While you’ll find me in the School of Engineering, I’m a social psychologist and science communicator. I study people and their engagement with technology.
That means that most of my work is done with groups and communities. Because we humans are social creatures. We want to live and thrive together. And I believe that communities are the answer to the big questions of today. I’m really focused on how we can make sure that communities stay together, stay connected and stay resilient, so that we can live with our changing times.
Communities drive change
I encourage communities to tell us what their problems are and what they need us to work on. Naturally, this has taken me a lot into the area of sustainability and climate change – and how we can work together, solve problems and make a real world, on-the-ground difference.
Because yes, I’m driven to make a difference. Action is everything right now. And action happens within our communities. But we have to inspire action and show that it’s possible for communities to affect change.
Be what you can see
For instance, some of my work has been about minority and underrepresented groups working in technology and engineering. So, there’s this classic phrase: you can’t be what you can’t see. And that’s really important. Representation matters. We need to show that different people, diverse people, are working in this area and making a real difference. Seeing that there are role models doing this right now is so important. It’s inspiring. And we want to excite the next generation and show them that they can too.
We’re also active in policy development. We’re working with local councils to show them how they can embed citizen-led climate ideas and action into policy. How we can connect awesome community projects with the policies that are going through right now. Again, a lot of this comes back to getting community voices heard, and making sure that there’s diversity and representation at all levels.
We are all the difference
As a social psychologist, I’m all about groups. As I said at the start, we’re social creatures. We want to look out for each other. My passion, my work, is to support communities to come together and make a difference to each other – and the environment we all live in.
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:
UWE Bristol is proud to highlight the achievements of Dr. Jack Lowe, based in the Digital Cultures Research Centre, who recently completed the prestigious ARC Accelerate programme. Jack spent six months transforming his innovative ideas into a scalable venture, with the support of this AHRC/ESRC-funded initiative.
About ARC Accelerate
ARC Accelerate is a 6-month accelerator programme designed to help researchers in social sciences, arts, and humanities transform their ideas into market-ready products and services. The programme offers up to £62,500 in funding, along with comprehensive support including training, mentorship, and networking opportunities.
Dr. Jack Lowe: Pin the Tale
Jack has developed Pin the Tale, a digital game that strengthens community ties to place using the what3words app. In the game, players use what3words addresses to write stories about specific locations, creating connections between narrative and place. This innovative approach encourages players to explore and share their experiences of different locations through storytelling.
For Jack, the ARC programme offered a transformative perspective on research commercialisation. He reflects:
“Commercialisation doesn’t have to mean profiteering. Instead, it is most useful as a lens for thinking about how to sustain the impact of your work, whatever form that might take.”
The programme’s structured support and resources proved invaluable:
“Having a dedicated period of paid time focused solely on my venture, and being able to fully pay my collaborators for their work, resulted in an outcome that simply would not have been possible otherwise.”
Through engaging with multiple stakeholders during the programme, Jack gained crucial insights into how his platform could meet real-world needs. Each public workshop has provided new learning opportunities about the challenges and possibilities his game presents.
Project Progress and Future Plans
Since completing the ARC Accelerate programme, Jack has successfully launched Pin the Tale in early-access to the public. The game is now freely available online, inviting users to discover and create stories connected to specific locations across the UK.
“At its heart, Pin the Tale is about re-connecting individuals and communities to the places they live in, visit or care about. It’s about going beyond the ‘official’ stories of places; the ones we might be familiar with from history lessons or books. Pin the Tale aims to be much more intimate, inspiring and creative, where ‘culture’ and ‘heritage’ is something to be uncovered in people’s own stories and the stories of others in their communities.”
The game offers two key experiences:
Discovering stories about places you’re interested in: Navigate on the map to an area of the UK that you’re interested in. Click the Find Stories button to read stories other people have written about places in that area.
Share your own stories: Zoom into a UK location on the map that you want to write a story about. Click the square closest to the spot your story is about, then click ‘Write a story about this location’. Stories on Pin the Tale can take any creative form: fictional, poetic, historical, personal, informative, imaginative.
Jack emphasises the experiential nature of the game:
“When learning about the world around you feels like a process of discovery – when it engages your imagination – that’s when it becomes exciting. We want to evoke that feeling in our players.”
The project continues to gain recognition within the academic community, with Pin the Tale being selected as a featured project at this year’s Royal Geographical Society Annual International Conference, where it aligns perfectly with the conference theme of ‘Geography and Creativity.’
Support for UWE Researchers
UWE is committed to supporting our researchers in transforming their innovative ideas into real-world impact. Jack’s success in the ARC Accelerate programme demonstrates the potential of our research community to drive positive change through commercialisation.
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.
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):
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
“We’re both really passionate about participatory research. To do something about microplastics, you must have the conversation with people who can force change through. Change is the goal. It’s the only goal. ”
Dr Ben Williams, Senior Research Fellow, Air Quality Management Resource Centre & Dr Stephanie Sargeant, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science, School of Applied Sciences
We co-lead the Biospheric Microplastics Research Cluster (BMRC). In short, the BMRC brings together expertise from multiple disciplines to understand the impact of microplastics on both human and ecosystem health.
The BMRC came about in a, well, roundabout kind of way. We both love trying to understand how our natural environment works, how everything’s connected and fits together. And we’re both committed to protecting environmental health and human health. The two being inextricably linked.
Everything is connected
This mutual passion led to a conversation about microplastic pollution in the air and water. And we quickly realised that we can do more, have a greater impact, if we worked together. So, we did. We do.
Our first university-wide research project looked at the impact of microplastics from inhalation and drinking water. Now, our mutual interest in microplastics is really about trying to understand what kind of impact and effect they’re having on the natural environment and then trying to do something about it.
Knowing what we don’t know
We’re looking at microplastic pollution in different environments, in the air, in the water. We’re exploring various methodologies to capture microplastics, quantify them, and assess polymer types.
There’s a lot of work out there – in studies and the media – that’s focused on just quantifying plastics in the environment. While we now have a pretty good idea of where microplastics are, we still don’t know much about the impact they’re having.
The power of citizen science
One of our goals is to better understand and, importantly, quantify the impact they’re having on plants, vertebrates and microbial communities. This way, bodies like the Environment Agency can set clear, definitive limits. Because currently, there aren’t any. While we have limits for things like nitrates and phosphates, and the water framework directive stipulates what those maximum limits are, we don’t have that for microplastics. And we want the same for drinking water as we do for our rivers.
We’ve done a lot of what we call citizen science projects, to measure, co-create, display and share the information and evidence we’ve captured. To help everyone see where microplastics are coming from, where they’re going, and what the impact is – or will be. Because if you don’t understand or you don’t know what’s going on, you can’t do anything about it. You can’t engage the people who can force through the necessary change.
Always looking ahead
There’s already been a lot of progress in terms of plastic pollution over the last five, ten years. There are certain organisations who are really pushing the boundaries of microfibre reduction, people like The Microfibre Consortium. They’re working with the textile industry and fashion brands to reduce microfibre release to protect our environment.
So yes, we’re positive, excited. Excited where the research will take us next. We’re going to be working with schoolchildren to help them understand microplastics and microfibres, how they’re generated and where they go. We’re also interested in understanding the chemicals associated with plastics and how they leach off into different environments. There are still questions around how far these chemicals actually disperse. We’ve found microplastics in the clouds and the Mariana Trench but, are they even further out? Where else are they?
For the good of human and environmental health
And we haven’t even talked about microrubbers yet… That’s the next big conversation. Because as we answer one question, another one presents itself. It’s up to us to find the answers, for the good of human health and environmental health.
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:
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:
“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.”
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:
“Food access is a human right. And it’s universal. Everybody needs access to food. We want to make that food available and accessible in ways that are not shaped solely around prices or money.”
Rethinking Food Security: Building Systematic Support Beyond Charity
I’m a development and political economist at UWE Bristol, my research looks into a critical gap in the UK’s social infrastructure: how we support people facing food insecurity. Focusing on Bristol as a case study, and asking what a systematic, government-backed response to food vulnerability could look like, especially in times of crisis.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, charities and NGOs in Bristol mobilized quickly to feed those most at risk, from homeless individuals to those leaving care or unable to shop due to clinical vulnerability. But the response, while heroic, was ad hoc. and grass roots. The thing is, there isn’t a systematic support structure, if someone leaves an organisation, we risk losing institutional memory.
Realising this need I have worked to co-create a Disaster Recovery Management Plan with organisations like Feeding Bristol and Bristol Food Network. We’ve built the plan with the intention that this will be able to be used as a replicable model to ensure no one falls through the gaps again.
Beyond Economics: Recognising the Value of Volunteer Infrastructure
Societies don’t just run on money. These services are being delivered on shoestring budgets by volunteers and they’re central to how our economy actually works. One of the most surprising findings in my research is that even in one of the world’s wealthiest economies, access to food isn’t guaranteed. It took something like COVID to reveal a need that was always there, but we don’t have a national system in place to ensure food access nationally let alone highlighting need for those outside the typical market system.
The thing I like about the work I do is that it challenges traditional economic thinking. My work shows that essential services like food access can’t rely solely on price-based systems. Vulnerable groups often sit outside these systems entirely and unless their needs are built into infrastructure, their support remains uncertain and fragile. I get to do something about that, and change the way society views these essential systems.
A Pluralist, Scalable Model for Crisis Resilience
This is just the beginning, we’re starting with food, but the same questions apply to energy, water, and other essential services. By working directly with frontline charities, my research takes a collaborative, pluralist approach, centring the experience of those already doing the work, learning from them, what works, what needs changing. We’re not just collecting data, we’re co-creating the plan with them. That’s critical to building something useful.
The ultimate goal is to test and refine the food disaster recovery plan in Bristol and then scale it both to other regions and to other essential services. The model will also explore how to address ongoing vulnerabilities, not just those triggered by a crisis.
This work doesn’t just expose systemic gaps, it offers a practical blueprint to fix them. By recognising food as a right and embedding it into a planned, national system of support, this research stands to reshape how we think about resilience, inequality, and care.
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:
“There needs to be a societal shift in the way mothers are viewed and supported,” says Dr Jenna Pandeli, Associate Professor at UWE Bristol’s Leadership and Change Centre. “These issues didn’t start with the pandemic—the pandemic simply intensified them.”
Dr Jenna Pandeli, alongside colleagues Dr Chloe Tarrabain and Dr Mahwish Khan, conducted a powerful study into the hidden labour of new mothers during maternity leave. This work has been long overlooked but was thrown into the spotlight when the COVID-19 pandemic stripped away critical support networks and intensified pre-existing challenges. Their research doesn’t just highlight a problem it offers a clear policy response, calling on government, healthcare providers, and community organisations to build the essential support structures and implement needed care around new mothers
Exposing the Mental Load of Motherhood
We all gave birth during 2020, for me it was quite a harrowing experience. Later, when speaking with Chloe and Mahwish I realised that I was not alone and the issues I encountered may be systematic. We decided to look further, and to use the findings to make real change. To conduct our research, we drew on our own lived experience in a method called autoethnography, and combined this with interviews with 13 other mothers who gave birth during this time. What emerged was a stark picture of motherhood under lockdown: intense physical work, emotional strain, and an overwhelming mental load, carried out in isolation and without access to much needed networks.
With childcare centres shut, healthcare professionals largely inaccessible, and family support off-limits, many mothers including ourselves internalised the responsibility of managing it all. During conversations following our maternity leave, we felt like coming back to work was a ‘holiday’, As Chloe put it. That was when we realised that exhausting, all-consuming labour had taken place during our maternity leave. Outcomes of these experience across the board were high levels of stress, anxiety, guilt and shame without access to any meaningful outlet or support.
Turning Lived Experience into Policy Change
Our project has culminated in a published report that makes urgent, practical recommendations that would make a big difference to new mums now as well as during times of crisis. These include developing systems to ensure free, universal mother and baby groups, reinstating informal baby clinics, and greater investment in community-based maternal support.
The policy recommendations are clear: mothers should not have to plug the gaps left by underfunded and under-supported systems. Support for maternal wellbeing must be formal, structured, and accessible especially in times of crisis.
A lovely quote from Helen Robson, founder of The Bloom Project, was “This research gave me the confidence that I was not alone in how my experience of motherhood was impacted upon. The repercussions of what happened are ongoing and there is still work to be done.” Which I think echo’s both my thoughts and all others taking part in the project. One of the silver linings of my experience during covid is that our research has already begun to influence local advocacy and national conversations about postnatal care. In the long run we intend to expand our work further, with the goal to redefine maternity leave not as time ‘off’, but recognised as the period of intense, essential labour that it is.
You can read the full report and recommendations on the UWE Bristol website.
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 IWD has put out a global call to share strategies, resources, and activities that positively impact women’s advancement and encourage participation.
International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organization specific.
On the run up to IWD, we speak to Dr. Vanda Papafilippou one of the amazing researchers in CBL who are helping #accelerateaction
Dr. Vanda Papafilippou is a Senior Lecturer in Human Resources Management at UWE Bristol and is specialised in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace.
“In celebration of International Women’s Day, the Business School is hosting an interactive event to promote gender equality and inclusivity. Staff and students are invited to add their pledges for gender equality to the notice boards in the Atrium area. These pledges will also contribute to our first Athena SWAN application, demonstrating our collective commitment to creating a more inclusive environment….’’
”BBS is applying for the first time for the Athena SWAN Bronze accreditation, a significant step towards promoting gender equality and inclusivity within our School. This accreditation is important as it demonstrates BBS’s commitment to creating a supportive and equitable environment for all staff and students, fostering diversity, and addressing gender disparities.”
11:00 – 14:00 Location: Atrium area, Business School
The college of Business and Law invite all staff, students and visitors to participate by adding their pledges for gender equality to the notice boards located in the Atrium area. Drop by and give your voice to our collective commitment to creating a more inclusive environment.
UWE Comets Cheerleading; pledging to #accelerateaction at the pop up stand in The atrium.
There are lots of things happening at UWE Bristol over the week to celebrate IWD you can see what’s happening on the UWE Events page but we’ve pulled a few of our favourites below:
WILWAL: Women in Leadership and Aspiring to Leadership, is a collective of women across the University, made up of current, aspiring and emerging leaders. We are on a mission to provide support, inspiration and connectivity in the context of leadership to every colleague identifying as female at UWE Bristol. Our vision is to elevate, connect and empower each other in our personal and professional lives to find and strengthen our leadership skills, and to be the best we can be. Join us for our International Women’s Day WILWAL session with Katherine Davies on who will speak about her lessons learnt from self-reflection, in particular navigating politics and imposter syndrome.
Join us in honouring Women’s History Month to celebrate the achievements of women connected to the University of the West of England (UWE). This panel discussion will showcase the journeys of remarkable women who have built successful business ventures. Come along to engage in conversations about entrepreneurship, leadership, and the unique challenges women face in business. Speakers include: Lisa Strutt, Emmie Runciman, Mia Collins & Krystina Pearson Rampeearee
For International Women’s Day on Saturday 8th March, MOVE is celebrating the power of women moving together by hosting a Women’s MOVEtogether takeover on the outdoors astro facility at the Centre for Sport.
Activities, for those who identify as women or non-binary, include: Football, Netball, Tennis, Basketball, Beach Volleyball
More information on what is happening globally for International Women’s Day and recourses available to all can be found here.
Alan Winfield, Professor of Robot Ethics, recently attended the Paris Conference on Safe and Ethical AI. In the below guest blog post he writes about his experience:
Earlier this month I was privileged to part of the inaugural conference of the International Association for Safe and Ethical AI. The two day conference was held in Paris, on February 6th and 7th, and hosted by the OECD. The timing and location of the conference was arranged to directly precede the governmental AI-summit on February 10th and 11th. I was one of around 650 invited representatives from academia, civil society, industry, media, and government. It was a remarkable meeting, with terrific keynote talks, including three from Nobel prize winners, Geoffrey Hinton, Maria Ressa and Joseph Stiglitz.
As someone who has been worrying about robot and AI ethics for longer than most who attended I was *very* pleased that there was a strong consensus around the need for regulation, supported by standards, alongside urgent concerns over the huge energy and water costs of AI that are completely at odds with sustainable development goals.
The conference concluded by publishing a Call to Action for lawmakers, academics, and the public ahead of the AI Summit, with ten critical action items. Overall, the action items are very good. I’m especially pleased to see ‘mandatory reporting of incidents’ in action 5. This is something I lobbied for. My one disappointment however is that the call for action statement has no explicit mention of the need to mitigate the energy costs of AI.
Here below are a few photos from the conference.
A slide from Joseph Stiglitz’ wonderful keynote: AI and Economic Risk: Assessment and Mitigation.
A slide from Kate Crawford’s excellent keynote: Hyperscaled: The Global Challenge of Sustainability in AI.
Cover photo at the top: Professor Alan Winfield with Oxford colleague Pericle Salvini presenting their work on accident investigation.
