Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal
Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal (ISSN 2053-9665) is a peer-reviewed, open access, online journal dedicated to the publication of high-quality work by researchers in all disciplines, especially early career researchers and emerging domain experts, along with those combining research with academic teaching or other professional employment. The journal welcomes articles from all academic areas, including interdisciplinary research and co-authored papers, in order to encourage intellectual exchange and debate across research communities. The journal's operations are overseen by a Managing Editor-in-Chief based at the Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick, UK, supported by an international Editorial Board comprising early career researchers from around the world. The title is usually published bi-annually. It also provides both editors and authors with a readily accessible and supportive environment in which to develop academic writing and publishing skills of the highest order. Please view our Focus and Scope or Submit an Article using our five step submission portal.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY), which permits use and redistribution of the work provided that the original author and source are credited, a link to the license is included, and an indication of changes which were made. Third-party users may not apply legal terms or technological measures to the published article which legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits. If accepted for publication authors’ work will be made open access and distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license unless previously agreed with Exchanges’ Editor-in-Chief prior to submission. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. (see: The Effect of Open Access)
In this editorial for Volume 13, issue one, Exchanges' new editor-in-chief introduces herself and outlines the content of this special issue on Sustainability Culture, the first issue she has published at the helm of the journal. The editorial provides a brief overview of the topic as well as a summary of individual articles appearing in the issue, as a guide for readers. It also outlines the various ways in which individuals can contribute to the journal or engage with its wider social media presence.
Copyright (c) 2026 Michelle Devereaux http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Re-imagining the Anthropocene by Examining Sustainability Culture Through the Lens of Paradox
In this Critical Reflection I seek to re-imagine the Anthropocene and its ecological crisis though a change of basic narrative from logic to paradox. Based on the proposition that the concept of culture plays a crucial role in understanding the sustainability crisis, I propose that the narrativization of the meaning of culture, as it plays its role in sustainability, may need to be changed in order to better serve the purpose of understanding our experienced Anthropocenic life situation. After discussing how the perspective of traditional logic is failing us in this quest, I examine the ideas of paradoxical lifeworlding and the Buddhist philosophical construct of the Two Truths Doctrine. I argue that the concept of living in the space between two paradoxical truths may form a better way of imagining how and why we can create a belief system that allows us to live and work sustainably. Finally, I discuss humankind’s next sustainability challenge.
Copyright (c) 2026 Theodoor A.M. Richard http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
In this Introduction to Exchanges’ special issue on Sustainability Culture, I argue that the concept of culture plays a crucial role in understanding the sustainability crisis. I propose that the concept of Sustainability Culture that originally developed in organisational studies may be expanded to a more generally applicable concept, which may serve the purpose of understanding our experienced anthropocenic life situation more deeply. After discussing the organisational concept, I examine the ideas of cultural dynamics that can clarify how people form their cultural awareness. I argue that even though people may have the wish to be more sustainable, they may not act upon this wish, to the extent they have a belief system that makes them think the world does not allow them to live sustainably. And finally, I conclude that the concept of sustainability culture could provide answers to questions surrounding how people could want to live more sustainably.
In this editorial the Editor-in-Chief brings nearly eight years of work to an end as they look back over their career running Exchanges. The editorial also provides an overview of the articles in the issue, as a guide for readers. As usual, the editorial also outlines the various ways in which individuals can contribute to the journal or engage in its wider social media presence. It concludes by offering insights into future issues as well as outlining the current Editorial Board.
Copyright (c) 2025 Gareth J Johnson http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Where Have All the Reviewers Gone? Long time passing
In this introductory editorial, the Chief Editor introduces the volume and the papers within it. They also offer some insights and reflections into the current state of locating peer-reviewers within academic publishing, and some of the unique challenges faced by themselves and fellow editors. The editorial also provides insights into the future issues of the journal, and the ways in which readers can become contributors. Following a series of acknowledgements, the editorial closes with a guide to the various ways in which readers can engage with the journal outside of the published volumes on social media.
Breaking Bad Barriers to Pursuing Research
This research looked to cast light on intersectional issues by considering barriers faced and connecting the difficulties encountered in pursuing a research career with participation in various identities. Job instability, international (im)mobility, an undiversified workforce, biases faced in research collaborations and in hiring processes are just some of a wide variety of barriers affecting researchers in their day-to-day work life and in establishing and progressing their careers. Some of these barriers, due to their nature, adversely affect particular identities more than others. This can lead to negative outcomes for individuals who are prevented from successfully pursuing their career of choice, reinforcing identity stereotypes and perpetuating a lack of inclusion. Our research sought to identify real, potential and perceived barriers that exist to leading or taking part in research, recognising their existence and impact in our own multidisciplinary engineering and science academic department’s context. Barriers were explored through a survey in the first instance with subsequent focus groups. We considered 4 macro-areas of barriers: Belonging and Community; Time and Timing; Access to Resources; Communication and Information. This research tested the completeness of our understanding and elucidated the impact of the barriers on researchers’ careers. Further, we explored individual and community identity, also considering those groups of people displaying identity traits traditionally underrepresented in academia in STEM, and particularly Engineering, deriving greater nuance from lived experience and the importance of fairness, kindness and belonging in the workplace. Funder Acknowledgement The authors would like to acknowledge the Enhancing Research Culture fund from University of Warwick's National Centre for Research Culture, and also WMG’s Summer Internship scheme.
Copyright (c) 2025 Giulia Lorenzi, Ali Zaidi, Melanie Loveridge, Connie Qian, Sarah Wilson http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
This article advances a reformulation of Hannah Landecker’s concept of the ‘chemical gaze’ through artistic research. Instead of framing matter as a site of extraction and profit, the chemical gaze is reimagined as affective, uncertain, and embodied, attentive to uneven toxic relations in contemporary food production. The discussion centres on Exposición, an art-science exhibition created during a residency in Bern, which examined pesticide exposures and the precarious, gendered labour underlying strawberry cultivation in Huelva, southern Spain. Through multisensory installations combining sound, scent, visual media, and ethnographic testimony, the exhibition invited audiences to engage with the entanglements of agrochemicals, migration, and reproductive justice. The article situates this practice within interdisciplinary debates in feminist science studies and environmental humanities, demonstrating how arts-based methods can unsettle dominant imaginaries of agrochemicals and vulnerability. It reflects on the ethical and political stakes of representing toxic labour, the curatorial challenges of working with testimony, and the limitations of aestheticization. Ultimately, it argues that art-science collaborations can generate plural, critical, and sensorially attuned ways of witnessing and contesting toxicity across intimate and planetary scales.
Copyright (c) 2026 Lucy Sabin http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Research culture is often framed as an external and abstract construct, shaped by institutional environments. This article takes a different perspective, arguing that research culture is actively constituted within research practices. Drawing on findings from The Public Laundry Project, a study funded through the Enhancing Research Culture Fund (ERCF) at the University of Warwick (2023–24), this article examines how researchers experience and navigate the cultural dimensions of their work. Using collage inquiry, a creative research method employed in professional development workshops, the study explores how researchers articulate and reflect on their research problems and the broader conditions that shape them. This article aims to contribute to research culture scholarship in two ways. First, it reframes research culture as enmeshed with research practices and researcher identity. This challenges dominant conceptualisations of research culture as primarily institutional or extra-individual. I argue that sustainable shifts in research culture cannot be achieved solely through institutional regulation or external frameworks. Rather, they require an attentiveness to the ways in which culture is lived, enacted, and negotiated within the everyday practices and identities of researchers themselves. Second, the article advances methodological innovation by demonstrating how collage inquiry functions both as an outward-facing research method for examining research culture and as an inward-facing tool for fostering critical reflection. By documenting the workshop process, this article highlights the potential of arts-based methods to surface the lived experiences of researchers, support interdisciplinary dialogue, and cultivate research environments that embrace uncertainty as a generative force in knowledge production. In doing so, it offers new perspectives on how research culture might be actively shaped through creative, reflexive, and deliberative approaches. Funding Acknowledgement This research was supported by The Enhancing Research Culture Fund, at the University of Warwick (funded through the Enhancing Research Culture funding from Research England) in 2023-24.
Copyright (c) 2025 Harriet Richmond http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Coproducing an Academic Career Development Programme to Train Future Leaders in Environment
With the emergence of new capabilities such as artificial intelligence, alongside remote working and the cost-of-living crisis, the needs of early career researcher (ECR) training are fast evolving. PhD students and ECRs increasingly face mental health challenges, driven by isolation and career uncertainty. This paper offers a critical reflection on the creation of a joint academic career development programme (JACDP) between multiple partners, which offers additional, tailored opportunities to support young researchers in universities and governmental public health institutions. Our experience suggests that the success of a multi-institutional programme requires a deliberate collaborative and co-productive approach at all levels.​ In addition to sharing the different expertise in each institution to build a varied training programme, involving young researchers in planning and delivering the training and social activities, tends to increase relevance and peer participation, and to help them develop leadership and time management skills. It is important to continually review the activities, engagement and future events provided, to embed clearer evaluation within the programme, and to reflect on the accessibility of the training provided. Our programme contributes to a positive research culture by providing relevant tailored and diverse academic and research training to develop future public health leaders while aiming to maximize inclusivity and recognising the value that PhD students and ECRs can bring to multi-partner research collaborations. Funding Acknowledgement This work is part funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Environment and Health and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Units in Chemical and Radiation Threats and Hazards, and in Environmental Exposures and Health, which are partnerships between the UK Health Security Agency and Imperial College London.
Copyright (c) 2025 Kerry A. Broom, Dimitris Evangelopoulos, Stephanie Wright, Anastasia Ioakeimidou, Ruthie Parsons, Helena Rapp-Wright, Rose Tweedie, Angela Lewis, Kirsti Hornigold, Matthew D. Wright, Liz Ainsbury, Frédéric B. Piel http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Creating an Inclusive Space for Research Conversations
Within and across university departments, research seems to be much less discussed among colleagues – beyond small, existing coteries – during the conceptualisation and planning stages than showcased when already complete. Hierarchies, silos and lack of opportunities to engage may exclude individuals from potentially valuable research conversations, depending on status, contract type or access to existing research groups. Indeed, conversations about research across different, specialised interests seem to have decreased since the pandemic, hindering the development of new interdisciplinary relationships. The project referred to in this critical reflection sought to foster inclusive conversations about envisioned or ongoing research through activities engaging contract researchers, professional services staff, research students and academic staff across levels. Using peer-coaching guidelines and question prompts, the project team, comprising members in diverse roles and career stages, co-created empathic, non-judgmental and non-hierarchical conversation formats and trialled these with 24 participants across different roles and career stages at a departmental event. In this paper, we critically reflect on this attempt to create an innovative inclusive space for research conversations, explaining how the project team dealt with the challenges of silos and hierarchies and highlighting some of the tensions and difficulties involved in creating such a space. Reflective writing, discussions and survey questionnaires distributed during the project showed that intentional groupings and guided interactions did, to some extent at least, counter structural barriers in the service of an inclusive research culture, fostering mutual respect and support while encouraging research reflection. Funding Acknowledgement The project referenced in this paper and an ongoing Phase Two extension (October 2024–July 2025) with the same title – was funded by the University of Warwick Enhancing Research Culture fund.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ayten Alibaba, Richard Smith, Yvette Yitong Wang http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
This article reflects on two research enabling practitioners’ (REPs) experiences related to making creative research outputs open. The REPs operate within a small specialist institution that is a research organisation (RO) focusing on the creative arts where open research is an embedded part of the RO’s research culture. Many of the RO’s academics are practice-based researchers whose research is disseminated through non-traditional output types such as artefacts, exhibitions, designs and videos. However, there are tensions when making creative outputs open that can lead to ethical dilemmas faced by REPs and researchers, including issues related to informed consent, intellectual property and reuse of the research. These tensions are illustrated by examining three examples of creative outputs where issues have arisen where the inter-relationships of open research, ethics and integrity are explored through vignettes. The findings of this article recommend continued training for researchers about the use of licences for creative works. Another recommendation calls for inclusive and transparent processes that support researchers in gaining justice when the intellectual property from their open access research outputs has been reused in a manner which contradicts the principles of research integrity.
Copyright (c) 2025 Samantha Broadhead, Henry Gonnet http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Between the first and second International Research Culture Conference (IRCC), there has been increasing advocacy for improved research culture, evidenced through collaborative initiatives, networks and events aimed at addressing various challenges within research environments. This reflection follows the International Research Culture Conference 2024 (IRCC24) and highlights significant developments leading up to it, detailing expanded participation and thematic diversity. Key takeaways from the conference included the influence of the Research Excellence Framework - People Culture and Environment pilot, the importance of continued collaboration and increased need for efficiency in this space. It concludes with reflections on future direction, advocating for continued collaboration, increased evaluation, and learning with and from international perspectives to foster meaningful improvement in research culture.
Copyright (c) 2025 Marie Sams, Rika Nair, Sotaro Kita http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The National Centre for Research Culture at the University of Warwick
In recognition of the need for collaboration to effectively address recognised research culture challenges, the University of Warwick established the National Centre for Research Culture in 2023. The Centre aims to bring together organisations and individuals involved in the funding, regulation, production and dissemination of research to share ideas and best practice, coordinate our collective effort, and serve as a long-term, stable hub for knowledge curation, training and innovative research into research culture. This paper describes the background to the establishment of the National Centre for Research Culture, the initial structure of and vision for the Centre, and the activities carried out in its first 18 months of operation.
Copyright (c) 2025 Sotaro Kita, Victoria Strudwick, Marie Sams http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Underrepresentation of Black researchers and academics is one of the most pressing issues in the UK Higher Education sector. The University of Warwick launched the Warwick PATHWAY Programme in November 2023 to address this issue. The programme supports aspiring Black researchers in all disciplines from undergraduate to postdoctoral level to become independent researchers in universities and other organisations. We aim to create ‘a career pipeline that does not leak’ and a multi-level community of aspiring Black researchers, presenting a visible career pathway and support network. Funding Acknowledgement The authors wish to acknowledge the University of Warwick’s Institute of Advanced Study, Doctoral College and Student Opportunity teams for their collaboration and support in funding and implementing this programme. The programme is also supported by Research England's Enhancing Research Culture Fund and the British Geological Survey (BGS).
Copyright (c) 2025 Victoria Strudwick, Sotaro Kita http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
In this critical reflection we will explore our Time to Write project, providing a brief overview of our work, followed by discussion of expected and unexpected benefits, and the knowledge and skills leveraged in design and delivery. We also consider the remaining challenges as our funding from the UKRI Enhancing Research Culture allocation ends in July 2025 and we move to a ‘business as usual’ model. Funding Acknowledgement This work was supported by the UKRI Enhancing Research Culture Fund.
Copyright (c) 2025 Rosie Wadman, Jess Macpherson http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Enhancing Inter-Cultural Awareness Among International Postgraduate Researchers and their Research Supervisors at Warwick
The increasing internationalisation of postgraduate research (PGR) education in the UK has highlighted the unique challenges faced by international students, who now make up around 40% of the postgraduate population. These students face a range of issues, including financial pressures, difficulties with cultural integration, language barriers, workload management, mental well-being, and mismatches in supervision expectations. There is often inadequate support and mentorship tailored to international PGRs, and supervisors may not be fully aware of the hidden barriers these students encounter. Intercultural dynamics is a significant challenge in fostering effective interactions between PGR students and their supervisors. Building intercultural awareness—knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for positive communication in a multicultural environment—is vital for creating strong relationships in this context. This project, therefore, examined the role of intercultural awareness in shaping the relationships between PGR students and their supervisors at the University of Warwick. Using semi-structured interviews with PhD students and supervisors, we explored how intercultural competence affects communication, aligns expectations, and enhances the research experience. This reflection shares the research outcomes, along with insights from the project team on the challenges encountered during the study. Future work will be to expand this research on a larger scale within Warwick and across multiple UK institutions to deepen understanding and inform supportive frameworks for international PGRs. Funding Acknowledgement The project on which to which this paper relates, ‘Enhancing Intercultural awareness among PhD students and their supervisors’, was funded by the Enhancing Research Culture Fund through Research England.
Copyright (c) 2025 Maryam Masood, Gabriella Crawford-Koltai, Shi Ha, Asima Iqbal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Mapping Institutional Commitments to External Concordats to Support Meaningful Research Culture Change
Over recent decades, most UK academic institutions have signed numerous concordats, charters and declarations to demonstrate their commitment to responsible practices in support of research. While these agreements provide essential accountability and direction, they also introduce administrative demands and, without coherent oversight, could lead to redundant actions that inadvertently divert resources from more meaningful research culture change. Here we discuss a project launched at Loughborough University to map the range of actions, goals and responsibilities arising from the University’s participation across multiple concordats. This project sought to streamline responses to these commitments and explore their alignment with our institution’s unique research culture ambitions. This paper presents our approach and shares key lessons we learned throughout the process to potentially help other institutions looking to simplify and coordinate their research culture commitments. Our hope is that by identifying synergies and efficiencies, the sector will be well positioned to better leverage its resources to continue to pursue even more impactful actions to enhance research cultures. Funding Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the Talent Match Summer Internship from Loughborough University for funding Megan English's time on this work.
Copyright (c) 2025 Megan English, Stuart King http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
In this reflective article we explore interdisciplinarity in practice. We begin from the position that interdisciplinary work provides great potential and acknowledge that it has become increasingly visible in discussions on the role that research can play to answer complex questions. By definition, interdisciplinarity transcends academic silos and enriches knowledge by integrating frameworks, methods and approaches across diverse disciplines. However, as our reflections identify, interdisciplinary can be a complicated, complex endeavour that requires careful thought. For instance, it is a non-trivial endeavour to find a common language, build coherent teams or gain a shared understanding of research problems - all of which is required for truly interdisciplinary work. It is important, therefore, to understand the labour of thought involved in conducting interdisciplinary work and achieving effective interdisciplinary collaboration. This article brings together the reflections of six early career researchers from a diverse range of disciplines. In this article we explore both the theoretical challenges and opportunities of interdisciplinary research, as well as the practical application of this work. The impetus for this work comes from a British Academy Early Career Researcher Network event in September 2024 where we discussed the relevance of interdisciplinary research to ECRs. Exchanges Discourse Podcast Telling Interdisciplinary Stories: Lived lessons in research, writing, and making yourself heard [60:12] Musicality, Practice, Research & Interdisciplinary Tensions: More insights into interdisciplinarity & labour [40:27]
Copyright (c) 2025 Abiodun Egbetokun, Una MacGlone, Ed McKeon, Denis Newman-Griffis, Claire Sedgwick, Aikaterini Tavoulari http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Enabling an Inclusive Research Culture for Higher Education Professional Services Researchers
UK higher education institutions employ staff on professional services contracts to fulfil a range of functions, separate to staff employed on academic contracts. There is a sector-wide movement to enhance research culture within higher education institutions, and within this, a growing recognition of the ways that professional services support the sector’s core missions of research and teaching. However, there remains little visibility of professional services staff who are actively researching – we call these individuals professional services researchers. This article reports on an exploratory project at a UK University that sought to enable a more inclusive research culture and environment for professional services researchers. It draws on data from semi-structured interviews with key informants within the University to understand the support and resources available to researchers, and an online questionnaire distributed to professional services staff. We found that the concept of a professional services researcher was not well understood and propose a new conceptual framework to help define professional services researchers and support future research and practice in this space. The lack of conceptual awareness of professional services researchers was creating a research culture where professional services did not feel that their research was valued or recognised, and research support services were difficult to navigate. We make recommendations for how institutions can take practical steps to remove barriers for professional services researchers to make their own research culture more inclusive. Funder Acknowledgement This project was award funding by the University of Bristol Enhancing Research Cultures funding round, on behalf of Research England.
Copyright (c) 2025 Charlotte Verney, Helen Curtis http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Employability Schemes for Young People in STEM
Following the success of Employability Schemes for Young People in STEM: Enabling staff to deliver an enriching experience through research culture development, the next stage was to share good practice with more departments within the University of Warwick. This included sharing information through a faculty wide working group, recruiting staff from two new departments to create a cross-faculty work experience programme and supporting staff from other departments that wanted to host their own programme, but are new to the process. Overall, the aim was to demonstrate and enable engagement with young people, creating role models and encouragement for them to pursue a future in STEM. This article includes a collection of reflections from the staff engaged in the process, highlighting how the initiatives have changed their view on employability schemes, enhanced their working environment and provided training and development that will open further opportunities for them in the future. As the team has grown and we go into the project’s third year of deployment, new staff are foreseeing the possibilities and benefits of the project and have provided statements for their goals and objectives prior to beginning the program. Through discussions with other groups, it is clear that employability schemes can come in many shapes and sizes, so a comparison between the traditions and project style of delivery has been presented. Funding Acknowledgement The project ‘Addressing social mobility issues in STEM’ was funded by the Enhancing Research Culture Fund through Research England.
Copyright (c) 2025 Craig Carnegie, Helena Verrill, Asima Iqbal, Maryam Masood, Anupriya Haridas, Mona Faraji Niri, Bethany Haynes, Sarah Wilson, Phil Jemmett http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Facilitating Practice-Led Research Culture in Initial Teacher Training
This critical reflection examines how a team of academics began to tackle the challenge of developing research culture among their professions-facing colleagues through two interconnected initiatives. It presents the theoretical underpinning of Facilitated Practice-based Research (FPR ©University of Sunderland) and its practical implementation through Research Culture Roundtable (RCR) events and subsequent formation of Agile Research Teams (ARTs). Drawing on contemporary debates around research excellence and practitioner-researcher identity, it explores how structured collaboration can support academics in integrating their practical and scholarly expertise. The ARTs model enables manageable, time-bound participation in research projects while building sustainable research capacity. Initial outcomes demonstrate the potential of this approach for developing research confidence and creating a more inclusive research community. The authors conclude that supporting practitioner-researchers through facilitated, practice-led initiatives can enhance both individual development and institutional research culture, particularly in teaching-intensive settings. Funding Acknowledgement This research was supported by internal research grants provided by the University of Sunderland UKRI Enhancing Research Culture Fund 2024.
Copyright (c) 2025 Kate Duffy, Elizabeth Hidson, Lesley Deacon http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
This Critical Reflection problematizes the notion of a collective ‘we’ who cannot seem to achieve sustainability. The fiction of this notion creates a split in that we, between the simultaneous existence of a ‘comfortable we’ and an unmarked collective of that same ‘we’ which makes their comfort possible. It is the ‘comfortable we’ who seem unable to achieve sustainability. While it remains difficult to look at the unsustainable luxury of the ‘comfortable we’ and not desire it too, its costs are becoming increasingly visible. What my twenty years working at the resource frontier in Cambodia, where forest economies give way to the market, have shown me is that there seem to be no winners in this game. There are victims and there are perpetrators, each traumatized in different ways. I argue that the deep historical melancholy of ‘civilization’ is born of real trauma, the effects of which have been passed through generations of the privileged as well as the human labourers and the more-than-human world of mountains, rivers, and other species who make their privilege possible. The ‘global we’ certainly exists, but it includes far more actors than are currently acknowledged by the ‘comfortable we’, who are riddled with a deep and barely recognized anxiety.
Copyright (c) 2026 Courtney Work http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
In this article, I reflect on my experience organising an international public engagement festival as a doctoral researcher specialising in interactional research, sharing my observations and insights on accessible research communication strategies. Initially immersed in producing academic outputs and assuming that engaging with potential users was not part of my role as a doctoral researcher, my experience of organising the Pint of Science festival shifted my perspective on the societal relevance of my work. Central to this reflection is the importance of fostering a cross-disciplinary, cross-level team environment that encourages diverse perspectives and collaborative decision-making. Another key takeaway from my involvement in the festival is the power of accessible communication strategies, like multimodal metaphors, in making complex research comprehensible and engaging to a non-specialist audience. This reflection also touches upon my preliminary thoughts on the need for a creative and transdisciplinary approach to research communication, where knowledge and research communication strategies are co-created with non-academic stakeholders. Ultimately, I allude to how research culture can evolve to be more inclusive and participatory, ensuring that research is communicated in a way that leads to a tangible societal impact beyond academia.
Copyright (c) 2025 Yanyan Li http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
We summarise and reflect on the symposium ‘Let me explain: Reason-giving across disciplines’, held at the University of Warwick's Institute of Advanced Study in June 2024. The event brought together scholars from four faculties to discuss the concept of explanation and its relationship to interdisciplinarity. We pick out four questions that participants found especially stimulating: Is a good explanation really more than a good description? How does agency change the structure of explanations? Who explains to whom? And what does interdisciplinarity mean for the practice of explaining? We end by highlighting the refreshingly disruptive potential of genuinely interdisciplinary forums of knowledge-exchange. Funder Acknowledgement This symposium was supported by funding from the Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick.
Copyright (c) 2025 Yvette Yitong Wang, Simon Gansinger http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
An Applied History of Indigenous Deer Hunting
In the context of global environmental change and increasing calls for sustainability, history can provide critical lessons on how to initiate a transition towards a more equitable, sustainable, and environmental-friendly future. This research seeks to uncover such lessons through a case study that examines deer and deer hunting in seventeenth-century Dutch Formosa, drawing connections to contemporary discussions on Indigenous hunting practices. By reading archival materials from the Dutch East India Company and Chen Di’s travel records against the grain, this research foregrounds the historical agency of Indigenous peoples and non-human actors. It posits that current frictions between Indigenous hunters and the Taiwanese state must be understood through the lens of settler colonial history. Borrowing from Povinelli’s concept of geontopower, this study argues that ongoing transformation of Indigenous hunting practices and human-deer relationships resemble seventeenth-century geontological power formulations. These findings offer valuable lessons that can inform current debates on Indigenous hunting practices in Taiwan as well as wider debates on sustainability cultures.
Copyright (c) 2026 Ronald van Velzen http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Precision Mentorship Programme for Inclusive Researcher Development
Effective mentorship is widely acknowledged as essential for fostering professional growth and enhancing research capabilities in UK higher education (HE). However, the process of finding a mentor often remains informal, relying heavily on personal connections, characteristics and pre-existing relationships. This critical review examines the Precision Mentorship Programme (PMP) a novel initiative developed and piloted at Kingston University with researchers in the arts and humanities. Designed to build confidence, enhance research skills, and support the creation of robust research plans and funding proposals, the PMP combined four one-hour personalised mentorship sessions with wrap-around support and resources, to guide 12 participants through the complexities of academic research and funding acquisition. In this article we describe the PMP’s design, delivery and evaluation. We draw on our experiences of developing and implementing the PMP to reflect on its successes, limitations, and broader implications for inclusive researcher development in UK HE. While the PMP successfully achieved several of its objectives, it also encountered challenges in fully addressing the diverse needs of its participants and overcoming systemic barriers to inclusive professional development and career progression. The broader implications for UK HE professional development include 1) Equipping experienced researchers with precision mentorship skills, resources and incentives to mentor, 2) Developing and testing PMP models within research groups, projects and programmes, 3) Recognising mentor’s contributions in institutional and sector quality performance frameworks. In conclusion, the PMP is a useful approach for inclusive researcher development, however for its full potential and benefits to be sustained mentors need to be recognised and rewarded by institutions and research quality assessment frameworks. Funder Acknowledgement Kingston University provided funding for this work and in the writing of this article.
Copyright (c) 2025 Elizabeth Morrow, Meg Jensen http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
If You Could Just Go Ahead and Make Sure You Do That From Now On That Would Be Great
In this introductory editorial, the Chief Editor looks briefly at changes in the field of academic publishing, alongside speculating on future developments for the journal. Notably the editorial contains an overview of all articles appearing in this issue, along with news about forthcoming issues and author contribution opportunities too. Following a series of acknowledgements, the editorial closes with a guide to the various ways in which readers can engage with the journal outside of the published volumes on social media.
Copyright (c) 2024 Gareth Johnson http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Caring Earth, Caring People, Shared Present
The article reflects on how permaculture offers a framework for signifying sustainability on a daily basis, focusing on practices and projects carried out by permaculturists in Sardinia. Three ethics of permaculture—earth care, people care, and fair share—emerge as pivotal in driving actions and choices. Projects are modelled on an ecological resilience-oriented model mimicking nature, which allows for structuring the world based on relationships that can address growing environmental concerns. Through ethnographic examples of wheat production and customs among visiting friends, the article illustrates how nature serves as a model for people, merging with local agro-pastoral traditions and claims to island identity. In Sardinia, permaculturists’ ethical orientation towards every living and non-living element of the system combines with local cultural customs, in a shift from agricoltura to agricultura. This alternative ontology based on relatedness blurs the boundaries between human and non-human and between past, present, and future. Caring for humans thus becomes caring for soils, microbes, vegetation, winds, and rain; caring for future generations means fairly sharing the world between humans and non-humans in the present.
Copyright (c) 2026 Maria Giovanna Cassa http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Agricultural Development Means for Food Security and Sustainability in Palau
Agriculture in Palau plays a vital role beyond food production, supporting both social and ecological resilience in the face of climate change and global economic pressures. This paper highlights key challenges to achieving food security and suggests pathways forward. We recommend: (1) promoting climate-resilient, traditional crops like taro, cassava, and sweet potato using conservation practices; (2) investing in soil improvement and agricultural capacity building; and (3) enhancing research on sustainable agro-ecosystems, including organic recycling methods. Revitalizing traditional agriculture through these strategies can strengthen food self-sufficiency and build a healthier, more resilient Palauan community.
Copyright (c) 2026 Yin Yin Nwe, Mee Mee, Ryo Suzuki, Christopher Kitalong http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Australian 2021 Soil Carbon Method (2021 Method) enables drawdown of atmospheric CO2 to soil. The 2021 Method creates a basis for project development and a market for trade in soil carbon Australian Carbon Credit Units. Standardised measurement, innovation in farm management, and monetary incentives are keys to its success. This paper reports on the early successes of industry participants. Soil carbon markets are an emerging paradigm in sustainability culture. Official and private sources are used to tabulate data from the first projects to earn soil carbon credits under the ACCU (Australian Carbon Credit Unit) Scheme. Summary data shows an area-weighted average accumulation rate of 6.0 ACCU’s (tonnes of CO2 equivalents) per hectare per year. A new index of sustainability culture, Soil Carbon Effective Sustainability Culture Index (SCESCI), measured in years, is presented, with Australia having 140.1 years of SCESCI to 30 June 2025. Globally, over 150 Gigatonnes of soil carbon has been lost from agricultural soils. Replacing this carbon pool would draw down much of the current excess of atmospheric carbon. The related step-change increase in agricultural productivity is significant to global security in a changing world. Monitoring SCESCI at national and regional levels is a success indicator for required transformative change with speed and scale.
Copyright (c) 2026 Duncan Farquhar, Melanie Addinsall, Andrew Bremner, Matthew Warnken, Kieren Whittock http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0