The Policy Pod – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, researchers Fiona Middleton and Dr. Giulia Champion at the University of Southampton discuss their work with the Isle of Wight sea swimming community, exploring the benefits of – and barriers to – sea swimming. In a project supported by the New Things Fund, Fiona and Giulia hosted participatory workshops to identify conditions for more, safer sea swimming on the Island. 

They’re joined by Sue Barker and Victoria Thorneton-Field of Swim the Wight, a community interest company that runs regular supervised swims and promote sea swimming education, to discuss their plans for an accessible, eco-friendly tidal sea pool on the Isle of Wight. 

You can find out more about the sea pool at @isleofwightseapool on Instagram.

In this episode of The Policy Pod, we discuss about emerging technologies and the importance of pre-emptive discussions for policy making and public engagement with Dr Rafael Mestre and Abdul Afzal from the University of Southampton. Rafael and Abdul will bring their knowledge and expertise on this topic while talking about three different projects: 

• Biohybrid Futures: a research project aimed at understanding the societal, ethical, and environmental implications of bio-hybrid robotics, funded by ESRC. Find more information here;
• RAI4MH, Responsible AI for mental health initiative: a collaboration between the University of Southampton and Northeastern University (US), funded by RAI UK; find more info here;
• SOUNDSCALE: an interdisciplinary research project studying the emergence of distributed acoustic sensing for smart cities, funded by the new UKRI's cross-research council scheme; find more info here.

In this final special episode on Transformational Coasts, we hear from three experts about the changing coastlines in the east of England.

• Peter Aldous, describes the importance of a strategic, evidence-based approach, working with communities, on the ever-evolving coastline.
• Kellie Fisher stresses the importance of community-led, place-based approaches and being honest in coastal adaptation conversations.
• Dr Helen Jay reflects on the benefits and vibrancy of our coastlines, and the importance of thinking about transformational adaptation now.  

Pod cast Hosts- 

• Dr Sien van der Plank, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Exeter / Visting Researcher, University of Southampton  
• Rebecca Walley, PhD researcher, University of Southampton  

In the second special episode on Transformational Coasts, we hear from three experts about the changing coastlines of England, with specific consideration of south coast locations.

• Tim Loughton discusses the particular challenges and exciting opportunities of coastal communities.
• Uwe Dornbusch takes the physical geographical perspective on coastal change, but also reflects on the relationship between nature and people in the coastal context, and the changing perspectives on how to best manage that interface.
• Dr Charlie Thompson describes coasts as an area of exchange, both physically and socially, a dynamic system that needs to be managed as a whole rather than controlled in parts.  

Pod cast hosts- 

• Dr Sien van der Plank, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Exeter / Visting Researcher, University of Southampton  
• Dr Wassim Dbouk, Marine and Maritime Policy Research Fellow, University of Southampton  

In the first special episode on Transformational Coasts, we hear from three experts about the changing coastlines of England and around the world. 

• Professor Robert Nicholls reflects on the history of coastal management in the UK, from defence through to resilience, and past and present management transformations.
• Professor Mike Elliott outlines the “triple whammy” of threat that coasts face, as well as talks us through the ten tenets for effective and sustainable marine management.
• Dr Jenny Brown describes her passion for the sea, and the need for sustainability to be embedded into coastal adaptation discourse and practice. 

Pod Cast hosts-

• Dr Sien van der Plank, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Exeter / Visting Researcher, University of Southampton  
• Dominique Townsend, coastal geomorphologist, PhD researcher looking at nearshore change, University of Southampton   

Dr Lisa Ballard joins us to talk about the EPPiGen research project in this episode of the Policy Pod. Genomic approaches to diagnosis and treatment are becoming more embedded within the UK health care system. This provides a unique opportunity to examine how genomic medicine is understood by those providing and engaging with the service. Dr Ballard discusses "ethical preparedness" as terminology, how genomics is portrayed in the media, ethical issues experienced in labs and more.

Dr Chandni Maria Jacob, Dr Mark Hanson and Dr Daniella Watson discuss the importance of effective policy to improve health outcomes for prospective parents and their children. They talk about the need to look at population health, generational health and how to improve hollistic wellbeing alongside reducing risk factors such as alcohol and smoking, including for those who are not actively planning for pregnancy. 

Dr Nic Pensiero and Dr Christian Bokhove join us for the first episode of a brand new season of The Policy Pod. They discuss the UK Understanding Society 2020 and 2021 data, which is the largest longitudinal study of its kind and allowed crucial insights into household dynamics during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data indicates that existing learning inequalities were exacerbated during the first school closure, and whilst these didn't worsen during the second, our guests question why they did not altogether reduce. Answering this may lie in considering the role of the home in addition to provisions from schools. Also discussed are the National Tutoring Programme, learning loss, the examinations fiasco, teacher assessed grades and...breathing patterns. 

Bokhove C. and Pensiero N., (2022), Learning Inequalities During the Covid-19 Pandemic, The Policy Pod, University of Southampton, DOI: 10.5258/SOTON/PP0005

In this episode of 'Policy Pod' Giles talks to Professor Neil Bressloff  about TAVI, transcatheter aortic valve implantation used in the treatment of aortic heart valve disease. Degenerative heart valve disease is a growing problem in the ageing populations of Europe and North America. Also, tens of millions of people in low- and middle-income countries of the global south, experience valve failure following bacterial throat infections. Importantly, so-called, rheumatic heart valve disease affects large numbers of adults of all ages in these poorer parts of the world. Tap into our channels above and listen to Prof. Neil and about this research. 

In this episode of 'Policy Pod' the Director of Public Policy office, sits together with Professor Andy Tatem, Professor of spatial demography and epidemiology at the University of Southampton and is the Director of WorldPop - an open Spatial Demographic Data and Research. Tune in to learn more how WorldPop data and research methods, helped decision makers during the COVID-19 pandemic.