Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback

Church of England

Country: United Kingdom

Church of England

6 Projects, page 1 of 2
  • Funder: UK Research and Innovation Project Code: NE/W007118/1
    Funder Contribution: 43,019 GBP

    This research is a collaboration between a researcher from the Tyndall Centre in Manchester and hosted by the Church of England's Cathedral and Church Buildings Division (CCB). It is concerned with identifying, collating, and disseminating successful climate adaptation strategies adopted by some of the Church of England's over 16,000 churches and other heritage buildings, and by their wider communities. Finding examples of what has worked on the ground, and the wider community impact of these actions. The Church of England currently has a well-developed tools and resources for climate change mitigation strategies, however this is not yet true for adaption and resilience. Church buildings and the communities in which they are based are increasingly at risk from climate related changes and extreme weather events. This project will equip this organisation as well as thousands of individual churches with the information they need to (1) protect their church building and (2) utilise the building to enhance community climate resilience. This will be done through three work packages. This first (Identifying Church and Community Climate Adaptation and Resilience Stories) will develop the researchers understanding of the climate risk that the church faces. It will do this through a comprehensive literature review and gathering case studies from churches around the UK; examples in which the church building itself is at risk and required adaptation measures (e.g. protection against flooding, stonework damage) and examples where the church creates community climate resilience in at-risk areas (e.g. protection from flooding, over-heating). The second (Co-Production of Church Centred Climate Resilience) builds on this through a series of co-productive workshops with local stakeholders and diocese workers to build on these finding and ensure the outputs of this work reflects the communities it is producing guidance for. Thirdly (Guidance Creation and Reporting) will utilise these findings to create internal guidance notes that will actively contribute to the work of the CCB as well as contributing to the Church of England's wider environmental plan and creating new online resources. Guidance notes and academic papers will be disseminated more widely through other heritage and faith bodies, as well as academic journals. This project has an extensive dissemination plan and will be able to share new research (in the form of short case studies, online resources, and videos) through the Church of England, through regional workshops with diocesan staff, conferences, and website / social media. Churches and communities around the country will increase climate literacy and capacity to undertake new approaches to climate change resilience and adaptation in their community. This project has a potential audience of thousands as the Church of England continues to promote environmental issues, of which this work would be a key part, across the country

    more_vert
  • Funder: UK Research and Innovation Project Code: AH/L015005/1
    Funder Contribution: 805,981 GBP

    'Pilgrimage and England's cathedrals' employs a ground-breaking combination of interdisciplinary perspectives and methodologies to identify and analyse the core dynamics of pilgrimage and sacred sites in England from the 11th to 21st centuries, to assess the growing significance of English cathedrals as sacred/heritage sites today, and to inform management of/public engagement with these iconic buildings. Set against the background of the worldwide growth of pilgrimage and the increasing importance of sacred sites, the project's innovative approaches and timely research agenda also contribute substantially to defining and establishing the emerging field of Pilgrimage Studies. At the heart of this project is a new, wide-ranging analysis of the meaning and breadth of 'pilgrimage' and the role of sacred places past and present. Why did pilgrimage matter in the past and why does it still matter today? In exploring these issues, the project focuses attention on the role of cathedrals: places where, uniquely, national and local history and identity, material culture and traditional and emerging religious practice can be encountered together. Pilgrimage was central to the development and status of English cathedrals in the Middle Ages and although most shrines were destroyed at the Reformation, many of the great churches and monasteries which housed them remain as cathedrals today, literally shaped by their pilgrim past and retaining a strong pilgrimage legacy. Anglican cathedrals are increasingly refocusing on and reinstating shrines, reflecting an international multi-faith phenomenon in which an estimated 200 million people across the world engage in pilgrimage and religious tourism annually. Cathedrals in England are the group of sacred sites visited by the largest, most diverse group of people. A recent report reveals that 27% of adults resident in England visited an Anglican cathedral at least once in the previous year (THEOS, 2012). Moreover, over 40% of those visitors came from faith traditions other than Christianity or had no religious affiliation. This suggests that cathedrals are seen as shaped by, but transcending, Christianity, offering unique access to the 'spiritual' within the context of history, heritage and culture, and providing meaningful spaces for people of all faiths and none. These developments demand fuller, rigorous, multi-disciplinary investigation so that the implications for cathedrals, visitors and communities can be explored in detail. The project uses 4 cathedrals, Canterbury, York, Durham and Westminster (chosen to represent a range of historical, social, geographical, cultural and denominational settings, and varying policies on charging for entry) as historical and contemporary case studies. Research methods include analysis of architectural and visual material, archives and contemporary documents. Interviews, photo/audio-diaries, and participant observation will be employed to gather and examine the experiences and views of cathedral staff, volunteers, pilgrims, tourists and local residents (of all faiths or none). English cathedrals face multiple challenges as they seek to balance meeting the needs of congregations and pilgrims with remaining accessible to wider communities and tourists, and funding the maintenance of their historic buildings. This project provides insight into the historical and contemporary significance and use of spaces in and around cathedrals and analyses the specific connections between spiritual practice, cultural and historic interest, and individual, local and national senses of belonging. Outputs will include books, journal articles, conferences, a website, and an interactive animated visualization of medieval pilgrim experience. Findings will inform a range of academic disciplines, enhance visitor provision, tourism strategies and heritage management in English cathedrals and other sites, and provide resources for use by schools and the wider public.

    more_vert
  • Funder: UK Research and Innovation Project Code: AH/R014752/1
    Funder Contribution: 455,062 GBP

    This project addresses an urgent issue that has profound effects on humans, animals, and the wider environment, and in which there is high public interest in the UK. The raising of farmed animals is a major global enterprise with massive impacts on domestic and wild animals, human food and water security, human health, and the environment. In 2013, 77 billion birds and mammals and around 6 trillion fish were used for human food globally, using 78% of available agricultural land, consuming 35% of global cereal output, resulting in more greenhouse gas emissions than those from transport globally, and contributing to a wide range of human health problems including antibiotic resistance, zoonotic diseases such as bird and swine flu, and increased incidence of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and stroke from the associated increase in meat consumption. The raising of farmed animals has grown markedly since the mid-20th century, primarily as a result of a revolutionary intensification of production methods. Poultry consumption has increased at three times that of human population growth in each of the past five decades and a 73% rise in demand for meat from 2010 levels is expected by 2050. Progressive intensification in the rearing of farmed animals, high and rising public concern about farmed animal welfare, and uncertainty about UK farmed animal welfare standards post-Brexit make this project timely. Churches and other Christian organizations in the UK have significant interests in and influence over animal farming in the UK, through ownership of agricultural land, investments in food producers and retailers, participation in policy debates, and consumption of animal products, and will therefore play an important role in public debates about farmed animal welfare. It is striking, therefore, that they currently have no policies concerning farmed animal welfare. This project will produce the first substantive academic discussion of the Christian ethics of farmed animal welfare and, by working with national churches and other organizational partners, will resource the development of new policy and influence institutional practice concerning the raising of farmed animals and consumption of products derived from them. It will also provide a new model of how to engage religious groups and other groups with particular commitments and concerns with the ethical implications of new scientific knowledge and its implications for practice. The project will use a collaborative research process between an interdisciplinary research team and institutional partners which will result in (1) a framework for institutional policy and practice; (2) a process for engaging institutions with that framework to enable development of policy and changes in practice; (3) the first academic monograph in the field and related journal outputs. The partners committed to this project are major Christian denominations representing the majority of the Christians in the UK (Church of England, Roman Catholic Church, Church of Scotland, Church in Wales, Methodist Church, and United Reformed Church), the globally leading charity addressing farmed animal welfare (Compassion in World Farming), groups representing farmers and veterinarians, and Christian animals organizations. The range of this collaboration and its potential influence to improve welfare outcomes is remarkable and unprecedented. The project will enable institutional changes in practice that will have substantial implications for farmed animal welfare and a resulting impact on human well-being and the environment. These changes will be enabled through a process that draws on graphic illustrators, a performance artist, and change facilitators, to help institutions appreciate the need for change and the route to achieve it. Beyond the funded period, new institutions will be engaged, and a planned successor project in the US will build on this one to generate even greater impacts.

    more_vert
  • Funder: UK Research and Innovation Project Code: AH/S006753/1
    Funder Contribution: 80,588 GBP

    'Engaging with Place and Managing Space' offers a unique opportunity to use historical and social science research to enhance visitor enjoyment and appreciation of the cathedrals and great churches which comprise many of England's most important and best-loved heritage sites. CONTEXT English cathedrals now welcome over 10 million visitors each year and have a growing role in promoting community cohesion, sharing their rich spiritual, cultural, and educational resources, and stimulating economic development in urban and rural contexts through tourism. The AHRC 'Pilgrimage and England's Cathedrals, Past and Present' (PEC) project explored ways in which much greater historical understanding of the use of buildings in the past, coupled with fresh evidenced-based insights into visitor needs today, could support cathedrals in engaging wider audiences and serving communities. Key issues highlighted include finding new ways to accommodate the multiple roles of buildings; the value of creating user-friendly, inviting spaces for visitors from all backgrounds; the centrality of sensory experience; offering an open-ended welcome to all visitors; and the need for greater recognition of these factors in decisions about adapting or changing buildings to enhance visitor provision. In the final year of the project, the opportunities and challenges facing cathedrals were unexpectedly brought into urgent national focus by the publication of three major government and church sponsored reports: Cathedrals and their Communities: A Report on the Diverse Roles of Cathedrals, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2017); The Taylor Review: Sustainability of English Churches and Cathedrals (DCMS, 2017); Cathedrals Working Group Draft Report, 2018. The PEC research outcomes have been universally welcomed as offering essential perspectives in the current process of review and planning. Key stakeholders are now requesting help in embedding the PEC research in long-term policy-making, statutory guidance, management and training for all churches. This Follow-on project is thus driven by: - the catalyst of PEC project findings on the value of applying historical understanding of the management of space to visitor needs today - acknowledgement that current processes for assessing 'significance' (the sum of the cultural and natural heritage values of a place), will benefit greatly from PEC research perspectives, promoting understanding and strengthening project evaluation and approval - recognition that greater understanding of the ways in which buildings function will help funders and applicants to develop more soundly-based and effective projects - pressures created by the changing landscape of heritage volunteering and the need for additional information and training to help staff and volunteers engage increasingly diverse audiences OUTCOMES This initiative, requested by the key stakeholders in England's largest heritage sector, will bring about a new, transformative collaboration between Historic England, other statutory bodies, the Church of England, and those managing its 42 cathedrals and 16,200 parish churches. This project has 5 key strands of activity building on PEC research findings: SHAPING NATIONAL POLICY in partnership with Historic England, other statutory advisors, and the Church of England PILOTING FRESH APPROACHES TO VISITOR ENGAGEMENT, working with selected cathedrals and churches to enhance key spaces and offer creative new opportunities for visitor interaction PROVIDING NEW NATIONAL GUIDANCE through an online handbook and workshops, in partnership with the Church of England and Historic England SUPPORTING AND TRAINING STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS through a national volunteer strategy/programme focused on understanding, managing, and adapting spaces to enhance visitor experience and enjoyment WORKING WITH GRANT-MAKING BODIES TO STRENGTHEN SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE FOR PROJECTS

    more_vert
  • Funder: UK Research and Innovation Project Code: EP/S023437/1
    Funder Contribution: 7,062,520 GBP

    Research Area: ART-AI is a multidisciplinary CDT, bringing together computer science, social science and engineering so that its graduates will be specialists in one subject, but have substantial training and experience in the others. The ART-AI management team brings together research in AI, HCI,politics/economics, and engineering, while the CDT as a whole has a team of >40 supervisors across seven departments in three faculties and the institutes for policy research (IPR) and for mathematical innovation (IMI). This is not a marriage of convenience: many CDT members have experience of interdisciplinary working and together with CDT cohorts and partners, we will create accessible, transparent and intelligible AI, driven by ethical and responsible principles, to address issues in, for example, policy design and political decision-making, development of trust in AI for humans and organisations, autonomous systems, sensing and data analysis, explanation of machine decision-making, public service design, social simulation and the ethics of socio-technical systems. Need: Hardly a day passes without a news article on the wonders and dangers of AI. But decisions - by individuals, organisations, society and government - on how to use or not use AI should be informed and ethical. We need policy experts to recognise both opportunities and threats, engineers to extend our technical capabilities, and scientists to establish what is tractable and to predict likely outcomes of policies and innovations. We need mutually informed decisions taking account of diverse needs and perspectives. This need is expressed in measured terms by a slew of major reports (see Case for Support) and Commons and Lords committees, all reflecting the UKCES Sector Insights (Evidence report #92, 2015) prediction of a need by 2022 for >0.5M additional workers in the digital sector against just a third of that number graduating annually. To realise the government vision for AI (White Paper), a critical fraction of those 0.5M workers need to be leaders and innovators with in-depth scientific and technical knowledge to make the right calls on what is possible, what is desirable, and how it can be most safely deployed. Beyond the UK, a 2018 PwC report indicates AI will impact ~10% of jobs, or ~326 million globally by 2030, with ~33% in high-skill jobs across most economic sectors. The clear conclusion is a need for a significant cadre of high-skill workers and leaders with a detailed knowledge of AI, an understanding of how to utilise it, and its political, social and economic implications. The ART-AI is designed to deliver these in collaboration and co-creation with stakeholders in these areas. Approach: ART-AI will produce interdisciplinary graduates and interdisciplinary research by (i) exposing its students to all three disciplines in the taught elements, (ii) fostering development of multi-discipline perspectives throughout the doctoral research process, and (iii) establishing international and stakeholder perspectives whilst contributing to immediate, real-world problems through a programme of visiting lecturers, research visits to leading institutions and internships. The CDT will use some conventional teaching, but the innovations in doctoral training are: (i) multi-disciplinary team projects; (ii) structured and facilitated horizontal (intra-cohort) peer learning and vertical (inter-cohort) mentoring, and in the interdisciplinary cross-cohort activities in years 2-4; (iii) demonstrated contextualisation of the primary discipline research in the other disciplines both at transfer (confirmation) at the end of year 2 and in the final dissertation. Each student will have a primary supervisor from their main discipline, a co-supervisor from at least one of the other two, and where appropriate, one from a CDT partner, reflecting the interdisciplinarity and co-creation that underpin the CDT.

    more_vert
  • chevron_left
  • 1
  • 2
  • chevron_right

Do the share buttons not appear? Please make sure, any blocking addon is disabled, and then reload the page.

Content report
No reports available
Funder report
No option selected
arrow_drop_down

Do you wish to download a CSV file? Note that this process may take a while.

There was an error in csv downloading. Please try again later.