Evaluation report for Generation Green 2. Assessing the impact of nature based short courses for young people

Evidence suggests that children are spending less time playing outdoors and in nature, with those from lower income and ethnic minority backgrounds having less opportunity to spend time outdoors and access green spaces. Generation Green 2 aimed to address these inequalities by offering young people opportunities to spend time in nature in beautiful natural landscapes through a mixture of multi-day residential experiences and day trips all of which aimed to support a deeper connection with the natural world. Questionnaire data was collected from the young people at three time points: Pre- and post-short course and 12 week follow up. Qualitative data was also collected from young people and the staff who worked with them. In total 941 young people completed pre and post questionnaires with 272 of these young people providing follow up data. 388 young people provided qualitative data, and 4 staff members participated in interviews. Significant short-term increases from pre- to post-short course were seen in both the day trip and residential experiences for nature connectedness, importance of looking after nature, wellbeing, connection to the night sky and inclusion of nature at night in self. Significant increases in nature connectedness, wellbeing, connection to the night sky and inclusion of nature at night in self were maintained at follow up for the residential group only. Residential experiences appear to support longer-lasting effects across all measures taken whilst day trips appear to support a more intense short-term boost. Qualitative data showed support for a deeper connection with nature with strong support for the importance of contact, beauty, emotion and compassion pathways to nature connectedness. Young people were also found to engage with nature through a wide variety of activities, were pushed out of their comfort zones, overcame challenges, learned new skills, had freedom to engage in self-led activities, developed greater appreciation of the natural world and had the opportunity for an amazing and awe-inspiring experience. These overwhelmingly positive results highlight the importance of offering such experiences to young people and for such opportunities to be offered more widely, so many more young people get to experience the benefits of outdoor nature based short trips and residential courses. This report presents the evaluation undertaken by researchers from the University of Derby Nature Connectedness Research Group to assess the impact of Generation Green 2 for the young people who participated

Interpersonal skills training in virtual reality: lessons for event management

The integration of Virtual Reality (VR) into student and staff training represents a promising development with potential benefits for the event industry. Traditional training methods often face limitations in replicating real-world scenarios, such as crisis management or customer service interactions. This paper examines how VR technology can effectively train interpersonal skills. A qualitative research approach was employed, utilising self-reported conversations, thematic analysis and Creative Analytical Practice for data collection and analysis. An interplay of two factors has been identified, including Immersion and Cognition, and Instant Feedback and Reflection. The results show that despite challenges such as motion sickness or complicated navigation system, VR enhances trainee engagement with study material and provides a safe space for learning and reflection

A sculptured journey: A photovoice study about information sharing among unpaid carers in England

This article explores the critical and often overwhelming task faced by unpaid carers: gathering and interpreting complex information so that health and social care systems can be accessed and understood. Based on a qualitative study centering the views and voices of unpaid carers, it provides a rich analysis of how carers share and interpret information within carer-centered group activities, offering practical insights for both practitioners and carers. In England, the Care Act 2014 places legal duties on local governments to provide information; however, this is often reduced to “signposting,” leaving carers with unresolved questions and significant frustration. Consequently, carers frequently rely on one another to fill these gaps and support those they care for. Adopting a critical realist ontology and a social constructionist epistemology, this study balances the external realities of the Care Act with the subjective experiences of unpaid carers. Using photovoice, a method combining visual and narrative techniques, the study enabled carers to convey their approaches to information sharing. Reflexive thematic analysis identified the key theme of “an information highway: a sculptured journey” along with its subtheme, “an information bridge.” This analysis deepens understanding of how and when carers share information effectively, addressing an underexplored area within the literature on carer-centered group activities. It illustrates how carer-led information sharing enhances carers’ knowledge of rights and resources while fostering a sense of connection and support

A multi-site qualitative evaluation of the accredited Thinking Skills Programme (TSP)

MOJ commissioned the University of Derby to conduct a qualitative evaluation of Thinking Skills Programme (TSP) delivered in prisons. TSP is a HMPPS accredited offending behaviour programme, which is designed for adult men and women who are assessed as medium or above risk of reoffending. TSP supports participants to develop thinking skills to manage risk factors, develop protective factors, achieve pro-social goals, and ultimately aims to reduce reoffending. The aim of this study was to better understand TSP participant experiences, along with the role of the prison environment in providing opportunities to develop learnt skills. A total of 50 interviews were completed (44 men, 6 women) all who had completed TSP. Overall, findings showed that TSP was reported to be useful to participants in helping them develop the necessary skills to live crime free lives. Several enablers were perceived as key to successful delivery of the programme and participant change: appropriate timing of enrolment for participants, facilitators building supportive relationships with participants, support for participants post programme, addressing barriers to delivery, and staff awareness training

The good and the dark side of integration and dependence for IT adoption

In the digitally evolving manufacturing sector, IT adoption is critical for operational efficiency and competitive edge. This research explores how systems integration, IT dependence, and inter-plant interdependence influence IT adoption, drawing on Resource Dependence Theory (RDT). It features a survey of 286 UK manufacturing plants and uses Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and ANOVA for analysis. Results show that while systems integration boosts IT adoption, its impact is moderated by IT dependence. Interdependence with other plants also promotes IT adoption but does not significantly mediate it. Large plants tend to have higher IT adoption rates due to better resources and IT governance, unlike smaller plants which struggle with financial and technical limitations. The study underscores the dual impact of IT dependence and interdependence in manufacturing, suggesting that effective IT governance and tailored support for SMEs are vital for enhancing IT system adoption

Exploring the Impact of Leader-Member I-Deals Incongruence on Employee Performance through Cognitive Job Crafting

In today’s proactive work environment, understanding how employees cope with the non-receipt of idiosyncratic deals (i-deals), particularly regarding leader-member i-deal incongruence, is crucial for enhancing job performance and overall organisational outcomes. Existing theories on i-deals have focused on social exchange mechanisms and the benefits of received i-deals, with few studies examining the effects of non-receipt of i-deals. These studies show that denying i-deals can be detrimental, sometimes overwhelming their benefits and purpose. Moreover, there is a significant gap in knowledge regarding how employees cope and adjust when they do not receive requested i-deals, particularly when considering their goal-oriented nature. This is important because understanding how employees respond to unmet i-deal requests can inform more effective work design strategies, leading to improved employee well-being and productivity. In light of this, the current research investigates the utilisation of cognitive job crafting, which has been shown to help address person-job misfits as a coping mechanism in situations of leader-member i-deal incongruence. Grounded in Goal-setting and Person-Job Fit Theories, this study introduces the novel concept of leader-member i-deal incongruence. It describes the mismatch between the personalised work arrangements employees seek and those deemed appropriate by their leaders based on differing expectations. Data were collected from public-sector employees and their supervisors in Oyo State, Nigeria, using paper-based questionnaires. A three-wave longitudinal design was employed, with data gathered at three different points six weeks apart, to establish causal inference and ensure robust findings. The study involved 761 members and their 124 leaders participating in all three waves. The hypotheses were tested using polynomial regression and response surface analysis in order to ensure a comprehensive and rigorous research process. The findings revealed a curvilinear (bell-shaped/inverted U-shaped) relationship between i-deal incongruence (i.e., the independent variable) and employee job performance (i.e., the dependent variable), with performance peaking at moderate levels of incongruence, where the difference in expectations of i-deals between leaders and members was not too high. However, contrary to the initial expectations, the incongruence of leader-member i-deals hindered cognitive job crafting (i.e., the mediating variable). Specifically, the results did not support the expectation that employees would engage in cognitive job crafting the most at moderate levels of incongruence. Instead, the findings indicated that, as the incongruence between leader and member i-deals increased, it led to less effective cognitive job crafting, with no curvilinear relationship observed. However, cognitive job crafting partially mediated the relationship between leader-member i-deal incongruence and job performance. Furthermore, the results showed that employees with proactive personalities (moderating variable) were more likely to engage in cognitive job crafting when faced with low to moderate levels of incongruence. This was because they better managed and adapted to these discrepancies when the incongruence of leader-member i-deals was not excessively high, preventing it from becoming threatening and overly challenging to adjust. This research offers a new perspective by applying Goal-setting and Person-Job fit Theories to i-deals, moving beyond the traditional social exchange theory. It addresses a gap in understanding how employees cope with unmet i-deal requests, providing fresh insights into the dynamics of employee adaptation. Practically, the study provides guidance for HR practices by highlighting the importance of fostering environments that encourage proactive behaviours to align employee needs with organisational goals

HoneyWin: high-interaction windows honeypot in enterprise environment

Windows operating systems are often the primary targets of malware and ransomware attacks. With 93% of the ransomware targetingWindows-based systems, there is an urgent need for advanced defensive mechanisms to detect, analyze, and mitigate threats effectively. This paper proposes HoneyWin a high-interaction Windows honeypot that mimics an enterprise IT environment. The HoneyWin consists of three Windows 11 endpoints and an enterprise-grade gateway provisioned with comprehensive network traffic capturing, host-based logging, deceptive tokens, endpoint security and real-time alerts capabilities. The HoneyWin has been deployed live in the wild for 34 days and receives more than 5.79 million unsolicited connections, 1.24 million login attempts, 5 and 354 successful logins via remote desktop protocol (RDP) and secure shell (SSH). The adversary interacted with the deceptive token in one of the RDP sessions and exploited the public-facing endpoint to initiate the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) brute-force bot attack via SSH sessions. The adversary successfully harvested 1,250 SMTP credentials after attempting 151,179 credentials during the attack

Breaking the silent legacies of war: Exploring transnational feminist art activisms and conflict-related gender-based violence

Creative arts are vital in helping to raise awareness of the ongoing phenomenon known as “rape as weapon of war”, which has been described by the United Nations (2024a) as one of the ‘greatest silences’ that ‘continues to be chronically underreported’, as sexual violence is systematically encouraged and tolerated during conflicts. In this article, I explore two installations that expose conflict-related gender-based violence to international audiences, and advocate for justice of women’s rights to a life free of violence: Alketa Jhafa Mripa’s 2015 Thinking of you, first displayed in Kosovo’s football stadium, and Patricia Cronin’s 2015 Shrine for girls, initially presented at the 56th Venice Biennale. By exploring artworks from different locations and different legacies of war, I argue for art’s vital role in giving voice to the greatest silence occurring during armed conflicts

Developing biomechanical interventions for major depression: The relationship between affective processing and gait dynamics in young adults

Summary This study examined the link between affective processing and gait dynamics in 18 young adults with minimal depressive symptoms. Participants completed psychological assessments and a 10-meter walking evaluation, during which ground reaction forces were recorded. Higher anxiety scores were correlated with increased gait force variability, while longer reaction times to sad stimuli were associated with greater vertical impulse and mediolateral force variability. These findings suggest that subtle mood disturbances, as reflected in affective processing, can impact gait and that biomechanical measures may serve as early indicators of emotional dysfunction. This supports further exploration of targeted interventions for motor and mental health. Introduction Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects about 13% of the population and is a leading cause of global disability [1]. In addition to mood disturbances, depression often involves motor symptoms like altered gait, slumped posture, and impaired balance, which are frequently overlooked [2]. Depressed individuals typically walk slower, take shorter strides, and exhibit greater postural instability. Emerging evidence suggests that motor functions are closely linked with cognitive processes, particularly those involved in affective processing. Affective processing refers to the way in which individuals perceive, interpret, and respond to emotionally salient information. It encompasses both immediate emotional reactivity and the subsequent cognitive evaluation of emotions. This study examines the relationship between affective processing, anxiety, depression, and gait in a non-clinical sample. Methods Eighteen young adults (age 19.5 ± 0.5 years) provided written informed consent and completed baseline assessments. Psychological measures included the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) for depressive symptoms, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale for anxiety, and the CANTAB emotional bias task, which measured mean (RTMNS) and standard deviation (RTSDS) of reaction times for selecting "Sad." Biomechanical testing was conducted along a 10-meter walkway using a Kistler force plate (1000 Hz) embedded mid-walkway. Participants walked at a self-selected pace along the walkway six times continuously. Key gait events (initial contact and toe-off) were identified from the vertical force curve, and variables, including forces, impulse, and force variability (quantified as the standard deviation across foot contacts), were extracted. Spearman correlation analyses were used to assess relationships between psychological and gait measures. Results and Discussion PHQ-8 scores indicated minimal depressive symptoms, whereas GAD-7 scores (0 to 25), reflected varying levels of anxiety. Higher GAD-7 scores were significantly correlated with increased gait forces and variability, including peak anterior-posterior force (r = .501, p = .034), mean mediolateral force (r = .468, p = .047), peak variability in anterior-posterior force (r = .636, p = .005), and mediolateral force (r = .481, p = .043). Prolonged reaction times to sad stimuli (RTMNS) was positively correlated with vertical impulse variability (r = .63, p = .006) and mediolateral force variability (r = .49, p = .041), and RTSDS scores correlated with vertical impulse variability (r = .46, p = .048) and peak mediolateral force variability (r = .57, p = .014). These findings underscore a nuanced interplay between mood, affective processing, and motor control. The lack of significant correlations with PHQ-8 scores likely reflects the low severity of depressive symptoms in our cohort, suggesting that anxiety and its related affective processing may be more influential on gait dynamics. This pattern aligns with previous research indicating that cognitive influences, including affective reactivity, can have measurable effects on motor behaviour [3]. Such insights could have important implications for identifying early markers of motor variability in populations with heightened anxiety or altered affective processing. Conclusions Subtle variations in affective processing are linked to increased gait variability in young adults with minimal depressive symptoms. These results indicate that gait measures could serve as early markers of mood disturbances and support further exploration of biomechanical interventions to enhance both motor and mental health

Negotiating learner identities and success: a linguistic ethnography with late-arrival multilingual learners in a secondary school

This thesis offers rich insights into the under-researched experiences of late arrival multilingual learners in English secondary schools. It examines how they co-construct and resist learner identities through interactions with peers and staff, and how these identities are positioned within majoritarian stories of success. It focuses on four recently-arrived young people in a secondary school in the West Midlands of England with data gathered through conducting a linguistic ethnography between 2019 and 2022. Analysis is based on observational fieldnotes including interactions recorded in mainstream and intervention lessons, ethnographic and more formal interviews with the four learners and teaching staff, and a learner focus group. The analysis centres on accessing a deep understanding of the experiences of each young person, using the tools of ethnography and Conversation Analysis to analyse data, including through the detailed study of their interactions. Identity is explored by employing the lens of Positioning Theory (Davies and Harré 1990), where it is constructed at micro, meso and macro levels through the co-positioning of participants in talk in (dis)alignment with storylines about success, multilingualism and learning which circulate at these three scales. Local understandings of success are uncovered through the concepts of Model Minorities (Gillborn 2008) and Imagined Communities (Norton 2001), ideal learners (Archer and Francis 2007) and educational triage (Gillborn and Youdell 2000). The thesis makes three main arguments which reinterpret and extend these established concepts of success to consider the multilingual and transnational dimensions of new arrivals’ learner identities. Firstly, I argue that while multilingual new arrivals negotiate classroom positions, teaching staff hold significant power to make these (un)available, resulting in greater or fewer opportunities for learning content and English language. Secondly, over time, these momentary interactional positions sediment into meso-level identities which align more or less closely with a construct I propose of the ideal EAL learner. These alignments enable schools to triage newly-arrived learners according to their perceived potential value for formal measures of success, realised through national exams at the age of sixteen. Thirdly, this identity work takes place within macro-level storylines about multilingualism, success and the ‘good immigrant’, which coalesce in a racialised and meritocracy-driven construct I call the EAL Model Minority. While these majoritarian constructs drive institutional and national notions of success for multilingual learners, the learners additionally envision success in richer, more humanitarian terms through the Imagined Communities to which they (seek to) belong. I argue that recognising learners’ identities as members of Imagined Communities creates a more holistic understanding of success, providing a counter-story to the majoritarian view and a more inclusive understanding of multilingual learners in mainstream classrooms