In February 2019, Adham Hamed from the University of Innsbruck’s Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies, visited the Peace Education Research Group at the University of Cambridge in the framework of a BritInn fellowship.
During his research stay, he engaged in a number of research and project meetings and also presented his dissertation research on turning points in peace processes to a public audience at the Faculty of Education. Through a number of intensive one on one consultancies with Dr. Hilary Cremin he made substantial progress within the framework of the methodology section of my dissertation. Particular emphasis was put on questions of qualitative data interpretation, through discussing different approaches to analysis.

Read more about his research stay here:

BritInn Fellowship to Cambridge for Adham Hamed

From 3 February 2019 until 15 February 2019, Dr. Kadmiel Maseyk from the School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, at the Open University in Milton Keynes, visited the University of Innsbruck as a BritInn-Fellow. His visit was hosted by Prof. Georg Wohlfahrt from the Department of Ecology, at the University of Innsbruck.

The fellowship was granted so that the two researchers can work on the project “Novel tracers of the terrestrial carbon cycle and the role of biodiversity”. They started working on a joint analysis of a dataset of KM, of reflectance spectra from a forest at an elevated CO2 experiment, applying GW’s expertise to inverse model canopy characteristics of the forest. Dr. Maseyk stated that the initial results of this collaboration will be presented at an upcoming workshop, and the completed analysis will be included in a publication.

Another initiative that made a concrete start during the visit was the joint organisation of a workshop to be held in November 2019 in Obergurgl. Both scientists were able to finalise dates and start planning the programme. Moreover, they sketched out options for developing an ESF Innovative Training Network in carbon cycle science and policy that will be explored further this year. Finally, Dr. Maseyk gave a well-attended seminar at the department, and had a very enjoyable evening with the group of Prof. Wohlfahrt, hiking up the mountain to the Rumer Alm for dinner, followed by sledging back down afterwards.

BritInn was delighted that Dr. Kadmiel Maseyk had a successful and enjoyable stay in Innsbruck and is looking forward to the upcoming collaborations this year.

BritInn Fellowship Report

On Friday, 8 February 2019, BritInn hosted a panel discussion on Brexit: A Testing Time for Politics at the Palais Claudiana in the Old Town Innsbruck, organized by Die Grüne Bildungswerkstatt Tirol, Innsbruck Center for European Research (ICER), Europe Direct, and BritInn.

Jean Lambert, Member of the European Parliament for the Green Party of England and Wales and Eva Lichtenberger, former Member of the European Parliament for the Austrian Green Party, discussed the recent developments of the upcoming Brexit. The event was moderated by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Sibylle Baumbach, head of the Academic Network BritInn.

The speakers emphasised the unease and uncertainty among Europe's citizens, caused by the imponderability within the British Parliament. A plan to prevent a no-deal Brexit in March 2019 by giving Members of the Parliament the power to request an extension to Article 50, has failed to receive the backing of the Commons. As a result, what will happen after Brexit became even more unclear.
Jean Lambert stated that there will probably be a “last minute deal” as a “hard Brexit” would put Britain in a very difficult position for any future negotiations. Eva Lichtenberger agreed and declared her concerns about an unclear transition and the ongoing negotiations. Moreover, both discussed on the EU’s position on Brexit and the different possible outcomes with the audience. Needless to say, these are difficult to predict due to the numerous uncertainties. However, Lambert and Lichtenberger agreed that no matter what the outcome will be, Article 50 has to be thoroughly revised, in order to ensure that such a chaotic withdrawal will never happen again in the future.

More information about the speakers:

Jean Lambert has been London’s Green Member of the European Parliament since 1999. She is a member of The Employment and Social Affairs Committee working on issues including immigration, social inclusion, workers’ rights and social security. She is the Vice President of the Intergroup on Ageing, on Anti-poverty and on Anti-racism & Diversity. She is also a member of the Intergroups on Disability and Gay & Lesbian rights, as well as the spokesperson on asylum and refugees for the Green Party.
 
Eva Lichtenberger has been a Member of the European Parliament for the Austrian Green Party from 2004-2014. She has been a consulting member of the environmental committee of the city of Hall. In 1989, she became a member of the Tyrolian Landtag and was fraction leader until 1994. From 1994 to 1999 she was the first member of the Austrian Green Party to become a minister in the state council, with the portfolio for environmental affairs. From 1999 to 2004 she was also a Member of the National Council of Austria.