage with developing their research further:
Other ECRs, including recipients of the smaller Acorn Awards also showcased their research, as the attendees took the opportunity to network and discuss their research experiences informally:
A final panel comprising Prof Ann Hemingway, Dr Sam Goodman, Prof Jonathan Parker, Prof Iain MacRury and Elaine Sheridan (BU’s HR Reward Manager) gave their personal reflections on the importance of networking for all academics, but especially ECRs.
Going forwards, the schedule for the monthly 18/19 events will be announced shortly, based on the feedback received from participants at the launch event.
The event also saw the launch of the ERCN area on Brightspace. All those attending are being added to this network – please check that your access has been given.
If you do not yet have access and would like to join this network, please request this via RKEDevFramework@bournemouth.ac.uk. It was agreed at the launch that this network would be open to all those at BU who identify themselves as ECRs (including Part-Time Hourly Paid staff) and other staff with a desire to support ECRs in their career development.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this day a great success!
On 18th July, the conference titled “Women Entrepreneurs and Innovators- Contemporary Insights from Research and Practice” was held at the Talbot Campus. The conference brought together academics, entrepreneurs, professionals, and students to discuss cutting edge insights from theory and practice of women entrepreneurship.
The day started with Dr Mili Shrivastava, organiser of the conference, highlighting the importance of women entrepreneurship and introducing the speakers. The first speaker was Professor Claire Leitch from Lancaster University. Prof Leitch is the editor of International Small Business Journal, a leading entrepreneurship field Journal. She presented her work on women entrepreneurship as a gendered niche and its implications for regional development policy. Following this stimulating talk emphasizing the role of geography for women entrepreneurship, Professor Helen Lawton Smith from University of London, discussed academic women entrepreneurs and research commercialisation by them at UK Universities. The third speaker was Erin Thomas Wang, founder of Makingmumpreneurs. com. She shared unique perspectives from her start- up journey.
In the afternoon session, Professor Lynn Martin, an academic entrepreneur from Angela Ruskin University, discussed her perspectives on women entrepreneurship from both research and practice. Following her talk, Dr Mili Shrivastava presented contemporary insights from her project with Gabriel Glixelli on women entrepreneurs in High technology industries. Finally, Ms Sarah Veakins, Marketing advisor of Outset, a government organisation advocating women enterprise talked about her experiences in supporting women entrepreneurs in the region and her perspectives on starting-up.
The Conference organically developed into a forum for compelling discussion on various aspects of women innovation and entrepreneurship such as gender, society, regional context and role of education that emerged throughout the day. It became an innovative setting for stimulating discussion on cutting-edge research and practice of women entrepreneurship and innovation with entrepreneurs and academics coming together for an insightful and enriching day.
Profs Matthew Bennett and Marcin Budka have just published the textbook Digital Technology for Forensic Footwear Analysis and Vertebrate Ichnology with Springer.
“There is no branch of detective science which is so important and so much neglected as the art of tracing footsteps.” Sherlock Holmes, Study of Scarlet.
Despite the fictional nature of Sherlock Holmes this statement rings true today. The study of footwear is neglected in modern forensic practice and does have much to offer. What it needs is an injection of technology and associated modern analytical tools. These tools are emerging from the digital revolution currently transforming vertebrate ichnology. Ichnology is the discipline of earth science which focuses on the study of trace fossils such as footprints. This book draws upon both disciplines (geology [ichnology] and forensic science) to show how the two have much to learn from each other especially with regard to the digital capture and analysis of footprints and footwear evidence.
This innovative book which is the culmination of research/innovation funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and HEIF provides the practitioner with field and laboratory methods necessary for the collection, analysis and presentation of three-dimensional tracks (footprints) whether from a crime scene or a geological/archaeological excavation. It shows students, researchers and practitioners how to collect and analyse 3D data and take advantage of the digital revolution transforming ichnology. The book forms a natural methods focused complement to the successful text Fossilised Locomotion published by Springer 2014 and written by Professor Bennett.
The book is an illustration of Fusion in action combining professional practice, research and teaching. The team’s work is supported by the Home Office and National Crime Agency as well as several police forces and forensic units throughout the UK. Some of the contents have been co-created with students at BU and the volume will be used in teaching on a range of forensic science programmes at BU.
A first year BA Television Production student, Rowan Prosser and Lecturer, Annie East share their thoughts on a pilot research project using 360-degree filming technology.
Fusion BU2025 looks to ensure that students are informed in the ‘latest thinking in practice and research’ it also looks to ensure graduates are ‘innovative’ and ‘have research skills’. The doctoral research that Annie East is engaged with seeks to discover the ways in which students are working with health and safety risk management processes on their location film shoots. The pilot study looked to test the use of a 360-degree camera on a student shoot as a Virtual Reality (VR) elicitation tool for data gathering . Here Annie East and first year student, Rowan Prosser, reflect on his role as student research assistant, working with the 360 degree camera on a second year student film shoot.
Thoughts on student/lecturer collaboration.
Rowan Prosser: As a first year student the opportunity to work on academic research was both intriguing and a great opportunity to learn. The project gave me a chance to see how research is carried out in an academic way, seeing the correct processes of it all. It was all carefully considered and planned accordingly, my needs and any questions I had were answered immediately; something you don’t get when working with other students. When planning for the pilot project, the meetings that took place were well informed. In contrast, when I work with fellow students, there is sometimes difficulty in getting to the point of the discussion or the heart of the problem.
Annie East: Finding a student keen to work on research that was testing relatively new technology was key for this pilot. Meeting with Rowan for the first time as a researcher rather than as lecturer was a turning point. The power dynamics of student/lecturer dissolved with Rowan becoming more of an equal in our journey to master the technology and workflow of the camera. I chose to work with a student to lessen the power dynamic on the student film shoot; taking myself physically away from their shoot and allowing a student to operate the 360-degree camera.
360-degree camera
Reflections on the approach.
Rowan Prosser: It was an interesting scenario to be surrounded by second year BA Television Production students. Due to the role I had (responsibility for the 360-degree camera) they all tried to adhere to my needs and requests throughout the shoot. This allowed me to make sure that my camera work was achieved. If I was in the way, they would politely ask me to move the camera. The kit used really interested me; 360-degree video is something that is slowly coming into the fold – people (including the 2ndyear students I was working with) are very interested in the camera and how it works. This allowed me to educate and show them.
Annie East: Interestingly it is not just the power dynamics of lecturer/student that are changing with this work but also student-to-student interactions. The collaboration gave Rowan a new perspective and a window into the world of a second year student film shoot, levelling the inter-year dynamics somewhat. Silently it also afforded him institutional power; he became the educator and sage.
Reports from the field.
Rowan Prosser: Observing second-year students on their film shoots gave me the ability to blend in since I was a fellow student. We were able to talk about the course, topics we enjoyed thus allowing the presence of a camera filming their every movement less uncomfortable. It was interesting to observe the similarities of 2nd-year students to 1st years on the shoot. The classic way in which clear leaders can sometimes emerge and take over other people’s role was seen, this being an issue with student filmmaking, when someone isn’t happy with how someone else is conducting their role.
Annie East: Rowan’s reflections display some of the key tensions in setting up this research project; how do we observe students in the field and in what ways does that change the way they behave. This pilot confirmed going forward that the data to be captured is not the footage itself but the conversation about the footage when each crew member put on their VR visor to re-immerse themselves back into their field. This shifts the research focus away from behaviour and towards reflections on action and reflections in action.
Moving forward
Rowan Prosser: I really enjoyed the experience, as the opportunity to carry out research for an academic is not something that happens a lot. It gave me a clear insight into the future on how I can carry out future research and also taught me a lot about 360 cameras which I have not previously used. The group of second year students responded very well to me being around, and in the group, so it would be interesting to see how other groups would react to my involvement.
Annie East: These reflections suggest a shift in student identity and changing power dynamics between researcher and student and between student-to-student. The confidence that this work appears to have afforded Rowan sets him on the path of the lifelong learner; someone thirsty for new challenges. The challenge for BU2025 is the possible perception that working on academic research is a rare experience. Going forward Rowan can choose to be part of the full study and be more experienced for it; a scaffolded approach to collaborative research rather than a siloed one. The vision of fusion in BU2025 features a strong sense of inclusivity which we can promote to our students creating not only rounded academics but also fully rounded students, confident to take on ‘intriguing’ research projects.
References
Bournemouth University BU2025 Strategic Plan 2018 (online). Available from: https://www1.bournemouth.ac.uk/sites/default/files/asset/document/bu2025-strategic-plan.pdf (Accessed 10 August 2018)
Foucault, M., 1991. Discipline and punish. The birth of the prison. London: Penguin.
Schön, D. A., 1983. The reflective practitioner. [online] : how professionals think in action. New York : Basic Books.
Vygotsky, L. S. and Cole, M., 1978. Mind in society : the development of higher psychological processes / L. S. Vygotsky ; edited by Michael Cole … [et al.] Cambridge : Harvard University Press.
Project management contributes trillions to the global economy; driving business innovation and converting politicians’ promises into new systems and constructions that are intended to improve everyday life.
Sustainable development is a global priority and yet sustainability and project management do not sit comfortably together. There is tension between the long-term focus of sustainable development and the inherent pressure on projects to deliver against short-term measures of success. Furthermore, projects regularly fail. For example, Meier (2017) suggest 71% of projects in 2015 failed or were challenged. The financial, social and environmental costs of wasted resources and lost opportunities each year are also measured in trillions across the globe.
The UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals
Dr Karen Thompson and Dr Nigel Williams, both from the Department of Leadership, Strategy and Organisations, recognise that principles of responsible management and sustainability must be effectively incorporated into project management research and practice. Without responsible project management, projects are likely to hasten degradation of the environment and increase tensions in society. As a growing population competes for scarce resources, human conflict across the globe is likely to worsen. Responsible management of projects is therefore globally significant.
An international, cross-disciplinary workshop to think about Responsible Project Management was recently hosted by Nigel and Karen at BU. One focus was the project manager competencies because Wheatley (2018), among others, argues that enhanced project management capabilities would increase the beneficial impact of projects. A central premise to emerge was that managing projects responsibly will require project managers to go beyond delivering defined results for specific customers to managing the impact of their activities on society and the environment.
The workshop brought together leading academics and practitioners to begin exploring the concept of Responsible Project Management, with a particular focus on what competencies project managers require to think and act responsibly. An amazing 43 people engaged with us over two and a half days. Feedback collected formally and informally was incredibly positive. One outcome is recognition that the role of a project manager need to shift from a functional role, to leading and facilitating sustainable change.
Steve Knightley
The event began with a relaxed and informal afternoon with Steve Knightley, multi-award-winning musician/song writer, who shared his journey of creating a sustainable business. The following day, BU’s Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Tim McIntyre-Bhatty, welcomed participants and shared his vision of the future, including BU2025. Other participants from BU included the Head of BU’s Programme Management Office, Jackie Pryce; BU project managers; and Sustainability Manager, Neil Smith. Colleagues Dr Mehdi Chowdhury, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Tilak Ginige and Dr Sulaf Assi, both from the Faculty of Science and Technology, and several BU students contributed presentations and stimulated discussion.
External participants included Professor Darren Dalcher, Director of the National Centre for Project Management; Professor Andrew Edkins, Director of the Bartlett Real Estate Institute and Professor of the Management of Complex Projects; Professor Gilbert Silvius, thought leader and author on sustainable PM from the Netherlands, and other UK academics. Representatives from two professional bodies – the Association for Project Management (UK) and the Project Management Institute (USA) – reflected a range of practitioner perspectives; Arup Director Rob Leslie-Carter joined us via Skype, and Rowan Maltby, Project Consultant at Pcubed participated. Sustainability thinking was used to provoke discussion and challenge norms, led by a Director of the Association of Sustainability Practitioners, Gwyn Jones. We discussed B-corps, a new type of business organisation where the aim is to deliver value to stakeholders without preference. Unlike not-for-profit organisations, B-corps recognise the importance of profit, because without profit a business is not sustainable. Organisation and governance of B-corps reflect a need for stewardship of resources and impacts across a wide range of stakeholders, including the environment, users of outputs, staff, suppliers, and the wider community.
The workshop generated ideas about making project management a profession that goes beyond a technical function delivering outcomes defined by others. We suggested a range of competences and understandings project managers will require if projects are to be managed responsibly in the future, such as dealing with uncertainty, ethical complexity, and better anticipation and mitigation of damaging unintended consequences. Workshop outputs included ideas for research bidding, writing papers, learning, teaching and module content. Already we are collaborating on a guide for project practitioners to begin sharing the ideas with national and international audiences.
References
Meier, S.R. 2017. Technology Portfolio Management for Project Managers. Available online: https://www.pmiwdc.org/sites/default/files/presentations/201703/PMIW_LocalCommunity_Tysons_presentation_2017-02.pdf [Accessed 7 July 2018]
Silvius, A.J.G. 2017. Sustainability as a new school of thought in project management. Journal of Cleaner Production. Vol. 166. Pages 1479-1493
Wheatley, M. 2018. The Importance of Project Management. ProjectSmart. Available online: https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-importance-of-project-management.php [Accessed 8 July 2018]
Dr Sascha Dov Bachmann, Associate Professor in International Law (BU) and War Studies (Swedish Defence University), acting Director of BU’s Centre for Conflict,Rule of Law and Society has joined forces with Professor Louis de Koker and Professor Pompeu Casanovas from La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia to convene the conference
Global peace and security has seen the arrival of new security threats in the form of hybrid threats and cyber-attacks.
This symposium provides a platform for the discussion of a new form of warfare, namely ‘hybrid warfare’. Hybrid war is the use of a range of non-conventional methods (e.g. cyber warfare and lawfare) in order to disrupt, discourage and disable an adversary’s capabilities without engaging in open hostilities and may use the full range of military and non-military options for achieving its strategic objectives. Such hybrid warfare might include aspects of ‘cyber terrorism’, ‘cyber war’ and cyber-based ‘information operations’, a topic of particular interest given Russia’s ‘Ukrainian Spring’, the continuing threat posed by radical Islamist groups in Africa, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region as well geopolitical shifts.
The interdisciplinary symposium will discuss military doctrines, new and traditional approaches to war and peace and its perceptions, the use of cyber warfare, the use of mass media communication to meddle in internal state affairs, including impact on state elections and public sentiment, as well as the use of lawfare (the strategy of using – or misusing – law as a substitute for traditional military means to achieve a war-fighting objective) to achieve military goals in a non-kinetic way and the use of various means to disrupt a nation’s economy, public services and national interests.
At the heart of the symposium stand the questions of how to increase resilience and whether responses to such hybrid threats need to change in the future.
This seminal conference brings together academics and military professionals from the region and beyond to discuss new security challenges from a Asia-Pacific and especially an Australian perspective.
Deadline for submissions: 31 October 2018
Symposium Date: 25 – 26 March 2019
Place: La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
Proposals must be sent by email to the Lead Convenor: Professor (AP) Sascha Dov Bachmann (email: sbachmann@bournemouth.ac.uk).
Convenors:
Dr Choe, from the Faculty of Management provided a public lecture on ‘Spiritual Tourism and Sustainable Development’ at Chiang Mai University (CMU), Thailand.
Research staff at the Center of Tourism Research & Development, Social Research Institute at CMU kindly helped organise the event and added a very warm welcome and hospitality. They invited CMU research staff and students as well as staff/students from other universities in Chiang Mai. Their promotional efforts attracted a big crowd!
Dr Choe passionately shared her research ideas, data collected from Chiang Mai, her observations and interpretations. Lively discussions including helpful feedback and questions from local academics and students made the session very interesting, productive and meaningful.
Dr Choe suggested that other Southeast Asian destinations can learn from Chiang Mai’s successful push for spiritual and sustainable tourism and the management programmes. For example, Luang Prabang in Laos has similar tourism attractions such as numbers of historically significant Buddhist temples. However, they do not offer meditation retreat/’monk chat’ programmes that Chiang Mai offers to ‘spiritual travellers’ in unique and effective ways. Dr Choe also emphasised the ASEAN’s regional cooperation for future tourism development.
Dr Choe and research staff at Social Research Institute and Dept of Tourism, Faculty of Humanities at CMU have started collaborating on a number of projects. Updates will be posted on the BU Research Blog, so stay tuned 🙂
Securing funds from British Council to organise a Newton Funds Researcher Links workshop required good effort and persistence. Careful consideration of the feedback from an unsuccessful submission helped identifying where improvements were needed – we were successful in our second attempt. I believe the most important factors contributing to the success of the application were: the theme is topical and relevant for both countries (UK and South Africa), including active world-recognised researchers as mentors, having trach record of work and good connections in the host country (South Africa in this case). I have already being to South Africa delivering workshops to public sector practitioners on a similar subject funded by the South African National Research Foundation.
The workshop focused on ‘Research capacity for sustainable ecosystem-based management of estuaries and coasts’ and it was held on 19-21 June 2018 at the uShaka Marine World in Durban. There were 42 participants, 23 from South Africa and 19 from the UK, including early-career researchers from natural and social sciences backgrounds, established researchers and government practitioners involved in policy-making or implementing policy related to management of coasts and estuaries. I coordinated the workshop in collaboration with Professor Trevor Hill from University of KwaZulu-Natal and had a great support from Bronwyn Goble from SAAMBR/ Oceanographic Research Institute and Katie Smyth (University of Hull). The contribution from Mike Elliott (Hull), Andrew Cooper (Ulster), Ursula Scharler (UKZN) and Alan Whitfield (SAIAB) as mentors was greatly appreciated for the support and inspiration given to the early career participants.
Participants of the Researcher Links workshop entitled ‘Research capacity for sustainable ecosystem-based management of estuaries and coasts’ (19-21 July 2018, Durban, South Africa) coordinated by Dr Luciana Esteves (Dep Life & Environmental Sciences, SciTech).
I can only say that the experience of engaging with such talented and vibrant group of early career researchers and stimulating open discussions about career directions and prospects, focusing particularly on the importance of international collaboration and closing the research-practice gaps was truly rewarding. It was uplifting to see the connections building between UK and South African researchers and how links with government and NGO practitioners were providing a new direction to the career of some participants. From day 1 participants were talking to each other as old colleagues and engrossed in the activities proposed. No wonder some came out with clear plans on how they will work together, from designing teaching material to collaborating in research proposals and papers, consolidated the links created during the workshop. These links are evident in the action plans participants were asked to produce at the end of the workshop.
Very important was the participation of government practitioners, acting at the national level designing policy and at the province level implementing policy. It was clear the interest for improving research-policy links and some examples of good practices in the UK and South Africa and new ideas were shared and discussed. For example, secondments of staff, co-funding of research posts/projects, ways of stimulating policy-driven research calls. In general terms, the workshop discussions highlighted two evident differences:
Besides lots of discussions, the activities included a visit to the marine aquarium, networking during coffee breaks and a fantastic dinner at the Cargo Hold restaurant (the boat you see on the bottom right).
Shamal Faily has just published the textbook Designing Usable and Secure Software with IRIS and CAIRIS with Springer.
The book was written to help practitioners, be these UX designers, security architects, or software developers, ‘build in’ security and usability. The ACM Code of Ethics states that True security requires usability – security features are of no practical use if users cannot or will not use them. This book explains how usable and secure software can be designed using the IRIS framework and the CAIRIS software platform, and provides real case studies where security and usability is incorporated into software designs at an early stage. This is something most people agree should be done, but few people give advice on how to do it. This book helps fill this gap.
The book also helps educators and students by providing a resource for a course on Security by Design. As explained in the preface, this book was written to support our undergraduate and postgraduate Security by Design unit at BU, and pointers are included on how different parts of this book can support this or similar courses.
More information about this book can be found here. As the book will be used to support teaching at BU, soft and hard copies should be available from the library soon.
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