Royal Society of Arts

This special issue emerged from our own situated experiences as design researchers and practitioners navigating the methodological and ethical uncertainties of fieldwork disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As co-editors, we felt an urgent need to reconsider long-standing assumptions within codesign, particularly its reliance on face-to-face engagement as a foundation for building trust, empathy, and collaboration. Historically, codesign has drawn heavily from ethnographic and participatory traditions (Ehn Citation2008), focusing on in-situ interactions that allow for first-person observation and immersion in participants’ lived realities (Mattelmäki Citation2008; Mattelmäki, Vaajakallio, and Koskinen Citation2014). Yet, the rapid transition to remote modes of interaction during the pandemic revealed new opportunities and challenges for design research. What initially appeared as constraints, through the process unfolded into opportunities to critically reimagine how codesign research could evolve when shaped by remote data collection methods (RDCM). Our own fieldwork immersed in socially embedded and often technologically constrained contexts raised urgent questions about trust-building, empathy, participation, and representation in digital spaces. We recognised the growing need to document, critique, and share the emerging methodologies, tools, and ethics of conducting codesign research remotely, especially with communities for whom face-to-face interaction had been seen as a prerequisite. This special issue seeks to examine these emergent practices critically, contributing to the evolving methodological possibilities within design research. This special issue comprises two editions; this is the first edition.

Abstract In this paper, Curating Spaces of Hope is offered as a new paradigm for postsecular partnership for uncertain times. The need for a new paradigm is set out intially using literatures from faith based organisations. The case is made that the understanding of faith or the ‘F’ is inadequate, and that in order to make sense of the role it plays in social policy, a fresh framing is needed. For this, literatures from political philosophy, sociology or religion and social policy are engaged. These set out the space for mapping different worldviews, as part of the diversifying beleif landscape in the UK, and the policy context into which they are speaking. The paper then turns to empircal data to make the case for the new paradigm of postsecualr partnership, Curating Spaces of Hope. This case is made in three phases. First auto-ethnographic data is used as the basis for a social movement in the north west of England which takes place over 3 years. This is used as the premise for ethnographic research which maps postsecular contexts and informs the production of Curating Spaces of Hope. The paper then turns to the COVID-19 pandemic, as a lens through which to view current contexts of uncertainty. Three case studies are then offered which point to early applications of Curating Spaces of Hope and opportunities for building postsecular partnerships in the north west England.

The problems being faced in the UK university sector are considered, how these problems have arisen, what needs to be done about them, and, how the future of the UK’s knowledge economy will be influenced by the strategies currently being implemented by the UK government. This is done by revisiting some examples of problems from the past, and how they were solved. It is undertaken using a framework that is characterised by the following fundamental issues: (i) educational philosophies; (ii) ethics in educational provision; (iii) knowledge economies, and; (iv) the goals of education. In this context, the chapter discusses the evolving, and necessary connectivity, between government, education and industry - the so-called ‘Triple Helix Concept’. This is coupled with a discussion on the future of Higher Education in terms of the underlying strategy of the UK government, which reflects the new age of the ‘Technological College’ that the UK is now entering.

Since antiquity, numerous advantages of olive oil and its by-products have been recognized in various domains, including cooking, skincare, and healthcare. Extra virgin olive oil is a crucial component of the Mediterranean diet; several of its compounds exert antioxidant, anti-proliferative, anti-angiogenic and pro-apoptotic effects against a variety of cancers, and also affect cellular metabolism, targeting cancer cells through their metabolic derangements. Numerous olive tree parts, including leaves, can contribute metabolites useful to human health. Olive mill waste water (OMWW), a dark and pungent liquid residue produced in vast amounts during olive oil extraction, contains high organic matter concentrations that may seriously contaminate the soil and surrounding waters if not managed properly. However, OMWW is a rich source of phytochemicals with various health benefits. In ancient Rome, the farmers would employ what was known as amurca, a mulch-like by-product of olive oil production, for many purposes and applications. Several studies have investigated anti-angiogenic and chemopreventive activities of OMWW extracts. The most prevalent polyphenol in OMWW extracts is hydroxytyrosol (HT). Verbascoside and oleuperin are also abundant. We assessed the impact of one such extract, A009, on endothelial cells (HUVEC) and cancer cells. A009 was anti-angiogenic in several in vitro assays (growth, migration, adhesion) and inhibited angiogenesis in vivo, outperforming HT alone. A009 inhibited cells from several tumors in vitro and in vivo and showed potential cardioprotective effects mitigating cardiotoxicity induced by chemotherapy drugs, commonly used in cancer treatment, and reducing up-regulation of pro-inflammatory markers in cardiomyocytes. Extracts from OMWW and other olive by-products have been evaluated for biological activities by various international research teams. The results obtained make them promising candidates for further development as nutraceutical and cosmeceutical agents or dietary supplement, especially in cancer prevention or even in co-treatments with anti-cancer drugs. Furthermore, their potential to offer cardioprotective benefits opens up avenues for application in the field of cardio-oncology.

The emperor's new coins My mother was a very clever woman. She knew that people were more likely to remember stories than lectures, especially when it came to lessons about morality and ethics. My childhood was filled with Aesop's fables, Grimm's fairy tales and the captivating stories of Hans Christian Andersen, including my personal favorite, The Emperor's New Clothes. For those not familiar with that particular tale, it is the story of a vain emperor, who is duped by two fraudsters into thinking they had designed for him a suit of clothes that were not only "uncommonly fine," but "had a wonderful way of becoming invisible to anyone who was unfit for his office, or who was unusually stupid." The emperor could not resist the temptation, both to don such a remarkable outfit, and to discern the "wise men from the fools" in his kingdom. Feigning the work of weavers, the men proceeded to mime the process of dressing the king, while he, and his courtiers, not wishing to appear as fools themselves, affirmed the beauty and the majesty of the imaginary outfit. As he pridefully strode down the street in his exceptional "new clothes," one small boy blurted out the obvious, "he hasn't got anything on," and the spell was broken. Soon the entire crowd was murmuring that the emperor was in fact, naked: The emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought, 'this procession has got to go on.' So he walked more proudly than ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn't there at all [1].

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) aim at unlimited participation and open access via the web. There are concerns about the actual value of such courses. This is predominantly due to higher dropout rates. According to studies, only 7-13% go on to complete these courses. The high dropout rate in MOOCs is a challenge for education providers. This paper aims to explore reasons for high dropout rates within MOOCs and how they can be minimized. With this in mind, two research questions have been set for this study: 1) Why do MOOC participants not complete their courses? 2) How can the course completion rate be increased? Implementation of the strategies investigated in this paper can increase completion rates in MOOCs. In conclusion, after analyzing the collected data, the final results have shown that gamification increased the completion rate of MOOCs.

The paradoxical relationships between free will, salvific grace, and human depravity have a perplexed man for thousands of years. In the early days of the Christian Church, Catholics affirmed the free will of man while emphasizing that God was not bound by time. This meant that, although the man was a free moral agent, God’s foreknowledge of past, present, and future allowed Him to know the “elect” before the foundation of the world. During the Protestant Reformation, new systems of theology were posited to explain the relationship between these concepts. The three most important of these theological systems are Calvinism, Lutheranism, and Arminianism. In the English-speaking world, Calvinism has become the best-known and most easily-grasped Protestant theological system due to the ingenious mnemonic TULIP, i.e., total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints, to describe the five points of Calvinism. The purpose of this paper is to propose two new mnemonics to describe the theological systems of Lutheranism and Arminianism. These mnemonics are couched in the language of Calvinism for simplicity. For Lutheran theology, the acronym TAURUS is proposed. For Arminian theology, the acronym CURIA is proposed.