2023 Robert Talbot Civil Rights Speaker Series

Promotional email for Maine\u27s Path to Inclusion and Equity: Navigating the Challenges and Opportunities Ahead. The 2023 Robert Talbot Civil Rights Speaker is Rachel Talbot Ross, a highly respected, Maine-based Civil Rights advocate and leader. Talbot Ross is the first Black woman to serve in the Maine Legislature, and has been the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives since December 2022, making her the highest ranking African-American politician in Maine history

The Robert Talbot Civil Rights Speaker Series Flyer_2021

Flyer for the inauguration of The Robert Talbot Civil Rights Speaker Series featuring Fighting Times coauthors Amy Banks and Isaac Knapper

Public administration and a just Wales

Administrative justice concerns how government and public bodies treat people, the correctness of their decisions, the fairness of their procedures, and the opportunities people have to question and challenge decisions made about them. Our research has used a mixture of methods, including desk-based research identifying, collating and examining law and guidance applicable to Wales, alongside policy documents, previous research reports and statistical data. A central conclusion of our research is that public administration in Wales is seen as concerned with sustainability, well-being, equality and human rights, but less often as involving justice for individuals in their relationships with the state

Public administration and a just Wales

Administrative justice concerns how government and public bodies treat people, the correctness of their decisions, the fairness of their procedures, and the opportunities people have to question and challenge decisions made about them. Our research has used a mixture of methods, including desk-based research identifying, collating and examining law and guidance applicable to Wales, alongside policy documents, previous research reports and statistical data. A central conclusion of our research is that public administration in Wales is seen as concerned with sustainability, well-being, equality and human rights, but less often as involving justice for individuals in their relationships with the state

Qualitative Impact Assessment of Land Management Interventions on Ecosystem Services (“QEIA”). Report-1: Executive Summary: QEIA Evidence Review & Integrated Assessment

The focus of this project was to provide an expert-led, rapid qualitative assessment of land management interventions on Ecosystem Services (ES) proposed for inclusion in Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. This involved a review of the current evidence base for 741 land management actions on 33 Ecosystem Services and 53 Ecosystem Service indicators by ten teams involving 45 experts drawn from the independent research community in a consistent series of Evidence Reviews covering the broad topics of: • Air quality • Greenhouse gas emissions • Soils • Water management • Biodiversity: croplands • Biodiversity: improved grassland • Biodiversity: semi-natural habitats • Biodiversity: integrated systems-based actions • Carbon sequestration • Cultural services (including recreation, geodiversity and regulatory services). It should be noted that this piece of work is just one element of the wider underpinning work Defra has commissioned to support the development of the ELM schemes

Qualitative impact assessment of land management interventions on Ecosystem Services (‘QEIA’). Report-2: Integrated Assessment

The focus of this project was to provide an expert-led, rapid qualitative assessment of land management interventions on Ecosystem Services (ES) proposed for inclusion in Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. This involved a review of the current evidence base for 741 land management actions on 33 Ecosystem Services and 53 Ecosystem Service indicators by ten expert teams drawn from the independent research community in a consistent series of ten Evidence Reviews covering the broad topics of; • Air quality • Greenhouse gas emissions • Soils • Water management • Biodiversity: croplands • Biodiversity: improved grassland • Biodiversity: semi-natural habitats • Biodiversity: integrated systems-based actions • Carbon sequestration • Cultural services (including recreation, geodiversity and regulatory services) These reviews were undertaken rapidly at Defra’s request by ten teams involving 45 experts who together captured more than 2,400 individual sources of evidence. This was followed by the Integrated Assessment (IA) reported here to provide a more accessible summary of these evidence reviews with a focus on capturing the actions with the greatest potential magnitude of change for the intended ES, and their potential co-benefits and trade-offs for the other ES

Bilingual Spelling Performance of Patients and Controls

The data set consists of behavioural measures for spelling accuracy data and error profiles for stroke participants and neurologically healthy controls.Strokes often lead to language disturbances which impair the ability to communicate effectively and function in society. Many people in the UK and worldwide are bilingual, and brain damage usually affects both languages. However there are few well-controlled studies to guide the treatment of bilingual language disorders. This project focuses on "acquired dysgraphy" a disorder of written language that takes different forms. It will take place in North Wales where many people are bilingual. First, bilingual tests will be created and administered to dysgraphic participants to get a good understanding of their difficulties in both languages. Second, selected individuals will be invited to participate in a treatment study aiming to restore written language abilities using paper and pencil or computer-based exercises. Performance on well controlled sets of stimuli will be measured before the treatment, immediately after and three to six months later. Most crucially, the goal of the study is to determine under which circumstances treatment can lead to improvement in the language that has not been treated. This research will contribute to the development of more effective treatment strategies in bilingual populations. In addition, it will provide a better understanding of the normal functioning of the bilingual spelling system.</p

Between Environmental Concerns and Compliance: How Does Media Messaging Affect Motivation and Choice Between Disposable Versus Reusable Facemasks, 2021-2022

Facemasks were a crucial part of the UK strategy to contain and mitigate the transmission of COVID-19. While disposable facemasks present a convenient, low-cost solution, they carry greater associated environmental costs than reusable masks which are less likely to be discarded but require higher financial outlay. Although clearly central, the influence of media messaging – positive or negative - in determining people’s mask-wearing choices is unknown, despite the considerable medical and environmental implications. These interviews sought to explore the complex factors underpinning consumer choice of masks and the adoption or rejection of facemask-wearing, including the responsible disposal of masks, to evaluate constructive and destructive messaging around (a) mask-wearing and motivation, and (b) sustainable choices within the facemask wearing arena. There were three components: 1. Assessing the influence and effectiveness of media messaging around wearing facemasks to date 2. Examining the ways in which more effective media messaging can be developed to respond to rising rates of infection as well as potential long-term facemask use in the post-Covid era 3. Examining how the wearing of facemasks can be encouraged in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner to prevent short, medium and long-term collateral environmental harm, in alignment with the UK’s obligations under international human rights and environmental laws. The overarching aim of this project was, then, to better understand current facemask-wearing behaviour as influenced by the media to improve uptake and enhance the effectiveness of media campaigns for the future, explicitly considering environmental issues.Single-use masks are causing increasing waste as these are disposed of in the environment. Single-use masks contain heavy metals and plastics which, once disposed of in the environment, may contaminate natural resources and citizens through food consumption. This waste is a significant threat to human health paired with the COVID-19 pandemic. Citizens thus need to be better informed about the risks so that the waste can be limited. We look to improve media representations as these can encourage such practices. We analysed representations of masks in a wide range of media contents to decide how messages can be improved so that these effectively address the environmental impact of single-use masks. This is accompanied by a series of semi-structured interviews to show participants' views on masks and their reliance on media. The findings explore in particular the differences in certain target demographics (namely by age) in terms of the kind of mediums that they trust, or even utilise in their everyday life. This in turn suggests the particular role of media producers across a range of mediums, as well as policymakers and stakeholders, in how and where to address the public on recommended mask use.</p