Loughborough Institute of Advanced Studies Podcast

Africa Summit - Vibrant and Inclusive Communities - Morning Session 1

For the fourth day of the Africa Summit, we address the strategic theme area of Vibrant and Inclusive Communities.
We have a keynote speech from IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Cheryl Potgieter, Durban University of Technology, titled "Building vibrant and inclusive urban spaces: The role of inclusion in sustainable development".
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias
 

Africa Summit - Climate Change and Net-Zero - Afternoon Session

For the third day of the Africa Summit, we address the strategic theme area of Climate Change and Net-Zero.
We have a panel discussion titled "Exploring climate resilience", chaired by Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Climate Change and Net Zero, Professor John Downey, featuring panel members Professor Paula Griffiths (SSEHS), Dr Helen Osiolo (SSH and MECS), Dr Yasmeen Khalifa (SSH and MECS) and IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe, University of Ghana.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias
 

Africa Summit - Climate Change and Net-Zero - Morning Session

For the third day of the Africa Summit, we address the strategic theme area of Climate Change and Net-Zero. This session will be opened by Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Climate Change and Net Zero, Professor John Downey.
We have a first keynote speech titled "Status and pathways to net-zero in SSA: Strategies & challenges" by guest speaker Professor Matthew Leach (Emeritus Professor - University of Surrey) and then a second keynote speech titled "Impact of Extreme Weather Conditions on Healthcare Provision in Urban Ghana" by IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias
 

Africa Summit - Sports, Health and Well-being - Afternoon Session

For the second day of the Africa Summit, we address the strategic theme area of Sports, Health and Wellbeing.
We have a panel discussion, titled "Gender and inclusion in sports - Strategies for enhancing inclusivity and empowerment through sports.", chaired by Dr Oliver Hooper (SSEHS), and featuring panel members Dr Mark Doidge (SSEHS), Dr Rachel Sandford (SSEHS), Dr Lombé Mwambwa (Research Director, Global Observatory for Gender Equality & Sport), Peter Musembe (BBC World Service) & IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Cheryl Potgieter (Durban University of Technology).
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias
 

Africa Summit - Sports, Health and Well-being - Morning Session

For the second day of the Africa Summit, we address the strategic theme area of Sports, Health and Wellbeing. This session is opened by Pro Vice Chancellor for Sport, Professor Jo Maher.
We then have a keynote speech titled "The power of sports in shaping societies & community resilience – Lessons from the African continent", delivered by IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Lin Cherurbai Sambili-Gicheha, Advisor for Sport, Development and Peace at The Commonwealth Secretariat.
Following this Dr Sambili-Gicheha will join a panel discussion, titled "Integrating sports with national health programs—Examining policy, sustainable sports facility infrastructure, and community impact. " chaired by Professor Richard Giulianotti (SSEHS). John Olaleye from Leicester City Football Club and Dr Janneth Mghamba from The Commonwealth Secretariat also join the panel as guest speakers.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Africa Summit - Launch & Exhibition

We open with an introduction from Director of the IAS, Professor Ksenia Chmutina & Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Professor Daniel Parsons. Following this, Summit Co-Leads Dr Oluwasola (Sola) Afolabi (ABCE) & Dr Hibbah Araba Osei-Kwasi (SSEHS), give an overview of the week and also introduce two of our four IAS Visiting Fellows -
Professor Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe, University of Ghana and Professor Cheryl Potgieter, Durban University of Technology
Our other two IAS Visiting Fellows join us later in the week -
Dr Lin Cherurbai Sambili-Gicheha, The Commonwealth Secretariat and Dr Janet Febisola Adeyemi, Women In Mining Nigeria
To close this session we have an African Culture and Artistic Exhibition, curated by Dr Kerri Akiwowo, Senior Lecturer in Textiles -
A cultural display showcases collection of visuals and artefacts linked to Loughborough University’s three strategic themes: Sport, Health and Wellbeing, Climate Change and Net-Zero; and Vibrant and Inclusive Communities. The exhibition features items loaned from members of the Loughborough community. Exhibits have their origins in African heritage, identity, people and place. Diversity in African culture is represented by objects, artworks, textiles, images and text.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Dr Sara Bonati - (Re)producing nature in climate change: examples from Italy

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Sara Bonati delivers a seminar on their research -
Climate change is reconfiguring the ways in which society relates with nature and conceptualises it. The challenges posed by climate change ask for innovative ways to approach ‘nature’, ‘work with’ it and ‘save’ it. The proposed presentation will focus on the ways nature is used, re-used, re-assembled, and re-conceptualised in the ongoing climate change debate, producing new socioecological relationships that shape new forms of ‘nature’. By proposing examples from Italy, as a country in the Mediterranean climate change hotspot, the presentation aims at critically reflect upon controversial responses to climate change, going through different examples of (mal)adaptation in which nature is involved, and question its consumeristic and neoliberal interpretations. The lens of more-than-human geography is here applied.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Associate Professor Christopher M. Campbell - Time will tell: Examining the potential effects of pre-arrest diversion efforts for drug offences using interrupted time-series analyses

Fulbright Scholarship Fellow Associate Professor Christopher M. Campbell delivers a seminar on their research -
To combat drug use and possession while reducing systemic social harm (e.g., conviction records and incarceration) some localized jurisdictions in England have made an effort to divert some of the lowest-level offences to treatment, away from system sanctions. In an effort to gauge the aggregate impact of pre-arrest (police-led) diversion, we employ a synthetic control design in an interrupted time series analysis. Relying on quarterly data over the last 10 years from several policing areas in England, we compare jurisdictions that engaged in a systematic diversion effort (e.g., West Midlands) to those that did not, while controlling for multiple factors on which the jurisdictions may differ (e.g., police workforce size, unemployment, population). The detectable impact of pre-arrest diversion on key outcomes and implications regarding police reported crime, cautions, and prosecutions are discussed. 
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Dr Ilya Chevyrev - Rough objects in probability

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Ilya Chevyrev delivers a seminar on their research -
Probability theory frequently involves the study of very rough stochastic objects, such as Brownian motion, to which the usual rules of calculus do not apply. In the last 20 years, there have been significant developments in probability theory which allow us to make sense of such rough objects and study their properties. These developments in particular have given us methods to rigorously solve a wide class of stochastic (partial) differential equations. In this talk, Dr Chevyrev will give a brief introduction to this topic, describe the problems that these methods can address, and indicate links with neighbouring fields in mathematics, including dynamical systems and quantum field theory.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Associate Professor Janet Lawson - Classification as a factor that affects the quality of disabled athletes’ sport experiences

IAS Guest Speaker Associate Professor Janet Lawson delivers a seminar on their research, fully titled "Classification as a factor that affects the quality of disabled athletes’ sport experiences: Insights from a research program guided by the Knowledge to Action Framework" - 
An assistant professor at the University of Manitoba (Canada), Dr. Lawson’s research program seeks to understand the quality of disabled athletes’ experiences in sport. Specifically, she is interested in classification, the process by which ‘parasport’ competitions are organized, and the impact this can have on the overall quality of an athlete’s sport experience.
This talk will begin with a brief overview of quality participation in parasport. Next, Dr. Lawson will describe key issues that can arise during, and result from, classification and how they may negatively impact an athlete’s experience. Practical and evidence-informed recommendations for how to manage such challenges will be discussed. Dr. Lawson will also highlight how these recommendations were developed and implemented in partnership with members of the parasport community, providing researchers with insight into novel methods of co-production. 
During their visit, Associate Professor Lawson is collaborating with James Haley from the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias