What is protective space? Reconsidering niches in transitions to sustainability

The transitions literature emphasises the role of niches, defined as a protective space for path-breaking innovations. Surprisingly, the concept of protection has not been systematically interrogated. Our analysis identifies protection as having three functions in wider transition processes: shielding, nurturing and empowerment. Empowerment, understood as processes and mechanisms that contribute to changes in mainstream selection environments in ways favourable to the path-breaking innovation, is considered the least developed in current niche development literature. We argue that these properties need to be understood from an agency perspective, with attention for the politics involved in their realisation. The paper ends with an outlook upon two promising research avenues: 1) the reconstruction of niche development pathways in light of the present framework; 2) analyses of the diverse (political) narratives seeking to empower niches across time and space.transitions, sustainability, niches

Building Colleges for the Future: Pedagogical and Ideological Spaces

This article focuses on the Building Colleges for the Future (BCF) initiative (2008) which saw a wave of new-build Further Education (FE) colleges spring up across England in the final years of the New Labour government. It draws on qualitative data from a research study focusing on four new-build colleges in the West Midlands of England to theorise the BCF initiative. Using theory derived primarily from Lefebvre, the paper contextualises BCF within a frame of neoliberalisation and discusses the impact of the ‘production of space’ represented by the initiative with a research focus on two areas: pedagogy and ideology. The main findings are that these new-build colleges can be interpreted as spatial expressions of policymakers and others’ perceptions of teaching and learning; in ideological terms, they also trumpet a ‘new lifestyle’ and a ‘new art of living’ for FE staff and students that is however, in tension with residual pedagogical practices and values. The article concludes that despite being an expression of neoliberal abstract space, these new-builds can still be seen as providing a frame for alternative individual and collective encounters with education which may subvert and outlast the processes of neoliberalisation that they appear to embody

Advancing Algorithms for Mass Spectrometry Data Analysis

Our objective with this award was to conduct the preliminary experiments necessary to assess the state of the art of existing mass spectrometry signal segmentation algorithms. Although unforeseeable complications prevented the completion of all proposed research goals, completed research aims resulted in: A cross-platform mass spectrometry data viewer with the ability to pan, zoom, and scroll. Motivation for experimental ground truth data through exposing breakdown cases of the leading mass spectrometry simulator. A completed code framework for running and testing existing isotopic trace segmentation algorithms. Since the receipt of this award, we have submitted three related external research proposals. One has been awarded (NSF CAREER award for $742,000), and one is in review

Area Reviews and the End of Incorporation: a Machiavellian Moment

At first glance, FE is over-populated by would-be princes. That is primarily because the culture of the sector has been profoundly influenced by neoliberal structures of governance and cultures of performance management which assert colleges’ autonomy. This supposed autonomy confers and promotes a type of leadership that is individual, entrepreneurial and competitive. We might therefore imagine that every town has its own FE principality and each Principal is busy planning on how, ruthlessly, to expand her / his empire. However, the deep cuts to FE budgets experienced since 2009 and the national programme of Area Reviews, launched in September 2015, have made principals’ princely robes look decidedly threadbare. Drawing on findings from a recent research project, this chapter will explore the implications for FE leadership of these recent sectoral developments. Beginning in 1993, the era of incorporation required a particular kind of leadership that positioned FE principals at the intersection between the college and the wider policy environment. Managerialist cultures dominated and financial responsibility, managing local competition and delivering educational outcomes were key aspects of coordinating a local FE service. At the same time, links with local authorities were severed and replaced with a relation of centralised governance. Above all, incorporation required college leaders to develop an expertise in funding and the management of performance data to satisfy funding bodies and policy-makers