Tag: UWE Bristol Research

Knowledge Transfer Partnership Case Study – Taro Agric Farm

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between University of the West of England (UWE), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), the Taro Agric Farm (TAF) was established to harness data-enabled innovations (DEI) for the commercial poultry industry in Nigeria. The project aimed to enhance chicken production efficiency and optimise overall business operations through the strategic application of data-driven technologies and academic expertise. Kamran Munir (Professor of Data Science) led the collaborative relationship with the Nigerian partners and the project from UWE. Saidu Oseni (Professor of Animal Sciences) led the project from OAU.

The Company

Taro Agric Farm (TAF), is a broiler chicken production company based in Southwest Nigeria. With over a decade of experience, TAF specialises in commercial broiler farming, operating concurrent batches of 2,000 birds per cycle. The company has multiple production centres, including its main base in Ile-Ife, Osun State, and outgrower units in Ilesa (Osun State) and Ibadan (Oyo State). Beyond production, TAF is actively engaged in consulting services, capacity building, and training for poultry farmers, offering expertise across the entire broiler chicken value chain—including input supply, production, processing, distribution, and marketing. A defining characteristic of TAF is its forward-thinking approach to poultry farming. Through the African Agriculture Knowledge Transfer Partnership (AAKTP), TAF successfully integrated smart technologies such as IoT-enabled sensors, a data storage for real-time data management, and predictive analytics to enhance decision-making in poultry production. This has positioned TAF as one of the leaders in leveraging data-driven solutions for sustainable poultry farming in Nigeria.

7 people from UWE Bristol and Taro Agric Farm stood together smiling at the camera

The Challenge

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between Taro Agric Farm (TAF), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), and the University of the West of England (UWE) was initiated to apply data-enabled innovations (DEI) to commercial chicken production in Nigeria and to improve and optimise business operations. A key focus was developing a strategy for embedding DEI to create sustainable broiler chicken operations over the long term. The poultry industry in Nigeria faces multiple constraints, including high mortality rates, inefficient farm management practices, limited use of data in decision-making, and poor environmental conditions affecting broiler chicken welfare and productivity. In the past, TAF like many others in the industry, relied on conventional methods of managing poultry production, which lacked the real-time monitoring and predictive capabilities needed to optimise productivity and farm environment. Farmers and farm managers had to rely on manual data collection and experience-based intuition, making it difficult to identify early warning signs of health risks or performance inefficiencies. Without data-driven insights, farm operations were reactive rather than proactive, often leading to delayed interventions and losses. In addition, one of the biggest challenges TAF faced in the past was high mortality and morbidity rates in broiler production. Various environmental factors, such as poor ventilation, excessive heat, high humidity, and exposure to noxious gases, particularly ammonia, significantly affected bird health. Without a robust system to monitor and control these environmental conditions, broiler chickens were at risk of disease outbreaks, respiratory problems, and stress, which ultimately led to economic losses.

Tackling these constraints required innovation in both poultry management and business practices to enhance the viability and profitability of operations. The KTP project activities included setting up an IoT platform, configuring sensor nodes, and establishing a database to record and store data on various parameters such as chicken welfare, input supplies, production, processing, distribution, and marketing. The project also involved the development of dashboards for monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs), the use of predictive analytics, and conducting performance comparisons across production batches. Additional activities included stakeholder engagement through workshops to build and embed capacity. The key accomplishments of KTP project include the successful setup, testing, and deployment of a IoT platform in a broiler chicken unit in southwest Nigeria, where key variables related to chicken welfare and performance were captured and monitored. Company data was archived in a database, and a dashboard was developed to track temperature, relative humidity, air quality and noxious gas parameters. An end of project Stakeholders’ Engagement Workshop aiming towards widening participation and sustainability with approximately ~100 participants, including poultry farmers and industry professionals, was also successfully conducted.

“This project equipped TAF staff with advanced digital farming skills, enhanced OAU’s research capacity and curriculum, and strengthened international collaboration—demonstrating how innovation and partnership can drive sustainable agricultural development.”

Prof. Kamran Munir (Professor of Data Science, University of the West of England, UWE Bristol)

Benefits and Changes

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between Taro Agric Farm (TAF), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), and the University of the West of England (UWE) has led to significant improvements in broiler chicken production, farm efficiency, and data-driven decision-making at TAF. As a result of the KTP, Taro Agric Farm and its staff have acquired several new knowledge areas and capabilities. These include (but not limited to):

  1. The staff gained expertise in deploying sensor nodes to monitor key health and welfare indicators of broiler chickens. This application of digital technology is directly contributing to improved productivity and profit margins by enabling real-time data collection and analysis of poultry welfare to guide operations at the unit.
  2. TAF implemented a smart farm infrastructure, incorporating WiFi, inverters, and clusters of sensor nodes, along with smart cameras to monitor the comfort, welfare, and performance of chickens. This integration allows for continuous, remote monitoring, improving operational control and decision-making.
  3. The business acquired the capability to track, manage, and analyse its data assets—spanning performance, ambient conditions, costs, and returns—via a MySQL database. This centralised data storage allows for enhanced data organisation, retrieval, and long-term analysis.
  4. A key capability gained was the deployment of a real-time dashboard that tracks health and welfare indicators of broiler chickens. This dashboard offers a user-friendly interface for staff to monitor key variables and make informed decisions regarding poultry welfare and management.
  5. The staff were trained to track and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) across production batches and historical data. This has allowed TAF to benchmark performance, identify trends, and adjust improve the consistency and quality of production, while also enabling more accurate forecasting and strategic planning
  6. TAF’s adoption of data-enabled innovations (DEI) and IoT technologies positioned it as a leader in digital poultry farming in Nigeria. Sales turnover is expected to increase by 30%-40% within three years, due to improved efficiency and scalability. Profit before tax is projected to grow by 20%, within the next three years. Increased demand for TAF’s consulting services, as other poultry farms seek to implement similar digital solutions.

Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) updated its Animal Sciences curriculum to incorporate digital technologies. The project also strengthened ties between OAU and UWE, fostering international collaboration in poultry technology research. The project research outcomes are being published as open access where possible which cover the use of digital technologies and data-enabled innovations for the enhancement of the welfare and performance of broiler chickens – as a case study in Nigeria.

“The KTP was an excellent opportunity to blend academic research with industry application. At OAU, we have always been committed to advancing precision livestock farming, and this project allowed us to practically demonstrate the power of digital transformation in poultry production.”

Prof. Saidu Oseni (Professor of Animal Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Nigeria)

Key Facts

  • To best of our knowledge, TAF is the first poultry farm in Nigeria to integrate IoT and digital technologies into broiler production to this scale.
  • IoT-enabled sensors deployed to monitor temperature, humidity, air quality, and toxic gases in real-time.
  • A database established for real-time data collection and performance tracking
  • Decision Support Dashboard developed, allowing farmers to make data-driven decisions
  • Sales turnover expected to grow by 30 – 40%within three years
  • Profit before tax projected to increase by 20%
  • 100+ poultry farmers and industry professionals trained on smart poultry farming
  • 19 undergraduate & 2 MSc projects initiated on digital poultry farming at OAU
  • Presented findings at the Nigerian Poultry Show (NPS) 2024, reinforcing industry leadership
  • OAU integrated digital technologies into its Animal Sciences curriculum, influencing future research.

Find out more about the Knowledge Transfer Partnership in the Case Study below.

Knowledge Transfer Partnership – Case Study – TaroDownload

This partnership received financial support from the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships programme (KTP).  KTP aims to help businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills that reside within the UK knowledge base.  This successful Knowledge Transfer Partnership project, funded by UK Research and Innovation through Innovate UK, is part of the government’s Industrial Strategy.

Uncovering unheard stories and amplifying voices that haven’t been heard in the mainstream

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

Professor Shawn Sobers, Cultural Interdisciplinary Practice   

I’m an anthropologist, so for me there’s no separation between the personal and the practice. That’s why I call my research heart work. Because it’s directly connected to me, myself, my cultural identity.   

Through my work, I want to tell stories that need to be told.  Some call them untold stories, but I prefer to call them unheard stories rather than untold, because often I’m not the first person ever to tell them, but I bring the stories to light in different ways. They’ve already been told in the oral tradition, so they’ve been heard, but not by everyone. Often communities don’t have the mechanisms to share these stories, tin the mainstream, in the media, or other formats. To get the stories out there for more people to hear. I’m keen to help them do just that.   

The Emperor’s best friend   

An example: a big part of my research work has been around a space in Bath called Fairfield House. It’s where Emperor Haile Selassie lived for four years when he came to England to campaign for allied support to liberate his country from Mussolini’s invasion. The Emperor left his former home Fairfield House to the city of Bath for aged citizens. My own parents spent much time there too at the day centre, when they were alive.   

Back in 2016, I was at Fairfield House for an Ethiopian cultural day. I got talking to a lady around my mum’s age. Her name was Emeyou Teklamariam. She mentioned how her great grandfather used to live at Fairfield House. She told me his name: Blattenguetta Herouy. I knew about him because I made a documentary film in 1999 called Footsteps of the Emperor for ITV West, which featured his grave in Bath and the speech the Emperor gave at the graveside.   

He was the emperor’s closest friend, his foreign minister, his trusted advisor. And at a time when the emperor was at one of his lowest points in his life following the invasion of his country , his friend Blattenguetta Herouy died. He was buried about 10 minutes down the road from where we were in Fairfield House. But when I mentioned it, Emeyou didn’t believe me. Nor did everyone else! She told me his body was now in Ethiopia, not Bath. And she was right, his body was exuhmed by the Emperor in 1947, butut his elaborate grave, which contains beautiful Ethiopian writing, is still there. To prove it, about half an hour after meeting Emeyou, I took her and her family and friends  down to the graveyard, and they were shocked to see it there.   

Restoring, re-telling   

While there was no longer a body in the grave, and it needed repair, as the large cross and surroundings had all toppled over. Blattenguetta Herouy was a much-loved and respected man, so this was sad to see. So, after talking to the community, I secured some research funding for a project around Ethiopian culture and its connection to the city of Bath. I used some of this funding, as well as additional money raised, to restore Blattenguetta Herouy’s grave.   
  
When the restoration work was finished, we organised an unveiling, with Haile Selassie’s grandson leading the ceremony. It was a very personal, significant moment for Blattenguetta Herouy’s family, many generations of which were present, and the wider Ethiopian community in the country.    
  
Then, as a very generous thank you, the family invited me out to Ethiopia for a memorial service for Blattenguetta Herouy, and for his official reburial. I was also asked to say a few words. This was in 2023,  seven years after I first met Emeyou, and 24 years after I first found the grave myself and featured in my film for ITV in 1999, (which was the first time the Emperor’s stay in Bath, and also anything about Blattenguetta Herouy, had featured on British television It is these forms of slow unravelling, moments of serendipity, and relationship building, that I find fascinating in research, and that I build into my work. Sometimes research projects can be quite fast, but even then, I look for the longer threads than can evolve and become something quite unknown in the future. For me that is where the beauty in research resides. As it lives and breathes and takes on a life of its own. Taken ownership by people and communities themselves, rather than me the researcher. 

Little moments and small anthropology  

Hopefully that  shows you what really inspires and motivates me: sharing these unheard stories and helping to connect the dots between different generations. I call my work  small anthropology. My way of seeing these little moments in history, these small details in life, and connecting them to now, to current and future generations.   

And I’m much more interested in these small aspects of culture, because they still speak to bigger themes. For example, how central the radiogram was to life in my childhood home, and for many other Black British and working-class families. Or the souvenirs my mum collected, and what they meant to her – and their relevance to me, to our community, today. These everyday objects can tell us so much about our culture, heritage and value systems.   

Our never-ending stories  

I want to keep shining a light on these stories. To connect the dots from then, to now, to next generations.  It’s so important that communities can tell and share their own stories. Because if they can’t, who will?  

Contribution to the UN 2030 sustainable development goals

UWE Bristol is proud to align our research to the UN sustainable development goals. The above research aligns with the following goals:

Making technology and its tools work for the greater good of everyone, everywhere

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

Dr Zaheer Khan, Professor of Computer Science  

As a team here at UWE Bristol, we’re co-creating, co-designing and developing IT tools for public authorities, health providers and citizens.   

Right now, I’m leading the Horizon Europe project GREENGAGE to develop citizen observatories in Bristol, Copenhagen, Gerace, Turano and North-Brabant. For this €4.9 million project, with 17 partners involved, we’re reimagining smart data-driven information intelligence for better decision making for the benefit of citizens.   

Better data, better decisions, better outcomes   

The big idea is that we, as a consortium, introduce a certain set of technology and social science-based tools that enable local authorities to better engage with people and collect data.  Because if they can collect more data, better data, richer data, they can make better decisions for those citizens.   

For example, we’re using sensors to collect data. Sensors that measure, say, the air quality at street level or the effectiveness of street lighting. We’re looking at everything that affects the environment that people live in. By capturing this data we can provide some kind of index, like an urban living index, which can help public authorities to make more evidence-based decisions and improve the quality of the environment.   

On-the-ground, not up-in-the-air   

Ultimately, we can use technology and data to get to the ground truth, the real picture. Another example of what I mean by that. Local authorities often run their own surveys to collect data. They also run their own workshops. But the problem with these surveys and workshops is that they’re not diverse or representative. People with the time to get involved, get involved. So, they don’t really tell local authorities what people from every community and walk of life really want or need.   

So, the whole idea is we can broaden the tools available – to local authorities and their citizens. We’re giving them new ways to capture the on-the-ground picture and people’s opinions.   

Contribution to the UN 2030 sustainable development goals

UWE Bristol is proud to align our research to the UN sustainable development goals. The above research aligns with the following goals:

Improving the health and wellbeing of marginalised and underserved communities

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

Ifeoma Elizabeth Dan-Ogosi, Senior Lecturer in Public Health, Student Success and Inclusivity Champion & Disability Access Champion 

My worldview is compassion. Naturally, I like making people feel happy and well. My personal and professional philosophy is based on critical pedagogy, where you try to reduce the oppression of underrepresented and underserved groups of people. In many ways, this is my life’s work and my great passion: I want to improve outcomes for people who are less privileged and have little say in decisions that directly affect them.   

Right now, I’m teaching on the public health leadership module at UWE Bristol. We’re developing future public health leaders who better reflect and understand underserved groups of people and communities.  

I’m teaching my students what public health leadership means, the impact that positive leadership can have. I’m also working on a proposal to co-create public health leadership modules with my students. I am very keen to enable them to better reflect on what they’ve done and what they’re going to do in the future. To help them to use their knowledge and training to create positive, effective action as public health leaders. Leaders who can deliver real change for these communities.  

I have also done a lot of research into bottom-up decision-making and participatory budgeting. These two ideas are about putting power – and decisions and funding – into the hands of people who are underserved. People who don’t have a voice.  

Through appreciative inquiry, we can listen to communities. We hear their voices. We get them around a table to really understand their needs. By listening and by helping them to make decisions about their own communities, we can improve outcomes.  

So, for instance, in my PhD, I had four case studies. Three of these came out of the participatory budgeting project. We used participatory budgeting as a democratic tool, to enable and allow citizens to make the decisions about money that will be used for their community.  

In doing so, the communities choose only the projects that are most beneficial to them. For example, a project that helps women from abusive relationships, or a project around healthy eating. It’s all about what’s right and best for that community at that time.  

In my PhD, I evaluated the evolution and impacts of participatory budgeting for health and wellbeing. We trained local communities on how to bid for grant funding and then how to use the grants within their community. Putting fast, effective decision-making in their hands. They don’t have to wait two, three weeks for people behind a closed door to make a decision that affects their community. They make the decisions. They have power and agency. That can be life changing.  
 
Because communities know what is best for their community. This is true democracy. It allows local citizens to make decisions about their own health and wellbeing. We make them the owners. This means that they can see and see and feel a direct, positive impact on their everyday lives.  

Concepts like bottom-up decision-making and participatory budgeting create a real buzz in communities. I’m very excited about what’s to come – for myself and for my students, and, importantly, for the underserved communities we are committed to helping.  

Contribution to the UN 2030 sustainable development goals

UWE Bristol is proud to align our research to the UN sustainable development goals. The above research aligns with the following goals:

Case study: Ensuring that new immersive technologies act in the interests of human rights

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

“Now is the time to ensure that new immersive technologies, the metaverse and the next evolution of the internet, are designed in the interests of human rights, human dignity and democracy. ”  

  Verity McIntosh, Associate Professor of Virtual and Extended Realities  

  As Director of the City Campus VR Lab and an active member of UWE Bristol’s Digital Cultures Research Centre, I work with creative companies, charities, communities and policymakers to explore ideas about virtual and extended realities. And yes, this definitely includes artificial intelligence and the ‘metaverse’.  

  What I’m finding really vitalising at the moment is that because these tools and technologies are still emerging, people aren’t quite sure what to make of them. Some are incredibly excited. Others are quite concerned. Concerned about the uncritical way that they’re being deployed and that they are not being thought about enough in terms of equity, inclusion and accessibility.   

Evidence over exaggeration    

We’re in this wonderful kind of early moment, where nothing’s terribly resolved. There’s lots of hype and hyperbole. Lots of opinions. Lots of  opportunity and, yes, risk too. Which makes now a really good time to find research-based evidence to support those that are making those crucial decisions.  

 Over the last couple of years, policymakers, those with the power to make change, have been more open and receptive to listening.  They want to hear more and know more. They want evidence.   

 The right intentions, the best interests    

 I think policymakers were caught napping a bit with the social media revolution. There are lots of things that with hindsight, we wish had emerged differently. In terms of citizen protection, inclusive practice and accessibility. We now have to grasp these moments to make sure that, with these new immersive technologies, with the metaverse and the next evolution of the internet, we’re acting in the interests of human rights, human dignity and democracy. In other words, that we’re not just serving corporate interests.   

 It’s refreshing that people like me are able to kind of bend the ear of policymakers at quite a high level. We’re able to say this is what we know, this is how we might do it differently, these are our recommendations. Rather than shouting from the edges, we’re now shouting from the middle.   

  

Playing to our strengths     

Let me give you an example. I was talking recently at an event run by Meta and Tech UK. One of the big questions there was what should the UK focus on. What do we want to be known for, celebrated for. Never one to hold back, I happily shared my thoughts with anyone who’d listen. While there’s lots of talk about STEM, about the UK being a centre for excellence in science and technology, I think there’s something else. What the UK has, has always had, is the capacity to have a strong creative arts and humanities sector – one that complements and works in tandem with our technology sector.   

  

Full STEAM ahead   

 The UK is actually pretty good at what we might call STEAM: STEM with A for Arts in the middle. There’s genuine uniqueness to the way that the UK has managed to powerfully combine the two. At UWE Bristol our College of Arts, Technology and Environment is a fantastic example of this approach in action. So yes, I’m working to show government the importance of this sweet spot of tech, arts and humanities.   

Through STEAM, we can create whole new modes of storytelling and expression for creative practitioners. We should invest in STEAM, focus our energies into it. We can unlock even more creativity through crtical engagement with technology and make a positive impact on the world around us.   

  

Contribution to the UN 2030 sustainable development goals

UWE Bristol is proud to align our research to the UN sustainable development goals. The above research aligns with the following goals:

Case Study: Black British literature in the secondary English clashroom

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

“I’m excited by the part that Black British literature can play in sparking critical discussions around race, identity and culture in English lessons.”  

Amy Saleh, Senior Lecturer in Education  

 My research interests include anti-racist pedagogies, racial literacy development, the teaching of Black British Literature in UK schools, and Black Studies in Education.  

 I want to help make a real, positive difference to Black childrens’ experiences in education. When I was at school, I never saw Black British characters in any books we studied. We might have looked at short stories, some of which were set in African villages, but none of these reflected my lived experience, even though my White peers assumed it did. 

 Lit. Legacies   

 With Black British literature now featuring on the GCSE curriculum, this project seeks to reduce barriers for teachers who want to teach it but could use some guidance and resources. 

 The project team created a scheme of work for a new GCSE text, Princess & The Hustler by Chinonyerem Odimba.  

 The scheme of work comes with a full set of lessons and resources to support teachers. They obviously don’t have a lot of time to create schemes of work, especially for new GCSE texts. The teacher pack is there as a guide, but it’s also meant to prompt individual learning for teachers, with recommended readings and suggestions of videos they can watch.  

 Princess & The Hustler   

 Princess & The Hustler is really a celebration of Black Britishness and specifically Black British Caribbean culture. It has a young, dark skinned Black girl as its protagonist – and when has that ever been the case for a curriculum text? The play is set amidst the Bristol Bus Boycott, a defining moment in Bristol’s history, and touches on themes of family, culture, beauty, racism and resistance. 

 By the end of the play, Princess, this cheeky 10-year-old, has come to realise and value her true worth. It’s the kind of narrative we really need. It’s also exciting because there’s going to be such rich dialogue happening in classrooms around a play like this.   

 Looking back to look ahead   

 The play’s based in Bristol and while it’s relevant to anyone in the country, it does draw attention to Bristol’s history and the fact that the Bus Boycott here was a big contributory factor towards the creation of the UK’s first Race Relations Act.   

 I also think it’s essential to show our children whose shoulders we’re all standing on: who and what went before us, and how that’s impacted life as we know it now. Yes, students will be able to see how much has changed but also, importantly, what else needs to change. At the end of the play, the Bus Boycott has been a success, and this is a joyful moment, but if you look where we are today, all these years later, how far have we really come?  

 I hope these critical discussions and understandings of society will equip and empower young people to take up the mantle and fight for change. 

 

Amy’s work received national coverage. Read more about the project.

Contribution to the UN 2030 sustainable development goals

UWE Bristol is proud to align our research to the UN sustainable development goals. The above research aligns with the following goals:

Case Study: Delivering a healthy and sustainable food system

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

“We have to work together to create and deliver a healthy and sustainable food system that’s accessible to all.”  

Professor Angelina Sanderson Bellamy, Professor of Food Systems    

 Yes, I spend a lot of my time thinking about how to make our food system healthy, sustainable and accessible.  

For example, one of the big, big questions of the moment is how we get our food system to net zero. 2050 isn’t very far away and, right now, our food system accounts for approximately 30% of our emissions here in the UK. This is the size challenge we all face. It’s huge, especially when you think about the land management side of it.   

Food for thought   

13% of all UK emissions come from our land management, which is essential farming and farmers. And we’re asking a lot of our farmers at the moment. As well as our zero emissions target, we have the continued cost of living crisis. We’re also asking them to help us restore biodiversity and to help secure our food supplies. And, all the while, subsidies to farmers are being cut. It’s a perfect storm. And we need a response.   

So, I do a lot of collaborative work with stakeholders across the food system. I have some strong partnerships on the ground, and we’re all seeing the day-to-day challenges. Wearing my research hat,   

I’m thinking about what we can do collectively to address this perfect storm. What are the funding opportunities that could be brought to bear here? How do we go about creating those changes that we want to see?   

Applied research, real change   

So, my work is all about applied research to deliver real change. The change we need. Traditionally, I think research has happened in a kind of vacuum. You went off, wrote your publication, only for it to sit on a dusty shelf or be read by a handful of people. That’s not good enough anymore.   

The sort of grand challenges we’re facing today, the megatrends we need to respond to, they require active collaboration between researchers and practitioners and communities. This is the only way that we can really understand the changes on the ground and work together to try and figure out what’s the best pathway forward.  

Transforming food policy   

One of my biggest passions is how we can make food sustainable and healthy and available to everyone. To low income households, because everybody has a right to eat healthy, sustainably produced food. And if we’re going to hit those net zero targets, everybody needs to be eating it. But how?   

Some of the change needs to happen at policy level. I’m part of the board for the Food Policy Alliance Cymru. We’re a coalition of organisations and stakeholders working together to build and promote a collective vision for the Welsh food system. It’s a fantastic group. We like each other, we trust each other, we believe in each other and what we’re doing. We bring very different skills to the group too. I’m the academic, I bring the research, the evidence. And while the information I bring is neutral, impartial, I definitely have an agenda. I want to create transformation.    

Our window for change is now   

I think that we’re in a moment of change. There are windows of opportunities created by many different things, all colliding at the same time. Coming out of Brexit, COVID, the Ukraine conflict, the cost of living crisis. Suddenly, we need to develop our own agricultural policies, our own food strategy.   

We have many challenges. But I’m optimistic that we can solve these challenges. We have to. I’m inspired by all the amazing things that people are doing on the ground, in their communities. There’s incredible innovation and energy there. We now need to figure out how to replicate that at scale.   

Contribution to the UN 2030 sustainable development goals

UWE Bristol is proud to align our research to the UN sustainable development goals. The above research aligns with the following goals:

Case Study: Safety and Health of Construction Workers

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

“I work with partners and stakeholders to co-develop insights which lead to new tools which protect and save the lives of construction workers.”   

Patrick Manu, Professor of Innovative Construction and Project Management  

I am interested in all things construction but my main area of research is safety and health within construction. I am passionate about looking at all the issues and factors that affect the occupational safety and health of workers in this global industry.   

 It’s fair to say that the construction industry as a whole has a bad reputation when it comes to the safety and health of workers. Compared to other industrial sectors, construction is more dangerous to work in. Also, there is a knock-on effect on the economy. An accident happens, a contractor may close or face prosecution. There’s the impact on the healthcare system too. In the UK alone, it’s estimated that health and safety issues cost the economy £1 billion every year. That’s huge. In developing countries, it’s much worse.   

 Co-creating safety from the ground up    

 Now, I know that I cannot change everything, but I am here to try and make things better through my research. We must keep people safe. But the industry is organised in a very fragmented way. You have architects, builders, project managers, subcontractors, clients and more. So, to be able to deliver change, you need to really work with the stakeholders. All the stakeholders. I’m passionate about engaging every stakeholder possible to co-create research.   

 I do a lot of research with these stakeholders, including very large contractors, designers, and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). I work with these partners to develop insights which lead to new tools that the industry is willing to implement to bring about the change we need.   

For example, with partners from the UK, US and Malaysia, I have been looking at how we can design safety into a project from the very start. Can we influence the design to make buildings safe and easy for people to build?  Hopefully leading to fewer accidents. Through my research, I’ve been able to understand the capabilities of designers – designers with different levels of experience and maturity. We then developed a toolkit to help them design safety into every project they work on.   

Practical tools make a practical difference   

 For me, this is how I can influence practice. I can’t physically bring about change myself on site. My work, the work I do with stakeholders, is to provide the evidence, the insights, and tools to be able to influence change.   

 I believe in co-producing everything. With partners, stakeholders and regulators. So, I’ve done a lot of collaborative research work that has been funded by several funders e.g., Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, HSE, Lloyd’s Register, and British Council.    

Industry 4.0   

What’s next? We’ve all heard a lot about artificial intelligence, immersive technology, and more broadly  Industry 4.0, where production processes are automated and digitalized. This is exciting but also comes with challenges. Safety and health is one of them.   

 For example, how do drones fit in with health and safety? Recently,  I co-led a comprehensive piece of review work and, from that, we identified some potential areas for future research. One of which,  I’m very keen to explore, is how we can leverage AI, robotics, and VR to improve safety and health practices in construction. Hopefully, my next exciting and impact-laden research project will be on this.   

Contribution to the UN 2030 sustainable development goals

UWE Bristol is proud to align our research to the UN sustainable development goals. The above research aligns with the following goals:

Case study: The power of a hug

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

“As a product designer, I’m really interested in how sensory objects, like the HUG™, can offer people the comfort and connection they need, when they need it most.”    

Dr Jac Fennell, Senior Lecturer in Product Design   

I’m Jac, a lecturer in product design at UWE Bristol. I’d love to share the story of HUG™ with you.   

 HUG™ came from my previous role at Cardiff Metropolitan University. There, I worked on an AHRC-funded international research project – LAUGH – which was led by Cathy Treadaway, Professor of Creative Practice at Cardiff School of Art and Design. Through LAUGH, we explored playful handheld objects for people living with advanced dementia, those who are at end-of-life.   

 The comfort of a hug  

 HUG™ was one of six things that we designed, and it was developed specifically for one special lady. We spent a lot of time with her, listening to her story, hearing what she needed at that stage of her life. Her carers told us that all she really wanted was a hug. With those words, the idea for HUG™ was born.   

 HUG™ by LAUGH is a sensory product. It’s designed to be cuddled and to feel like it’s cuddling you back. It’s tactile, comforting, reassuring. It has long weighted limbs, and a beating heart inside a super soft body. There’s also a music player inside it so that it can play a person’s favourite music. They’re both important. Creating a sensory connection as well as a personal, emotional one through the music. It makes it feel like a proper hug and it feels like someone’s hugging you back. It’s a two-way thing.  

 Picked up by care professionals globally   

 HUG™ had an incredible effect on that lady. We saw a huge difference in her. She was much more alert, more connected to her surroundings.  Her eyes were more open, she was eating and drinking more too. Really significant, important changes.    

 At that point, we developed a larger evaluation project with the NHS and a care home in Cardiff. It backed up what we saw with the lady. We quickly gained more interest from care professionals who wanted HUG™ for their patients. So, we launched a spin-out company, HUG by LAUGH (www.HUG.world) and collaborated with the Alzheimer’s Society as an Accelerator Partner. Today, HUG™ is being sold all over the world.   

  
A real –life-changing toy      

 We’re now looking at how HUG™ could help other people too. School children with learning disabilities, autism or anxiety, for example. Last year Gwent Regional Partnership Board carried out a trial with schools in the Gwent region, with each school getting a HUG™. They quickly found a home in a school’s quiet room, so children could use them when they were having some time away.   

 That’s where my research is going now. HUG™ has been incredible and transformative. It’s gone far beyond what we ever expected. So, who else could benefit? As a product designer, I’m interested in what other sensory objects we can develop that will practically and emotionally help people.   

 Yes, there’s a whole huge body of research behind HUG™ but it started with that really simple idea: the power of comfort and connection to change real lives.   

    

  

Contribution to the UN 2030 sustainable development goals

UWE Bristol is proud to align our research to the UN sustainable development goals. The above research aligns with the following goals:

The use of TV drama ‘Adolescence’ in schools: why simple solutions to complex problems don’t work

Author katcorbett2 | Posted on

A guest blog post by Kieran McCartan, Professor of Criminology, University of the West of England, Bristol and Dr Sophie King-Hill, Associate Professor in the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

Recently there has been a lot of debate about the Netflix show Adolescence. It tells a fictional story of a 13-year-old boy who is rejected by a female classmate and because of the influence of incel counterculture goes on to stab and kill her. The narrative of the four-episode story is that children and young people are being influenced by harmful online social media, which is radicalising them in to accepting extreme misogynistic beliefs which they then unwittingly internalise and act on. The drama touches upon how exposure to unfiltered, problematic social media may change children and young people’s perceptions of, and engagement, with each other.

The drama skirts many issues about misogyny that involve hate crime, violence against women and girls, gender-based violence and Incel culture, mental health, wellbeing, radicalisation, risk management, education, radicalisation, knife crime, counterculture, the collapse of parental engagement, issues with family systems, and growing societal disengagement.

This is where the drama falls short as an educational resource. Four hours over the episodes is not enough time to unpack these issues in any meaningful way. The programme signals the need for an informed debate and conversations about all these issues yet does not cover these in any great depth. Adolescence is not the answer to the issues posed and it is dangerous to think of it as such, for it offers no solutions. The show has sparked a national debate in the UK, with the Prime Minister stepping in to say that adolescence should be screened in schools to educate, and awareness raise with children and young people about the realities of harmful online social media and misogynistic hate crime. This sensationalist, knee jerk reaction to a range of complex and endemic problems and issues that are faced by children and young people in society is problematic. Although, across the political spectrum in the UK there is not a considered, evidence-based response to this with Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition, although not having seen Adolescence believes that removing phones from children and young people in schools is one of the most effective responses. It is important to remember that under the last Conversative government the issue of Relationships and Sex Education in schools was a challenging issue and unresolved debate.

The show, given its short run time and structure which includes an episode about a different aspect of the story – the arrest, the school based follow up, the risk assessment, and the consequence, delves into parts of this story but does not offer a rounded in-depth perspective. No understanding of how and why the young boy was “radicalised” into accepting Incel culture as is implied. The complex social interactions between the boy, his friends, his family, his community or the victim are not explored. This is problematic, especially if the show is to be used as a teaching and critical reflection tool in schools.

No points of intervention and what those interventions look like are offered, as this was not designed as an educational resource. What is implied is that there is a problematic online community that are out there influencing children and young people, but no explanation is given as to how or why. Additionally, the show indicates that online misogyny, Incel culture and violence against women and girls is omnipresent in the lives of children and young people and that children and young people are accepting of this. This approach takes away the autonomy and agency of children and young people. This is problematic and works against the prevention of sexual abuse and violent behaviour. A multi-level approach is needed to tackle social issues being targeted at individuals and the community and society in which they sit. In preventing radicalisation, how the individual is affected needs exploring, which cannot be done with ‘Adolescence’.

Wanting to introduce this into schools is naïve. Adolescence is a fictional story, designed for TV/streaming and therefore its content, although based in real world issues, is fictionalised. Its aim, although to raise awareness of social issues, is to increase viewership and ratings. It is important to state that teen murders are rare and that most online hate crimes and misogyny do not result in fatalities. TV shows are not always realistic and can often adapt knowledge and practice to fit the needs to the story. Which means that the evidence based, research informed and even practice consultation which may be part of the development and writing of the screenplay can get lost of the needs of the story as they can get in the get in the way of the drama.

The best example of this flaw in Adolescence is the admission in episode four that the main character is going to change their plea from not guilty to guilty. Which goes against the narrative of episode one and three, and there is no real discussion of change of heart in episode four. It seems out of place, but it wraps the story up nicely in the last episode. Which means that the psychological or behavioural change in the character is not seen and therefore learning cannot take place from their experience. The arc of the story and the story telling approach do not allow a nuanced debate about the reality of the offence committed, the thinking and motivation behind it or the best way to understand it.

‘Adolescence’ does not help understanding of Incel culture or online hate crime better. It does not help understanding knife crime and harmful behaviour between children and young people better. It sets out that children and young people are at risk but does not offer any solutions to the problem.

The UK government want to screen it in schools as a prevention and desistence tool to educate children and young people about the issues of radicalisation, online hate and synonym. Which is problematic, as this is not what it was designed to do and does not offer those insights. What does is say then? The main discussion piece from the show detracts from the main narrative, that understanding and engagement with young people is needed to better understand these issues. In episode four where the parents recognise that they could have done, and maybe should have done more, is where the real message is. The showing of adolescence in schools to GCSE and A-Level students (as its rated 15) will not help pre-teens and younger teenagers understanding and engage with these issues better and it will not help their parents understand the issues or how to engage with them better on it. In the UK it would be better to have a conversation about the reality of growing up online, the intersection between the online and offline worlds and how they impact the mental health and wellbeing og children and young people and how we as adults, and parents, can better support them in this transition. There are pockets of work being carried out that do this with young men and boys that are evidence based and well evaluated. Why is the upscaling of these not the focus.

The period of adolescence is a point of transition and liminality in the lives of children and young people how can we support them in becoming well rounded, thoughtful and critically engaged adults. By engaging with children and young people, talking and communicating directly and thoughtfully we can learn how to best fit their individual needs. This cannot be done by simply showing them a fictionalised TV show.

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