Do Wind Farms Come at a Cost to the Environment?
University Teams Up With the Bairns
Justice, Security and Rights Under the Spotlight
Stirling Appoints New Dementia Director
Stirling Appoints First Criminology Chair
104 Languages Spoken by Scottish School Kids
New Web Pages Provide Insight to British Film History
Do Wind Farms Come at a Cost to the Environment?
Date released: Tuesday 6 September 2005
A new study by economists at the University of Stirling into Scottish on-shore wind farms has shown that they come at a considerable cost to the environment and the economy.
Lead researcher, Professor Nick Hanley said: “Investment in wind energy has been increasingly rapidly in Scotland over the recent past, with most of this investment taking the form of on-shore wind farms, especially in the uplands. However, concerns have been expressed about the impacts of these wind farms on the landscape, and thus perhaps eventually on Scotland’s tourism industry.”
Using a technique known as Choice Experiments, Professor Hanley estimated the willingness of Scottish households to pay to avoid these landscape impacts. Other environmental consequences of renewable energy investments were also measured, such as the impacts on wildlife and of air pollution. In addition the researchers looked at the impact on local employment from renewable energy investments.
A large on-shore wind farm was shown to impose an annual net environmental cost of £7 per megawatt per Scottish household, whereas an equivalent off-shore wind farm (with no appreciable landscape impacts) had an environmental benefit of £3 per megawatt.
Professor Hanley said: “This research suggests that the Executive might consider imposing landscape-impact restrictions on wind farm developers, or even a tax on landscape impacts, to re-direct wind farm construction away from sensitive areas.”
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
For further information:
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Nick Hanley University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Tel: +44 (0) 1786 466410 (work) or +44 (0) 1786 880256 (home) |
University Teams Up With the Bairns
Date released: Tuesday 20 September
The University of Stirling’s sporting profile is set to be enhanced further with the welcome news that Falkirk Football Club is to use “the most picturesque campus in Europe” as its primary training venue.
Michael Chambers, the University’s Estates & Campus Services Marketing Manager, said: “Falkirk FC’s decision to use Stirling as its training base is further evidence of the University’s ability to accommodate the training needs of a diverse range of sporting organisations. We are absolutely delighted to welcome Falkirk FC on board, and look forward to playing our part in the Club’s continuing success.”
The University has some of the finest sports facilities in the country, including the National Swimming Academy and the Gannochy National Tennis Centre. The campus is also home to the Scottish Institute for Sport, Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland and Scottish Swimming.
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
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Michael Chambers University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Tel: +44 (0) 1786 466188 |
Award to Re-work Hogg's Songs
Date released: Tuesday 20 September 2005
Scottish literary academics from the Universities of Glasgow and Stirling have been awarded an impressive grant of around £158,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research (AHRC) to re-work the writings and music of acclaimed Scottish writer James Hogg.
Dr Kirsteen McCue of the Department of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow will work closely with Douglas Mack, Emeritus Professor in the University of Stirling’s Department of English Studies, on the three year project starting from this September.
The project aims to bring together texts and music for Hogg’s songs in an altogether new way. The research undertaken by this team will culminate in Dr McCue’s editing of Hogg’s “Songs by the Ettrick Shepherd” (1831) and “Miscellaneous Songs” for the critically acclaimed Stirling/South Carolina (S/SC) Research Edition of the Collected Works of James Hogg (1770-1835) published by Edinburgh University Press.
Dr Kirsteen McCue said: “In recent decades there has been a spectacular revival of Hogg’s reputation, and his Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner is now widely regarded as one of the greatest and most popular of all Scottish novels. However, Hogg’s very valuable contribution to the Scottish song tradition remains under-researched and undervalued. Like his hero Robert Burns before him, Hogg was both a collector of traditional Scottish song and a song-writer in his own right. The AHRC award will fund research that will clarify and publicise Hogg’s magnificent contribution to the Scottish song tradition.”
The S/SC Edition of Hogg’s works has already produced seventeen of what will eventually run to thirty-six hardback volumes. Each of these rigorously researched scholarly editions are uncovering the full extent of Hogg’s literary talents. Of the volumes published, eight have already been re-issued in paperback by Edinburgh University Press to address the lack of popular authentic editions of Hogg’s work.
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
For further information:
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Douglas Mack University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Tel: +44 (0) 1786 467497 |
Justice, Security and Rights Under the Spotlight
Date released: Tuesday 20 September 2005
The University of Stirling is holding a forum for reflection on issues raised at the G8 summit on 6-8 October 2005.
A Colloquium on Justice, Security and Rights has been organised by the Departments of Philosophy and Politics and will draw together delegates from diverse backgrounds including leading academics, politicians, policy-makers, commentators and representatives of NGOs.
Lecturer, Dr Rowan Cruft said: “The event will provide a critical lens on the moral issues of global justice, development, war and terrorism. Our aim is to build bridges between political practitioners and theorists through these interdisciplinary discussions, in order to analyse and evaluate the principles and policies that can foster global justice and security.”
The conference is being sponsored by the British Academy and the Scots Philosophical Club.
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
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Rowan Cruft University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Tel: +44 (0) 1786 466230 |
Stirling Appoints New Dementia Director
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| Pictured above: June Andrews, the newly appointed Director of DSDC |
Date released: Tuesday 20 September 2005
The University of Stirling has appointed June Andrews as the new Director of its Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC).
The Centre, which exists to extend and improve services for people with dementia and their carers in Scotland, provides extensive information about dementia services as well as developing and disseminating research.
June Andrews will join the University on Monday 3 October from the Scottish Executive where she is currently Director of the Health Department Centre for Change and Innovation (CCI), a unit set up in 2002 to drive change in the NHS in Scotland. June was formerly the Scottish Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, where she spoke out on behalf of nurses and patients in Scotland. She has also held senior nursing posts in the NHS.
June said: “My first ever job was in a ward caring for elderly people with dementia, and that experience has shaped my career. A lot has changed in my professional lifetime, but a lot more needs to change. There are around 750,000 people in the UK with dementia and the number will steadily increase in the foreseeable future in line with the ageing population. Working in the Stirling’s Dementia Services Development Centre is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the improvement of care for people with dementia as well as increase the support available to their families and carers.”
June’s appointment follows the retirement in August of Professor Mary Marshall, the Centre’s first Director. Professor Marshall is known nationally and internationally for her tireless efforts in the field of dementia care. She has been honoured with the award of an OBE and honorary doctorates from Queen Margaret University College and the University of Edinburgh. She began her career in 1975 teaching social work at the University of Liverpool, before taking up the post of Director of Age Concern Scotland in 1983. Her academic interests, professional practice, research experience and interest in older people made her an ideal choice for the post of Director in 1989.
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
For further information:
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June Andrews University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Pager: +44 (0) 7659 105178 |
Stirling Appoints First Criminology Chair
Date released: Thursday 22 September 2005
The University of Stirling has appointed its first Professor of Criminology. Jacqueline Tombs joined the Department of Applied Social Science in September from Glasgow Caledonian University where she was Professor of Criminal Justice in the School of Law and Social Sciences.
Professor Tombs said: “We are in the midst of very challenging times for criminology and criminologists. Scotland is facing change in its youth and criminal justice systems at a rate never previously encountered – as the Scottish Executive instigates an ever lengthening programme of reform. The need for informed public debate about these changes is pressing and I am sure Stirling will make a major contribution.”
Welcoming Professor Tombs University of Stirling Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Christine Hallett said: “Professor Tombs brings a wealth of professional experience to the University and is a scholar of high international standing. For over twenty years she was responsible for criminological research in the Scottish Office and has held research and teaching posts at the Universities of Cambridge and Pennsylvania. She has also been a Visiting Professor at universities in Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Europe.”
She added: “Her appointment will build on the University’s well established research profile in criminological studies, notably in the areas of drugs, criminal justice policy and practice, youth crime and alternatives to custody. The student demand for criminology continues to grow and places on our undergraduate criminology degree, the first of its kind in Scotland, and MSc are hotly contested.”
Professor Tombs is published widely in the fields of criminal justice decision-making, notably on sentencing and prosecution; crime surveys and social work and criminal justice. Her current research interests are in criminology and penal policy including the emergence of new penal forms.
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
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Professor Jackie Tombs University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Pager: +44 (0) 1786 467743 |
104 Languages Spoken by Scottish School Kids
Date released: Thursday 22 September 2005
A new study has shown that Scotland’s linguistic map is changing and the number of languages in use is growing. Around 12,000 Scottish school kids speak another language in addition to English and there are at least 104 community languages in use from Panjabi to Polish.
However the research, carried out by the University of Stirling’s Scottish Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (Scottish CILT) in conjunction with English and Welsh counterparts, has revealed that the breadth of languages spoken is not reflected in learning provision – just 19 of these 104 languages are catered for by schools and local authorities.
Deputy Director of Scottish CILT, Joanna McPake said: “Communities make extensive provision for the study of their own languages. There are 99 complementary schools that hold classes after school hours or at weekends. There is also support from schools and local authorities. However with language diversity spreading to parts of Scotland where previously few languages other than English were spoken, there is no provision for the vast majority of languages.”
The researchers believe there is immense potential for closer working between mainstream schools and community providers, and believe community languages are often an overlooked asset.
Ms McPake commented: “Considerable concern has been expressed in the press about the long-term future of languages in UK schools and universities and about the implications for business. Yet, the UK has a major linguistic asset not currently sufficiently recognised in language policy and planning: children from multilingual communities who are growing up with knowledge of languages, such as Panjabi, Polish, Somali or Yoruba, in addition to English.”
Previous research has shown that bilingualism has positive effects on an individual’s linguistic and educational development, as well as being of considerable worth in a business context.
Ms McPake added: “A key issue for the UK in the age of globalisation is which languages are likely to be of most benefit for the economy, for trade and for international relations in the 21st century. Some of the most widely spoken and studied community languages – Urdu, Turkish, Chinese, Bengali and Arabic – are likely to be on that list.”
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
For further information:
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Joanna McPake University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Tel: +44 (0) 1786 466295 or 0774 068 0173 |
New Web Pages Provide Insight to British Film History
Date released: Monday 26 September 2005
The University of Stirling holds the papers of two of the most important figures in the history of British filmmaking, John Grierson, one of the pioneers of documentary film, and Lindsay Anderson, the controversial, outspoken director of If….
New web pages devoted to the two directors have just been launched on the University’s website that provide detailed descriptions of the contents of the collections which include personal and working papers, photographs, memorabilia and, in Anderson’s case, diaries. The pages also provide access to extracts from letters, reports, notebooks and diaries which provide a fascinating insight into the thoughts and opinions of the filmmakers.
An exhibition of photographs from The Lindsay Anderson Collection can also be found online entitled ‘Lindsay Anderson: a life in pictures.’
Archivist, Karl Magee said: “Taken from the thousands of images present in the collection these photographs provide a unique glimpse of the director at work behind the camera on such films as If…., This Sporting Life and O Lucky Man! Additional content will be added to these pages over the coming months to provide further information on, and access to, these important collections.”
For further information see:
The John Grierson Archive:
http://www.library.stir.ac.uk/spcoll/media/grierson.html
The Lindsay Anderson Collection:
http://www.library.stir.ac.uk/lindsayanderson/
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
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Karl Magee University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Tel: +44 (0) 1786 466619 |