缅北禁地

Derek Bell with Sociology鈥檚&苍产蝉辫;Janice McLaughlin have built on research carried out by Politics students in the Community-based Research in Politics module with Carers Northumberland in 2015. One of the key findings from a series of focus  conducted with informal carers, was that a lack of appropriate accessible toilets in Northumberland limited the places they visited and their participation in social activities. Bell and McLaughlin produced a  on improving accessible toilet provision, which has been used by Northumberland County Council and 缅北禁地 City Council in improving facilities.  

Matt Davies co-produced an audio play with a theatre company Cap-a-Pie, and Simon Philpott worked with 缅北禁地-based charity West End Refugee Service (WERS) to produce a series of  about the journeys of several refugees from statelessness to making their homes in 缅北禁地. 

Our research has informed 22 parliamentary enquiries (Clark, Clough, Elstub, Feklyunina, Langan, Long, Rainsford, Wright). During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dimitris 厂办濒别辫补谤颈蝉鈥檚 research contributed to the Women and Equalities Committee's inquiry 鈥楿nequal impact? Coronavirus and BAME people鈥�. Emily Clough and Graham Long collaborated with the network 鈥�UK Stakeholders for Sustainable Development鈥� to develop a Sustainable Development Goals framework for London commissioned by the Greater London Authority and the London Sustainable Development Commission. Alistair Clark and Stephen Elstub have both held House of Commons fellowships.  

In 2017, Elstub, with Ian O鈥橣lynn鈥�and Maarja鈥疞耻丑颈蝉迟别 were commissioned by鈥疦orthern Ireland Human Rights Commission鈥痶o pilot a鈥痙eliberative forum on 鈥楧elivering Local Community Services for Older People鈥� for鈥痶he Northern Health and Social CareTrust鈥痵别谤惫颈肠别 users and鈥�carers, and to evaluate its results.鈥疶he Trust鈥痵ubsequently鈥痯roduced a report that recommended鈥痚stablishing 鈥榓 network of locally based engagement forums鈥欌�痑cross NI鈥痑nd providing information on 鈥榟ow the feedback received [from forum participants] has influenced decision-making鈥�鈥� 

Katharine 搁颈别迟颈驳鈥檚 research has shaped positions of international negotiating teams at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2016-18.  Mark Langan has given evidence on private sector development (PSD) in developing countries to the European Parliament Development Committee. Katharine Wright has worked with NATO on gender mainstreaming and co-produced guidance with the Quaker Council for European Affairs on . Valentina Feklyunina has collaborated extensively with the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats. Jocelyn Mawdsley co-authored a  commissioned by the European Parliament鈥檚&苍产蝉辫;Directorate-General for External Policies. 

In 2015, the member states of the United Nations adopted the 鈥淪ustainable Development Goals鈥� as . From 2013-15 Dr Graham Long worked within the negotiations at the UN, in partnership with the 鈥楤eyond 2015鈥� NGO coalition and other civil society groups, to try to achieve a robust and ambitious agreement. Reflecting Graham鈥檚 research agenda in global justice, he focused on the guiding principles of the SDGs - that the goals are universal, interdependent, participatory and must 鈥渓eave no one behind鈥�.  Through a series of working groups, , and co-written policy briefs and statements, Graham helped ensure that these principles were incorporated into review and follow-up arrangements for the Goals.      

Since 2015 Graham has contributed to efforts to implement and review progress on the goals at global, national, and local scales. The SDGs rely upon implementation through partnership. With other Politics staff, including Emily Clough and Katharine Rietig, he has worked with the United Nations to understand and assess the contributions of  and multi-stakeholder partnerships 鈥� and most recently,  on this cooperation.   

130 states have now undertaken Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) reporting on their progress across the SDGs. The  reported in 2019, and Graham worked for the  and as a special advisor to the International Development Committee of the House of Commons to maximise the quality 鈥� and  鈥� of the UK鈥檚 review.   

Electoral integrity affects everyone registered to vote. It ensures that voters are registered properly, that they can cast their ballot and expect to have that counted without undue impediment. Recently, there has been considerable debate about these issues across the world. Alistair Clark is one of the UK鈥檚 leading scholars researching the integrity of these vital electoral processes, thereby contributing to greater knowledge about electoral process. 

Findings from Alistair Clark’s research have included: 

• Evidence from polling stations suggesting that improperly registered voters are a greater problem in polling stations than extremely rare suspicions of electoral fraud. 
• Findings from counting officers in the 2016 EU Referendum indicating that 43% felt they did not have sufficient resources to maintain the electoral register 
• Evidence of variation in electoral administrative performance across mainland Britain. 

• Measured in different ways, increased spending and resources on election administration led to improved performance in running elections.  
• Other administrative issues also impact upon election quality - Running multiple constituencies led to higher performance; running different levels of elections concurrently led to lower performance. 

The main beneficiaries of Clark鈥檚 research have been the , parliamentary committees, and parliamentarians reviewing and arguing for improved electoral administration and processes. Clark鈥檚 work has been cited in, and fed into recommendations of, reports by Committees from the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the Scottish and Welsh parliaments. Clark regularly engages with policymakers on these issues and is a member of the International Advisory Board of the .  

缅北禁地鈥檚 research on deliberative innovations has had an impact on the quality of democracy in several UK parliaments by improving public engagement and legislative debate. 

Dr Stephen Elstub, Reader in British Politics, has undertaken two Academic Parliamentary Fellowships at the UK and Scottish Parliaments. He worked with their Citizen Engagement Units to develop a strategy for the use of  by parliamentary committees. The UK Parliament has held a  and on . The Scottish Parliament have held a  and . These cases have enabled the public to engage in scrutiny of government. 

Northern Ireland鈥檚 power-sharing government was suspended from 2017 to 2020. Dr Ian O鈥橣lynn, Senior Lecturer in Political Theory, demonstrated to the Northern Ireland Assembly how veto procedures could be reformed to be more inclusive and transparent in order reduce such stalemates in the parliament and to improve the quality of legislative debate. 翱鈥橣濒测苍苍鈥檚 research directly influenced the 鈥楴ew Decade, New Approach鈥� deal negotiated by the UK and Irish Governments and the five main NI political parties.