Open University academics visit Westminster to share research

Posted on 10 June 2024 • Arts and social sciences, Society and politics

A team of academics from The Open University visited the Houses of Parliament recently to showcase their research to decisionmakers and fellow academics to help inform  policy development.

On the guest list included Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, as well as others in academic institutions to hear about the research projects – part of the OU’s Global Challenges and Social Justice Research Centre.

Some research projects are part of the OU’s Open Societal Challenges Programme. It aims to transform lives and drive societal change by tackling some of the most important societal challenges of our time through excellent impact-driven research.

The event was organised by the Parliamentary Participation Network and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), with the OU’s Global Challenges and Social Justice Research Centre (GCSJRC) as guests, presenting key research findings.

Research presented on the day, which coincidentally happened the day Rishi Sunak announced the date of the General Election, included:

• Investigating whether the MPs’ code of conduct is fit for purpose: Dr Alex Barber and Dr Sean Cordell
• How the UK should engage with China: Professor Giles Mohan and Dr Filippo Boni
• Criminalising ecocide and protecting ecosystems in post-Brexit environmental law: Jodie Bettis
• A new approach to violence prevention with particular reference to young people and knife crime: Dr Keir Irwin-Rogers
• The UK’s role in education for peace in Africa and geopolitics there: Professor Parvati Raghuram and Dr Craig Walker
• Resisting Russia: Three challenges, three responses: Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody
• Nurturing food diversity for better global health, the environment, economy and society: Professor Shonil Bhagwat
• How to improve future trade and co-operation between the UK and EU: Professor Simon Usherwood
• Changemakers: improving young adults’ understanding of making political and social change: Dr Donna Smith
• How to introduce migrant voices into policies that affect them and their host country: Professor of Sociology Umut Erel,

Umut, who is also Director of the GCSJRC, said: “The room was buzzing and we did what we set out to do – to extend the reach of cutting-edge academic research to help inform decisionmakers about what’s going on in the world.

“It was a wonderful opportunity for Open University researchers to meet people in parliament and to share their important key findings.”

Picture credit: Philippa Green for The Open University