Faculty success at the 2024 Research Impact and Engagement Awards

Faculty of Social Sciences researchers pick up three Research Impact and Engagement Awards at this years' inaugural awards celebrating the long road of engagement and resulting impact.

Dr Anna Barker and team won the Mature Policy Impact Award for the safer parks work, while Dr Laura Bainbridge and team won the Emerging Policy Impact Award for work on cuckooing. Both received the awards on behalf of their teams from the new Vice-Chancellor. Dr Katie Hodgkinson (School of Politics and International Studies and Dr Lou Harvey (School of Education) were contributors to the Changing the Story project which won the Emerging Societal Impact Award. 

The Research Impact and Engagement Awards 2024 recognise and celebrate the exceptional contributions of researchers and support teams who strive to make a meaningful difference in the world.

Research impact is often hard-won. It takes time, effort, patience and researchers who are willing to go the extra mile. It was therefore a great privilege to recognise and celebrate the work of our research community.

The Faculty of Social Sciences would like to warmly congratulate the winning teams, together with the exceptional nominees (all listed below).

Safer parks: improving access for women and girls

The UK’s 27,000 parks and green spaces are essential for health and wellbeing, but gendered safety concerns are perhaps the biggest factor limiting use by women and girls. Research by Anna Barker and George Holmes on park safety perceptions led to the co-creation of 'Safer Parks: Improving Access for Women and Girls' guidance, adopted by the Green Flag Award. This guidance offers principles for park design and management through a gendered lens. It has been used locally, nationally, and internationally, influencing park audit and assessment schemes, design and management practices, transit strategies, award programmes, bystander training, design-out-crime officer training, and parliamentary discussions.

Anna Barker, Associate Professor in Criminal Justice & Criminology, said of the project:

The real strength of this work is the breadth and depth of the collaborative partnership, their commitment to bring about change and the value of doing this by engaging with women and girls lived experiences.

Full team here:

Anna Barker, School of Law, with Rizwana Alam (School of Law), Lauren Cape-Davenhill (School of Geography), George Holmes (School of Earth and Environment), Kersti Mitchell (External Communications), Sally Osei-Appiah (School of Law), Sibylla Warrington Brown (School of Law), Lynsey Atherton (Keep Britain Tidy), Tracy Brabin (Mayor of West Yorkshire and West Yorkshire Combined Authority), Josie Brookes (Freelance), Nathan Capstick (ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre), Adam Crawford (ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre), Helen Forman (West Yorkshire Combined Authority), James Harper (Harper Perry), Alison Lowe (West Yorkshire Combined Authority), Carl McClean (Keep Britain Tidy), Jeanette Morris-Boam (Leeds Women’s Aid), Clare Perry (Harper Perry), Vanessa Rolfe (West Yorkshire Police), Paul Todd (Keep Britain Tidy), Rosie Turner (Harper Perry), Michelle Walde (Keep Britain Tidy), Susannah Walker (Make Space for Girls) and Ian Yates (West Yorkshire Combined Authority).

Understanding, preventing and disrupting Cuckooing Victimisation

‘Cuckooing’ is a predatory practice where criminals befriend or exploit vulnerable people to gain access to their homes and use them as a base for illegal activity. A ground-breaking N8PRP-funded study conducted by Laura Bainbridge and Amy Loughery between 2022-2024 confirmed that cuckooing is a complex and evolving crime, and that tackling it requires a multi-agency response that is designed to eliminate organised crime groups and target-harden potential victims. To facilitate the exchange of cuckooing knowledge and promising practice between members, Bainbridge and Loughery established the Cuckooing Research & Prevention Network in November 2023.

To date, 800+ academics, practitioners and policy-makers have joined the Network, spanning the local, regional and national levels. In addition to organising and chairing five sold-out Network events during 2024, Dr Bainbridge and Dr Loughery have co-produced a cuckooing animation and a cuckooing ‘toolkit’ with Network members.

Laura Bainbridge has also been key voice in the campaign to make cuckooing a specific criminal offence, which culminated in cuckooing clauses being inserted into the Criminal Justice Bill prior to Parliament being dissolved in May 2024.

Full team here:

Laura Bainbridge, School of Law with Amy Loughery (School of Law), Anne Rannard (National County Lines Coordination Centre), Jennifer Griffiths (West Yorkshire Police), Heather Ashby (Leeds City Council) and James Allen (Horton Housing)

Changing the Story: Youth voice, accountability and sustainable development in conflict-affected societies

Research can have a transformative effect on people and communities. This award recognises research that has the potential to change lives for the better.

Full team here:

Professor Paul Cooke (School of Languages, Cultures and Societies) with Dr Katie Hodgkinson (School of Politics and International Studies); Inés Soria-Donlan and Lauren Wray (Horizons Institute); Professor Stuart Taberner (School of Languages, Cultures and Societies); and Dr Lou Harvey (School of Education).

A full list of the Faculty of Social Sciences nominees is below.

Dr Roxana Barbulescu, School of Sociology and Social Policy with Dr Bethany Robertson (School of Sociology and Social Policy): Harvesting justice: advancing knowledge and empowering migrant workers in agri-food

Dr Carrie Bradshaw, School of Law: Building food waste prevention into legal frameworks related to the production and consumption of food

Dr Gordon Clubb, School of Politics and International Studies with Mary-Beth Altier (New York University), Ryan Scrivens (Michigan State University), Mohammed Didarul Islam, Katharina Meredith (Georgia State University), Ross Frenett (Moonshot), Christina Foerch (Fighters for Peace), Robert Orell (Transform), Sara Winegar Budge (Moonshot), Judy Korn (Violence Prevention Network), Brad Galloway (Life After Hate/Organization for Prevention of Violence), Fabian Wichmann (Exit Germany and Diana Hughes (Parents for Peace): Developing global standards in violence prevention: involving former extremists in preventing violent extremism

Dr Jen Hendry, School of Law: Exposing the injustices of civil/criminal procedural hybrid orders

Dr Rebecca Shaw, School of Law with Ruth Davany (Behind Closed Doors), Laura Buchan (+Choices), Mark Farmer (Fresh Futures), Janice Fife (Leeds Women's Aid), Eran Sandhu (West Yorkshire Combined Authority), DS Emma Bell (West Yorkshire Police), Megan Bennett (West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Partnership), Lydia Isherwood (West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Partnership), Jude Roberts (Leeds City Council) and Helen Lord (Leeds City Council): Changing the narrative of domestic abuse in Leeds and West Yorkshire