Bees and butterflies are under threat from urbanisation – here’s how city-dwellers can help

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All a-flutter.
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Katherine Baldock, University of Bristol

Pollinators such as bees, hoverflies and butterflies, are responsible for the reproduction of many flowering plants and help to produce more than three quarters of the world’s crop species. Globally, the value of the services provided by pollinators is estimated at between US$235 billion and US$577 billion. Continue reading

The impact of economic downturn on cities and households: Bristol and Liverpool compared

Dr Patricia Kennett, Reader, School for Policy Studies

Dr Patricia Kennett, Reader, School for Policy Studies

The impact of the economic downturn and subsequent austerity measures on Bristol and Liverpool and the households within those cities has been the focus of a recent research project. Conducted over the past two years, this Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded project has involved looking at the different ways in which the cities and households have responded to downturn and austerity.

At a recent workshop we presented some of our findings to key stakeholders from local government and the voluntary and community sectors in Bristol and Liverpool, some of whom had participated directly in the research. We demonstrated how the shapes of crisis and austerity in Bristol and Liverpool have been determined by the cities’ respective uneven development trajectories, as well as by their institutional, sectoral and social profiles.

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