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Many Happy Returns (MHR) is a multidisciplinary project funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), as part of UKRI’s Enabling Research competition in its Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge. MHR aims to encourage reusable plastic packaging systems as a means of reducing single-use plastic waste. The linguistics work package of MHR aims: (i) to understand how people think about plastic (re)use by examining their language; (ii) to assess how well public perceptions appear to align with public-facing information on reuse; and (iii) to inform best-practice recommendations for communication around plastic reuse. The project built a corpus of relevant language, analysed it using corpus software, and interpreted it in relation to a project ecosophy.

The transport sector is responsible for around 20% of global CO2 emissions, and road transport alone contributes to three-quarters of that share. Since the European Union will implement a separate Emissions Trading System in 2027, which will cover road transport, buildings and additional sectors (mainly small industry), the study considered the idea for the UK. The research specifically explored differences in perceptions of fuel price increases as a result of an increase in fuel duties or as a result of the introduction of a parallel Emissions Trading System for road transport. A Serious Game was used to elicit perceptions. In the game, called the Commuter Dilemma Game, car drivers were presented with situations where they needed to make decisions in response to an increase in the pump price of fuel. The sample was a convenient sample, and therefore not representative. The players had to make decisions during the game were the essential, and these were aimed at triggering a discussion about the perception of an increase in the pump price of fuel resulting from different policies. Six decisions could be made: a) To choose which transport mode to use (car, bus, bicycle, walk), each with an associated time and fuel cost, b) To replace their car with a more efficient car, c) To not visit some of the facilities (such as health, education, shopping or leisure facilities) to reduce expenses, d) To move house, e) To complain about the policies triggering an increase in pump prices (with the complaint being some sort of formal complaint to the government, or simply moaning), and f) To join a demonstration against the pump price increase.

This data collection comprises primary research materials gathered for a PhD thesis that examines the pivotal role of mediators in facilitating the alignment of negotiating parties' perspectives during peace negotiations to end civil wars. Centred on the case study of the UN-mediated El Salvador peace negotiations from 1989 to 1992, the dataset includes in-depth transcripts from interviews with 18 individuals who played direct roles or were closely connected to these negotiations. Additionally, the collection encompasses a curated selection of relevant documents from the peace negotiations, sourced from the United Nations archives in New York and various collections in El Salvador. These materials offer invaluable insights into the dynamics of the El Salvador peace process, highlighting the complexities and strategic considerations involved in mediation efforts to resolve civil conflicts. The interviews provide unique, firsthand perspectives on the negotiation process, mediator strategies, and the challenges and successes encountered. The documentary evidence from the UN and Salvadoran collections adds a rich contextual layer, enabling a comprehensive analysis of the negotiation and mediation processes. Intended to support the thesis's exploration of mediation as a framing process, this dataset not only contributes to the academic understanding of peace negotiations but also serves as a practical resource for mediators and scholars interested in conflict resolution.

Transnational organised crime at sea has emerged as a significant area of international concern, whether that be piracy and armed robbery against ships, the use of the sea for trafficking of humans, drugs, or arms and as a conduit for extremist violence, or pervasive illegal fishing other environmental crimes in the maritime domain. Responding to these challenges requires complex and interconnected measures at sea and on land, and in ways that combine security, law enforcement and development themes. This project set out to improve our understanding of the causes and manifestations of crime at sea, and to provide recommendations to strengthen international and regional responses to it. It focused on the Indo-Pacific, a maritime region which is particularly prone to maritime insecurities on the one hand, but in which significant efforts have been made to tackle these on the other. The project first established a systematic conceptualisation and categorisation of transnational organised crime at sea (Bueger and Edmunds 2020, 2024). Second, we conducted a systematic evidence review of the existing knowledge base on blue crime and published this as three data papers and an online evidence base. Third, drawing on analysis of responses to maritime crime in our case study regions, we developed a theoretical model of how and when cooperation develops between actors in the face of shared problems of security and law enforcement in the maritime domain. Finally, we identified a series of promising practices and solutions in the fight against transnational organised crime at sea, focusing on informal governance mechanisms, operations at sea, maritime security strategies, maritime domain awareness and information sharing, and capacity building. The collection consists of data files from evidence base and regional guide workstreams.

There is little empirical evidence either globally or in Uganda on how experiences of violence in childhood and adolescence affect a) participation in skills programmes, entry into work, and decent employment; and b) about the extent and nature of physical, sexual and emotional violence experienced by young people in their workplaces. The qualitative component of this study examines people's experiences of being recruited into skills and employment programmes in Uganda, how programme recruitment mechanisms might in the exclusion of vulnerable young people, particularly those experiencing violence and/or child labour, and young people's views on the provision of violence prevention strategies within skills training programmes. The qualitative data collected as part of this study comprises of transcripts from four focus group discussions (FGDs) and 24 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with adolescents who either have or have not participated in skills training, and 18 key informant interviews (KIIs).

Datasets present text data stemming from academic articles (Scopus and WoS) and Policy documents collected from EU institutional repositories (European Commission, European Parliament, Council of the European Union). The data was collected from January to May 2023, as part of the "Digital Sovereignty by Design" research project framework. The primary purpose of this data collection is to conduct topic modelling, namely Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), in order to identify current debates on digital sovereignty through international relations and political science lenses. We seek to identify and demonstrate the state-of-the-art with revealing trends and insights, mapping complex research and the political landscape of digital sovereignty issues in the EU. The objectives are (1) to identify the role played by the concept of digital sovereignty in different fields of studies; (2) to highlight recent trends in the study of digital sovereignty; (3) to identify, within those trends, the most common topics related to digital sovereignty and to trace their development over time; and (4) to explore how those trends and topics related to political regulation and governance within the digital sovereignty sphere. We present five datasets. One dataset contained academic articles data on digital sovereignty, and four other datasets collected policy documents from EU institutions. The academic articles' datasets contain complete bibliographic information, abstract and keywords (if available) from 2013 to 2023 with a total N of 156 texts. The datasets for the policy documents include the document's title and its complete text: European Commission from 2009 to 2023 with a total N of 2019 texts (61 from Register; 158 from Commonly used documents); European Parliament from 2011 to 2023 with total N of 368 texts; and Council of the European Union from 2001 to 2023 with total N of 221 texts.

Youth unemployment rose sharply as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent sector lockdowns in the UK and across the world with 18.5% of young people aged 15-24, unemployed across EU, 40% in Spain (European Parliament Study, 2021), and 14.9% in the UK (House of Commons Library, 2023). Although, the employment rates are showing some recovery, research shows that youth unemployment has delayed long-term negative impacts on future well-being, health and job satisfaction of individuals. It increases young people’s chances of being unemployed in later years and carry a wage penalty (Bell and Blanchflower, 2011). Young people (15-24 year olds) are also more likely to work part time, often not out of choice (Pay Rise Campaign 2015), are at higher risk of ‘in-work poverty’ (Hick and Lanau 2018), more likely to be employed in low-paid and insecure jobs (across OECD countries). In the UK, labour market disadvantage is coupled with the rising cost of higher education and crucially the tightening of social security conditionality through Welfare Reform (since 2012) which could be linked to a drop in eligible young people claiming welfare support (Wells 2018). A vast body of literature has emerged in the West on youth policies and the nature of welfare state (Esping-Andersen 1990; Taylor-Gooby 2004; Wallace and Bendit 2009; Pierson 2011). It, however, remains silent on the crucial question of devolution. This ESRC funded research examines the impact of devolution on welfare provision and the sub-state welfare regimes in the UK in the focused context of youth unemployment. The project is progressing in three phases (Wave 1: 2020-21 / Wave 2: 2022-23). Wave1 identified, categorised and compared scales and types of civil society involvement in youth unemployment policy between the three devolved nations of the UK: England, Scotland and Wales. In doing so examined the implications of these differences for both youth unemployment provision and devolved policy arrangements. It has provided an internationally salient analysis located in the global phenomenon of state reconfiguration, the emergence of sub-state welfare regimes and the adoption of welfare pluralism. The research found that devolved social policy in Scotland and, to a lesser extent, Wales goes some way to mitigating the work first policy approach emanating from Westminster. Crucial to this are the key points of convergence and contention between devolved (education) and non-devolved (welfare) areas of youth employment policy on the ground (Pearce and Lagana 2023). The way in which these key points of policy tension play-out in key institutional areas like Jobcentre Plus, is the focus of the second phase of project. Wave 2 focused on ground level sites of service delivery (2022-2023). Research shows that the policy structures and the perceptions of frontline staff about the policy provisions and people claiming them, shape the nature, attitudes and processes of service delivery, and have implications for service claimants and unemployment addressal (Cagliesi and Hawkes 2015; Fletcher 2011; Fletcher and Redman 2022; Rosenthal and Peccei 2006). This phase of project was a more in-depth, critical and comparative examination of the way policy plays out on the ground through a systematic investigation of the perspectives of frontline staff interacting with the young people, in the specific context of devolution. We interviewed frontline staff in England, Scotland and Wales to study how policy is perceived and translated on ground level at the sites of service delivery in these three devolved nations from the following five categories: 1). Work Coaches (Jobcentre Plus- All ages) 2). Youth Employability Coaches (Jobcentre Plus- Young People) 3). Additional Work Coaches (Youth Hubs) 4). Careers Wales / Fair Start / National Careers Service Advisers 5). Civil Society job advisers (CWVYS/Skills Development Scotland /Youth Employment UK) This research will continue to take advantage of the UK’s unique, asymmetrical devolved arrangements to address the identified gap in research examining youth (un)employment under devolved systems of governance. The broader aim is to critique the notion of 'one UK welfare state' and, in doing so, progress our understanding of the impact of decentralisation, devolution and territorial rescaling on welfare state formation across Western Europe.

A Brand New Sense (BraNeS) aimed to create a digital tool that made movement fun and aided creative expression and intergenerational exchange within the user's home setting and/or community environments. Just like anyone else, when they exercised, old people experienced important health benefits. They were able to move better, accomplish daily and routine tasks easier, and experience a positive shift in their mood. However, a major challenge was how to get people to become active in a way that they enjoyed. Research had shown that a combination of movement and music was enjoyable, and people were more likely to adhere to exercise programmes that involved music. Studies had also shown that the social dimension of physical activity was an important factor of enjoyment. BraNeS explored the use of movement sonification as a form of physical activity that combined creative expression and social interaction. The record includes: a folder with the activities that were delivered as part of the Brand New Sense project; a file with observations from individual sessions with research participants; an evaluation Questionnaire that was circulated in the four care homes that tested the technology; and a video that was created out of the Now and Then package of the project. Data collected from the evaluation Questionnaire could not be archived.

This dataset of historical poor law cases was created as part of a project aiming to assess the implications of the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into legal systems in Japan and the United Kingdom. The project was jointly funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council, part of UKRI, and the Japanese Society and Technology Agency (JST), and involved collaboration between Cambridge University (the Centre for Business Research, Department of Computer Science and Faculty of Law) and Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo (the Graduate Schools of Law and Business Administration). As part of the project, a dataset of historic poor law cases was created to facilitate the analysis of legal texts using natural language processing methods. The dataset contains judgments of cases which have been annotated to facilitate computational analysis. Specifically, they make it possible to see how legal terms have evolved over time in the area of disputes over the law governing settlement by hiring.

Autistic people often speak about sensory overload as a highly negative impact on their daily life and wellbeing. Despite this community prominence, relatively little research has explored the concept itself and the research that has been conducted has mostly used clinician reports. This study, co-produced with autistic people, recruited 78 self-identified autistic adults to complete a qualitative survey about their experiences of sensory overload. From the data, two themes about the nature of sensory overload were developed: a functioning perspective and a ‘Fight, Flight, Freeze’ perspective. Three further themes constructed from the data related to the overload of high-level processing, the overload of low-level processing, and the fatigue associated with sensory overload.