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New research to help build a secure and resilient world

The University of Birmingham has received £5M funding to further understanding of a region spanning Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central, East & Pacific Asia.

25 July 2024
University of Birmingham campus - group of people walking through green space. Red brick large building to the rear

The initiative will bring together a network of leading expertise and centres of excellence from across the UK and overseas to address gaps and needs in research during a period of major societal, geopolitical, and environmental transformation characterising the Eurasian continent. The funding was awarded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as part of their Building a Secure and Resilient World strategic theme.

The initiative aims to advance innovative new partnerships within academic and policy circles linked to a range of urgent thematic areas including social upheaval, geopolitics and security, environmental crisis, human rights, Russia-China relations, and post-conflict reconstruction. Through the network, open calls for new research, training, and arts-based initiatives will be funded each year between 2024 and 2028.

There is an urgent need to generate greater insight into the issues, the challenges and the politics that intersect across these important geographical areas. The network’s activities will help us to better understand and identify global risks and help inform better decision-making

Professor Jon Oldfield

By building a network of expertise, the partnership aims to create new knowledge as well as build new capacities and train and mentor future leaders. An annual conference and training sessions for researchers and various stakeholders will serve to enhance the network and provide opportunities for dissemination of new ideas.

Partners include the Universities of Glasgow, Manchester and Oxford, together with the Institute of Development Studies and the Royal United Services Institute in the UK. Overseas, partners include Colgate University in the USA; the Ukrainian Catholic University; OSCE Academy Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan; National Taiwan University; Helsinki University in Finland; and Hokkaido University in Japan.

Featured staff

  • Professor Jonathan Oldfield

    Professor in Russian Environmental Studies

    Staff profile for Dr Jonathan Oldfield, Reader in Russian Environmental Sciences in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences and Director of Internationalisation at the University of Birmingham.

    Phone: +44 (0)121 414 2943
    Email: j.d.oldfield@bham.ac.uk

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