There are always humanitarian crises somewhere in the world. We just don’t know about all of them.

Lancaster University’s Dr Nonhlanhla Dube, an ‘accidental humanitarian’ turned expert humanitarian logistician, joins us to fill in the gaps in our knowledge on the humanitarian sector, particularly on refugees.

We think about how we learn of humanitarian crises around the world, how our knowledge can be limited by what the media in our home countries reports on, and where there might be ‘hidden’ issues in parts of the world we do not think about – including Noni’s home country of Zimbabwe.

We learn what events trigger a humanitarian effort and how long-term issues can tip over to require larger and more immediate responses; consider the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 and its effects on 2.3 million people in many countries around the Indian Ocean; and look at how ‘CNN disasters’ can affect why some funding appeals are more successful than others.

Noni tells us about examples of good practice in response operations, how long-term planning is essential, why adapting tents according to your needs plays such a key role, where refugees comes from, how some people can spend most of their lives in a refugee camp, and what individuals and businesses can do to help when a disaster happens.

And we discuss problems and challenges with disaster responses; where good intentions can go wrong; why local people and their needs and perspectives can be ignored by international organisations; and the impact of aid cuts because of political shifts worldwide.

Read about Noni’s work on improving emergency response efforts for refugees here: https://doc.your-brochure-online.co.uk/Lancaster-University_FiftyFourDegrees_Issue_19/34/

An example of organisation that supports people at times of disaster is Doctors without Borders: https://msf.org.uk/who-we-are

Rawls’ veil of ignorance is explained here: https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/veil-of-ignorance

Episode Transcript

Step into the Transforming Tomorrow time machine, as we head back to look at the work between Lancaster University and Lake District Farmers on working towards net-zero meat production.

Dr Laura Giles – now studying for another doctorate at the University of Dundee – brings us up to date on the final outcomes of a partnership that looked at carbon stocks in farm soil and carbon accounting across several holdings in Cumbria.

We find out what work on to complete the project, what lab analysis of soil samples revealed about carbon contents of soil, and just what we mean when we talk about carbon in soil.

Laura tells us about the varied benefits of having more carbon in the soil, from food production to flood prevention; shares the results of the surveys, and how they varied across farms; and warns against the belief in a universal cure-all for problems.

We consider how past farming practice has made a difference to the land, and what this might mean for current landowners; discuss the importance of caring for the land, but balancing change with the impact on the farming system; raise a smile at the pride farmers have in the quality of their soils; and see how the project has raised awareness of just what soil carbon means to Lake District Farmers’ customers.

There is time to look at other effects of less intensive farming, including the benefits to biodiversity; consider the nutritional quality of meat produced on these same farms; and realise that judging on carbon footprinting alone is not always the best idea.

Plus, what’s scarier – a sheep or a cow? And why? Do sheep from different countries share a common personality and a universal language? Are cows cold-blooded killers? And other important questions from the world of farming.

Watch a film summarising the findings of the Knowledge Transfer Partnership here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/research/research-enterprise-services/knowledge-transfer-partnerships/case-studies/lake-district-farmers-case-study/

The background on the project can be found here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/pentland/activities/cross-cutting/transition-and-transformation/lake-district-farmers-ktp/

And to listen to the previous podcasts on this topic, connect here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3AVTRXxixXpldapfTZvCCoyzvCzSDyB9

Episode Transcript

How much waste is produced then your clothes are manufactured? And it there anything that can be done to reduce that?

The Pentland Centre’s Dr Madiha Ahmad joins us to talk about her PhD research at Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh, which involved looking at sew-free techniques that dramatically reduce fabric wastage.

Madiha tells us about textiles in her Pakistan homeland, where it is an $18bn industry, and we go in-depth on how fibres become yarn becomes fabric, spanning global supply chains and representing a more complicated process than you might imagine.

We learn about the lifecycle of fibres as they become fabrics and garments; about issues of over-consumption, fast fashion, and landfill, but also how waste is created when a garment is produced; and about the many technicalities of weaving.

Madiha reveals the many layers of sustainability that need to be considered, and how knowledge and practice in this area can be part of a company’s international competitiveness.

We talk about fabric waste, and how this is both a natural part of the standard manufacturing process but also something that could be tackled with a different weaving method – one that will have you checking how many seams you have on your clothing. We even take the concepts of sew-free and see how similar ideas can be applied in aerospace.

Plus, Jan tells us about being raised to be a farmer’s wife; Paul objects to Jan’s suggestion he doesn’t think about how and where his clothes are made as he reveals he is made in Egypt on this particular day; and the horrible idea of square scones rears its ugly head.

Here is a handy outline of how textiles are manufactured: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_manufacturing

If you want to understand more about weaving, see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weaving

And if you want to listen to our previous episode on the Uzbek cotton industry, this is the place: https://pod.fo/e/3cf0a4

Episode Transcript