第一部长视察斯旺西大学
中英网:www.uker.net    访问量： 人次    编辑：    发布时间：2007-09-27

Mr Morgan opened the newly-established Centre for Migration Policy Research, before meeting with researchers to discuss work and initiatives underway to tackle climate change.

The work of the Centre for Migration Policy Research is unique in Wales and one of only three such knowledge bases in the UK, along with Oxford University and the University of Sussex.

The Centre's mission is to encourage the exchange of ideas about asylum and migration and ensure policy making is underpinned by evidence about the nature and causes of migration, the impacts on different counties and communities, and the effects – both intended and unintended – of policies developed in response.

The Centre is also unique in its approach, which explores the migrant experience and the ways in which the realities of national and international migration – for migrants, the communities from which they depart and those to which they subsequently move to or pass through – are conceptualized and represented within policy and practice.

Its 19 research associates are drawn from multi-disciplines across the University, including international relations, economics, politics, law, geography, social policy, education, and development studies. And key issues already being addressed by the Centre include forced migration and asylum; labour migration; governance of migration; social cohesion and integration; children and migration; gender and migration, and migration and development.

"Asylum and migration issues have never been higher on the political and policy agendas, and it is fitting that Wales' First Minister opened this new Centre," said its Director, Dr Heaven Crawley.

"The unprecedented global movement of people seeking employment, protection, and family reunion poses economic, social, and political opportunities and challenges of international, national, and regional dimensions.

"Migration is here to stay, raising new issues for communities and regions. Our purpose is to help to understand what is going on in communities, and to act as a resource for policy makers across the board, providing research and analysis to help them deliver the best possible outcomes for migrants, refugees, and the communities they live and work in."

After a presentation from the Centre's staff and associates, Mr Morgan formally opened the Centre for Migration Policy Research by unveiling a plaque.

Mr Morgan then met with a team of researchers to discuss key aspects of current climate change research, major breakthroughs, and how Wales can build on these developments for the future. The group, which included Polar Medal awardee Professor Tavi Murray, outlined some of the cutting-edge projects Swansea University researchers are engaged in.

Current projects include the 12.6million Euro (approx £9million) EU-funded Millennium Project, which is improving model predictions of future climate changes and their impacts, and the Climate and Land-Surface Systems Interaction Centre (CLASSIC), which is working to reduce uncertainty in the actual and potential effects of climate change through an improved understanding of the feedback mechanisms that exist between the land surface and the atmosphere.

The Glaciology Group specialises in understanding the contribution of glaciers and ice sheets to global sea level rise, including a five-year Leverhulme Trust-funded investigation of the stability of the Greenland ice sheet.

Biological Sciences research funded by the EU, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and a range of conservation charities, is also tackling a range of themes encompassing the impact of climate change on the Earth’s eco and marine systems.

And one of the newest pieces of published research from Swansea, in partnership with the Norwegian Polar Institute, into the acceleration in thinning rate on western Svalbard glaciers was also discussed.

Mr Morgan learned of the progress of the proposed Climate Change Consortium of Wales, a collaborative venture between the Universities of Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, and Swansea involving more than 150 academics.

The Consortium has been established to provide a high profile, high impact science ‘network of excellence’ in Wales, with a focus on world-class interdisciplinary research into the causes and impacts of climate change, and on mitigation strategies.

Professor Tavi Murray, Head of the Glaciology Group at Swansea University, said: "Climate change is an issue that requires co-ordinated, interdisciplinary research and the work underway here at the University, with our international collaborators, is raising the profile of Swansea and Wales globally.

"The development of the Climate Change Consortium of Wales, which we are proud to be a part of, will change the landscape for climate change research in Wales. It will strengthen existing centres of excellence to world-leading status within five years.

"It will also establish a service to provide policy makers, education, business, the media and the general public with up-to-date information concerning climate change, and drive innovative educational initiatives at all levels to provide information on climate change science and impacts."

First Minister Rhodri Morgan said: "I'm very pleased to have made yet another visit to Swansea University to learn more about the innovative work which is being done on migration and climate change.

"These two issues are among some of the most important challenges facing the world and its politicians at present. The significant work being done in Swansea in these fields will help contribute to the policy-making process to solve these mega-problems here in Wales and further afield."

Professor Mike Barnsley, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Resources) and Head of the School of Environment and Society at Swansea University, who is an active climate change researcher, said: "We are delighted the First Minister has visited the School to open this innovative new research centre and to learn how Swansea continues to contribute to world-class scientific research into climate change.

"Migration and climate change present some of the greatest challenges to our society and the environment now and for the future. We are proud that Swansea is actively making a difference in these areas at local, regional, national, and indeed global level." 

  上一篇: 斯旺西大学管理系学生获得爱尔兰博士奖学金
  下一篇: 斯旺西大学经济讲座获得空前成功