BU Research Blog | ESRC festival of social science

November 25, 2013

Finance for SMEs: The role of assessing credit risk – A successful event from the Business School, funded by the ESRC Festival of Social Science!

Public engagement, Research news eloring

The conference ‘Finance for SMEs: The role of assessing credit risk’ took place on Wednesday 6 November 2013 at the Executive Business Centre and was convened by Professor Jens Hölscher. The organisers, guest speakers and members of the public spoke highly of its success.

Around forty participants from both academic and business community backgrounds were in attendance. During the conference, there was lively debate and exchange between those that attended and those presenting. Turning Point was used to find out the participants’ opinions on whether ‘the future of SME finance lies with (1) Public banks, (2) 4 Fs (family, friends, fools & fans) or (3) High street banks’. This question was asked at the beginning and at the end of the conference. As you can see below, the change in results represents the change in opinions throughout the course of the conference.

First round Second round

The conference was opened by Professor Roger Palmer, Dean of the Business School. Professor Palmer felt personally attached to the scheme of the conference as he was once running his own SME business. Marc Cowling from the University of Exeter then gave his presentation on ‘How does firm risk affect the supply and demand for bank loans in a financial crisis?’ setting the scene for the day. This was then followed by a paper presented by Andy Farmer, Senior International Commercial Manager of HSBC Bank PLC, Bournemouth on ‘Is my business a sound credit risk? The Bankers View’.

An international comparative perspective was introduced by Jacob Kleinow, Freiberg University, Germany, who gave a talk on ‘SME bonds as alternative finance: The example of Germany’. The second session of the conference consisted of three breakout meetings on; The banks’ views, The SME’s views and The public’s view. The latter one was facilitated by Liz Wilkinson, Finance Director of Bournemouth Borough Council.

At the end of the conference, Dr Richard Roberts, SME Market Analysis Director at Barclays Bank PLC addressed the theme ‘Will the SME debt market ever work again?’.

November 13, 2013

ESRC Festival of Social Science: Promoting Dignity Through Narratives of Care

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Fusion, Info Days, Public engagement, Research news aharding

Building on their successful HEA funded seminar series event, The Power of Narrative and Stories in Enabling Learning for Professional Development in April 2013, the HSC Narrative Group was successful in attracting funding to deliver an event as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science on Saturday 2^nd November.

This event, Promoting Dignity through Narratives of Care, began by considering the multiple formats that a narrative approach can take with an emphasis on the need to promote dignity in health and social care, with reference to the theoretical framework developed at BU by Todres et al (2009) and Galvin and Todres (2012). The attendees included people involved in health and social care from the perspectives of receiving or providing care, education, research or a fusion of perspectives.

Participants created visual representations of their narrative to represent dignity in care. The creative activity was supported by members of the HSC Narrative Group using arts, craft and photography materials and theatrical props. Creative outputs were shared in the final session, including a play about nursing over different periods of time, poetry, two and three dimensional art work representing concepts of dignity and collages representing personal experience. The day was positively evaluated by those who attended, has led to an expanded network and will act as a stimulus for future HSC Narrative Group activity.

Some selected photos from the day can be found in the gallery below:

: Event organisers (Top row L-R) Andy Harding, Lee-Ann Fenge, Anne Quinney, (Bottom row L-R) Judith Chapman & Jen Leamon

: A participant narrative

: Participants Pauline and Eileen acting out ‘caring through the ages’ role play

: Event organisers (L-R) Judith Chapman, Maggie Hutchings, Jen Leamon & Ann Quinney

References

Galvin, K. and Todres, T. 2013. Caring and well-being: a lifeworld approach. Abingdon: Routledge.

Todres, L., Galvin, K.T., and Dahlberg, K. 2007. Lifeworld-led care: Revisiting a humanizing philosophy that integrates emerging trends. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 10(1), 53-63.

October 7, 2013

University to host five events as part of the prestigious ESRC Festival of Social Science!

Public engagement eloring

Major congratulations are in order for our BU academics who have done us #BUproud yet again as we are awarded funding for five different events as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science this year.

About the Festival:

The Festival of Social Science is a national Festival facilitated by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and runs from 2-9^th November 2013. It supports researchers to engage with a new audience, including individuals from business, charities, policy makers, teenagers, pensioners, parents and the general public. Sponsorship to include an event as part of the Festival is competitive, and this year, Bournemouth University has five events included – which is BU’s strongest ever presence as part of the Festival.

This year the Festival has over 170 creative and exciting events aimed at encouraging businesses, charities, government agencies, and schools and college students to discuss, discover and debate topical social science issues. The Festival celebrates some of the country’s leading social science research, giving an exciting opportunity to showcase the valuable work of the UK’s social scientists and demonstrate how their work has an impact on all our lives.

What BU has got planned?

Promoting dignity through understanding narratives of care

2^nd November (10am-4pm) Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth– Convened by Andrew Harding and Lee Ann Fenge

The event will use arts and social science methodologies to explore participants’ experiences of and reflections on dignity and compassion in health and social care. Participants may include users of services and their carers, practitioners and educators. Narrative methods provide a powerful means of engagement and construction for making meaning from experiences.

The participants will be encouraged to review experiences and reflections about the presence or absence of dignity and compassion in health and social care, and to consider if views about dignity and compassion change over time and place. Creative spaces, stimulated by ‘cafe conversations’ and supported activities, will enable participants to create collaborative and individual narratives and stories in a range of formats (e.g. poems, art and performance).

To register for your FREE place, please visit: http://esrc2013.eventbrite.co.uk/

Seen but Seldom Heard. Young people working to change perceptions of disability through poetry and performance.

Sunday 3^rd November (7pm-9pm) Lighthouse, Poole – Convened by Carrie Hodges and Wendy Cutts

‘Seen but Seldom Heard’ is a collaboration between Bournemouth University and Victoria Education Centre and Sports College in Poole. The project uses performance poetry as a way to provide a group of young physically disabled people (14-19 years) with a voice to challenge dominant stereotypes of disability that often serve to marginalise and exclude disabled people in society, by sharing their own personal stories.

The performance is a culmination of work that has been produced from a series of poetry workshops that have taken place over the last 18 months, facilitated by professional performance poets, Jonny Fluffypunk and Liv Torc. The group began by using both the achievements and media portrayals of Paralympic athletes as a focus for individually-written and collectively-authored poetry confronting negative perceptions of disability. As the work progressed, poetry was used as a way for the young people to engage in conversation about issues, policies and practices which affect them and others like them.

The ‘multi-media’ performance will challenge members of the public to think critically about their own perceptions of disability, engaging the audience via ‘warm-up’ poems from the professional poets, a series of short live and pre-recorded individual and group poetry performances from the young people, and a film screening of the ‘Seen but Seldom Heard’ documentary.

More information on the project and examples of the poetry can be found at: http://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/seen-but-seldom-heard/

To register for the FREE event, please visit: https://seenbutseldomheard.eventbrite.co.uk/

Finance for SME’S: The role of assessing credit risk

Wednesday 6^th November (12:30-5:30pm) Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth – Convened by Jens Holscher

This unique one-day event, brings together practitioners and academics in order to discuss the most pertinent issues of SMEs’ finance and credit risk with a view to setting a research agenda relevant to lenders and regulators.

Following the recent and continuing credit squeeze, lending to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) remains at the top of the agenda for governments around the world. With various political and economic incentives introduced to support SMEs, it is important not to overlook the practicalities of credit risk assessment, as access to credit is contingent on meeting the risk standards of credit providers, especially in the environment of prudent lending.

Participants will engage in debate and keynote speakers from academia, government agencies and industry will be invited. Social sciences and social science research will be promoted by drawing on leading researchers and through interaction of speakers and attendees, which will include breakout sessions related to sub-schemes such as micro finance, the role of regional funds and development agencies.

For further information please visit here. To register for this event please visit: financeforsmes.eventbrite.co.uk

Social Media: Make or break your online reputation

Friday 8^th November (11am-5pm) Talbot Campus – Convened by Dimitrios Buhalis

This interactive seminar will engage tourism, hospitality, marketing and technology professionals in a dialogue and will encourage them to consider how they can manage their reputation online. The discussion will focus on monitoring online conversations about brands and executing online strategies to manage the online reputation of organizations. It will include short presentations from research results undertaken at Bournemouth University and digital marketing agencies. An open discussion will be encouraged between researchers and professionals. This event has been chosen as there is a growing research agenda on the impact of social media on organisational reputation for tourism destinations and organisations. Thus researchers recognise the need to engage researchers, marketing and tourism industry professionals in discussion.

Please register for this FREE event, here: http://esrc-tourism-socialmedia.eventbrite.co.uk/

Dementia in Dorset – what does this mean for you?

Saturday 9^th November (1pm-5pm) Littledown Centre Bournemouth, Studio 2 – Convened by Anthea Innes and Sarah Hambidge

BUDI will host a one day community engagement event to showcase a range of their innovative projects which will bring dementia awareness to life through music, movement, interior design, technology, food, stories and marine archaeology. Storytelling, hands-on-activities, food tasting and art will be used to engage visitors to the exhibit with the impacts of dementia identified by social science research.

Dementia affects us all in some way and is currently a very relevant societal issue. The government are focusing on improving the areas that matter most to dementia: awareness, quality care and research. These themes will be brought to life by; exploring dementia through an interactive marine archaeology session, learning the benefits that healthy eating can have for everyone in the fight against dementia through taste, understanding what it’s like to live with dementia through postcard stories, getting the chance to use technology which has the aim of improving the quality of life of those living with dementia and planting seeds to learn about dementia friendly environments, amongst other fun activities.

To find out more about BUDI and the projects they are working on, please visit: http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/dementia-institute/

Please note that there is no need to register for this event, so just come along!

Why not come to some of these events? I can assure you, it’s worth it!

March 28, 2013

ESRC 2013 Festival of Science

Funding opportunities, Research news Caroline O'Kane

The ESRC has just posted on their website the news that the call for applications for the 2013 Festival has been delayed.

They now anticipate that the call will open on 15 April with a closing date of 13 May for applications requesting funding support of up to £2,000, and 7 May for applications to hold an event and not requesting funding. This means that the call for applications will be open for only four weeks. The message from the ESRC is to start planning your event as soon as possible.

BU held four events as part of the 2012 Festival. Our successful applicants were: Kip Jones, Richard Shipway, Debbie Sadd, Ruth Towse and Martin Kretschmer. This is what Debbie has to say about being part of the Festival:

“It is a wonderful opportunity to start a bidding journey and gain confidence in ‘winning’ some money!! The process was very straight forward and the support from the ESRC invaluable. The event itself was a resounding success.”

Looking for inspiration? Clicking on the following links will take you to the posters that were designed for each event, which may give you some ideas for your own event.

Copyright Policy, Going for Gold, London 2012 Was it Worth it, Pathways to Impact

Want to find out more?

Click here to find out more information about the call and the ESRC Festival of Science in general.

Interested in applying?

Please contact Caroline O’Kane as soon as possible if you are interested in applying.

November 26, 2012

Report from the ESRC Festival of Social Science

BU research kerickson

Bournemouth University was host to an ESRC Festival of Social Science event on 8 November 2012. The one-day conference, organized by Professor Martin Kretschmer and colleagues from the Law School, sought to explore the complexities of developing empirical research to support public policy in domains such as copyright law. In attendance at the conference were stakeholders from the Intellectual Property Office UK, the Cabinet Office, law professionals and academics from around Europe. The day was structured around a series of panel discussions by representatives from policy, the media industry, and law, prompting lively debate around questions such as: ‘What is the status of qualitative research in policy decision making?’ and ‘How can we reconcile the differing legal and academic standards for evidence?’.

The conference was video recorded with the help of research assistants from the Media School and will be made available in full as a series of digital conference proceedings.

The conference was also an opportunity for Professor Kretschmer, Dr. Kris Erickson and Dr. Dinusha Mendis to present the findings of research they carried out during the IPO consultation on the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property. The research seeks to evaluate possible economic impacts of any future change to UK copyright law to permit parody, caricature and pastiche of existing works. Currently, parody is not explicitly permitted under UK copyright law. The authors hope that this type of empirical research will help to illuminate complex public policy questions and strengthen the role of academic research in the policy process.

Below you may view a detailed presentation of the research from the ESRC event.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWbgZ63Ug9k

October 30, 2012

ESRC Festival of Social Science, What Constitutes Evidence for Copyright Policy?

BU research cippm

ESRC Festival of Social Science,

What Constitutes Evidence for Copyright Policy?

Thursday 8 November 2012, 10.30 am – 6 pm

Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth University

What the Workshop is about?

This interactive event offers the opportunity for discussion on evidence for copyright policy between social scientists, policy–makers and producers and users of copyright works. The event, which is part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science, will take the form of panel and round table discussions between policy–makers from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), stakeholders from the creative industries and academics from economics, sociology, law and cultural studies with expertise in copyright. The focus is on what evidence from these fields of study is relevant and useful to policy–makers and those seeking to put their case to them. For more information see http://www.cippm.org.uk/news/2012/june/ne001-esrc-social-science-festival.html

How I can participate if I cannot attend?

The event will be complemented by digital interaction which will include an effective micro-blogging infrastructure to encourage participation and dissemination of information for those who are unable to attend. There will also be write-ups following the Workshop detailing the events of the day.

If I am unable to attend, can I ask questions on the day from the expert panel?

Yes, it will be possible by using the hash-tag #cippm2012

There will be an opportunity for chosen ‘virtual questions’ to be raised and answered at the event, which in turn will be published on Twitter. The tweets on the day will be captured on Storify which will be made available on the CIPPM website http://www.cippm.org.uk/ following the event.

We invite you to ‘tune in’ and join us in the discussion on the 8^thNovember using the Twitter hash-tag #cippm2012

October 11, 2012

ESRC Festival of Social Science @BU features ‘Methods to Diversity’ and the film, Rufus Stone

BU research Kip Jones

BU’s involvement in the ESRC Festival of Social Science includes a one-day event entitled, “Pathways to Impact: ageing, diversity, connectivity and community” on Wednesday, November 7, 2012 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM (GMT) being held at the Executive Business Centre, 7th Floor.

The day will feature stimulating activities and informal discussions about diversity, the potential damage of discrimination experienced by many older gay and lesbian citizens, and what can be done about it.

Equality South West’s Chief Executive Katie Pratt will start off the day with highlights from their survey, “Pride Progress & Transformation”.

Members of BU’s LGB Research Advisory Committee will be on hand to informally share their experiences of working on BU projects.

A screening of the award winning, Bournemouth produced short film, Rufus Stone will follow Rufus Stone the movie blog.

Following a networking lunch, the big event of the day is the launch the Method Deck, Methods to Diversity – a learning tool to inspire agencies, practitioners and communities to think about diversity within their ageing population. Methods to Diversity is a playful compendium of information, practical tips and engaging exercises to help agencies and community groups think creatively about their approach to working with older lesbian and gay people.

Space is VERY limited (60 participants) and will fill up fast. If you are interested in attending, please register quickly at http://esrcfestival.eventbrite.com

The event is free, including lunch and a set of the Methods to Diversity cards.

Any questions? Please contact Dr Lee–Ann Fenge lfenge@bournemouth.ac.uk.

June 19, 2012

ESRC Social Science Festival

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news Peter Wallace

Professor Ruth Towse and Professor Martin Kretschmer have been awarded funding from the ESRC (RES-622-26-565) to organise an event as part of the Festival of Social Science 2012.

The symposium ‘What constitutes evidence for copyright policy?’ will be held on 8 November 2012 in the Executive Business Centre.

Professors Towse and Kretschmer write: “This interactive event offers the opportunity for discussion on evidence for copyright policy between social scientists, policy-makers and producers and users of copyright works. Copyright law is a topical and contentious area that affects a wide range of stakeholders with differing views on copyright policy. The need for evidence-based policy on copyright policy was emphasised in the Hargreaves Review and has led to several calls for evidence from stakeholders. The responses they provide to the Intellectual Policy Office are varied in nature and quality; the IPO has responded by issuing guidelines on what constitutes acceptable evidence (which itself is contested).

“Besides being a matter of pressing public concern, copyright also attracts the interest of a broad range of social science disciplines each with its own rules of evidence. The emphasis on economic growth as the objective of copyright policy has shifted the need for evidence in the direction of economics but economic evidence is not always easily available. Nor it is the case that only quantitative evidence is regarded as valid.”

The event will involve the following:

Social scientists in a range of disciplines will explore their perceptions of evidence in non-technical terms and discuss their research findings on copyright. The aim is to develop a perspective on what evidence social scientists believe is relevant for copyright policy-making purposes.
Representatives of stakeholder organisations that have responded with evidence to the IPO’s calls for evidence will explain what to them is relevant evidence.
IPO staff responsible for assessing responses to calls for evidence have already committed to participate in this event. They will explain how they use the information they receive from stakeholder meetings and calls for evidence to develop policy measures.

If you are interested to participate, please contact Dr Rebecca Edwards (Research Development Officer, Public Engagement): redwards@bournemouth.ac.uk

June 17, 2012

Debbie Sadd awarded funding for the ESRC Festival of Social Science

Public engagement Becca Edwards

Many congratulations to Dr Debbie Sadd, from the School of Tourism, who has been awarded funding to run an event during the ESRC Festival of Social Science which will be held during 3-10 November this year.

Her event London 2012: Was it worth it? will bring together up to 200 young people from local schools to debate the impact of the Olympic and Paralympic Games on the local area and the country as a whole. Speakers at the debate will include representatives from Dorset 2012, Sporting Legacy, Podium and BU. Not only will young people (and their teachers!) get to learn more about the research happening at Bournemouth University, it is hoped that the debate generated will help to inform future research.

Debbie’s event will also help young people engage with social science more generally by exploring the value of understanding evidence and critical thinking.

Along with our other successful events, this debate will help put BU on the Festival of Social Science map in what will be the tenth year of the festival!

June 15, 2012

Kip Jones wins ESRC Festival of Social Science funding!

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Public engagement Julie Northam

Congratulations to HSC’s Dr Kip Jones who has been awarded funding from the ESRC to run a public engagement event as part of the ESRC’s Festival of Social Science later this year.

The event will be a multi-activity format including a screening of the film ‘Rufus Stone’ and launch of the method deck ‘Methods to Diversity’ –a community organising tool; day to include small group discussions, distribution and hands-on experience with the method deck, reports from Research Projects (BU & Equality SW); participation of Research Advisory Group and Intercom Trust.

This is excellent news – well done Kip 🙂

March 28, 2012

ESRC Festival of Social Science – call for applications now open!

Funding opportunities, Research news Julie Northam

The call for applications to run events for the tenth annual Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) Festival of Social Science is now open.

This year the festival will run from 3-10 November. There are two types of application form available to download from www.esrcfestival.ac.uk:

You are able to apply for a maximum of £2,000 support from the ESRC to run an event. The closing date for supported applications is Friday 4May 2012.
You are also able to hold an event but not apply for funding. Applications are being invited to notify us of your event, which you would like to be included in the Festival programme. The closing date for non-funded applications is Friday 11 May 2012.

The Festival welcomes applications for events which target a non-academic audience including young people, third sector, the public, business or government. The guidelines around the aims of the Festival and how to apply are in the Application Guidelines under Organise an Event. Please note that organisations external to the ESRC are welcome to apply for support and to participate in the Festival.

The ESRC Festival of Social Science is a celebration of the social sciences. It began life in 2003 as Social Science Week – a collection of around 25 events, mainly seminars aimed towards an academic audience. Over the years Social Science Week has grown to a much larger and more inclusive ‘festival’ of activities, aimed at policymakers, business, the public and young people alike.

In 2011 an estimated 17,500 people attended over 130 different events across the UK. The variety of activities included public debates, secondary school level events, film screenings, theatrical performances, and hands on events. Interactive activities included exploring technologies around transport past, present and future; woodland walks; sharing memories and showing how research influences fashion and design.

The Festival of Social Science is a key element of the ESRC’s science in society strategy and its commitment to promoting awareness of UK social science research to new audiences.

The 2012 Festival will run in the Autumn, from 3 to 10 November and will continue to promote how social science has a role in all of our lives.

This is an excellent opportunity to increase the visibility of your research outside of academia and fits well with BU2018, our commitment to public engagement, and our concept of Fusion.

If you are interested in being involved please let Julie Northam know as soon as possible and the RDU will support you with your application.

Tagged / ESRC festival of social science

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