We’re pleased to announce two academics from the School of Business and Management have been awarded funding by Royal Holloway University in its role as a Civic University
Royal Holloway recently announced the funding of ten exciting academic-led projects to support its role as a Civic University. We’re pleased to confirm that two of the ten were awarded to academics from the School of Business and Management. The selected projects come from a wide range of disciplines and are all aimed at addressing key challenge areas including disability; modern slavery; refugees; sustainability (through arts); crime and policing; wellbeing in prisons and flooding.
After a competitive and rigorous assessment process ten projects were selected from among the 21 high quality applications submitted. The chosen projects all demonstrate a regional impact and are either 'participatory' i.e., co-created or co-produced with partners, or 'policy-related' i.e., involve influencing policy or policy making or working with policy makers. In some cases, they fit into both categories.
Ruth Livesey, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) said, "The range and the quality of submissions we received in this open call were truly inspiring. These projects show our commitment to working with social purpose across so many disciplines and fields of practice. We look forward to enriching our co-produced research with civic and regional partners and shaping policy outcomes in a globally minded way as colleagues complete these collaborations."
The projects led by School of Business and Management academics are:
Accessible leisure in Surrey pilot project
Professor Anica Zeyen, Strategy, International Business and Entrepreneurship
The project “Accessible leisure in Surrey” led by Professor Anica Zeyen is based on a significant need identified by the practice partner, Surrey Coalition of Disabled People. In this co-produced pilot project, we aim to gain a deeper insight into the accessibility (physical and beyond) of places of leisure in Surrey. To this end, we will train a group of disabled people representing different disabilities and intersectional identities to perform accessibility reviews in their local area and report back to the respective organisation on improvements they can make in terms of physical and other accessibility.
Support for the eradication of modern-day slavery
Professor Andreas Chatzidakis, Marketing
Consumer demand for cheap, fast goods and services is a key factor in the perpetuation of slavery both locally and abroad. Accordingly, numerous campaigns seek to mobilise consumers to change their consumption choices ('spending shift campaigns') and/or to report suspected instances of modern slavery ('reporting campaigns') (Cyrus and Vogal 2018, p 59). However, the effectiveness of these campaigns in shifting consumer behaviour is largely unknown or minimal. This project aims to work with regional partners in identifying effective dimensions and interventions that will maximize consumer-citizen support for the eradication of modern-day slavery. The team comprises Prof Andreas Chatzidakis (Royal Holloway University of London); Prof Deirdre Shaw (University of Glasgow); and Dr Michal Carrington (University of Melbourne).
