UN75 Day One: Equality, Society and Human Rights

The deepening climate crisis threatens the security of people and their communities across the globe, and requires a coalition of states, international institutions and citizens to work together to address these environmental challenges. In advance of the United Nations 2021 Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, this panel of international experts will examine new models of civic engagement to amplify the voice of all citizens – especially of young citizens – in formal discussions concerning the climate crisis.
Time: 08:00 - 09:30 GMT
Lead(s): Professor Matt Henn, Dr Kevin Love, Dr Eva Zemandi, Dr Christine Huebner
Partners: France, Australia, Belgium and UK
This session deals with sustainable side of business and economics in a global perspective: migrant entrepreneurship, political risk mitigation and Foreign Direct Investment, Microfinance, collaborative support models for sustainable clean water communities, nurturing environmental capabilities to improve attractiveness of tourism industry.
Time: 09:00 - 10:30 GMT
Lead(s): Professor Ursula F. Ott, Dr Ofelia Palermo, Dr Olu Aluko
Partners: University of Auckland, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Complutense Madrid, Taiwan
Researchers at NTU are concerned with children's literacy development, and particularly concerned with those who are most vulnerable to falling further behind, especially in the context of a pandemic (e.g. children from low SES homes, children who are from low literate homes, children with low wellbeing). Wood and colleagues from the National Literacy Trust recently published an analysis of school library access and use for children from low-income homes and this showed how school libraries are critical in fostering self-motivated literacy behaviours in this group of children.
The team have run large scale RCTs on approaches to early literacy skills using a free resource, have published longitudinal studies of children's literacy development, and are currently formulating a bid for work on combining language and physical education for very young children to gain maximum benefits. In conjunction with the National Literacy Trust, the team have also started a PG Diploma this autumn on Strategic Literacy Leadership which teaches social entrepreneurship and other critical skills to individuals to create sustainable change in low literate areas through a place-based approach to intervention.
Time: 9:30 - 11:00 GMT
Lead(s): Clare Wood, Janet Vousden, Anna Cunningham
Partners: Professor Catherine McBride President of the Association for Reading and Writing in Asia, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Dr Christina Clark, Research Director of the National Literacy Trust, and Katie Blainey from Rising Stars Assessment (Hodder Education) National Literacy Trust
The panel discussion will focus on social science research into poverty, inequality and social exclusion, drawing on examples with diverse populations to highlight the structural issues which manifest through - inequalities in the child welfare system; state reform to the welfare benefits system; homelessness and inequality in meeting the needs of prisoners. We will address the questions, what are the effects of poverty in one of the richest nations and what are some of the new approaches that engage with the realities of poverty and social exclusion? Bringing together experts from academia and practice, from the UK, Norway and Belgium the panel members will introduce their research and discuss how it is informing the development of socially just policy and practice approaches, impacting on the global challenge of poverty.
Time: 11:00 - 12:30 GMT
Lead(s): Geraldine Brady, Richard Machin, Graham Bowpitt, Dr Claire de Motte
Partners: Dr Geraldine Brady, Dr Richard Machin, Dr Graham Bowpitt, Dr Claire de Motte (all Nottingham Trent University); University of Bergen, Norway; Child Poverty Action Group; Professor Griet Roets, Gent University, Belgium; Dr Calum Webb, University of Sheffield
UN75 has identified the need for greater international solidarity to tackle inequalities, along with a call for greater inclusion and diversity. The UNDP’s most recent Human Development Report states that ‘gender disparities remain among the most persistent forms of inequality across all countries.’ Gender scholars and activists have been working on these issues for decades. This roundtable brings together leading international gender researchers with expertise on climate change, foreign policy, peace and security, global and regional decision-making to discuss how best to create a gender-just future:
*How can we conceptualise and measure intersecting inequalities?
*What needs to be done to tackle these inequalities?
*What role should national and international institutions and civil society play?
Time: 13:00 - 14:30 GMT
Lead(s): Professor Gill Allwood
Partners: Dr. Laura Davis, European Peacebuilding Liaison Office, Brussels/Kampala; Professor Roberta Guerrina, Bristol University and College of Europe, Bruges; Professor Heather MacRae, York University, Toronto; Professor Annick Wibben, Swedish Defence University, Stockholm.
This panel discussion will focus on social science based research into health, wellbeing and education in marginalised communities with a particular focus on gender inequalities among young people, including gender minorities such as trans and non-binary children and youth. Bringing together experts from the UK, Canada and South Africa, the panel will outline their emerging global research, discuss effective application and implementation of this research in policy and practice, and highlight the next steps in solving some of the remaining challenges in relation to gender inequalities in education.
Time: 14:30 - 15:30 GMT
Lead(s): Professor Carrie Paechter, Professor Pam Alldred, Dr Alex Toft, Dr Jane Pilcher
Partners: Professor Carrie Paechter, NTU (Chair); Professor Deevia Bhana, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Dr Annie Pullen Sansfaçon, Concordia University; Professor Pam Alldred, NTU; Dr Alex Toft, NTU
How are young people affected by social exclusion, and what issues affect young people specifically or disproportionately? This panel draws together some different strands of research work with and about young people at NTU and by some of our collaborators. How should we hear the agendas of marginalised young people? How do we research young people's experience of marginalisation? Researchers will flag their findings and share comments about their approaches.
Time: 15:30 - 16:30 GMT
Lead(s): Prof Pam Alldred, Prof Carrie Paechter, Dr Geraldine Brady, Dr Jenny Simpson, Dr Adam Barnard, Prof Wolfgang Vachon, Dr Dori Redai, Dr Yuval Saar-Heiman
Partners: Dr Jenny Simpson – on Looked After young people; Dr Geraldine Brady – on children and young people with disabilities; Professor Pam Alldred – on young mothers; Dr Adam Barnard - on young carers; Professor Carrie Paechter - on trans and intersex children and young people
International panel members: Professor Wolfgang Vachon, Humber College, Canada - on activism among young people experiencing homelessness; Dorottya Redai (DI, Hungary) – on public acceptability of hostility to LGBT youth in Hungary; Dr Yuval Saar-Heiman (Royal Holloway U) and Professor Michal Krumer-Nevo, Ben Gurion University, Israel - on poverty informed social work practice