Strengthening the UK’s energy resilience and security
Energy is a key resource enabling the functioning of modern societies. Arguably, the fast-paced technological advances in the past 200 years have been based on plentiful supply of cheap energy. But...
View ArticleWhat’s your language? Variation, dialect, interpreters and public services
As our public services face increasing linguistic diversity, booking a spoken language interpreter is often more complex than service providers realise or are trained to handle. In this article, Dr...
View ArticleReforming UK fertility legislation: the effects of online DNA testing
Direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTCGT) from companies such as Ancestry and 23andMe has significantly impacted the dialogue around gamete (sperm and egg) donor conception. In the UK where the...
View ArticleFreedom energy: minimising geopolitical risks to reach net zero
Geopolitical dynamics are crucial to our thinking about the future of energy and the pursuit of net zero. In this article from our publication On Resilience, Professor Matthew Paterson explores the...
View ArticleMapping pathways to learning
How to raise educational outcomes and solve the entrenched attainment gaps between more and less affluent young people has long been a policy concern of successive governments. As the current...
View ArticlePlanning ahead: A multi-sector approach to net zero
With climate change increasing some resources’ uncertainty – and global development making others scarcer and more interdependent – society requires improved planning and policy frameworks to deliver a...
View ArticleClimate change: navigating a clear route for UK shipping
After a year of devastating climate disasters, nations at COP 28 in Dubai in December signalled the need for the “end of the fossil fuel era”. To meet that ambition, 2024 will need to see a major...
View ArticleNo room for drought: Steps to improve the UK agricultural sector’s resilience...
In 2022, the UK experienced its fifth driest summer since 1836. Combined with record-breaking temperatures, this led to severe drought conditions across the country, with key agricultural regions as...
View ArticleSparking change: the rush to electrify
The environmental threats of climate change and extreme weather are forcing us to rethink our energy production and usage. As a society, we know how to produce clean low-carbon electricity and deliver...
View ArticlePromoting flood protection: setting a target for 10% water retention in towns...
Every year flooding affects communities around the UK. The Chartered Institute for Water and Environmental Management recently contended that although there has been expert agreement for many years...
View ArticleAccelerating the electric vehicle transition in the UK
Following the publication of the industrial strategy in 2017, in which Theresa May attempted to envisage a post-Brexit future, electric vehicles (EVs) were identified as an important opportunity for...
View ArticleCatalysts or constraints? Emerging policies for a circular plastics system in...
Every year over half a million tonnes of UK plastic waste intended for recycling is rejected due to contamination. The UK also exports more than 60% of its plastic waste burden to other countries. The...
View ArticleCharting a path to clean air: A community-centred approach to active travel...
Greater Manchester has amongst the worst air quality in the UK. Air pollution causes many health problems, as well as worsening pre-existing health conditions. Increasingly, Greater Manchester...
View ArticleWorkplace violence and aggression – employees on the frontline
Workplace violence and aggression (WVA) is a serious social issue with profound negative consequences for individuals, teams, organisations, and society. The risk of WVA from the public (third parties)...
View ArticleA silicon revolution for sustainable farming
An increasing population, political pressures, and severe weather events are all putting global food production at risk. The use of AI in agriculture could help farmers and agricultural decision makers...
View Article‘I am terribly hard up’: How looking at historical experiences of women’s...
Women are disproportionately represented in convictions for benefit fraud: in 2019, females made up 55% of the 98 summary convictions and 58% of the 1160 convictions for indictable benefit fraud...
View ArticleWhat does a ‘metal intensive’ future entail?
Critical metals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese, are key to the path towards net zero. The UK Government released their Critical Minerals Strategy in early 2023, which sets out...
View ArticleCulture shift: Tackling antimicrobial resistance from agriculture to...
In 2019, drug resistant microbial infections claimed more than 1.3 million lives, and over the next 25 years, it is expected that more people will die from drug resistant infections than from cancer....
View ArticleExtending working lives – healthy ageing in the workplace
One in three workers in the UK are aged over 50 – with this figure set to rise in coming decades. Current government employment policy is to encourage over 50s to either to remain or return to work....
View ArticleSuicide prevention for veterans of the UK Armed Forces: adding to the...
There are no recent UK-wide studies, and comparatively few international ones, examining suicide in military veterans. This is despite increasing public concern about suicide and the mental health...
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