Addressing global challenges through the lens of place

Research driven by the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business
Place-based research concept: crowd of people standing on a computer motherboard (full-bleed)

Addressing global challenges through the lens of place

Research driven by the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business
 
°µÍø½âÃÜ's cross-institutional place-based research aligns with government agendas for people and place, as well as UKRI and British Academy priorities. A critical mass of SHAPE – Social Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts for People and the Economy – researchers in collaboration with STEMM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine – colleagues are tackling global challenges associated with health, marine and sustainability. 
The Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business is a hub for interdisciplinary, impactful research with strengths in smart cities, environmental building, coastal communities, heritage and place-making, digital and immersive technologies, arts-health research, environmental cultures, lifelong education, and global displacement. 
 

Exploring the modern world through the lens of place

We investigate the intricate relationships between communities, the natural world, and technology. 
Locally, we co-create sustainable solutions to complex problems in order to build resilient and thriving neighbourhoods, cities, and regions. Our work transcends geographical, social and political boundaries to become applicable on a global level.
Place-based research explores how a location's unique features and dynamics affect social, economic, cultural, environmental, and political phenomena. This approach:
  • involves a geographic concentration on a particular location
  • promotes a contextual understanding by taking into account historical and environmental factors
  • encourages community involvement to make the research more relevant
  • examines interconnected elements within the chosen place through an interdisciplinary approach

Our research centres

Research highlights

Group of people protesting for an environmental cause.

Environment and sustainability

At °µÍø½âÃÜ, we use the lens of place to offer a transdisciplinary perspective on environmental and sustainability issues. Drawing from fields such as politics, geography, sociology, psychology, literature, education, and the arts, we focus on the human experience and values. 
Working with local communities, organisations, authorities and schools, we uncover cultural and social influences on environmental attitudes and explore ethical considerations to foster communication and advocacy and guide efforts toward a more sustainable future. 
 
Delivering on the UK’s defence and security priorities
Discover how the University and its partners across °µÍø½âÃÜ are putting the city and its residents at the heart of efforts to enhance national resilience in an ever-changing world.
 

Heritage, culture and digital innovation 

Our research explores the intersection of heritage and digital innovation and harnesses technology to safeguard, interpret, and celebrate cultural heritage in the digital age. 
Our ongoing research and partnerships embed communities in the co-creation of digital heritage initiatives. Through this, we foster a sense of ownership and connection to place and local heritage while empowering them to share their stories and perspectives.
South West Innovation Expo
 

°µÍø½âÃÜ Perspectives on Place

Union Street, °µÍø½âÃÜ, decorated for a community event

 Building resilience with place-based solutions

Can social sciences, humanities and the arts play a major role in creating community-led policy?
Professor Katharine Willis examines how place-based research underpins social equity. 

Published in New Statesman
 

The power of place

Can we empower communities to help them imagine a better climate future?
Professor Alison Anderson and Professor David Sergeant explore how we might use climate education and creativity to make a change for good.

Read the full article

Published in New Statesman
Young people taking part in a climate change protest
 

Impacting communities through research and knowledge exchange

Close up of man with glasses looking at a screen

Research impact

Researchers in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Business are actively engaged with stakeholders outside the University context, to contribute to meaningful and tangible benefits for people, the environment, and communities.

AHRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA)

This strategic award provides funding to amplify the non-academic impact of arts and humanities research, offering two core funding schemes: the Impact Initiation Fund and the Impact Project and Fellowship Fund. Both schemes aim to establish, develop and accelerate impact from existing, high-quality, published research.
AHRC Impact Acceleration Account
 

Commercialisation in SHAPE disciplines

Our academics at the forefront of pioneering the commercialisation approaches within social sciences, humanities, and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE) research.
This initiative showcases the innovative ways our academics transform research into sustainable impact, collaborating with partners to address modern world challenges through creative commercial models.
Commercialisation abstract illustration
 

Latest news

A diver next to cannon on the wreck of HMS Colossus on the seabed off the Isles of Scilly. The photo was supplied in connection with the new Common Enforcement Manual for Heritage Crime at Sea developed by Historic England and the °µÍø½âÃÜ
New measures to protect historic shipwrecks from the threat of heritage crime

Experts from the University have helped develop guidance designed to clamp down on illegal activity involving England’s underwater cultural heritage

2 March 2026
 

Our research environment

Zoe Latham PhD Architecture.
Postgraduate research
Become part of our scholarly community that proudly includes a wide range of research approaches and disciplines
Brussels, Belgium. 21st February 2019. High school and university students stage a protest against the climate policies of the Belgian government.
Engaging with policy toolkit
Guidance on how government, parliament and policy making works and how researchers can engage with policy-making processes
Abstract colorful grid surrounded by glowing particles getty digital
Digital innovations
Our cutting edge facilities attracts and supports researchers from a wider range of disciplines
Plant factory seed propagation and growth under a blue light
Our research and expertise
Discover world-leading research and expertise from across the °µÍø½âÃÜ
 

Strategic Research Institutes

Marine Institute
Marine Institute
Advancing sustainable use of the marine environment through our systems-thinking approach to research, education and innovation.
Close up of the Sustainability Hub's external facade
Sustainable Earth Institute
Solving complex global sustainability challenges through a holistic, solutions-oriented approach to research, education, innovation and knowledge exchange.