Review of scientific literacy and oracy in primary school education

This Royal Society commissioned rapid literature review maps the current landscape for scientific literacy and oracy in the context of primary school education in the UK. The aim is to identify challenges, gaps and opportunities for oracy-rich primary science (age 5-11)

Community-based conservation surveillance: an ethnographic analysis of the drivers and obstacles of local reporting on rhino and plains game poaching in Namibia

Conservation surveillance, or the monitoring of people for conservation purposes, is a core component of coercive conservation governance. Over the last decade, in response to the social injustice attributed to top-down applications of surveillance technologies associated with militarised conservation, policies have increasingly prescribed an integration of local populations into conservation law enforcement. The problem with ‘inclusive’ or ‘community-based’ forms of conservation surveillance is that little is empirically known about reporting behaviours within rural communities. While reporting rates tend to be low, practitioners have limited understanding of how to engage local people. This knowledge gap significantly undermines conservation's capacity to integrate local people into conservation surveillance and enhance community-based interventions for combating illegal-hunting and illegal wildlife trade (IWT). Drawing on fieldwork among communities in north-west Namibia, where local people are recruited as informants of conservation authorities, we contribute a deeper, qualitative understanding of what motivates local people to report or withhold information on illegal-hunting of rhino and plains game. We show that communal area residents primarily report because they feel morally compelled to do so and/or because they seek to bolster their claims to status, privilege and entitlement. They fail to report due to the pervasiveness of communal disciplinary power, including locally-divergent social rules and sanctions. In contrast to dominant perceptions among policymakers and practitioners, our analysis demonstrates that incentive-based informant networks and reward systems have limited effectiveness, while carrying high risks. Our analysis supports five recommendations for integrating local people into conservation surveillance in more locally acceptable and sustainable ways

Revitalising the musical past of the Nogai through song: a contemporary interpretation of the Epic of Edige through Nine Rhapsodies

The Nogai people are an indigenous Muslim Turkic-speaking ethnic group in Russia, descended from the nomadic horsemen of Central Asia, with a culture that boasts a proud and resilient history. The Nogais – ‘moribund tribelets’ (Shelemay, 1990, p. 299) – have traditionally inhabited the Great Caspian Depression, an area where the echoes of their ancient melodies still resonate. Their narrative and musical traditions, once central to their identity, now face decline due to inconsistent practice, adaptation, and engagement with contemporary audiences. This research explores the creation of Nine Rhapsodies about Edige, an album that reimagines and revitalizes the traditional Nogai epic song Edige using attributes of contemporary musical production. The Nogai people are an indigenous Muslim Turkic-speaking ethnic group in Russia, descended from the nomadic horsemen of Central Asia, with a culture that boasts a proud and resilient history. The Nogais – ‘moribund tribelets’ (Shelemay, 1990, p. 299) – have traditionally inhabited the Great Caspian Depression, an area where the echoes of their ancient melodies still resonate. The epic song recounts the deeds of Edige, (1352–1419), an eminent historical figure often hailed as the ‘Nogai Genghis Khan’ and the founder of the Nogai Horde, and engaging with it within this context is crucial, given its position as a foundational cultural text that was banned under Soviet rule, an act that severed a vital link in Nogai oral tradition. By synthesizing creative practice, historical texts, ethnographic and autoethnographic methodologies, this project not only documents but actively reinterprets Nogai musical heritage, seeking to reignite intellectual and artistic engagement with it. The new album serves as both a creative intervention and a preservation effort, extracting archetypes, key characters, and recurring themes from surviving fragments of the epic. Given my position as a Nogai insider, the project is inherently autoethnographic, bridging scholarship and artistic practice. By collecting, reimagining, and recontextualizing Nogai music, this research celebrates and sustains an endangered culture for future generations, standing on the shoulders of those who have sought to keep the Nogai legacy alive. As such, the project functions as a catalyst for exploring broader ideas of cultural revival, reclaiming the banned text, and embedding it into context of wider contemporary musical culture(s)

Five Acts & A Monologue

This exhibition brings together two major works: Five Acts (2024/2025) — featuring a circular embroidered tapestry, sculptures resembling animal toys, and five live performances — and Accidental Paradise (2025), a newly commissioned sound installation. Together, they draw attention to voices that have long been pushed to the margins

Redefining markets for multi-sided platforms in the digital economy: EU’s latest Notice

In February 2024, the European Commission released a revised Market Definition Notice (Notice 2024) to address new market dynamics influenced by digitalisation and modern delivery methods for goods and services. The Notice 2024 includes a dedicated section on multi-sided platforms (s.4.4) and, for the first time, provides market definition guidance for those platforms in the European Union (EU). Multi-sided platforms, like online marketplaces connecting buyers and sellers or operating systems linking end-users with developers, generate value by serving distinct customer groups whose interactions benefit each other. The rise of multi-sided platforms, fuelled by technology and the internet, requires a nuanced market definition as traditional methods struggle to accurately identify the relevant market for them because of their unique economic models. On the basis of the above, the presentation first explores the features of single-sided, two-sided, and multi-sided platforms and explains why the traditional market definition has been ineffective for multi-sided platforms. It then examines how Notice 2024 incorporates lessons from past cases, recognising that the Commission may define a single market for the platform as a whole or separate markets for each side based on substitution differences while also emphasising the importance of network effects. Finally, the presentation examines how the Notice 2024 aligns with the evolving EU acquis, considering its adaptability to regulatory developments and its role in shaping market definitions amid the changing digital landscape

Cold War nuclear wargaming 1947-1991: professional wargaming of dark themes

During the Cold War, more accurately known as the First Cold War from 1945 to 1991, wargames were a staple in the military, political, and industrial sectors. This book delves into a seldom-explored area of nuclear wargaming. It features a variety of professional wargames from that period, including Tom Schelling's classic crisis game set in Cold War Berlin, which often incorporated nuclear war scenarios, Dr. Paddy Griffith's strategic nuclear wargame, and decision-making games for political leaders facing the ultimate choice of whether to resort to nuclear options in response to a Warsaw Pact invasion of Europe. Additionally, it includes extracts from tactical nuclear wargaming rules used by the British and American military in their land wargames, as well as a civil defence exercise addressing the challenges of local government managing the transition to war and the immediate post-strike period

Lessons learned?

Following the announcement of a planned statutory inquiry into the 2023 Nottingham killings, Chartered Legal Executive Simon Parsons considers how effective the inquiry is likely to be in preventing future harms