“Universities are places that nurture incubation, exchange, innovation, and interdisciplinary analysis, setting the pathway to change,” said Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations in a video message in April this year. “Universities are at the intersection of knowledge and action,” she added. Certainly, the significant contribution that has been made by institutions of higher education worldwide and their research, cannot be underestimated.?
The United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) is informed by a commitment to support and advance ten fundamental principles, one of which is a commitment to advancing peace and conflict resolution through higher education. The?, a member institution of UNAI in the United Kingdom that also acts as the initiative’s Hub for such principle, is taking a step forward to use its expertise to narrow the gap between research and policies at the multilateral level.
A series of new??published in June 2022 translate top academic papers for those working in United Nations peace and security roles to bring research to the front line of conflict resolution. This is a pilot library of resources for practitioners within the United Nations and beyond. Initial policy digests intend to summarize peer-reviewed academic papers or books as product of the faculty research. Those behind this project expect that, over time, the library will seek to encompass a set of themes.
Climate security risks and environmental drivers of conflict; digital tech and data sources to improve measurement of results in conflict prevention; improving United Nations responses to violence by non-state actors; the future of peacekeeping; new forms of conflict; conflict prevention and peacebuilding, including the development-humanitarian-peace and security nexus; insights needed on regional dynamics and regional responses to conflict; and the geopolitical context for the United Nations’ peace and security work, form the set of themes envisioned for the project.
Each digest has a length of around 500 words so that it can be read and reviewed very quickly by those interested professionals and the general public. These digests contain a summary, critical data, and key policy findings of the given paper or book, in addition to an indication of the author(s), the name of the publisher, the publication type, and the link to the actual publication in full in case the reader would like to expand further. This allows a way to ‘translate’ academic writing into something easy-to-access for those outside academia.
Furthermore, a new series of podcasts entitled??supplements the policy digests, aiming at sharing and introducing cutting-edge research on conflict. Seven episodes have been uploaded since April, lasting, on average, 30 minutes each. A wide range of experts has been featured in the podcasts covering topics such as achieving and sustaining peace, violence against civilians, and in particular women, peace operations, state-building, post-conflict development, and the security implications of climate change.?
The university is, according to Professor Andrea Ruggeri, Director of Oxford’s Centre for International Studies, “facilitating knowledge exchanges between scholars from across Oxford’s research community and beyond - to connect, learn from each other, and to collaborate in preventing or mitigating conflict, and shaping a more secure future.” “Our academic policy digests and podcast series are an important part of this work, shining a light on some important new data and key thinkers in the field,” the expert added.
