New research projects to tackle key vulnerability and policing challenges

The ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre has funded four new research projects led by Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to address crucial social issues.

The projects will focus on policing and climate change, coercive control in honour-based abuse, interventions to help children at risk of going missing multiple times, and identifying child exploitation in Roma communities within Bradford.

The projects were awarded funding from the Centre’s annual Early Career Researcher Development Fund. The fund enables ECRs to lead co-produced pioneering projects that contribute new insights to current and emerging vulnerability and policing challenges.

The 12-month projects will commence in May 2024. Successful applicants receive support from the Centre to maximise the reach and impact of the research.

“We are delighted to fund four new projects from our Early Career Researcher Development Fund”, said Professor Charlie Lloyd, Co-Director of the Centre.

“All of these projects concentrate on essential areas of work that complement our Centre’s research programme and have the potential to lead to positive impacts for services and vulnerable people . We look forward to seeing them get under way and follow the successes of our first cohort of projects.”

Professor Adam Crawford, Co-Director of the Centre, said: “We are immensely pleased that this year’s round of ECR grant funding received such a positive response; there were some outstanding applications submitted.

“A key aim of the fund is to support the next generation of vulnerability and policing researchers. It is exciting to see such a strong field of ECRs and rewarding to be able to assist our awardees in their goals to find evidence-based solutions to social problems.”

One of the new projects will be led by Dr Ali Malik from the University of Leeds. The Policing and Community Resilience in the Context of Climate Change project will examine how the police and local resilience forums understand, prepare for, and respond to climate vulnerability. The research will address gaps in knowledge about the impact of climate change on vulnerable communities. In particular, it will look at how climate change could exacerbate socio-economic inequalities and intersectional disadvantages. The project will also highlight best practices in local capacity-building and response strategies during climate disasters.

This post has been adapted from the Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre website. Read the original article.

For full details on Dr Ali Malik’s project, visit the Policing and Community Resilience in the Context of Climate Change project webpage. Dr Ali Malik can be contacted via email at A.Malik4@leeds.ac.uk.

Featured photo by Ethan Wilkinson on Unsplash.