tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/impact-3102/articlesImpact – The Conversation2023-09-27T21:23:33Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2117242023-09-27T21:23:33Z2023-09-27T21:23:33ZExtreme heat, extreme inequality: Addressing climate justice in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/extreme-heat-extreme-inequality-addressing-climate-justice-in-vancouvers-downtown-eastside" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/07/un-climate-change-hottest-week-world">hottest summer ever recorded in the northern hemisphere</a> is a stark reminder of the immediacy of the climate crisis. And the hardest hit by climate impacts, <a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7bf7141bb6fd41fb9b61a02cfbc61ecd">such as residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside</a>, are often those with the least capacity to adapt. </p>
<p>People who live in this community are exposed to climate hazards made worse by a lack of green space and shoddy and aging housing. Residents experience the <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/Strategy_DTES_provincial_response_plan.pdf">cumulative impacts</a> of factors such as the <a href="https://doi.org/10.2217/fvl-2020-0156">opioid epidemic</a>, poverty, limited employment opportunities, intergenerational trauma and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-012-9771-x">criminal justice and mental health issues</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, residents have had little space for participation in climate adaptation policy. But when climate shocks occur, this community is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-021-00708-z">disproportionately at risk</a>. </p>
<p>In times like these, people need clear advice, and access to knowledge that allows them to have a voice in policymaking. However, the often-opaque research on climate impacts, hallmarked by inaccessible language and exclusionary methods of communication, do little to help those most affected.</p>
<p>It is of urgent importance that universities live up to their stated desires for impact and work directly with the most vulnerable populations on the front lines of the climate crisis.</p>
<h2>Climate change impacts</h2>
<p>The Downtown Eastside is the <a href="https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/profile-dtes-local-area-2013.pdf">historic heart</a> of Vancouver consisting of seven adjoining yet distinct neighbourhoods with a total population of 18,500. A changing climate has a <a href="https://www.evergreen.ca/our-projects/climate-risks/">heightened impact</a> on residents due to several intersecting challenges. </p>
<p>During a heat wave, <a href="https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/vanplay-strategic-bold-moves-equity-chapter.pdf">urban tree canopy</a> and <a href="https://sustain.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/2020-52a_Access%20to%20nature%20in%20Vancouver_Fitzgibbons.pdf">access to nature</a> can be lifesaving public goods. Highly paved areas can be as much as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26768-w">12֯ C</a> hotter than areas with an urban tree canopy due to the <a href="https://climateatlas.ca/urban-heat-island-effect">urban heat island effect</a>.</p>
<p>While much of Vancouver enjoys significant cover, the Downtown Eastside is the <a href="https://sustain.ubc.ca/about/resources/growing-equitable-and-resilient-urban-forest">least forested</a> part of the city. This lack of trees worsened the neighbourhood’s extra high temperatures during the deadly 2021 heat dome. To address the loss of trees through densification and urbaniziation, Vancouver has a <a href="https://vancouver.ca/your-government/protection-of-trees-bylaw.aspx">tree protection bylaw</a> and an <a href="https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/urban-forest-strategy.aspx">Urban Forest Strategy</a> that sets targets on tree canopy for the city.</p>
<p>The unhoused population also faces a risk of heat-related mortality up to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/extreme-heat-can-be-deadly-for-people-who-are-homeless">200 times</a> greater than those with access to shelter. Chronic housing precarity in the neighbourhood <a href="https://council.vancouver.ca/20201007/documents/pspc1presentation.pdf">far exceeds</a> anywhere else in the city.</p>
<p>Disproportionate risk is also borne by individuals living with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029%2F2022GH000729">chronic health conditions</a> such as substance use disorder, schizophrenia, and mood or anxiety disorders. The provincial “Death Review Panel” found that <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/birth-adoption-death-marriage-and-divorce/deaths/coroners-service/death-review-panel/extreme_heat_death_review_panel_report.pdf">91 per cent</a> of the more than 600 lives lost during the <a href="https://www.chf.bc.ca/2021-heat-dome-report/">2021 Vancouver heat dome</a> were individuals with at least one chronic disease. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/statistically-impossible-heat-extremes-are-here-we-identified-the-regions-most-at-risk-204480">'Statistically impossible' heat extremes are here – we identified the regions most at risk</a>
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<p>Too often research on disproportionate climate impacts like this fails to reach those most affected. Purposeful collaboration with these populations needs to be respectfully sought in determining the direction, execution and communication of research. Researchers need to take the time to make their practices more accessible and connected to community-driven climate research needs. </p>
<h2>Overcoming barriers</h2>
<p>The urgency of the climate emergency accelerates the need for research to be translated into policy. A crucial step lies in universities such as the University of British Columbia seeking out opportunities to work more closely with climate-vulnerable groups. </p>
<p>Residents deserve access to research on climate impacts and a voice in advocating for fairer climate policies. Making climate research easier to access and understand can set the conditions for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s44168-022-00024-3">transformative adaptation</a> and help build resilience.</p>
<p>Tools <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/facets-2020-0032">such as graphic visualisations can help increase community engagement</a> in decision-making. Researchers should think about who will use the information, seek out their involvement early on, and find accessible ways to communicate findings. </p>
<p>University staff dedicated to <a href="https://innovation.ubc.ca/how-engage/knowledge-exchange">knowledge exchange</a>, <a href="https://climateemergency.ubc.ca/climate-emergency-fund/">community climate partnerships</a>, and applied <a href="https://sustain.ubc.ca/teaching-applied-learning/ubc-sustainability-scholars-program">research internships</a> — as well as satellite “<a href="https://learningexchange.ubc.ca/about-us/">learning exchange</a>” offices — can help busy faculty make climate research accessible. </p>
<h2>Centres of change and empowerment</h2>
<p>As trusted sources of knowledge, universities have a key role to play in addressing this communication gap. The UN Secretary General has <a href="https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20201204092017670">pointed out</a> that universities are “essential to our success” on climate action. Naomi Klein, co-director of UBC’s Centre for Climate Justice, <a href="https://www.arts.ubc.ca/news/naomi-klein-on-the-future-of-climate-justice/">notes</a> that universities can boost the influence of marginalized communities in policy responses by emphasizing equity and justice in climate research and communication.</p>
<p>Impact, dissemination and knowledge exchange are university buzzwords, but it is still rare for researchers to work directly with the most vulnerable populations. Collaborating on all aspects of research, from design to presentation, empowers at-risk communities to co-create, access and advocate for adaptive climate policies that meet their priorities.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/transformational-change-is-coming-to-how-people-live-on-earth-un-climate-adaptation-report-warns-which-path-will-humanity-choose-177604">Transformational change is coming to how people live on Earth, UN climate adaptation report warns: Which path will humanity choose?</a>
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<p>UBC’s 2019 <a href="https://president3.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2019/12/Climate-Emergency-Declaration.pdf">Climate Emergency Declaration</a> commits the university to build just and inclusive climate solutions that work towards dismantling historic and existing barriers faced by marginalized communities. </p>
<p>For these commitments to be fully realized and reflected in policy outcomes, climate research needs to be accessible and actionable. Amplifying underrepresented voices will improve climate policies and outcomes. Together, we can create a more equitable neighbourhood and a more resilient city.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211724/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Nowlan receives funding from the McConnell Foundation for the CLEAR project. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Linsell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Often those most impacted by climate change are those least able to engage with climate discourse. Universities have a responsibility to engage with these communities.Linda Nowlan, Senior Director, UBC Sustainability Hub, University of British ColumbiaTim Linsell, Graduate Research Assistant, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1825332022-06-10T14:59:31Z2022-06-10T14:59:31ZSustainable investment: is it worth the hype? Here’s what you need to know<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463994/original/file-20220518-15-g1re07.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5120%2C2866&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Socially responsible investing is becoming more popular.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-home-sitting-on-couch-2068039649">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Supposedly sustainable investment funds make a staggering list of promises, including higher returns, lower risk, combatting climate change and even supporting diversity. And many believe them: investments in ESG (<a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/environmental-social-and-governance-esg-criteria.asp">environmental, social and governance</a>) funds are on track to pass <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/company/press/esg-may-surpass-41-trillion-assets-in-2022-but-not-without-challenges-finds-bloomberg-intelligence/">£34 trillion</a> by the end of 2022, nearly double their £18.4 trillion in 2016. </p>
<p>But sustainable investing has also attracted strong criticism. Former BlackRock sustainable investing chief Tariq Fancy labelled ESG a “<a href="https://medium.com/@sosofancy/the-secret-diary-of-a-sustainable-investor-part-1-70b6987fa139">dangerous placebo</a>”, and the Wall Street Journal has published a week-long series of rebuttals to the trend, with their <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-sustainable-investment-craze-is-flawed-11642865789">opening piece</a> entitled “Why the Sustainable Investment Craze is Flawed.”</p>
<p>Whatever side you’re on, you have incentives to make your claims extreme. Asset managers promising that their ESG funds will save the world see new business flooding in, and are heralded as saviours of capitalism. Critics have similarly become famous by ordaining themselves as whistleblowers who’ve uncovered a financial scandal. </p>
<p>If you’re a first-time investor trying to decide where to put your money, it can be hard to know who to believe. So if we strip back the hyperbole and examine the evidence, is sustainable investing worth the hype? To answer that, we’ll consider the three objectives that investors have when buying ESG funds.</p>
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<img alt="Quarter life, a series by The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/quarter-life-117947?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of Quarter Life</a></strong>, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.</em></p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/five-must-read-novels-on-the-environment-and-climate-crisis-139437.com?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Five must-read novels on the environment and climate crisis</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-karl-marx-has-to-say-about-todays-environmental-problems-97479.com?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">What Karl Marx has to say about today’s environmental problems</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-your-reusable-coffee-cup-may-be-no-better-than-a-disposable-120949.com?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Why your reusable coffee cup may be no better than a disposable</a></em></p>
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<h2>Does sustainable investment make more money?</h2>
<p>The first objective is, unsurprisingly, financial. By investing in sustainable companies, you’ll increase your returns, and by shunning unsustainable ones, you’ll reduce risk. Industries like electric cars are the <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-a-future-ban-on-gas-powered-cars-work-an-economist-explains-150590">future of transport</a>, while dumping fossil fuel companies means you’re immune to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-eu-carbon-tax-wrong-rate-could-wreck-net-zero-goals-but-right-rate-can-help-worlds-poor-161463">carbon tax</a>. </p>
<p>There’s evidence that certain dimensions of ESG pay off. One of <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/03/28-years-of-stock-market-data-shows-a-link-between-employee-satisfaction-and-long-term-value">my studies</a> finds that companies with high employee satisfaction, a “social” dimension, deliver shareholder returns that beat their peers by 2.3%-3.8% per year over a 28-year period. Other research finds higher returns for companies with superior <a href="https://www.apm.org.uk/resources/what-is-project-management/what-is-governance">governance</a> and those that link CEO pay to <a href="https://alexedmans.com/blog/executive-pay/higher-stock-returns-when-ceos-own-more-shares/">performance</a>. </p>
<p>But ESG is plagued by <a href="https://theconversation.com/confirmation-bias-a-psychological-phenomenon-that-helps-explain-why-pundits-got-it-wrong-68781">confirmation bias</a>. Since we want to believe that ethical companies perform better, we latch onto studies that assert this, even if the evidence isn’t that strong. </p>
<p>This highlights how the financial case for sustainability hinges on which ESG dimensions you consider. Every day, attention-grabbing articles <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/04/yes-investing-in-esg-pays-off">insist</a> that “investing in ESG pays off”. But to argue about whether ESG helps or hinders returns is as fruitless as asking whether food is good or bad for you – it depends on the food. </p>
<h2>Does sustainable investment change company behaviour?</h2>
<p>The second objective is the fund’s impact on company behaviour. <a href="https://gofossilfree.org/divestment/what-is-fossil-fuel-divestment/">Divestment campaigns</a> aim to encourage shareholders to sell the stock of certain companies and deter new investors from buying it. By <a href="https://theconversation.com/fossil-fuel-divestment-will-increase-carbon-emissions-not-lower-them-heres-why-126392">divesting</a> (say) fossil fuel companies, the argument goes, we deprive them of capital and stop them creating more pollution. </p>
<p>But investor boycotts don’t starve a company of funds, because you can only sell if someone else buys. They’re very different from <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-one-woman-pulled-off-the-first-consumer-boycott-and-helped-inspire-the-british-to-abolish-slavery-140313">customer boycotts</a>, which do strip a company of revenue.</p>
<p>Perhaps divestment doesn’t pull the plug on a company immediately, but doesn’t it make it harder for it to sell shares in the future? Not necessarily. <a href="https://www.climate-transparency.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Brown-to-Green-Report-2017_web.pdf">“Brown” companies</a> like fossil fuels and tobacco aren’t raising much capital to begin with – they’re in yesterday’s industries with few growth opportunities. And evidence suggests that the cost of raising capital has <a href="https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/Rtx8C9p13TN1LmGUEy-3B?domain=nber.org">little effect</a> on company expansion. </p>
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<img alt="Protest signs against fossil fuels cover a red pylon" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463295/original/file-20220516-11-2zzqx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463295/original/file-20220516-11-2zzqx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463295/original/file-20220516-11-2zzqx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463295/original/file-20220516-11-2zzqx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463295/original/file-20220516-11-2zzqx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463295/original/file-20220516-11-2zzqx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463295/original/file-20220516-11-2zzqx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Consumer anger at fossil fuel exploitation is growing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/takver/23569605421">John Englart/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>The stock price might matter for many other reasons than the cost of capital. Even if a company isn’t raising capital, a low price worsens the CEO’s reputation and demotivates employees. But if so, my <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4093518">research</a> suggests that the best strategy is actually tilting (leaning away from a “brown” sector but still being willing to own companies leading on ESG in that sector), not exclusion (shunning that industry outright). </p>
<p>If a fossil fuel company knows it will be divested whatever it does, there’s no incentive for it to develop <a href="https://theconversation.com/these-energy-innovations-could-transform-how-we-mitigate-climate-change-and-save-money-in-the-process-5-essential-reads-180076">clean energy</a>. But if its shares will be bought if it’s leading its sector in sustainability, this motivates it to clean up its act by investing more heavily in cutting emissions. </p>
<p>Many accuse ESG funds with stakes in brown industries of hypocrisy, and praise those that won’t touch a troubled sector like oil, but the reality is far more nuanced. And owning brown companies is the only way to hold them to account. The investment firm Engine No. 1 famously got three climate-friendly directors <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/business/exxon-mobil-engine-no1-activist.html">appointed</a> to Exxon’s board because it held shares in the company. </p>
<p>Claiming you’re a true sustainable investor because you only invest in green companies is arguably like a doctor crowing that all her patients are healthy – when it’s a doctor’s job to treat the sick.</p>
<h2>Is sustainable investment the right thing to do?</h2>
<p>The final motive is moral: you believe it’s morally right to invest in certain companies. For example, even if diverse firms don’t perform better, it’s reasonable to invest in them as an <a href="https://medium.com/@alex.edmans/is-there-really-a-business-case-for-diversity-c58ef67ebffa">expression</a> of your values. </p>
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<img alt="Three people of colour sit at a table, with one person speaking" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463291/original/file-20220516-24-m1srgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463291/original/file-20220516-24-m1srgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463291/original/file-20220516-24-m1srgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463291/original/file-20220516-24-m1srgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463291/original/file-20220516-24-m1srgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463291/original/file-20220516-24-m1srgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463291/original/file-20220516-24-m1srgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Diversity is a dimension of ESG.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wocintechchat/25721113570">WOC In Tech Chat/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>But identifying “moral” companies is difficult, because many key dimensions of morality are difficult to observe. A company could put minorities on its board to check the diversity box, but <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danabrownlee/2019/09/15/the-dangers-of-mistaking-diversity-for-inclusion-in-the-workplace/?sh=7f7ea8744d86">do nothing</a> to create an inclusive culture.</p>
<p>So is sustainable investing worth the hype? It does have the potential to improve performance, but only if you focus on particular dimensions. It can change company behaviour, but through tilting and engagement rather than exclusion. ESG is neither the panacea that advocates allege, nor the scandal that detractors declare. But shades of grey get lost in the shadows if we only look for black and white.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182533/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Edmans does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Environmental, social and governance investment funds claim to help save the planet and better society, but the reality is more complex.Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance, London Business SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1770232022-03-01T13:37:02Z2022-03-01T13:37:02ZAn asteroid impact could wipe out an entire city – a space security expert explains NASA’s plans to prevent a potential catastrophe<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447109/original/file-20220217-25-11g19ha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C158%2C5097%2C3275&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A giant asteroid struck Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/chicxulub-asteroid-impact-royalty-free-illustration/713781277?adppopup=true">Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Earth exists in a dangerous environment. Cosmic bodies, like asteroids and comets, are constantly zooming through space and often crash into our planet. Most of these are too small to pose a threat, but some can be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/16/opinion/16iht-edschweick.4929643.html">cause for concern</a>.</p>
<p>As a scholar who <a href="https://svetlabenitzhak.com/2017/07/10/about/">studies space and international security</a>, it is my job to ask what the likelihood of an object crashing into the planet really is – and whether governments are spending enough money to prevent such an event.</p>
<p>To find the answers to these questions, one has to know what near-Earth objects are out there. To date, NASA has tracked only an estimated <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/faq">40% of the bigger ones</a>. Surprise asteroids have visited Earth in the past and will undoubtedly do so in the future. When they do appear, how prepared will humanity be?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447112/original/file-20220217-1111-ukmxoy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram showing thousands of blue orbits overlapping with Earth's own orbit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447112/original/file-20220217-1111-ukmxoy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447112/original/file-20220217-1111-ukmxoy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447112/original/file-20220217-1111-ukmxoy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447112/original/file-20220217-1111-ukmxoy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447112/original/file-20220217-1111-ukmxoy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447112/original/file-20220217-1111-ukmxoy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447112/original/file-20220217-1111-ukmxoy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The orbits of thousands of asteroids (in blue) cross paths with the orbits of planets (in white), including Earth’s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210829.html">NASA/JPL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The threat from asteroids and comets</h2>
<p>Millions of objects of various sizes orbit the Sun. Near-Earth objects include asteroids and comets whose orbits will bring them <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/about/neo_groups.html">within 120 million miles</a> (193 million kilometers) of the Sun.</p>
<p>Astronomers consider a near-Earth object a threat if it will <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/about/neo_groups.html">come within 4.6 million miles</a> (7.4 million km) of the planet and is at least 460 feet (140 meters) in diameter. If a celestial body of this size crashed into Earth, it could destroy an entire city and cause extreme regional devastation. Larger objects - 0.6 miles (1 km) or more - could have global effects and even cause mass extinctions.</p>
<p>The most famous and destructive impact took place 65 million years ago when a 6-mile (10-km) diameter <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691169668/t-rex-and-the-crater-of-doom">asteroid crashed into what is now the Yucatán Peninsula</a>. It <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1177265">wiped out most plant and animal species</a> on Earth, including the dinosaurs.</p>
<p>But smaller objects can also cause significant damage. In 1908, an approximately 164-foot (50-meter) celestial body exploded over the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0019103518305104?via%3Dihub">Tunguska</a> river in Siberia. It <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/the-tunguska-event-1.742329">leveled</a> more than 80 million trees over 830 square miles (2,100 square km). In 2013, an asteroid only 65 feet (20 meters) across burst in the atmosphere 20 miles (32 km) above Chelyabinsk, Russia. It released the equivalent of 30 Hiroshima bombs worth of energy, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1242642">injured over 1,100 people</a> and caused US$33 million in damage.</p>
<p>The next asteroid of substantial size to potentially hit Earth is asteroid 2005 ED224. When the 164-foot (50-meter) asteroid passes by on March 11, 2023, there is roughly a <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/sentry/details.html#?des=2005%20ED224">1 in 500,000 chance of impact</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447113/original/file-20220217-25-4n6zxf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A graph showing the number of known large, medium and small near-Earth objects." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447113/original/file-20220217-25-4n6zxf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447113/original/file-20220217-25-4n6zxf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447113/original/file-20220217-25-4n6zxf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447113/original/file-20220217-25-4n6zxf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447113/original/file-20220217-25-4n6zxf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447113/original/file-20220217-25-4n6zxf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447113/original/file-20220217-25-4n6zxf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">NASA has been steadily finding and tracking near-Earth objects since the 1990s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/totals.html">NASA/JPL-Caltech</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Watching the skies</h2>
<p>While the <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/NEO-Impact-Threat-Protocols-Jan2021.pdf">chances of a larger cosmic body impacting Earth are small</a>, the devastation <a href="http://mpainesyd.com/idisk/Public/rocks_from_space/chapman4oecd.pdf">would be enormous</a>.</p>
<p>Congress recognized this threat, and in <a href="https://archive.org/details/nasa_techdoc_19920025001">the 1998 Spaceguard Survey</a>, it tasked NASA to find and track 90% of near-Earth objects 0.6 miles (1 km) across or bigger within 10 years. NASA <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/multimedia/gallery/neowise/pia14734.html">surpassed the 90% goal</a> in 2011. </p>
<p>In 2005, <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-119/pdf/STATUTE-119-Pg2895.pdf">Congress passed another bill</a> requiring NASA to expand its search and track at least 90% of all near-Earth objects 460 feet (140 meters) or larger by the end of 2020. That year has come and gone and, mostly due to <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12842/defending-planet-earth-near-earth-object-surveys-and-hazard-mitigation">a lack of financial resources</a>, only <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/faq">40% of those objects have been mapped</a>. </p>
<p>As of Feb. 14, 2022, <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/totals.html">astronomers have located 28,266</a> near-Earth asteroids, of which 10,033 are 460 feet (140 meters) or larger in diameter and 888 at least 0.6 miles (1 km) across. About <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/faq">30 new objects</a> are added each week.</p>
<p>A new mission, <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5503/text#toc-HB5A37F19BF1E40DC8CF66F29EAE2DD66">funded by Congress in 2018</a>, is scheduled to launch in 2026 an infrared, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-approves-asteroid-hunting-space-telescope-to-continue-development">space-based telescope</a> – NEO Surveyor – dedicated to <a href="https://neos.arizona.edu/">searching for potentially dangerous asteroids</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yl2f46L5DJ4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Smaller asteroids, like the one that exploded over Russia in 2013, can strike Earth without warning, but larger, more dangerous objects have surprised astronomers, too.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cosmic surprises</h2>
<p>We can only prevent a disaster if we know it is coming, and asteroids have sneaked up on Earth before. </p>
<p>An asteroid the size of a football field – dubbed the “City-killer” – passed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/07/26/it-snuck-up-us-city-killer-asteroid-just-missed-earth-scientists-almost-didnt-detect-it-time/">less than 45,000 miles</a> from Earth in 2019. An asteroid the size of a 747 jet <a href="https://www.jpost.com/science/747-sized-asteroid-skimmed-by-earth-and-scientists-didnt-see-it-coming-680052">came close</a> in 2021 as did a 0.6-mile (1-km) wide <a href="https://www.space.com/16263-asteroid-2012lz1-size-earth-flyby.html">asteroid</a> in 2012. Each of these was discovered only <a href="https://www.esa.int/Safety_Security/Asteroid_s_surprise_close_approach_illustrates_need_for_more_eyes_on_the_sky">about a day</a> before they passed Earth. </p>
<p>Research suggests that one reason may be that Earth’s rotation <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114735">creates a blind spot</a> whereby some asteroids remain undetected or appear stationary. This may be a problem, as some surprise asteroids do not miss us. In 2008, astronomers spotted a small <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/news/2008tc3.html">asteroid</a> only 19 hours before it crashed into rural Sudan. And the recent <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/astronomers-have-discovered-a-surprise-asteroid-orbiting-between-mercury-and-venus">discovery</a> of an asteroid 1.2 miles (2 km) in diameter suggests that there are still big objects lurking.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447115/original/file-20220217-15-mq01h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A drawing of a spacecraft approaching two asteroids." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447115/original/file-20220217-15-mq01h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447115/original/file-20220217-15-mq01h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447115/original/file-20220217-15-mq01h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447115/original/file-20220217-15-mq01h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447115/original/file-20220217-15-mq01h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447115/original/file-20220217-15-mq01h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447115/original/file-20220217-15-mq01h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">NASA’s DART mission will crash a small spacecraft into the double asteroid Didymos to see if it will change the asteroid’s orbit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/stay-tuned-for-dart">NASA/JHUAPL/Steve Gribben</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>To protect the planet from cosmic dangers, early detection is key. At the 2021 Planetary Defense Conference, scientists recommended a minimum of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-asteroid-simulation-reveals-need-years-of-warning-2021-5">five to 10 years’ preparation time</a> to mount a successful defense against hazardous asteroids. </p>
<p>If astronomers find a dangerous object, there are <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12842/defending-planet-earth-near-earth-object-surveys-and-hazard-mitigation">four ways</a> to mitigate a disaster. The first involves regional first-aid and evacuation measures. A second approach would involve sending a spacecraft to fly near a small- or medium-sized asteroid; the gravity of the craft would slowly change the object’s orbit. To <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12842/defending-planet-earth-near-earth-object-surveys-and-hazard-mitigation">change a bigger asteroid’s path</a>, we can either crash something into it at high speeds or detonate a nuclear warhead nearby.</p>
<p>These may seem like far-fetched ideas, but in November 2021, NASA launched the world’s first full-scale planetary defense mission as a proof of concept: the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart">Double Asteroid Redirection Test</a>, or DART. The <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/asteroids/didymos/in-depth/">large asteroid Didymos</a> and its small moon currently pose no threat to Earth. In September 2022, NASA plans to change the asteroid’s orbit by crashing a 1,340-pound (610 kg) probe into Didymos’ moon at a speed of approximately 14,000 mph (22,500 kph). </p>
<p>Learning more about what threatening asteroids are made of is also important, as their composition may affect how successful we are at deflecting them. The <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/bennu-top-ten">asteroid Bennu</a> is 1,620 feet (490 meters) in diameter. Its orbit will bring it dangerously close to Earth on Sept. 24, 2182, and there is a <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/sentry/details.html#?des=101955">1 in 2,700</a> chance of a collision. An asteroid of this size could wipe out an entire continent, so to learn more about Bennu, NASA launched the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex">OSIRIS-Rex</a> probe in 2016. The spacecraft arrived at Bennu, took pictures, collected samples and is due to return to Earth in 2023. </p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=weekly&source=inline-weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>Spending on planetary defense</h2>
<p>In 2021, NASA’s planetary defense budget was <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/updated_fy_2021_spend_plan_june_2021.pdf">$158 million</a>. This is just <a href="https://www.planetary.org/articles/nasas-planetary-defense-budget-growth">0.7%</a> of NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/fy2022_budget_summary.pdf">total budget</a> and just 0.02% of the roughly <a href="https://www.defense.gov/Spotlights/FY2021-Defense-Budget/">$700 billion 2021 U.S. defense budget</a>.</p>
<p>This budget supports a number of missions, including the NEO Surveyor at <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSngWs2AJa9KoPByrpX-XUgqD6UcMdjl3IW1xAW-m3yCvjreNM6d9KFWkshhxE_sPW9JmgmsaV0NwbG/pubhtml">$83 million</a>, DART at <a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/cost-of-dart">$324 million</a> and Osiris Rex at around <a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/cost-of-osiris-rex">$1 billion</a> over several years.</p>
<p>Is this the right amount to invest in monitoring the skies, given the fact that some <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/faq">60% of all potentially dangerous asteroids remain undetected</a>? This is an important question to ask when one considers the potential consequences.</p>
<p>Investing in planetary defense is akin to buying homeowners insurance. The likelihood of experiencing an event that destroys your house is very small, yet people buy insurance nonetheless.</p>
<p>If even a single object larger than 460 feet (140 meters) hits the planet, the devastation and loss of life would be extreme. A bigger impact could quite literally wipe out most species on Earth. Even if no such body is expected to hit Earth in the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-very-real-effort-to-track-killer-asteroids-and-comets-180979206/">next 100 years</a>, the chance is not zero. In this low likelihood versus high consequences scenario, investing in protecting the planet from dangerous cosmic objects may give humanity some peace of mind and could prevent a catastrophe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177023/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Defense, or of any organization the author is affiliated with, including the Air University, Air War College, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space Force.</span></em></p>NASA has only mapped 40% of the potentially dangerous asteroids that could crash into Earth. New projects will boost that number, and upcoming missions will test tech that could prevent collisions.Svetla Ben-Itzhak, Assistant Professor of Space and International Relations, West Space Seminar, Air War College, Air UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1165742019-05-10T10:38:45Z2019-05-10T10:38:45ZActivists want a San Francisco high school mural removed, saying its impact today should overshadow the artist’s intentions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273616/original/file-20190509-183103-10jhpvd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One of the objectionable panels depicts a dead Native American.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2560/1*znp58IrJQNxTf9zXdG6rjg.jpeg">Dick Evans</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For nearly a century, a massive mural by painter Victor Arnautoff titled “The Life of Washington” has lined the hallways of San Francisco’s George Washington High School. </p>
<p>It may not be there much longer. </p>
<p>The mural “glorifies slavery, genocide, colonization, manifest destiny, white supremacy [and] oppression.” So said <a href="https://thefrisc.com/at-sfs-washington-high-an-83-year-old-mural-depicting-slaves-and-a-dead-native-american-is-again-b2b576bdf5da">Washington High School’s Reflection and Action Group</a>, an ad-hoc committee formed late last year and <a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/high-school-may-erase-george-washington-murals-traumatizes-students/">made up of</a> Native Americans from the community, students, school employees, local artists and historians. </p>
<p>It identified two panels as especially offensive. <a href="https://livingnewdeal.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/GWHS-.jpg">One shows</a> Washington pointing westward next to the body of a dead Native American. The other <a href="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/04/11/arts/11sfmural4/11sfmural4-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp">depicts</a> slaves working in the fields of Mount Vernon. </p>
<p>Because the work “traumatizes students and community members,” <a href="https://thefrisc.com/at-sfs-washington-high-an-83-year-old-mural-depicting-slaves-and-a-dead-native-american-is-again-b2b576bdf5da">the group concluded</a> that “the impact of this mural is greater than its intent ever was.” They are campaigning for its removal.</p>
<p>The idea that impact matters more than intention has informed debates about everything from <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/microaggressions-matter/406090/">microaggressions</a> to <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/psysociety/e2809cbut-i-didne28099t-mean-ite2809d-why-ite28099s-so-hard-to-prioritize-impacts-over-intents/">cultural appropriation</a>.</p>
<p>But when it comes to art, should impact matter more than intention?</p>
<p><a href="https://apps.carleton.edu/people/amkhalid/">As historians</a> committed to preserving our cultural heritage – and as citizens <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2016/09/01/dangers-not-valuing-free-speech-campuses-essay">invested in the power of art to engage the public</a> – we see the growing chorus of voices favoring impact over intention as a dangerous trend, one that makes art more vulnerable to rejection, censorship or even destruction.</p>
<h2>A radical work for its time</h2>
<p>For most members of the Washington High School’s Reflection and Action Group, the only message “The Life of Washington” sends is one of crushing, dehumanizing oppression.</p>
<p>What happens, though, when we examine the mural in the context of the life and times of the artist? </p>
<p>Painter <a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/victor-mikhail-arnautoff-papers-8702/biographical-note">Victor Arnautoff</a> was born in 1896 in a small village in present-day Ukraine. He emigrated to San Francisco in 1925, where he joined a leftist art collective. During the Great Depression he was a supporter of workers’ strikes and formally joined the Communist Party in 1937. He was even <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=GdEJAAAAIAAJ&dq=house%20of%20unamerican%20activities%2C%20arnautoff&pg=PA6929#v=onepage&q=house%20of%20unamerican%20activities,%20arnautoff&f=false">hauled</a> before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956 for drawing a “Communist Conspiracy” cartoon that caricatured then-Vice President Nixon.</p>
<p>In “The Life of Washington,” Arnautoff decided to place Native Americans, African Americans and working-class revolutionaries front and center in the four largest panels, relegating Washington to the margins.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273622/original/file-20190509-183112-22niar.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273622/original/file-20190509-183112-22niar.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273622/original/file-20190509-183112-22niar.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=170&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273622/original/file-20190509-183112-22niar.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=170&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273622/original/file-20190509-183112-22niar.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=170&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273622/original/file-20190509-183112-22niar.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273622/original/file-20190509-183112-22niar.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273622/original/file-20190509-183112-22niar.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In his mural, Arnautoff strove to emphasize everyday Americans of all races.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2560/1*HZLEHiDl0iN63jW1AVvE3Q.jpeg">Dick Evans</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The slaves toiling in the Mount Vernon fields highlight a central paradox of America’s history: The nation was founded by men who championed liberty, freedom and equality, and yet owned slaves.</p>
<p>Then there’s the striking image of the fallen Native American. The mural’s detractors say that it dismisses the humanity of indigenous peoples. But why must it necessarily be read as dehumanizing to Native Americans? Could it not instead be seen as throwing into sharp relief the inhumanity of the founding fathers?</p>
<p><a href="https://history.sfsu.edu/people/emeriti/robert-w-cherny">According to Arnautoff’s biographer</a>, Robert W. Cherny, the image <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=PMRIDgAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=arnautoff&pg=PT145#v=onepage&q=westward%20expansion&f=false">challenged</a> the fallacy that “westward expansion had been into largely vacant territory waiting for white pioneers to develop its full potential.”</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273374/original/file-20190508-183086-maiek3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273374/original/file-20190508-183086-maiek3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=864&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273374/original/file-20190508-183086-maiek3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=864&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273374/original/file-20190508-183086-maiek3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=864&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273374/original/file-20190508-183086-maiek3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1086&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273374/original/file-20190508-183086-maiek3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1086&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273374/original/file-20190508-183086-maiek3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1086&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1941 self-portrait of painter Victor Arnautoff.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Victor_Arnautov.jpg">Russian Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That the mural appears in a school is particularly important in this regard. For decades, the country’s educational institutions perpetuated national myths about American exceptionalism and American history as one long glorious march of forward progress. Up until the 1960s, the standard U.S. history curriculum <a href="https://prospect.org/article/staying-power-black-history-month">ignored the country’s dark and terrifying history of racial violence</a>, including enslavement and the slaughter of indigenous peoples. So drawing attention to the horrors inflicted on Native Americans and African Americans would have been a radical statement in 1930s America. </p>
<p>Many of those in favor of scrapping the murals seem to believe that merely depicting past atrocities justifies them. In fact, the Action and Reflection Group concluded that the mural contravened the San Francisco Unified School District’s commitment to “<a href="https://thefrisc.com/at-sfs-washington-high-an-83-year-old-mural-depicting-slaves-and-a-dead-native-american-is-again-b2b576bdf5da">social justice</a>.”</p>
<p>Quite to the contrary. In our view, the “Life of Washington” provides an invaluable opportunity for students to engage in a serious and sustained way with social justice issues. There’s a <a href="https://ncac.org/news/san-francisco-high-school-may-destroy-historical-murals">strong case</a> to be made that Arnautoff is exposing – rather than celebrating – slavery and genocide. Moreover, those arguing for the mural’s removal are overlooking the fact that African Americans are not only portrayed as picking cotton and that Native Americans are not only depicted as victims of genocide. Rather Arnautoff is insisting that African Americans and indigeneous peoples were key historical actors in the making of the United States. </p>
<h2>Only the latest controversy</h2>
<p>The controversy over this mural is sadly not an isolated exception.</p>
<p>Over the past several years, there have been dozens of cases where <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/theater/a-charged-title-a-canceled-show-now-a-cal-state-official-resigns.html">plays</a>, <a href="https://freebeacon.com/culture/nation-apologizes-publishing-poem-disparaging-ableist-language/">poems</a>, <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2019/01/blood-heir-ya-book-twitter-controversy.html">books</a>, <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/2018/02/21/polk-state-college-deems-explicit-anti-trump-art-too-controversial-for-campus-display/">prints</a>, <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/12/01/salem-state-reopens-exhibit-closed-due-criticism-art-about-kkk-drapes-around-piece">paintings</a>, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/artist-defends-statue-of-underwear-man-at-wellesley-college/">sculptures</a>, <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/07/13/university-kansas-removes-art-after-governor-finds-it-disrespectful-was-about-public">installations</a> and other creative works have been shut down, canceled, removed or otherwise censored based on snap judgments, social media swarms, ideologically motivated reasoning and obtuse interpretations of the art in question. </p>
<p>In all of these cases, there has been little to no regard for the aspirations, aims and ambitions of the artists themselves. Their intentions have been treated along a spectrum that runs from indifference to contempt.</p>
<p>To be clear, we are not saying that an artist’s intent is all that matters.
How people interpret and respond to a work of art is inseparable from its raison d'etre. </p>
<p>But disregarding the intentions of artists would place every significant creative work with a whiff of controversy in jeopardy because of its “problematic” or “offensive” content. In a world where intentionality and context are irrelevant, satire and irony would not only be incomprehensible but forbidden. </p>
<p>Artist Kara Walker’s searing <a href="https://gannjstudio.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/slavery__slavery_044_0.jpg">paper cuts</a> depicting the horrific violence of slavery in the United States? Nothing more than a celebration of the white domination of black bodies. The pungent, explosive <a href="http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/MRobinson/clips/do-the-right-thing-direct-address.mp4/view">litany</a> of racial slurs in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing”? Just a vicious rehearsal of profoundly damaging ethnic stereotypes. Keegan-Michael Key’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkAK9QRe4ds">brilliant sketch character</a> Luther who serves as Obama’s “anger translator”? Simply a racist caricature of the “angry black man.”</p>
<h2>What else becomes vulnerable to censorship?</h2>
<p>Calls to censor “offensive” art by committees, petitions or the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/08/opinion/teen-fiction-and-the-perils-of-cancel-culture.html">Twitterverse</a> are especially dangerous. For every case of “righteous” censorship that removes works of art that are allegedly racist, sexist, homophobic and so on, there will be scores more censored on the grounds that they are anti-American or offensive to Christians. </p>
<p>As the American Library Association <a href="https://ncac.org/news/blog/whose-books-are-banned">reports</a>, the most frequently challenged and banned books are those that contain “<a href="http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/diversity">diverse content</a>” and include characters of color or address themes of sexuality, racism, religion, disability and mental illness. </p>
<p>Four out of the top 11 <a href="http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10">most challenged or banned books</a> in 2018 were objected to on the basis of their LGBT content. “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=goMuk3rETagC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Two+Boys+Kissing%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjg1JHMv4ziAhWOd98KHYpVCdsQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q&f=false">Two Boys Kissing</a>” – a 2013 novel centered around the lives of seven gay teenagers – has made the American Library Association list for several years running, even though The Guardian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/may/16/review-david-levithan-two-boys-kissing">described</a> it as a “complex,” “intricate” novel “so extremely powerful [it] leaves you thinking long, long after you have finished reading it.”</p>
<p>Thinking long and hard, alas, is in short supply for members of the “<a href="https://www.change.org/p/mr-president-of-the-french-national-assembly-ladies-and-gentlemen-honorable-members-of-the-national-assembly-say-no-to-racism-on-the-walls-of-the-french-national-assembly">we are not interested in the artist’s intentions</a>” when the art offends us brigade. Ripping art from its context degrades our critical faculties and imprisons us in the present. It smacks of a literal-minded authoritarianism that assumes and indeed insists that a creative work can and must only be read in one way. </p>
<p>When people refuse to see the contradictions, tensions and ambiguities of art, it becomes disposable. Arnautoff’s detractors bring to mind Oscar Wilde’s <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Pb8pnKBZizcC&lpg=PA60&ots=dJ1tgkpJ9h&dq=becomes%20the%20avowed%20enemy%20of%20Art%20and%20of%20himself%2C%20wilde&pg=PA60#v=onepage&q=becomes%20the%20avowed%20enemy%20of%20Art%20and%20of%20himself,%20wilde&f=false">warning</a> that any time a spectator of art tries to “exercise authority over it and the artist,” he “becomes the avowed enemy of Art and of himself.” </p>
<p>It took Arnautoff almost a year to complete the mural, painstaking labor that could be erased with a single coat of paint. Not only would this outcome whitewash history, it would also deal a severe blow to our own capacity for creativity and critical thought. </p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116574/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>‘The Life of Washington’ was painted in the 1930s by an artist who sought to upend a rosy narrative of US history. Now some are saying its images ‘traumatize’ viewers – and ought to be taken down.Amna Khalid, Associate Professor of History, Carleton CollegeJeffrey Aaron Snyder, Associate Professor of Educational Studies, Carleton CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/428242017-09-08T04:59:45Z2017-09-08T04:59:45ZResearch does solve real-world problems: experts must work together to make it happen<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185015/original/file-20170907-8344-1286buo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Working within and across disciplines allows blue sky research to deliver real world impact. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Arry Tanusondjaja</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Generating knowledge is one of the most exciting aspects of being human. The inventiveness required to apply this knowledge to solve practical problems is perhaps our most distinctive attribute.</p>
<p>But right now we have before us some hairy challenges – whether that be figuring our how to save our <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-coral-reefs-are-in-trouble-but-dont-give-up-on-them-yet-78588">coral reefs from warmer water</a>, landing a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-space-race-why-we-need-a-human-mission-to-mars-73757">human on Mars</a>, eliminating the <a href="https://theconversation.com/closing-the-gap-is-failing-and-needs-a-radical-overhaul-72961">gap in life expectancy</a> between the “haves” and “have-nots” or delivering reliable <a href="https://theconversation.com/pace-of-renewable-energy-shift-leaves-city-planners-struggling-to-keep-up-82206">carbon-free energy</a>.</p>
<p>It’s commonly said that an interdisciplinary approach is vital if we are to tackle such real world challenges. But what does this really mean? </p>
<hr>
<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-takes-a-community-to-raise-a-startup-65324">It takes a community to raise a startup</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Listen and read with care and you’ll start to notice that the words crossdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary are used interchangeably. These words describe distinctly different ways of harnessing the power of disciplinary expertise to chart a course into the unknown. </p>
<p>In navigation, the tools and methods matter – choose differently and you’ll end up in a different spot. How we go about creating knowledge and solving problems really matters – it changes not only what questions can be asked and answered but fundamentally shapes what’s possible.</p>
<h2>What is a discipline?</h2>
<p>For centuries we have organised research within disciplines, and this has delivered extraordinary depths of knowledge. </p>
<p>But what is a discipline? It’s a shared language, an environment in which there’s no need to explain the motivation for one’s work, and in which people have a shared sense of what’s valuable. </p>
<p>For example, my background discipline is optical physics. I know what it’s like to be able to skip down the corridor and say, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I’ve figured out how we can get broadband flat dispersion - we just need to tailor the radial profile!” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>…and have people instantly not just know what I mean, but be able to add their own ideas and drive the work forward.</p>
<p>In long-established disciplines it’s often necessary to focus in a narrow area to be able to extend the limits of knowledge within the time-frame of a PhD. And while it’s rarely obvious at the time what benefits will flow from digging a little deeper, our way of life has been transformed over and over as result.</p>
<p>Disciplines focus talent and so can be amazingly efficient ways of generating knowledge. But they can also be extraordinarily difficult to penetrate from the outside without understanding that discipline’s particular language and shared values. </p>
<p>The current emphasis on real-world impact has sharpened awareness on the need to translate knowledge into outcomes. It has also brought attention to the critical role partnerships with industry and other end-users of research play in this process. </p>
<h2>Creating impact across disciplines</h2>
<p>Try to solve a problem with the tools of a single discipline alone, and it’s as if you have a hammer - everything starts to look like a nail. It’s usually obvious when expertise from more than one discipline is needed.</p>
<p>Consider a panel of experts drawn from different fields to each apply the tools of their field to a problem that’s been externally framed. This has traditionally been how expertise from the social sciences is brought to bear on challenges in public health or the environment.</p>
<p>This is a <em>crossdisciplinary approach</em>, which can produce powerful outcomes provided that those who posed the question are positioned to make decisions based on the knowledge generated. But the research fields themselves are rarely influenced by this glancing encounter with different approaches to knowledge generation.</p>
<p><em>Multidisciplinary research</em> involves the application of tools from one discipline to questions from other fields. An example is the application of crystallography, discovered by the Braggs, to <a href="https://www.umass.edu/microbio/rasmol/1st_xtls.htm">unravel the structure of proteins</a>. This requires concepts to transfer across domains, sometimes in real time but usually with a lag of years or decades.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-we-really-want-an-ideas-boom-we-need-more-women-at-the-top-tiers-of-science-56999">If we really want an ideas boom, we need more women at the top tiers of science</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p><em>Interdisciplinary research</em> happens when researchers from different fields come together to pose a challenge that wouldn’t be possible in isolation. One example is the highly transparent optical fibres that underpin intercontinental telecommunication networks.</p>
<p>The knowledge creation that made this possible involved glass chemists, optical physicists and communication engineers coming together to articulate the possible, and develop the shared language required to make it a reality. When fields go on this journey together over decades, new fields are born.</p>
<p>In this example the question itself was clear – how can we harness the transparency of silica glass to create optical transmission systems that can transport large volumes of data over long distances?</p>
<p>But what about the questions we don’t know how to pose because without knowledge of another field we don’t know what’s possible? This line of reasoning leads us into the domain of <em>transdisciplinary research</em>. </p>
<p>Transdisciplinary research requires a willingness to craft new questions – whether because they were considered intractable or because without the inspiration from left field they simply didn’t arise. An example of this is applying <a href="http://www.adelaide.edu.au/news/news94522.html">photonics to IVF incubators</a> - the idea that it could be possible to “listen” to how embryos experience their environment is unlikely to have arisen without bringing these fields together.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/national-science-statement-a-positive-gesture-but-lacks-policy-solutions-experts-74987">National Science Statement a positive gesture but lacks policy solutions: experts</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>In my own field, physics, I discovered that when talking to people from other areas the simple question “what would you like to measure?” quickly led to uncharted territory. </p>
<p>Before long we were usually, together, posing fundamentally new questions and establishing teams to tackle them. This can be scary territory but it’s tremendously rewarding and creates space for creativity and the emergence of disruptive technologies.</p>
<h2>Excellence, communication, co-location, funding</h2>
<p>One of the best ways of getting out of a disciplinary silo is to take every opportunity to talk to others outside your field. Disciplinary excellence is the starting point to get to the table. </p>
<p>And while disciplinary collaborations can flourish over large distances because they share a language and values, it’s usually true that once you mix disciplines co-location becomes a real asset. Then of course there are the questions of how we fund and organise research concentrations to allow inter- and transdisciplinary research to flourish. </p>
<p>With the increased emphasis on impact, these questions are becoming ever more pressing. Organisations that get this right will thrive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42824/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanya Monro receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of South Australia, a member of the Commonwealth Science Council, the CSIRO board, the SA Economic Development Board and Defence SA. </span></em></p>Ensuring knowledge creates impact involves disciplinary excellence, communication, co-location and funding.Tanya Monro, Deputy Vice Chancellor Research & Innovation, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/725502017-02-22T10:53:43Z2017-02-22T10:53:43ZWhy universities and academics should bother with public engagement<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/157345/original/image-20170217-10195-rvclpf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Universities and their academic members benefit from significant sums of money from the UK taxpayer. It seems only right then, that academics should engage the public in what they do. </p>
<p>It’s fair to say though that this hasn’t always been the main priority for researchers, which has led to the idea for some that public engagement just isn’t something that’s done much in the ivory towers of academia.</p>
<p>But this makes it hard for the taxpayer to know where their money is actually going, which then leads to the impression that <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/11756727/Universities-wasting-public-money-on-pointless-research-says-think-tank.html">universities are wasting public money</a> on “pointless” research. </p>
<p>To combat the public perception that academics aren’t very good at sharing their wisdom, significant investments have been made in establishing what some call a “culture of public engagement” in UK universities. But for many academics the point of public engagement isn’t always entirely clear. And it is still frequently thought of as more of a discrete and fringe activity – found <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075079.2015.1034261?journalCode=cshe20">in the shallows</a> of what many consider to be important. </p>
<p>Of course, that isn’t the case for everyone, and there are some really great – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/feb/03/digital-media-michaelgove">and exciting</a> – examples of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2015/sep/23/academics-leave-your-ivory-towers-and-pitch-your-work-to-the-media">academics engaging with the wider public</a>. But although there is increased evidence of <a href="https://wellcome.ac.uk/sites/default/files/wtp060036.pdf">academics involved in public engagement</a>, it seems, their motivation for doing so varies considerably. </p>
<p>There are, for example, academics <a href="http://venpopov.com/2017/01/09/all-scientists-should-be-storytellers/">who undertake public engagement</a> on the basis of a moral commitment to the idea of being public intellectuals. But there are also others who see public engagement as nothing more than a box-ticking exercise.</p>
<p>This perhaps is not so surprising given the context of the UK’s increasingly performance-regulated university sector and a pervasive sense of academics doing <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11024-016-9298-5">daily battle</a> to justify what they do. </p>
<h2>Speaking to the wrong people?</h2>
<p>And herein lies part of the problem, because opinion related to public engagement in universities tends to be dominated by academics. Far less prominent, if at all visible, is the opinion of the people whose job it is to “support” public engagement activity. </p>
<p>These are the people known as professional services staff, who are often much more informed on this matter than academics. This is because they have an understanding of public engagement as it occurs across an institution – not just limited to any one person or project. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/157349/original/image-20170217-10232-j2esog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/157349/original/image-20170217-10232-j2esog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157349/original/image-20170217-10232-j2esog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157349/original/image-20170217-10232-j2esog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157349/original/image-20170217-10232-j2esog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157349/original/image-20170217-10232-j2esog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157349/original/image-20170217-10232-j2esog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Public engagement lets academics talk about their research and become more visible to their communities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So with this in mind, we recently ran an <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075079.2016.1272566?journalCode=cshe20&">online survey</a> targeting these staff with responsibility for supporting public engagement in their universities. Our line of questioning was simple. We wanted to know what they considered to be the current and future state and status of public engagement in UK universities.</p>
<h2>Impact agenda</h2>
<p>Our research showed that respondents saw public engagement as being integral to the potential success of academics in gaining research council funding – where demonstrating “impact” is a mandatory requirement of the application process. In other words, academics have to show how their research has or is benefiting society. </p>
<p>Our respondents’ spoke of an increasing “impact agenda” in the UK’s higher education sector. This has led to public engagement being seen as integral in enabling academics to demonstrate both the social and economic impacts of their research. </p>
<p>An increase in institutional competitiveness was also cited as an important factor in the need for public engagement – along with the introduction of the UK’s <a href="http://www.ref.ac.uk/">Research Excellence Framework</a> (REF), the new system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/157350/original/image-20170217-10190-1exator.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/157350/original/image-20170217-10190-1exator.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157350/original/image-20170217-10190-1exator.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157350/original/image-20170217-10190-1exator.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157350/original/image-20170217-10190-1exator.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157350/original/image-20170217-10190-1exator.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157350/original/image-20170217-10190-1exator.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Public engagement can act as a bridge between the university and the outside world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The incorporation of <a href="https://theconversation.com/qanda-what-is-the-ref-and-how-is-the-quality-of-university-research-measured-35529">impact as an evaluation factor in the REF</a> was also credited in helping to increase the value of public engagement as an academic activity. And it was the opinion of many respondents that the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-ref-case-studies-reveal-on-measuring-research-impact-39349">REF might encourage academics to be more adventurous</a> as they explore new ways to be “impactful”. </p>
<p>But fears were also raised that this “impact agenda” could potentially <a href="https://theconversation.com/stress-put-on-academics-by-the-ref-recognised-in-stern-review-63237">threaten the creative freedom</a> associated with the best kinds of public engagement. Respondents reported feeling like the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-refs-regime-of-excellence-is-changing-research-for-the-worse-37187">REF might end up restricting the kinds of activities</a> pursued by academics to those deemed to be most “impactful”. </p>
<h2>The value of engagement</h2>
<p>Our study reveals a strong view that public engagement in UK universities is being dominated by its relationship with research evaluation and funding. It also highlights considerable variation in the role and identity of those who support its undertaking in universities – and the unequal ways with which it is valued by individuals and institutions. </p>
<p>Some claim that public engagement enriches the research process. Others see public engagement as helping academics to become better teachers. It’s also generally recognised as a bridge between the university and the outside world and a way for academics to talk to and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2273.2011.00492.x/abstract">become more visible in their public communities</a>. </p>
<p>Our study only really scratches the surface of the ways public engagement is being supported or led in universities. But with suggestions that the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/541338/ind-16-9-ref-stern-review.pdf">terms of impact will broaden in the next REF</a>, and that public engagement will play an even bigger role, it is clear that wider conversation with these missing voices will become even more urgent.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72550/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>But are UK universities running the risk of institutionalising public engagement?Richard Watermeyer, Reader in Education, University of BathJamie Lewis, Lecturer in Sociology, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/683292016-11-07T06:17:44Z2016-11-07T06:17:44ZCommunity organisations lack the funding and data to measure their impact<p>Community organisations are struggling to measure the impact they are having due to a lack of funds and data availability, <a href="http://www.csi.edu.au/media/uploads/Social_Impact_Series_6.pdf">new research has found</a>. It shows three quarters of community sector charities are trying to measure their outcomes and have increased this effort in the last five years. </p>
<p>However many are held back. Out of our survey participants of 190 community sector organisations, 90% cited a lack of funding and resources as the most significant barrier to measuring outcomes. Second to this was the lack of an established methodology and tools to assist them in measuring.</p>
<p>These community organisations saw the most important driver for measuring impact was not to meet the requirements of funders (important though that is), but to improve their services; to achieve their mission more effectively.</p>
<p><a href="http://australiancharities.acnc.gov.au/visualisations/explore-all-charities/">At last count</a>, there were nearly 10,000 registered housing & development, health, and social services charities in Australia. These organisations had a combined income of A$46 billion and employed half a million people. They are in the front line of the delivery of social services. </p>
<p>The pressure is on for these organisations to show their impact as the government takes a <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/review-of-australias-welfare-system/australian-priority-investment-approach-to-welfare">priority investment approach</a> to welfare. This is where government spending decisions on social programs are taken on the basis of the long-term economic and social impact of those programs (or more narrowly, the long-term budgetary impact of those programs).</p>
<p>When community organisations are funded to measure their outcomes, significant progress is made. There is a <a href="http://resultsaccountability.com/about/what-is-results-based-accountability/">well accepted framework</a> these organisations can use to break down what they do into individual service units with outcomes to be measured. This also involves data collection and assessment. In our study, 32% of community organisations had implemented this framework. </p>
<p>One example of a community sector measuring its outcomes is The Smith Family and its <a href="https://www.thesmithfamily.com.au/what-we-do/how-we-help/learning-for-life">Learning for Life program</a>. This program supports disadvantaged families by covering education-related expenses that aren’t covered by schools, as well as promoting long-term participation in education to Year 12 and subsequent engagement in education, training and employment.</p>
<p>As a result of establishing a data collection system and a research and evaluation framework around that, The Smith Family was able to demonstrate the effectiveness of the program. It improved school attendance, Year 12 completion and subsequent engagement in education, training and employment. This also increases their chance of securing funding and philanthropic support.</p>
<p>However beyond this specific framework, organisations need to use existing population-level administrative data better to understand the impact of social programs. Our survey shows this is not being done and yet there is enormous potential in this data and its analysis.</p>
<p>For example <a href="http://www.csi.edu.au/media/uploads/AHURI_Final_Report_No265_What-are-the-health-social-and-economic-benefi..._2edQIWr.pdf">our recently released study of programs</a> delivered under the Council of Australian Government’s <a href="http://www.coag.gov.au/housing_and_homelessness">National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (NPAH)</a> showed the program’s impact by linking the health records of program participants with their public housing records. From this we were able to examine the journeys of program participants before and after entering public housing.</p>
<p>The study revealed that those formerly homeless people accessing public housing through the NPAH programs, for the most part, sustained their housing. And as they did so, we found reductions in the use of emergency departments, in nights in hospital and in psychiatric care. This means the program would meet the aims of the government’s priority investment model, as cost savings were made to the public purse. </p>
<p>A challenge facing public policy is to ensure that where administrative data exists, records can be linked and in “real time”. This is so that policy makers are aware of the impact of the program, as it is occurring. A second challenge is to enable community organisations to access such data, or at least provide relevant organisation-level results, so that the impact of their own efforts can be better assessed. </p>
<p>The use of linked administrative data helps to support the task of impact assessment. But it does not remove the need for community organisations to measure their outcomes themselves. There is a large array of program outcomes that are not covered in population-level administrative data and can only be obtained at the organisational level. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.csi.edu.au/media/uploads/Social_Impact_Series_6.pdf">In our study</a>, we identified five key areas that need to be addressed in order for organisations to measure their outcomes, these were: </p>
<ol>
<li>Funders requiring more outcomes reporting, with additional financial support</li>
<li>Open data from government, particularly in relation to linked administrative data, common infrastructure for data collection and a core set of common outcomes items.</li>
<li>The need for standardised language in outcomes reporting so that all stakeholders can understand them</li>
<li>Professional development within community service organisations and guidance on how to use standard tools.</li>
</ol>
<p>If community organisations and government can address these areas, the social impact of organisations will be clearer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68329/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Flatau received funding from the Bankwest Foundation and from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) in relation to research cited in the article. Co-authors on the Bankwest Foundation study relating to community sector outcomes measurement were Ami Seivwright, Sarah Adams and Claire Stokes. Co-authors on the AHURI study on the impact of NPAH programs were Lisa Wood, Kaylene Zaretzky, Sarah Foster, Shannen Vallesi, and Darja Miscenko.</span></em></p>Community organisations are trying to measure their impact but lack the funding and data availability to do it properly, new research finds.Paul Flatau, Director, Centre for Social Impact, UWA Business School, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/393492015-03-27T16:54:33Z2015-03-27T16:54:33ZWhat REF case studies reveal on measuring research impact<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76255/original/image-20150327-16090-2zvdcs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Proof that research leaves a mark. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Impact via Phatic-Photography from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Understanding and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-impact-of-impact-on-the-ref-35636">rewarding research impact</a> – where research has benefits or makes broader contributions to society outside higher education – has never been as topical or important as it is today. Now <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/newsarchive/2015/Name,103729,en.html">a new study</a> into the way universities achieve research impact has shown there is no simple way of measuring the diversity of that impact or calculating its value.</p>
<p>The UK undertakes a systematic evaluation of university research every five years – the largest research evaluation exercise of its kind anywhere in the world. In 2014, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/qanda-what-is-the-ref-and-how-is-the-quality-of-university-research-measured-35529">Research Evaluation Framework (REF)</a> assessed universities on the basis of the quality of research outputs, vitality of the research environment and, for the first time, the wider impact of research. </p>
<p>The weighting for the impact assessment part of the REF was 20% of the total assessment – influencing the allocation of around <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2015/CL,032015/">£1.6 billion worth</a> of public funding over the next five years.</p>
<h2>Mining the REF case studies</h2>
<p>Impact in the REF was assessed through the submission of case studies using two criteria: reach – the spread or breadth of influence or effect on the relevant constituencies, and significance – the intensity of the influence or effect. The case studies, <a href="http://impact.ref.ac.uk/CaseStudies/search1.aspx">now available via an online database</a>, provide an extraordinary resource for those interested in analysing knowledge translation and research impact. </p>
<p>Our analysis of the 6,679 non-redacted case studies identified a number of observations. The impact of UK research is truly global with every country in the world mentioned. Different types of universities specialise in different types of impacts. For example, the larger universities made a disproportionate contribution to impact topics such as clinical guidance and dentistry, while smaller institutions specialised in areas such sport, regional innovation and enterprise, arts and culture. The research underpinning impact is multidisciplinary and the benefits arising from that research have many different kinds of impact at once.</p>
<p>The bulk of analysis of the case studies was undertaken using text-mining techniques – the analysis of data contained in natural language text. There were some 6.2m words in the case studies submitted to REF, and by removing words such as “and”, “but” and “or” we were left with 3.7m words. </p>
<p>This text-mining exercise led to the identification of 60 impact topics or areas where research influences society, such as medical ethics, climate change, clinical guidance and women, gender and minorities. The text mining was supplemented by “deep mines” where more than 1,000 case studies were read to provide a deeper picture of the data.</p>
<p>The case studies provide a rich resource, demonstrating the breadth and depth of research impact – in a way that has not been revealed before. Universities claim changes and benefits to the economy, society culture, public policy and services, health, the environment and quality of life. </p>
<p>To pick just two from a multitude of examples, one <a href="http://impact.ref.ac.uk/CaseStudies/CaseStudy.aspx?Id=29573">case study from UCL</a> highlighted how a series of platinum-based lung cancer trials has led to “wide-scale changes in clinical practice”, while another <a href="http://impact.ref.ac.uk/CaseStudies/CaseStudy.aspx?Id=43596">from Lancaster</a> focused on the impact of fathers and the family unit, led to a “tenfold increase in funding for work with fathers in Children’s Centres”. </p>
<h2>Metrics for impact remain a challenge</h2>
<p>Although an incredibly rich resource, there are challenges in using case studies to measure research impact and improvements that could be made for the next REF in 2020. We discovered the case studies contained more than 3,700 individual pathways to impact – thus presenting a real challenge to anyone interested in producing metrics on impact. Qualitative case studies capture the diverse connections between research and society and it’s difficult to reduce this diversity to numbers. </p>
<p>The numerical evidence supporting claims for impact were also diverse and inconsistent, suggesting that the development of robust impact metrics is unlikely. While the impact case studies provide a rich resource for analysis, the information is collected for assessment purposes and may need to be aligned for further, fruitful analysis purposes. </p>
<p>For example, different universities used different ways to measure the same thing when trying to show impact. Financial information was expressed in various currencies – and researchers used different metrics for expressing online statistics such as downloads and page views.</p>
<p>We initially thought it would be possible to use case studies to estimate the returns on investment from research – for example, by calculating wealth or jobs created, or health benefits or lives saved. But early on in our analysis it became apparent that such an approach was not feasible, because of the large volume of inconsistently used numerical data.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76273/original/image-20150327-16124-1i7i42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76273/original/image-20150327-16124-1i7i42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76273/original/image-20150327-16124-1i7i42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76273/original/image-20150327-16124-1i7i42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76273/original/image-20150327-16124-1i7i42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76273/original/image-20150327-16124-1i7i42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76273/original/image-20150327-16124-1i7i42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">No impact case study looks the same.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Different pills via Vorobyeva/www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One area of future research could be to look at the language and sentiments used in different case studies and by different disciplines. By reading large numbers of case studies, the contrast between the empirical language of scientists and the more descriptive tone of some humanities scholars became clear and we need to understand further how this relates to the types of impact reported.</p>
<p>There are a few “tweaks” that can be made to the process to help address these challenges and, while metrics are important, we shouldn’t lose sight of the power of the case study. It is also important that we don’t overly restrict researchers in how they can demonstrate their impact – especially when such a broad range of disciplines is included.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39349/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Grant has led a number of evaluation projects for the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), who organised REF, and receives research funding from various organisations including the Department of Health and Medical Research Council.</span></em></p>The diversity of research impact makes it tricky to measure in numbers.Jonathan Grant, Director, The Policy Institute and Professor of Public Policy, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/224522014-02-07T14:34:54Z2014-02-07T14:34:54ZThe little-known science that improved everything around us<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41013/original/xcpv5vzm-1391766163.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">All these have been improved by crystallography.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">2is3</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>UNESCO has declared 2014 as the <a href="http://www.iycr2014.org/">International Year of Crystallography</a>. But why? Quite simply because the science of crystallography has revolutionised how we live – and yet few people know about it.</p>
<p>Crystallography is the study of crystalline solids to understand how the atoms inside the solids are arranged. Normally this involves firing a beam of X-rays at a sample and recording the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-x-ray-crystallography-22143">pattern of those scattered X-rays</a>. From the interpretation of these patterns we can deduce information about the way atoms are arranged in a solid. By understanding the atomic arrangement we can interpret the properties these solids display and hopefully improve upon them. Single crystals (like a single grain of salt or sugar) scatter a single beam of X-rays as many well-divided beams that can be recorded as a series of spots on an X-ray sensitive plate. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40646/original/5kw3f4xr-1391514358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40646/original/5kw3f4xr-1391514358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40646/original/5kw3f4xr-1391514358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40646/original/5kw3f4xr-1391514358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40646/original/5kw3f4xr-1391514358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40646/original/5kw3f4xr-1391514358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40646/original/5kw3f4xr-1391514358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40646/original/5kw3f4xr-1391514358.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">X-ray scattering pattern from a porous compound studied for gas absorption. The sharp spots are indicative of a single crystal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim Prior</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Powdered samples, for example, icing sugar or cement, scatter X-rays in cones that appear as rings on an X-ray sensitive plate. Interpretation of the X-ray scattering patterns from single crystals and powders is the realm of crystallography.</p>
<p>We may not recognise it but crystallography is fundamental to many branches of science and technology that we take for granted in our daily lives. Here is a story of my normal day, using which I’ll demonstrate its impact:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My alarm clock wakes me at 6:45am. I’m relieved that the house doesn’t seem to have blown down in the storm of last night. I make some coffee and check my emails on my phone. I have breakfast and then brush my teeth before going to work. The car starts first time and I drive to work, a university campus where lots of buildings have sprung up recently. The drive has given me a headache so when I get to my office I take two paracetamol tablets. Then it’s on with the day – my work as a crystallographer.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The batteries in my alarm clock and electric toothbrush, like most electronic devices, contain a complex crystalline material that allows the passage of an electric current. An enormous amount of research has gone into designing the materials for the task and at the heart of this is X-ray crystallography. Scientists have used this technique to understand and improve the lithium-ion conductors in batteries. </p>
<p>My house and work buildings rely on concrete and we take it for granted, but producing concrete is a really complex chemical reaction. The development of concrete has relied heavily upon crystallography – scientists have tweaked the mixture and used X-rays to understand how changes in composition lead to changes in atomic structure, which form the basis of cement’s strength and hardening.</p>
<p>The metals used in my car are examples of lightweight, strong alloys that are studied by crystallography. For example, the technique can distinguish between an appropriately cooled sample and one cooled in the wrong way (because the latter is more likely to crack). Crystallography has been used to study stress in materials and design components that resist stress. Without crystallography we simply wouldn’t have the <a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-create-bone-like-material-that-is-lighter-than-water-but-as-strong-as-steel-22729">lightweight components</a> widely used today in cars and aeroplanes.</p>
<p>Similarly, the rise of microelectronics such as my phone and tablet would not have happened without crystallography. The complex semiconductors containing layers of different materials with matched structures were designed with the help of crystallography.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40647/original/n2mfqz66-1391514470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40647/original/n2mfqz66-1391514470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40647/original/n2mfqz66-1391514470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40647/original/n2mfqz66-1391514470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40647/original/n2mfqz66-1391514470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40647/original/n2mfqz66-1391514470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40647/original/n2mfqz66-1391514470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40647/original/n2mfqz66-1391514470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">X-ray scattering pattern from a silicon powder. The presence of rings show the sample is a powder rather than a single crystal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim Prior</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And what of the paracetamol that I took for a headache? The impact of crystallography in the pharmaceutical industry has been immense; it is the gold standard for determination of new drugs structures. A knowledge of drug structure allows identification of the way that the drug interacts with the body. Importantly, crystallography can also be used to demonstrate the purity of prescription drugs: each compound has a unique fingerprint in the way it scatters X-rays – if the pattern contains extra features then the drug has been adulterated. So crystallography has played a pivotal role in the development of safe, effective medicines.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40648/original/tw6h2djs-1391514986.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40648/original/tw6h2djs-1391514986.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40648/original/tw6h2djs-1391514986.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40648/original/tw6h2djs-1391514986.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40648/original/tw6h2djs-1391514986.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40648/original/tw6h2djs-1391514986.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40648/original/tw6h2djs-1391514986.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">X-ray scattering pattern collected from the Martian surface by NASA’s Curiosity rover.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ames</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Almost any solid device or appliance has been designed or improved using crystallography in some way. It has shaped our modern world in ways almost too numerous to count. </p>
<p>UNESCO has chosen to celebrate a central science that has helped many discoveries in human life, from the first crystal structure in 1912, <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-x-ray-crystallography-22143">the structure of DNA in 1953</a>, to current studies of complex proteins and materials designed to store hydrogen or capture carbon dioxide. But it is not just the Earth where crystallography is used – in September 2013 a team of NASA scientists from led by David Bish of Indiana University reported on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/wrestling-some-science-off-of-mars-how-clays-became-sexy-12969">mineralogy of Mars</a>. Their crystallographic experiments carried out on Mars identified the rocks present, and verified the claim about the presence of water on the red planet. </p>
<p>In 2014, science fairs are going to be celebrating crystallography, a quiet unassuming scientific discipline, without which modern life would be very different.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Other articles in this series: <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-x-ray-crystallography-22143">Explainer: what is crystallography?</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22452/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Prior has received funding from Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council under grant number EP/I028692/1.</span></em></p>UNESCO has declared 2014 as the International Year of Crystallography. But why? Quite simply because the science of crystallography has revolutionised how we live – and yet few people know about it. Crystallography…Timothy Prior, Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry, University of HullLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.