BU Research Blog

Category / Public engagement

19 October 2015

Black History Month Soiree highlights practice and research for social change

On October 14, local organisations, residents, staff and students from BU and other universities gathered at the Executive Business Centre for the Black History Month Soiree on Racial and Ethnic Diversity and Equality in Sport and Classical Music. The event was co-hosted by BU Equality and Diversity and Black British Academics, an independent organisation working to enhance race equality in the higher education sector.

Its founder and Chief Executive, Dr Deborah Gabriel, is a lecturer in the faculty of Media and Communication and she designed the programme to highlight the contribution Black academics make to the global knowledge economy, to showcase the fusion of practice and research for social change and to promote collaboration among staff, students and local organisations.

Dr Gabriel said: “My aim was to unite staff and students with local organisations to build engagement, promote co-creation in research and practice and collaboration on equality initiatives. I also think it’s important to acknowledge how Black academics are pushing the boundaries of knowledge while helping to build a fairer and more just society.”

Explaining why she chose sport and classical music as the theme for the event, Dr Gabriel said: “Football is the number one sport in Britain and issues around race and racism have been long-standing. Given that Bournemouth AFC have recently joined the Premier League, I think the focus is timely.”

Vincent Edwards from Bournemouth’s Kick-It-Out campaign spoke movingly about his 10-year campaign against racism in football and was joined by two teenage volunteers, who deliver anti-racism events in Bournemouth.

Kevin Hylton, Professor of Equality and Diversity in Sport from Leeds Beckett University (pictured left) shared narratives from Black and Asian football coaches extracted from his recent research on how humour is used to mediate against racial microaggressions.

Dr Gabriel delivered a presentation on pedagogies of social justice and cultural democracy, based on an evaluation of teaching materials and tailored workshops developed for a higher education institution to enhance race equality and inclusive teaching practice.

Dr Shirley Thompson, a reader in Music at Westminster University is a classical violinist and world famous classical composer, who in 2004 became the first woman in Europe to compose and conduct a symphony in the last 40 years.

In her presentation, Heroines of the Opera: Democratizing the Art of Opera Writing and performance, Dr Thompson (pictured right) spoke about her creation of leading roles for females and developing stories around African Caribbean historical figures.

Carolyn Solomon-Pryce, Head of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the London School of Economics and Political Science said: “I am so pleased that I made the effort to attend what proved to be an insightful and thought provoking event.”

After the presentation, guests were treated to a Caribbean buffet while networking. Dr Gabriel used the occasion to discuss her upcoming research project on engagement with digital technologies by Black elders with local organisations, who expressed a keen interest in being involved.

David Corbin, Equality and Diversity Manager at Dorset Healthcare said the BHM Soiree was “an excellent and informative evening. There is still so much work to do in this field to get full recognition of the contribution Black people have made; not just to the UK but the world. There is still a lot to learn and by coming together in celebration, recognition and challenge – we can make a difference.”

19 October 2015

RKEO Academic Induction

Funding opportunities, Guidance, Info Days, Knowledge Exchange, Post-award, Public engagement clyons

18 October 2015

Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team: how have we been flying the KEIT for you this month?

Festival of Learning, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, student research Rachel Bowen

Student engagement with research

Student engagement with research is well underway now that students are back at BU. Our Student Engagement Coordinator ran our research photo competition exhibition at Fresher’s Fair and was on hand to talk to students about our activities and events over the coming year.

Our new research spotlight film has just been released, featuring the work of Dr Anna Feigenbaum and our photo of the week series continues – take a look and learn about our inspiring research!

This week will see our first 14:Live of the semester where Dr Edward Apeh will be discussing the cyber-landscape: you, your data and the dark web. The line between our physical existence and the cyber-landscape is becoming increasingly blurred and the majority of our transactions are now being carried out online. Our personal data underpins these transactions and help to sustain the idea of a ‘free’ internet. But are we paying for ‘free’ apps and information with our valuable personal data?

Come along to find out more! Free pizza will be available to the first 30 attendees.

Student Project Bank

Our student engagement doesn’t stop there. A proposal for a new Science Shop initiative – the Student Project Bank – is underway. Science Shops carry out research for free, usually for local businesses or not-for-profit organisations, with the aim of sharing knowledge and expertise. They are often based in universities, where research is undertaken by students under the supervision of academic staff which has the added benefit of providing students with real-life work experience and skills to underpin their future careers.

For more information, contact Rachel Clarke, Knowledge Exchange Advisor.

Undergraduate Research Assistantships

Over the last academic year, BU ran its first Undergraduate Research Assistantship scheme, where undergraduate students undertook paid, short-term placements to support academic staff in their research. Feedback has demonstrated the value of the scheme to both staff and students.

The scheme is currently open to applications from academics. Once the projects have been confirmed, students will be able to apply for placements.

For more information, see this blog post.

Research communication

Our new Orthopaedic Research Institute (ORI) was officially launched last week. ORI will be working with academics across the university, partners in industry and clinicians in hospitals to develop research that will enhance patient treatment and outcome.

ORI is being led by Professor Rob Middleton and Associate Professor Tom Wainwright, who are already established researchers in their field and have worked for many years in clinical practice. ORI is being funded by the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership, which will enable ORI to purchase state-of-the-art gait analysis equipment and establish new research labs at BU.

For more information about ORI, visit their website.

Public engagement

The Festival of Learning dates for 2016 are now confirmed as 25^th – 29^th June and we will soon be putting out a call for event proposals. This year saw over 5,500 visits to the Festival, so it’s a great way to share your research and ideas with our local community.

This month’s Café Scientifique saw Tom Cousins talking about the hidden maritime archaeology of Poole Harbour. The next Café Scientifique will take place on Tuesday 3 November, where audience members will have the chance to debate ‘fear in childbirth: is the media responsible?’

Business engagement

Business engagement continues to gather pace, with meetings being held with a number of businesses, who are keen to further develop their links with BU. Members of KEIT also attended the recent Association for University Research and Industry Links (AURIL) conference in London. This was a great opportunity to learn about the latest developments in knowledge exchange and meet with colleagues in industry and the higher education sector.

Business services and marketing materials

New marketing materials for business engagement are being developed, based on some of the images submitted as part of the research photo competition from earlier this year. They are a great way to showcase our research and encourage businesses to tell us their story. Exhibition banners, presentation folders and flyers are being produced and are suitable for any business audience.

Please contact Jayne Codling, Knowledge Exchange Advisor if you’d like to borrow or use any of them.

If you’re feeling inspired by our blog post and would like to get involved with some of our projects then feel free to get in touch:

Genna West – Knowledge Exchange and Impact Manager

Rachel Bowen – Research Communications Manager

Rachel Clarke – Knowledge Exchange Adviser (KTP)

Jayne Codling – Knowledge Exchange Adviser

Naomi Kay – Public Engagement Officer

Katie Breadmore – Public Engagement Event’s Organiser

Oliver Cooke – Student Engagement Coordinator

To find out more about us and what we do, take a look at our team page.

17 October 2015

ESRC Social Sciences at BU

Fusion, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Public engagement Edwin van Teijlingen

Get some of these interesting presentations in your diary now ‘Enhancing social life through global social research’:The social sciences at BU. For details click here!

Three sessions:

Part 1. Young people and development

Part 2. Ethnographies of religion & cultures

Part 3. Social science research in diverse communities

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

15 October 2015

Sparking Political Debate with Sixth Formers: BU Research at the #PSASchools Conference

Public engagement afeigenbaum

Panelists at #PSASchools 2015

On Tuesday 13 october 2015, Dr. Darren Lilleker, Dr. Dan Jackson and Dr. Anna Feigenbaum from the Faculty of Media and Communication travelled up to London to lead sessions at the Political Studies Association’s first annual PSA Schools Conference. The event brought together 150 Sixth Form students from schools around London and the South East for an afternoon of exploring Pressure Groups, Anti-politics and Representation. In packed out workshop room, Dr. Lilleker and Dr. Jackson sparked debate over the rise of digital politics, asking in their session on Social Media and Political Communication, “Does social media offer a new way to develop a more dialogical relationship between citizens and their elected representatives?” Reflecting on the workshop, Dr. Lilleker said, ““It was interesting to hear the views of young people on digital media use and get them thinking about how their behaviour links to broader social trends in political engagement.”

Dr. Anna Feigenbaum’s session drew from her research into protest camping. She engaged students in a hands-on activity, designing blueprints and political strategies for their own hypothetical protest camps. Choosing Women’s Equality as their campaign issue, following a compelling keynote by Sophie Walker, Leader of the Women’s Equality Party, the students choose their protest sites, including Parliament and the Playboy Mansion. From clever hashtags to lodging people on houseboats in the Thames to politically subversive games of pin-the-tail-on-the-bunny, students showed their creativity and tactical savvy.

Taking part in the Question and Answer Panel Session that rounded out the day, Dr. Anna Feigenbaum joined Campbell Robb, CEO of Shelter; David Bowles, Director of Public Affairs of RSPCA; Graham Smith, CEO of Republic and Maddy Ryle of the Democracy Centre in a lively discussion facilitated by Dr Andy Mycock (University of Huddersfield) that ranged from the purpose of direct action to strategic uses of the law in political campaigning. Covering questions of Britishness and the Monarchy and the ethics of lobbying, sixth formers in the audience showed they were far more than an apathetic generation of youth. Politically reflective and insightful, they spoke of media misrepresentations of the working class, the need to scrutinise profiteering bankers, growing inequality in representative politics and when engaging in civil disobedience might be justified.

Speaking of his participation in the event, Dr. Jackson – who also convenes the PSA Media and Politics Specialist Group – said, “It is great to engage young people with some of the big political challenges of our day. Plus, this is a great way to put Bournemouth on the map, in terms of politics education at BU, as we develop our curriculum around politics, political communication and social movements.” Based on the success and positive feedback from this first event, the Political Science Association has plans to make the conference an annual affair. An exciting opportunity to share our BU Research in an interactive way with young people, we would encourage colleagues to join in future events!

With thanks to James Ludley and Helena Djurkovic of the PSA for organising this innovative event.

14 October 2015

EPSRC photo competition open for entries

Public engagement Rachel Bowen

The third EPSRC photo competition is now open for entries. The theme of the competition is ‘research in action’, which could include people involved in or affected by your research, unusual or bizarre images arising from your research or images that reflect new discoveries as a result of your research.

The competition is open to all EPSRC supported researchers and doctoral students.

The overall winner of the competition will be awarded £500 worth of camera / photography equipment. A prize of £150 worth of camera / photography equipment will also be awarded to the winner of each category. Runners up in second and third place of each category will receive £25.00 worth of camera / photography equipment. All winning images will also be featured in EPSRC‘s Pioneer Magazine and other EPSRC publications. The value of prizes may be increased dependent on sponsorship.

The deadline for submissions is 19 December.

Images from previous competitions can be seen here.

For full details and how to enter the competition, visit the EPSRC’s website.

13 October 2015

BU represented at prestigious event hosted by Georgetown University – School of Foreign Service’s Cyber Event

Fusion, Public engagement sbachmann

Dr. Sascha-Dov Bachmann, Assoc Prof in International Law, FMC,Law, and Prof Hakan Gunneriusson of the Swedish Defence University (SEDU) were invited to present their paper Russia’s Hybrid Warfare in the East The Integral Nature of the Information Sphere which was published last week in a special issue of Georgetown Journal of International Affairs – International Engagement on Cyber V: Securing Critical Infrastructure. GU’s School of Foreign Service hosts a special publication release event hosting a number of cyber related presentations.

The evolution of cyber capabilities has generated immense social, economic, and military benefits. At the same time, malicious actors have derived an array of equally formidable threats from these capabilities. Consequently, interdisciplinary discussions are required to promote security, good governance, and proper uses of national power in the cyber realm.

To further this dialogue, please join the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs for the publication release of Cyber V, which addresses developments, issues, and challenges to critical infrastructure cybersecurity, as well as theorizes military actions in the information age.

13 October 2015

BU professor invited to give key note at 2016 Dutch Midwifery Conference

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement Edwin van Teijlingen

Professor Edwin van Teijlingen (CMMPH) has been invited to present a key note speech at the Kennispoort Verloskunde conference in Utrecht, the Netherlands in January 2016. He will be speaking about ‘Dealing with risk in maternity care: the social versus medical model’. The presentation is based on a number of publications around the sociological topic of the medical/social model of childbirth. [1-3]

One of the ways sociologists analyse health and health care is in terms of a ‘medical’ versus a ‘social’ model, or in this field, a midwifery model. As pregnancy and birth are biological and physiological events which are very much embedded in a social and cultural setting, these are good examples to highlight the use and misuse of the medical and social model. Modern Western society has a slightly paradoxical view of pregnancy. On the one hand, the average woman in childbirth is not ill because pregnancy is not an illness. On the other hand, pregnant women are deemed to need a lot of health care throughout pregnancy and childbirth. Making the distinction between a medical and a social model of a social phenomenon is not exclusive to midwifery. Over the past decades researchers have pointed to the existence of a medical and social model in alcohol misuse, obesity, sex, eating disorders, infertility treatment, to name but a few phenomena.

References:

van Teijlingen, E. (2005) A critical analysis of the medical model as used in the study of pregnancy and childbirth, Sociological Research Online, 10 (2) Web address: http://www.socresonline.org.uk/10/2/teijlingen.html.
MacKenzie Bryers H., van Teijlingen, E. (2010) Risk, Theory, Social & Medical Models: critical analysis of the concept of risk in maternity care, Midwifery 26(5): 488-496.
van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Sociology of Midwifery. In: Sociology for Midwives Deery, R., Denny, E. & Letherby, G. (eds.) Cambridge: Polity Press, 22-37.

5 October 2015

BUDI Masterclass held on 30 September: Creative Approaches in Dementia

Public engagement mobrien

On Wednesday 30^th September, the Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) hosted a Masterclass on creative approaches in dementia. This was the third in a series of four Masterclasses set for the 2015 calendar year. We provided a day full of information and inspiration on the use of a range of creative activities with people with dementia. The morning included sessions on the importance of engaging people with dementia in creative activities, how much residents in a care home are engaged in meaningful activity on a daily basis, and the use of gardening and nature for wellbeing. As well as presentations from the BUDI team we also benefited from presentations from a professional artist, photographer, poet, and musician.

The afternoon was a series of workshops that gave delegates an opportunity to try out some of the activities and explore how they might facilitate people with dementia and their carers in activities such as music, poetry, visual art, photography, and drama. Such creative arts were used not only to demonstrate how we can engage people with dementia in meaningful activities, and the creative ways that we can make use of the creative arts, but how we can also use the arts to challenge the public’s perceptions of the capabilities of people with dementia.
Poetry workshop resized

Feedback from delegates has been very positive and we look forward to providing the next Masterclass in a few months!

Next Masterclass:

Wednesday 2^nd December:
Promoting Wellbeing at the End of Life

Report by Dr Samuel Nyman, BUDI

1 October 2015

CIPPM Researchers Present at the European Policy for Intellectual Property (EPIP) Conference

PG research, Public engagement, Research themes cippm

The 10th Annual Conference of European Policy for Intellectual Property (EPIP) was hosted by CREATe, the RCUK Centre for Copyright and New Business Models in the Creative Economy at the University of Glasgow, on 2 and 3 September 2015.

Opening the conference in the beautiful setting of the Chapel, Professor Ian Hargreaves, Professor of Digital Economy and the author of ‘Digital Opportunity: A Review of IP and Growth’ delivered the keynote speech on ‘Copyright Wars: Frozen Conflict’ to which a thought-provoking response was delivered by MEP, Julia Reda (Greens/EFA Group/Pirate Party). The video of the keynote including the transcript and MEP Julia Reda’s response is available here.

During the 2-days, a number of Researchers from the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management (CIPPM) including Maurizio Borghi, Dinusha Mendis, Ruth Towse, Marcella Favale and Sally Weston attended and presented at the conference.

Marcella Favale presented her paper co-authored with Martin Kretschmer and Paul Torremans Is There a EU Copyright Jurisprudence? An empirical analysis of the workings of the European Court of Justice.

Ruth Towse presented her paper on Copyright and business models in music publishing: the law and the market (as part of the AHRC-funded project Evolution in Music Publishing).

Maurizio Borghi presented on Crowdsourcing the orphan works problem (as part of the recently funded EnDOW project). The EnDOW Project is led by CIPPM and carried out in partnership with CREATe, University of Glasgow, ASK, University of Bocconi and IViR, University of Amsterdam.

Sally Weston presented on Encouraging interoperability by the sharing of interface information obtained by reverse engineering – as part of the research carried out for her PhD project.

Dinusha Mendis presented and led a panel on A Legal and Empirical Study into the Intellectual Property Implications of 3D Printing – Conclusions and Recommendations (as part of a project commissioned and funded by the UK Intellectual Property Office). The other panel members who also contributed to the commissioned project and presented on the Panel included Dr. Davide Secchi (University of Southern Denmark), Ms. Sophie Jones (Stratasys Strategic Consulting) and Ms. Pippa Hall of the UK Intellectual Property Office who spoke about next steps in relation to policy and reform in the area of 3D printing and IP Law.

In the same manner that the Conference commenced, the 2-day Conference was brought to a close by an equally excellent closing keynote speech by Professor Pamuela Samuelson, Richard M. Sherman Distinguished Professor of Law from Berkeley Law School. The closing keynote can be found here. Professor Samuelson spoke about the challenges and opportunities brought about evidence-based IP policy and concluded her keynote and the Conference by stating: “I think that evidence based IP policy is a theme worth pursuing. It’s not always going to win but it gives this community something useful to debate and to offer to policy makers. Like Julia Reda, I think reform is possible but it’s not going to be easy, and generational change will probably make more of a difference than anything we write today”.

1 October 2015

Positive Active Ageing Photo Exhibition

Public engagement cfarrance

I’m wondering if anyone would be interested in collaborating with me on a ‘Positive Active Ageing Photographic Exhibition’. The idea has come about through my PhD research where I have been fortunate enough to have met many older people who are really positive role models and are staying active by going to local community based group exercise programmes. I wanted to do something to showcase how important these programmes are and challenge some of the more negative views of ageing which can sometimes be portrayed.

I have had overwhelming enthusiasm about the idea from the exercise groups I’ve been working with and just wondered whether there are people in BU from other faculties who have also been working with active older people and would like to be involved in this event. Would love to hear from you if that’s the case. Please feel free to email me (Clare) on: cfarrance@bournemouth.ac.uk

(Image used with permission, Bromford Group. http://bit.ly/1Id23UH)

17 September 2015

Joint project with Tribhuvan University

Awarded & submitted bids, Public engagement Edwin van Teijlingen

Today I attended a contract-signing meeting at the Department of Health, Physical and Population Education at Nepal’s oldest university, Tribhuvan University (TU).

BU, TU and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) have been awarded a Tropical Health & Education Trust (THET) grant for health partnerships to carry out training and capacity-building projects in low-income countries, such as Nepal.

The new BU-led THET project will bring highly experienced UK volunteers to train some 100 maternity care providers, such as Auxiliary Health Workers (AHWs) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) about the key mental health issues in pregnancy and in the months after birth. A local charity Green Tara Nepal (GTN) will support the work through some of the curriculum design, sensitising UK volunteers to live in rural Nepal, assisting in translating, as well as helping to recruit the local health workers. The two UK universities have a long history of working with GTN as well as its sister organisation Green Tara Trust (GTT), a Buddhist charity based in London. The new project will be based in Nawalparasi in the sub-tropical part of the country bordering India. The target population consists of grassroot health care practitioners since there are no doctors in these rural villages.

The pictures accompanying this post illustrate the inequalities and the mix of modern and traditional in Kathmandu today. The city crowded with motorbikes and then occasionnally one sees a couple cows been driven through these busy streets. The green house is in the street in front of where I am staying and the shanty town building are the backdoor neighbours. The picture with text is the price-list ourside the main infectious diseases hospital informing patients about the costs of certain treatments, tests and drugs. A reminder that health care might be free in name for the poorest people, there are still many costs involved in gettiong treated in hospital!

This project is supported by the Tropical Health & Education Trust (THET) as part of the Health Partnership Scheme, which is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The following people make up the international project team: Edwin van Teijlingen, Padam Simkhada, Bhimsen Devkota, Padmadharini Fanning, Jillian Ireland, Bibha Simkhada, Lokendra Sherchan, Ram Chandra Silwal, Samridhi Pradhan, Shyam K. Maharjan, Ram K. Maharjan

17 September 2015

BU social science seminars

Public engagement Rachel Bowen

A new series of lunchtime social science seminars will be getting underway at BU this autumn. Featuring academics from all areas of social sciences, the programme will tackle important and topical issues and showcase some of BU’s excellent research.

The seminars will take place at 1pm and will last for around 50 minutes – please feel free to bring your lunch.

All staff and students are welcome.

Date and Venue

Speaker & Title

30 September 2015

R301

Ann Brooks

‘Sex, Lies and Videotape’: Sex and the Politics of Organizational Identity in the US – The Case of David Petraeus

28 October 2015

R301

Dan Jackson

Journalism and Public Relations: shifting boundaries, shifting power relations

18 November 2015

R303

Stephanie Schwander-Sievers

Ethnographies of Memory – the cultural reproduction of militancy in post-war Kosovo

2 December 2015

R303

Anna Feigenbaum and Daniel Weissman

Vulnerable Warriors: Counter-terrorism and the rise of Militarised Policing

20 January 2016

R301

Kip Jones

Performative Social Science: What it is, What it isn’t, and Where it is now

17 February 2016

R301

Sarah Scarfe

How do you exercise with epilepsy? Insights into the psychosocial impact of exercising with epilepsy?

16 March 2016

S206

Hyun Joo Lim

Voices of the secret state: human rights activism among North Korean defectors in the UK

20 April 2016

R303

Edwin Van Teijlingen

Maternal health research in Nepal

18 May 2016

R301

Deborah Gabriel

Inside the Ivory Tower: Narratives Women of Colour Surviving and Thriving in British Academia

15 June 2016

R301

Marcellus Mbah

An exploration into the dynamics of being an international student and the complexities surrounding their placement and employability prospects

6 July 2016

R301

Ann Luce

Journalistic Representations of Suicide and the Discourses Created

17 September 2015

Shedding new light on the New Forest’s past

Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, Public engagement, student research djohn

A new heritage mapping exhibition opens on Saturday at the New Forest Centre, Lyndhurst which features work by BU Games Technology students. The exhibition highlights new archaeological sites that have been discovered as part of the New Forest Higher Level Stewardship scheme. Remote sensing with Lidar was used to look beneath the tree canopy and discover new sites and monuments previously not visible through traditional survey techniques.

BU staff and students, including Aaron Stone, Christopher Beckett, Jamie Sheridan and Daniel Dean, contributed by creating interactive visualisations of historic environments (a pre-historic burial ground, an Iron Age hill fort, a Roman villa, a Tudor castle and a Second World War airfield) that can be explored by visitors to the exhibition using iPads.

The exhibition is free to enter and is open 10am – 4.30pm daily from Saturday 19 September 2015 to Sunday 24 January 2016.

New Forest Centre
High Street
Lyndhurst
Hampshire SO43 7NY

http://www.newforestcentre.org.uk/september-2015/

17 September 2015

Bournemouth University research collaboration to go on show as part of London Design Festival

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement Rachel Bowen

Mobile working is on the rise in the UK, with more and more people travelling for work or being away from home for extended periods of time, which has significant implications for work-life balance and family life. Someone working Monday to Friday in in a location away from home might miss out on valuable time spent with a young family, while another worker travelling for long periods may have difficulties finding time to spend with a partner.

In a digital age, how can we solve these problems and maintain family life while on the move? That’s exactly the problem that academics from Bournemouth University, Newcastle University, the University of the West of England and the Royal College of Art set out to tackle with their innovative research project – Family Rituals 2.0.

The interdisciplinary research project stemmed from a ‘Creativity Greenhouse’ session held by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, where researchers from a multitude of disciplines came together to tackle societally relevant problems from very different angles.

It was this mixture of perspectives and expertise that meant the team working to develop Family Rituals 2.0 have been able to analyse the problem of mobile working from the point of view of employers and employees, as well as develop novel technological solutions to specific issues faced by families who spend a lot of time apart due to work. These designs will be on display as part of the London Design Festival.

Lead researcher for Bournemouth University, Professor Adele Ladkin comments, “It’s been a great experience to work together with researchers in other fields to tackle the problems faced by families as a result of mobile working. We all have very different skills and expertise which has helped us to analyse the issues and then come up with creative solutions.

Here at Bournemouth, we worked with UWE to interview employers about the support available for mobile workers, as well as talking to employees about the consequences for them, their families and partners. Those results, as well as in-depth interviews with a handful of families, were used by Newcastle University and the Royal College of Art to create the designs that will be on show at the London Design Festival.”

The machines designed include a digital solution for a couple to share a drink together while miles apart and a creative means for a parent who drives a lorry for work to hear messages from their children while stationary in traffic.

“Each machine was created for a specific family, according to their situation and domestic life,” explains Professor Ladkin, “While we don’t expect these designs to present a solution to the issue of mobile working and separation, we do hope that it will stimulate discussion about what home and family life mean and what the effects of being separated from it are.”

The exhibition is open to the public from 19 – 24 September, 10am – 5:30pm at the Royal College of Art in London.

More information about the exhibition can be found on the London Design Festival website or by following the #LDF2015 hashtag on Twitter.

17 September 2015

Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team: how have we been flying the KEIT this month?

Business Engagement, Festival of Learning, HEIF, Public engagement Genna West

While many have been enjoying the last of the great British summer, the KEIT team have been working hard to ensure that BU’s research and knowledge is informed by society for the benefit of society on a number of cross institutional projects. Read on for a selection of our achievements this month:

Communicating BU’s research

Two exciting new digital features have been launched this month. The Research Photo of the Week exhibits winning photographs from the Research Photography Competition that we held earlier this year to showcase BU research. Our research spotlight feature has also just been launched in the form of a short video interview, featuring Dr Sally Reynolds whose work has recently been published in Scientific Reports.

Other research communication successes include Colin Pritchard’s research into dementia which was featured on the front page of the Times in August and has been well cited in the local and national press. Additionally, Jane Murphy and Joanne Holmes’ research into dementia and nutrition was reported in the Mirror and subsequently in the Coventry Telegraph and Evening Gazette.

Public Engagement

After the success of the Festival of Learning back in July, we’re already moving onto our next big event of the year, the ESRC Festival of Social Science. BU has supported events as part of the Festival for the past 3 years but this year, for the first time, we are officially a partner of the Festival and as such are producing many more events for the public, business and schools. Take a look at research.bournemouth.ac.uk/events for further details of activities taking place as part of the Festival, as well as for details of all our public facing activity.

Café Scientifique continues to be successful with September’s talk coming from Dr Robin Wilson from University of Southampton who discussed how we’re monitoring our environment from space and why we should care about it. Upcoming talks will feature Marine Archaeologist, Tom Cousins (October 6) and Vanora Hundley and Edwin Van Teijlingen who will explore Fear in Childbirth (November). If you’d like to be involved and have a great idea for a debate-centric talk we’d love to hear from you – just email Naomi.

The deadline for submitting your expression of interest to run a Festival of Learning event is also fast approaching so be sure to put your name and the concept of your event in online before 25 September.

Higher Education Initiative Fund (HEIF)

13 HEIF projects came to an end this summer, with some excellent outcomes including:

The BFX festival is running for the third year after starting out as a HEIF funded project. Tickets are now available for the festival – check out the website for more information. Volunteers are also need for this event, so please email Tracey Ricketts if you are interested in helping out.
An MSc Mobile app development course launched to start in 2016, in consultation with a number of stakeholders including local mobile app agencies.
BUG continues to hit the headlines: Weed machines remove 30 tonnes from Poole Park lake – Bournemouth Echo. This year-long research project by Bournemouth University Global Environment Solutions (BUG) monitors water quality at Poole Park lake, to form part of the bid for Heritage Lottery Funding to improve Poole Park.

HEIF 5+1: The twelve new projects that secured funding in August 2015 and will run for the next 12 months are well underway. More information will be posted on the Research Blog as these evolve – so keep an eye out for updates. One of the first to go live is Building Roman Britain.

KEIT and Liam Toms within the Media & Communication Faculty are working together to co-ordinate a Creative Bournemouth event to be held at the EBC on 23 September. Professor Tim McIntyre-Bhatty will open the event and a number of speakers from the creative industries will present during the afternoon. This event will also launcha special feature on creative industires in Bournemouth published by The Drum .

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP)

We currently have five live KTP within SciTech and KTP activity at BU is on the increase with KTP leads associated with every Faculty. This is a fantastic result and we are keen to further promote the specific KTP Cyber Security call and Stratified Medicine call, both of which are due to close in early 2016.

If you’re feeling inspired by our blog post and would like to get involved with some of our projects then feel free to get in touch:

Genna West – Knowledge Exchange and Impact Manager

Rachel Bowen – Research Communications Manager

Rachel Clarke – Knowledge Exchange Adviser (KTP)

Jayne Codling – Knowledge Exchange Adviser

Naomi Kay – Public Engagement Officer

Katie Breadmore – Public Engagement Event’s Organiser

Oliver Cooke – Student Engagement Coordinator

To find out more about us and what we do, take a look at our team page.

17 September 2015

BU Research at Banksy’s Dismaland

Public engagement afeigenbaum

Dismaland This week sees the opening of the DSEI Arms Fair (the worlds largest arms fair held every two years in Londons Docklands). To commemorate the occasion Dismalands museum curator Dr. Gavin Grindon alongside the #RiotID project have produced a guide for tracking the manufacturers of weapons used against public protest (the tear gas used against pro-democracy protests in Egypt in 2011 and Hong Kong in 2014 was made in Derby). These are available in the park from today, but obviously are of limited use in Weston super-Mare so were asking anyone who might find this helpful to disperse the PDF below. It also comes in Arabic Photographer: SUBMIT NOT FOR RESALE

Dr Anna Feigenbaum, a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Media and Communication, last week launched the #RiotID project along with John Horne from Birmingham University and the Omega Research Foundation. An output of the Fusion funded BU Datalabs project, #RiotID is a civic media guide helping people identify, monitor and record the use of riot control agents against civilians. The web-based and downloadable #RiotID guide was designed by Minute Works and is currently being distributed at Banksy’s Dismaland as part of the Cruel Designs Exhibition curated by Dr. Gavin Grindon.

Why ID?

Everyday, around the world, law enforcement officers use tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets and other riot control weapons on civilians. While these devices are marketed as safe and humane ‘less lethal’ weapons, they regularly cause injuries and even deaths.

The Turkish Medical Association states, “As doctors we declare that the use of tear gas whose acute and chronic effects on health have been sufficiently proven must be fully prohibited.” Likewise, members of the European Respiratory Society have shared their concerns over these weapons, “Our findings suggest that people who live and work close to protests are also seeing harmful effects on the lungs from the use of this gas. We have also found that the effect on the protesters lasts longer than we previously thought.

The ‘less lethality’ of riot control weapons is largely predicated on their appropriate use, following strict, clinically trailed guidelines. Last week marked the 25^th anniversary of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials that is meant to regulate the use of riot control weapons. Yet, while regulations and guidelines are provided by the UN, there is currently no effective legal oversight or international regulation of their export, trade or everyday use.

#RiotID in Action

The #RiotID guide has already made its way into real world use during an inter-faith community protest in Beit Jala against Israel’s separation wall in Palestine that appropriates residential land. Peaceful protest participants carried the#RiotID guides with them as the marched.

#RiotID is designed to help people medically respond, monitor human rights violations, challenge use of force abuses, and identify the manufacturer and country of origin of these devices. It aims to help close the gap between how police are advised to use these weapons and how they are used in reality in ways that cause danger to civilians.

The guid enables people to photo document and upload images to twitter for identification by our team of experts. The guides are currently available in English and Arabic from: http://riotid.com/print-your-own-riotid/ More translations will follow.

16 September 2015

Bestival 2015

Public engagement ocooke

Bestival

So after a little time to recover from the late nights of last weekend, I can safely say that Bestival was a great success!

The atmosphere was electric, which gave us the perfect opportunity to showcase some of BU’s resea rch. The activities that we bought held a very high level of interactivity which allowed us to fully engage with our audience.

We bought two activities to Bestival, the T-wall reaction board and the Jump Mat. The T-wall tested skills such as reaction times and hand eye coordination. Then the jump mat tested a participant’s stationary jumping power. The purpose was to allow the public to test themselves against some of the UK’s most elite athletes such Jessica Ennis and Lewis Hamilton.

These two pieces of kit were brilliant for public engagement as it allowed people to test themselves as an individual, as well as giving them the opportunity to compete against their friends. This added level of competition encouraged hundreds of people come and test their abilities, as well as giving them the chance to win some highly sought after BU merchandise.

There were many other activities at the science tent which helped to showcase research happening at other universities such as Southampton and Reading. One Activity that was successful at catching the public’s attention was a specially modified telescope which allowed you to examine the sun. Through this telescope you could examine it in great detail, with even being able to see solar flares!

Please keep a close eye on the @BU_research twitter account to get the latest updates and news on research at BU.

Category / Public engagement

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BU represented at prestigious event hosted by Georgetown University – School of Foreign Service’s Cyber Event

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New Forest Centre
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Hampshire SO43 7NY

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Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team: how have we been flying the KEIT this month?

BU Research at Banksy’s Dismaland

Bestival 2015

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New Forest Centre
High Street
Lyndhurst
Hampshire SO43 7NY