Dr Suwita Hani Randhawa convenes the first strategic workshop on ecocide in UK politics with high-profile external stakeholders

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A New Crime of Ecocide: Opportunities, Challenges and Implications for the UK

On 2 February 2024, Dr Suwita Hani Randhawa (Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations) convened a workshop to discuss the opportunities, challenges and implications that a new crime of ecocide presents for the UK’s domestic and foreign policies.

Supported by an Impact Acceleration Award from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the workshop brought together a diverse group of external stakeholders, all of whom are actively engaged in ongoing efforts to criminalize ecocide in the UK.

This included notable politicians and activists, such as: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party Peer and former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales); Emma Crane (Head of Policy and Legislation at Peers for the Planet); Nina de Ayala Parker (Camden Councillor); Carla Denyer (Co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales and Bristol City Councillor; Monica Lennon (MSP for Central Scotland); Kerry McCarthy (MP for Bristol East and Shadow Minister for Climate Change); Jojo Mehta, CEO and Co-Founder of Stop Ecocide International; and Chidi Oti Obihara (Advisor to Stop Ecocide International).

Academics with an interest in ecocide, climate justice and green politics were also present, including: Dr Jane Kirkpatrick (Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, UWE Bristol); Professor Kate Mackintosh (Executive Director, UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe), Professor Damien Short (Director of Human Rights Consortium and Reader in Human Rights, University of London) and Professor David Whyte (Professor of Climate Justice, Queen Mary University of London).

Dr Suwita Hani Randhawa (far right) with participants of the UK Ecocide Workshop

In recent months, ecocide has been the subject of increasing political discussion and legislative efforts in the UK. In September 2023, Camden became the first UK council to call for ecocide’s recognition as an international crime and a Private Member’s Bill (Ecocide Bill) was recently introduced in the House of Lords by Baroness Boycott. In Scotland, Monica Lennon (MSP for Central Scotland) has proposed the introduction of the crime of ecocide under Scottish law, and her (Proposed) Ecocide (Prevention) (Scotland) Bill has been open for public consultation since November 2023. Several UK political parties, including the Labour and Green Parties, have also expressed support for an international crime of ecocide.

These developments are reflective of deepening global sentiment on the necessity of criminalizing ecocide. In November 2023, the European Union became the first international body to criminalise wide-scale environmental damage by including acts comparable to ecocide within the bloc’s revised crime directive. Furthermore, national bills on ecocide are currently being discussed in over 10 national parliaments. Since 2017, ecocide has also the subject of an ongoing global campaign spearheaded by Stop Ecocide International, which is pushing for its recognition as a crime under international law.

However, the UK Government is currently opposed to ecocide: it neither supports proposals to recognize an international crime of ecocide, nor intends to introduce domestic legislation on ecocide. Considering the current global ecological crisis though, there is a critical need for the UK Government to reconsider its current position.

As the UK Government’s stance on ecocide has not yet been the subject of public discussion, the workshop provided the opportunity to critically engage with this pressing topic. Moreover, given that the small grouping of UK politicians and activists campaigning on ecocide have not yet explored opportunities to collaborate, the workshop also offered a strategic space for them to discuss how to coordinate action towards their shared goals.

Drawing on her expertise on the process of international criminalization, Dr Suwita Hani Randhawa played a leading and facilitative role at the workshop. The discussions centred on two central objectives: the development of cross-party strategies to support legislative change on ecocide in the UK, as well as mechanisms to encourage the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to reconsider its official diplomatic stance on ecocide.

Dr Suwita Hani Randhawa chairing the UK Workshop on Ecocide

The discussions were insightful, stimulating and thought-provoking – and were captured in visual form by Camille Aubry, a live illustrator and resident of the Pervasive Media Studios.

Dr Suwita Hani Randhawa will now be taking the lead to operationalize the ideas explored at the workshop, all of which are aimed at mainstreaming ecocide within UK politics.

The workshop and its participants will be featured in the upcoming episode of The Ecocide Report, a podcast curated by Stop Ecocide International.

Vice-Chancellor’s Early Career Development Award

Supported by a Vice-Chancellor’s Early Career Development Award, Dr Suwita Hani Randhawa is currently undertaking a research project on ecocide, “The Criminalization of Ecocide: A Novel Response to the Climate Emergency”.

Her ongoing research has featured in a diverse range of outlets, including: an op-ed in Open Democracy; an invited blog on Monica Lennon’s campaign website; and written evidence for the Lords Select Committee on European Affairs’ inquiry on the “Implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for UK-EU relations”.

She was recently awarded a competitive Early Career Small Research Grant from the British International Studies Association (BISA), which will support archival research on ecocide at the United Nations Archives in Geneva this spring.

She will be presenting her research at two upcoming conferences, the International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Conference in San Francisco, USA and the British International Studies Association (BISA) Annual Conference in Birmingham, UK.

As part of the 11th Workshops in International Studies, organized by the European International Studies Association, she and Dr Alex Hoseason (Aston University) are also co-organizing the first academic workshop on “Ecocide in International Relations”, which aims to foster greater dialogue between a small emerging group of International Relations scholars interested in ecocide with other ecocide researchers across the social sciences.

At UWE Bristol, Dr Suwita Hani Randhawa delivers research-led teaching on the undergraduate Politics and International Relations degree programme – and she is planning to channel her research into the development of a new specialist module on Ecocide and Climate Justice.

UWE Bristol academic delivers keynote at Thai-UK World-Class Consortium

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Dr Tariq Umar, Senior Lecturer from the School of Architecture and Environment, participated in the Thai-UK World-Class Consortium held in Thailand

Dr Tariq Umar delivered a keynote on “Meeting Future Urbanization Need – A Research Agenda” and a research proposal development workshop covering the economic development and social welfare, environmental impact, and risk assessment. The event was organised and funded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation, along with Chiang Mai University and the British Council in Thailand. The overall purpose of the event was “Promoting Cross-Disciplinary Research and Impacting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. The two-day event was held in Bangkok, Thailand on 18 and 19 December 2023 at Sukosol Hotel.

Dr Tariq’s keynote covered the expected burden on the current cities due to population increase. The sinking of Bangkok and Jakarta at 2 to 10 cm a year was used as an example to the thread from sea rise to current cities. Different approaches to meet the future requirement of urbanization with most important sustainability indicators were explore in the presentation.

Likewise, Dr Tariq’s workshop on research proposal development provided audience example on how to demonstrate the economic development and social welfare in the research proposal particularly when the funding need Official Development Assistance (ODA) compliance. The environmental impact arising from the proposal during and after completion of the project along with the strategies on how to mitigate such impact were discussed with the audience. Examples on risk assessment and mitigations were provided to the audience – explaining how a better risk management approach can translate risk into opportunities and strength in research proposal.

The half day workshop ended with group discussion and reflection from audience on different aspects including future thoughts.

Public Health & Criminal Justice network conference on trauma informed practice

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Guest blog post by:

  • Prof Kieran McCartan, UWE Bristol
  • Rachel Campbell, NHSE South West Public Health (Blended Team)
  • Helen Erswell, Public Health Wales

On Friday the 8th December at UWE Bristol, we held the 4th meeting, and 1st all day conference of the public health and criminal justice network. The network is a collaboration between national Health Service England, UK Health Security Agency, and UWE Bristol. The aim of the network is to bring professional’s and academics together to talk about issues that sit at the interface between health and justice, no where is this more essential than in the case of trauma and trauma informed practice. Trauma is not a new topic in public health and health research, policy, and practice; but it is in criminal justice, and given the nature and function of criminal justice systems and procedures there needs to be discussions about its usability and utility.

The conference was opened by Chris Jennings the reflexively fresh in post Executive Director HMPPS Southwest, South Central & Public Protection. Chris opened the day buy talking about the importance of collaboration and the need for partnership working in this area. In doing so hehuiighlighted that prisons and probation need to continue to develop they trauma informed practices and policies, not only in supporting clients/survive users but also in supporting staff. He indicated that the better-informed services where, the better trained they were, and the better supported they were to better they could work with their client population and public the public. Chris highlighted that prison and probation shared common challenges and opportunities, but their where distinct ones that needed to be resolved for each individually. Which tied nicely to the next talk by Dr Chris Pawson (Assoc Professor in Psychology, UWE Bristol) who talked about the challenges of implementing trauma informed practice in the criminal justice system, His talk reflected on previous work to incorporate trauma through PIES and suggested that a broader lens than just trauma might be a good starting point. Chris reflected on a recent Publication that he co-authored for the HMI Probation which set out 10 key questions/challenges for trauma informed practice in probation. The two presentations by the two Chris’s dovetailed well together and suggested that we must adapt trauma informed practice to the criminal justice system, not simply copy it from health.

In his opening presentation, Chris Jennings referenced the good work being done at HMP Channing Wood on working with and supporting staff in a trauma informed way, the next presentation was by Graham Duncan on that very topic. Graham talked about his experiences of trauma in working at HMP Channing’s Wood and how that propelled him, with the support of the governor, to develop and roll out several staffing interventions and support tools to help them deal with the trauma that they face in working in prisons. Which was followed by Hazel Renouf the Trauma informed network lead for Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB who talked about the challenges and opportunities of developing a trauma informed system that was coordinated, collaborative, and fit for purpose. Hazel updated the room on the development of a new trauma informed system document that had just been released and was currently being rolled out. The first four speakers really complemented each other well and highlighted the importance of having a connected, adaptive, fit fair purpose apparoach to working with trauma in the criminal justice system that supported clients/service users and staff.

The afternoon sessions where more service user/client focused with Dr Jane Meyrick (Assoc Prof in Psychology, UWE) talking about her survivor lead Co-production of paediatric SARC patient pathway work. Where her and colleagues worked with young people to better understand what they wanted from SARC referrals and how the professionals, mainly medical staff, could better engage with them. The research resulted in the development of a simple to use toolkit for staff that recently won a British Medical Association award. While Lucy Wainwright and Paula Harriot from EPIC Consultants talked about the service user journey and trauma histories of prisoners, which complemented Grham Duncans and Chris Pawson’s talks from earlier in the day, as it highlighted that not only is prison traumatising but that many of the people that are in prison have been traumatised in the earlier lives. They called for a more nuanced, supportive, and compassionate apparoach to working with people in prison, stating that the service had to go further.

The day finished with Professor Jane Powell (Professor in Public Health, UWE Bristol) talking about the importance of community engagement in public health, and how work around COVID 19 and a project on open spaces was re defining the landscape, Jane really enforced that community views were as central to public health development as individual ones. Which is important to hear from a criminal justice perspective, as community attitudes, values and beliefs are central to the integration of people who have offended post release. People who offend come from communities and go back into communities, so communities are central to reducing reoffending and risk management. Janes call for community engagement to be better developed was well received.

The conference was a great success and was well attended. It really reinforced the importance of collaboration, communication, and the need to build a shared vision of trauma informed practice. The more that Public Health and Criminal Justice are becoming intertwined, especially in Bristol; and the Southwest, the more these conversations need to happen so that we can built a system that is fully fit for purpose.

Fatigue – Reducing its Effects through individualised support Episodes in Inflammatory Arthritis

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Fatigue is experienced by lots of people living with types of inflammatory arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis. For UWE Bristol’s rheumatology research team, based at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, understanding how best to manage fatigue has been a priority for over ten years. The team is led by Emma Dures, Professor in Rheumatology and Psychology, and here she describes the research journey so far:

We started with qualitative research to gain insights into how people with inflammatory arthritis experience fatigue and the impact that it can have on their lives. We heard that fatigue can be intrusive, overwhelming and that for some people, it is the most difficult symptom that they’re dealing with. It can affect work and leisure and it can stop people from doing the things that are important and that matter to them. It can also affect people’s relationships and their sense of who they are. This underpinning qualitative research has led to studies on fatigue assessment, fatigue interventions and clinical recommendations.

In 2014, we developed the BRAFs (Bristol Rheumatoid Arthritis Fatigue scales). The BRAFs are a set of measures that capture the nature and severity of people’s fatigue as well as the impact and how well they are coping. The BRAFs are free to use and have been translated into more than 36 languages.

Bristol rheumatoid arthritis fatigue scales

We still don’t know what causes fatigue in inflammatory arthritis and currently there is no cure or medicines that can be prescribed to treat fatigue. However, we have developed an understanding of the interacting biological, psychological and social factors that can contribute to the symptom. They include the inflammation from the arthritis itself, the pain and poor sleep associated with arthritis, the things people do, including how much and how often, and the things that people have going on in their lives. Appreciating the complexity and range of factors that can affect individuals’ fatigue has helped us to develop and test self-management interventions, including training and resources for rheumatology health professionals.

One of our interventions involved people with inflammatory arthritis and fatigue having between two and four one-to-one sessions with a rheumatology health professional. The sessions incorporated cognitive-behavioural techniques and explored adaptive behaviour changes and ways to enhance coping skills. The study, called FREE-IA (Fatigue – Reducing its Effects through individualised support Episodes in Inflammatory Arthritis), was funded by the NIHR (National Institute for Health Research). The FREE-IA results suggested that the intervention was promising and could help people to self-manage the impact of their fatigue. This was the catalyst for our fatigue animation project.

When it came to dissemination, we felt that there was a bigger story behind the FREE-IA research. We agreed that those who needed to hear about the research were those who are dealing with how to manage the symptom, namely people with inflammatory arthritis and rheumatology health professionals.

In the FREE-IA study, we had interviewed people with inflammatory arthritis who took part in the intervention. We had heard them describe their fatigue and how it affected their health and wellbeing, as well as hearing about things that could help. We wanted to keep these narratives central to our dissemination and the overall story of fatigue, so we recruited three patient partners with personal experience to collaborate on an animation.

Together with the researchers, they wrote a script for an animation. The narrative is that fatigue in inflammatory arthritis is a real symptom and that it is one that health professionals and researchers take seriously.

 “Animation is one of the most powerful storytelling tools. It can be beautiful, accessible, and is one of the best ways to make your story and message cut through and reach the people who need to hear it.” Lauren Orme at Picl Animation in Cardiff and her team brought the script to life visually and enabled the patient partners to record the script as the voiceover.

“Bringing the script to life felt exciting and rewarding.  My challenge was self-consciousness over my voice and expressions: it took a while for me to relax into it.  The recording of our three voices was a good combination which brought patients experiences and expressions to life and produced something which I believe those dealing with fatigue can connect with” – Marie Urban

“Helping to create a script by means of an online team call was certainly a new but rewarding experience for me…What was hardest for me was finding the recording studio. What I gained was the importance of attention to detail of the entire recording process such as working in harmony with the editor and sound engineer” – Terence Brady

Patient partners Marie Urban and Terence Brady with director Lauren Orme, Picl Animation

The patient partners involved reflected on the collaboration and the value of their involvement.

“By having patient and public being actively involved in research, will help to guide the research outcomes to a more patient orientated findings and hopefully will have more impact on the ‘good health’ of the general public”

“Patients and the public can often reach out to each other and communicate in additional ways.  It can help ensure research is going in the right direction and not missing anything which people with a condition experience, need and find important.”

Now, our priority is putting research evidence into practice, making it easier for people to talk about their fatigue and making fatigue support easily and widely available to people with inflammatory arthritis. We have just published recommendations for fatigue management in inflammatory arthritis and we hope that this will help. The recommendations are based on systematic reviews of both pharmacological (drug) and non-pharmacological interventions and are endorsed by EULAR (European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology).

We hope the animation will raise awareness with the public, people who have inflammatory arthritis and healthcare teams, including those working in rheumatology.


The FREE-IA Study
Credits

FREE-IA study team

Emma Dures, Susan Bridgewater, Bryan Abbott, Jo Adams, Alice Berry, Lance M McCracken, Siobhan Creanor, Sarah Hewlett, Joe Lomax, Mwidimi Ndosi, Joanna Thorn, Marie Urban and Paul Ewings

Production Team

  • Lauren Orme and the team at Picl Animation
  • Oli Clarke – Sound engineer
  • Terence Brady – Patient partner and voiceover
  • Caroline Swales – Patient partner and voiceover
  • Marie Urban – Patient partner and voiceover n
  • Jen Orme – Project coordinator

This research was funded by the National Insitute for Health Research (NIHR) and sponsored by University Hospitals Bristol and Weston (UHBW) NHS Trust. 

UWE Bristol academic appointed to STRONG-AYA Ethics and Regulatory Advisory Board

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Dr Francesco Tava, Associate Professor of Philosophy, has recently been appointed to the STRONG-AYA Ethics and Regulatory Advisory Board. STRONG-AYA is a new, interdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder European network to improve healthcare services, research and outcomes for adolescents and young Adults (AYA) with cancer, defined as individuals aged 15-39 years at cancer diagnosis, funded by the European Union and UKRI Innovate UK.

AYAs with cancer form a unique group; they face age-specific issues (e.g. infertility, unemployment, financial problems) and decreased quality of life due to cancer and its treatment. Unlike dedicated healthcare and trials for paediatric cancer patients, AYA-specific healthcare services are scarce and vary across Europe.

AYAs, who are at the core of society and the economy, need access to age-adjusted and high-quality healthcare. AYA care and research will benefit from collection and pooling of patient-centered data and collaboration among all stakeholders: patients, healthcare professionals, scientists, and policymakers. The consortium includes clinical and scientific leaders in AYA-care, data science and registries, The European Cancer Organisation, Youth Cancer Europe and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), building on previous initiatives and EU grants, and merging expertise with innovation.

The aim of STRONG-AYA is to set up a value-based healthcare research ecosystem to develop data-driven, interactive policy and visualization tools that bring, in co-creation with all stakeholders including patients, novel insights into AYA healthcare.

As per the grant agreements, the team are setting up advisory boards to provide perspective and non-binding guidance for the project. An external scientific advisory board has already been established with leading global experts on AYA cancer care, and we are in the process of setting up the Ethics and Regulatory Advisory Boards.

“Engaging in impactful interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder projects such as STRONG-AYA, which brings together experts in patient-centred healthcare, data collection and governance, security, and ethics, offers an unparalleled opportunity to cultivate applied philosophy. This dynamic involvement not only hones philosophy’s analytical and normative facets but also empowers us to leverage this discipline in dedicated service to the greater common good”.

Dr Francesco Tava, Associate Professor of Philosophy

Find out more about STRONG-AYA.

Mental Health and Employment Barriers across the UK: new research

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Dr Cody Porter , UWE Bristol, and Forensic Psychologist Daniel Lawrence, Priory Healthcare, are working together to examine employability barriers for individuals with diagnosed mental health conditions. This research is part of an ongoing project aiming to improve employment opportunities for this group of people.  

The focus of their current research is to gain an understanding into how people with lived experiences (i.e., who have a mental health diagnosis) and practitioners (i.e., working with people diagnosed with mental health conditions) view employment barriers across the United Kingdom.

They are looking for participants to complete short surveys. You can find the link to both questionnaires below:

Employment can provide a sense of value and meaning, particularly for individuals grappling with mental health issues. Firstly, it offers a structured routine and purpose, providing a sense of stability and normality, which can be crucial for managing conditions such as depression and anxiety. Gainful employment creates a sense of accomplishment, bolstering self-esteem and confidence, and promoting a positive self-identity beyond the challenges of mental health.

Moreover, employment can provide a supportive social environment, reducing feelings of isolation and fostering a sense of belonging. This is because interactions with colleagues can cultivate a support network, leading to improved emotional well-being and a sense of community. Additionally, financial stability from employment can alleviate stress related to economic insecurity, preventing further exacerbation of mental health challenges.

Meaningful employment also encourages skill development and personal growth, offering opportunities for individuals to channel their abilities and talents, thus fostering a sense of purpose and fulfilment. Consequently, employment plays a crucial role in empowering individuals with mental health problems, facilitating their reintegration into society, and enabling them to lead fulfilling and independent lives.

This research is the first in a series of planned projects examining employability and mental health more generally. The next phase of this research will be to empirically examine employment discrimination based upon specific mental health disorders.

UWE Bristol announce new Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Metrea

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UWE Bristol and Metrea are excited to announce that they have been successful in securing funding from Innovate UK to form a new 24-month Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP).

Metrea Mission Data (MMD), a business unit within Metrea, are experts at capturing and missionising data that can be exploited at the speed of relevance to deliver information and decision advantage from the strategic to tactical level. A combination of extensive operational experience and expertise in ISR operations, Tactical Data Links, Data Analytics and Cyber Security enables them to deliver a full stack of services, delivering high-impact outcomes for our customers and partners.

Owen Varley, MMD’s Managing Director, said “We are delighted to have secured KTP funding which will not only support UWE with their research & development, but also provide us with academic expertise and resources to develop our image processing techniques enabling us to enhance our products further.”

The project will be supervised by UWE Bristol academics Lyndon Smith, Mark Hansen and Mel Smith. Lyndon Smith is the Director of the Centre for Machine Vision and a Professor in Computer Simulation and Machine Vision, Mark Hansen is a Professor in the Centre for Machine Vision and Mel Smith is the Co-director of the Centre for Machine Vision and a Professor of Machine Vision.

Professor Lyndon Smith commented: “This project comprises an exciting opportunity for a new research direction within the UWE Centre for Machine Vision (CMV), relating to the analysis of images and video footage of Resident Space Objects (RSOs) in Low Earth Orbit.  Metrea’s work will research and test the capabilities of the latest machine vision and AI techniques for processing observations of RSOs Deep learning analysis of these distant objects will aim to enable identification, size estimation, and other characteristics.”

KTPs integrate academic research into companies, to promote innovation and growth. The unique three-way collaboration between a business, a university and a graduate helps businesses to improve competitiveness and productivity.

Find out more about KTPs.

Paired Peers Project: The Degree Generation book launch

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As part of the Paired Peers project, UWE Bristol’s Education and Childhood Research Group co-hosted a book launch for The Degree Generation: The Making of Unequal Graduate Lives.

The book launch took place at the Arnolfini on Monday 18th September, and was co-hosted with Bristol University’s (UoB) School of Education and Policy Press.

The book traces the transition to the graduate labour market of a cohort of middle-class and working-class young people who were tracked through seven years of their undergraduate and post-graduation lives.

Using personal stories and voices, the book provides fascinating insights into the group’s experience of graduate employment and how their life-course transitions are shaped by their social backgrounds and experiences of education. Critically evaluating current government and university policies, it shows the attitudes and values of this generation towards their hopes and aspirations on employment, political issues and cultural practices.

The book focuses largely on the 2nd phase of the Paired Peers project, a longitudinal qualitative study, funded by The Leverhulme Trust. The project aimed to study of impact of class and gender on student decision making, experiences and outcomes. Additionally, it explored the role of Higher Education in promoting and/or hindering social mobility.

The research outlined that alongside structural and cultural change, students and graduates from working-class backgrounds need access to resources and capitals. Additionally, the research highlighted that current government policy focuses on the ‘right sort of graduate’ in terms of earnings/particular jobs. This must be contested by universities to acknowledge the variety of ‘graduateness’: the participants involved became responsible, mature, secure, stable citizens, so valuable to society, and their experience of university informed this process.

The project team was led by UWE Bristol and UoB’s Emerita Professor, Harriet Bradley, and made up of a dozen Investigators and Researchers.

Richard Waller, Professor of Education and Social Justice at UWE Bristol, commented on the project:

The Paired Peers project has contributed significantly to our understanding of the processes behind universities acting both as vehicles for social mobility and also as sites for reproduction of existing social inequalities. That the already socially and economically advantaged young people in our study tended to get the ‘best’ graduate jobs didn’t surprise us, but as a project team including many very experienced university researchers and lecturers, learning about some of the processes by which this happens did.     

The project has enjoyed significant impact in terms of the policies and practices of government bodies including the Office for Students and the Social Mobility Commission, and on a more local level, individual universities. It has led to award winning publications and a Research Excellence Framework impact case study recently included by the British Educational Research Association in their showcase of high impact educational research.   

For more information on the Paired Peers Project, please email Richard Waller or view this release.

Advancing dysphagia-oriented multi-ingredient meal development: Optimising hydrocolloid incorporation in 3D printed nutritious meals

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UWE Bristol research on “Advancing dysphagia-oriented multi-ingredient meal development” has been accepted to top research journal, Food Hydrocolloids. The research looks at optimising hydrocolloid incorporation in 3D printed nutritious meals that are safe and suitable for people with dysphagia (DP).

DP is a growing health concern in today’s ageing population, leading to high demand for DP-oriented food. 3D printing is a promising novel technology for developing new attractive and appetising products. Population-based surveys estimate that DP prevalence reaches about 20% of the population at the age of 50 or older and exceeds 60% of people living in aged care facilities

This is the first study that developed multi-ingredient meal oriented for older adults with Dysphagia that is safe to swallow using 3D printing technology.  The team used food materials rich in macro and micronutrients, as well as different novel combinations of food grade thickeners with well-established gastro-intestinal benefits.

This study offers significant novel insights into the development of nutritious, visually appealing, DP-oriented multi-ingredient food using 3D printing technology.

The project is an international collaboration between the UK, Greece and Serbia. The authors are:

  • Sotiriοs Ι. Εkonomou – UWE Bristol
  • Miroslav Hadnađev – University of Novi Sad, Serbia
  • Aristea Gioxari – University of the Peloponnese, Greece
  • Olawoyin Rantimi Abosede – UWE Bristol
  • Shwe Soe – UWE Bristol
  • Alexandros Ch. Stratakos – UWE Bristol

Project Lead, Alexandros Ch Stratakos, Associate Professor in Sustainable Agri-Food Production commented on the project:

“This study highlights the importance of bringing together multidisciplinary expertise, in this case on Food Science, Additive Manufacturing and Dietetics/Nutrition to develop novel solutions for real-world problems.”

View the full paper.

Mental health in Policing across the UK and Ireland: ongoing research

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UWE Bristol’s Criminology and Psychology departments are working together to examine mental health in police forces across the United Kingdom and Ireland. Dr Paul Gavin and Dr Cody Porter are leading this and welcome feedback from any servicing police officers. You can find the link to the current survey below:

The mental health of police officers is a critical concern that warrants attention and support. Policing is a demanding profession that exposes officers to constant stress, trauma, and high-pressure situations. The cumulative effects of witnessing violence, dealing with crime scenes, and facing hostility from the public can take a toll on officers’ mental well-being. Long hours, shift work, and a lack of work-life balance exacerbate these issues. Over the years, there has been a growing awareness of the mental health challenges faced by those in law enforcement.

One of the key issues is the stigma surrounding mental health within the police force. Many officers fear that acknowledging their mental health struggles could be detrimental to their careers. Efforts have been made to reduce this stigma and encourage officers to seek help when needed, but there is still work to be done.

This survey is the first in a series planned research projects examining mental with the criminal justice sector more generally. The next phrase of this research will be to examine other sectors.

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