Spring 2012 Issue - University of Central Lancashire

4
Breaking News
A Truly International Experience
UCLan has not only announced exciting plans to establish the UK’s first private
university campus in Bangkok, Thailand, but it has also revealed plans to open the
first UK-led university in Cyprus.
In an official agreement between the University and Thai-based entrepreneur Mr Sitichai
Charoenkajonkul both parties pledge to work in close collaboration to create a full-scale
university campus, located within the Bangkok metropolitan area, and in which UCLan will
invest £7.5 million in the venture. Built to an exacting UCLan specification, and subject to the
granting of an educational licence, the new facility plans to open the doors to its first cohort
of students in June 2014.
The development in Cyprus has been officially sanctioned by the Cypriot Ministry of Education
and Culture through the awarding of an educational licence. The building of the UK-style
campus will start immediately and is due to open in October 2012.
The Thailand campus will offer full-time and part-time undergraduate, postgraduate and
foundation degree courses in subject areas that include business, built and natural
environment, engineering, creative and performing arts and languages. The Cyprus campus will
offer a broad range of academic subjects, taught in English and building on UCLan’s strengths
and local demand. Initially, these will be clustered in three groupings: Business and
Management, Law, Computing and Mathematics.
Heritage Lottery Fund Support for Temperance History Project
Dr Annemarie McAllister has been
successful in securing £50,000 in funding
from the Heritage Lottery Fund for an
exciting project, ‘Temperance and the
Working Class’, working with the
People’s History Museum in Manchester.
Preston is often considered the birthplace of
the Temperance Movement and this project
will involve volunteers from local
communities in collecting memories about
Temperance and then help to mount
exhibitions on this movement which sought
to persuade people to abstain from alcohol.
The major exhibition will be at the People’s
History Museum in Manchester from July
2012 - February 2013. Accompanied by
an online public access virtual exhibition,
public lectures, family activities, debates,
and recreations of Temperance evenings.
A local exhibition will be held in Preston’s
St George’s Shopping Centre from the
24 August - 8 September and will form part
of the Preston Guild celebrations.
What is Freight Crime:
Changing Attitudes
Freight crime is a serious problem
which has proven to significantly affect
the UK economy. The theft of large
goods vehicles and their loads causes
substantial economic and logistical
harm to manufacturers, operators and
retailers alike.
Funding secured from the Economic
and Social Research Council (ESRC) has
enabled UCLan’s Crime Reduction Unit
to bring together a wide range of
organisations to tackle the problem of
road freight crime. Workshops have
been held throughout the UK,
including locations such as Bristol
and Kent, to cover four key themes;
recognising, reporting, recording and
reducing freight crime.
The workshops have helped to drive
forward knowledge exchange through
the facilitation of dialogue between
stakeholders in and beyond the social
science community. In addition it has
further developed the connections and
understanding of security issues within
the road freight industry whilst also
identifying and sharing good practice.
The findings from these events and
subsequent activities will widen the
debate with the results feeding into
policy and practice at a national level.
The latest event is part of the bigger
Truckwatch North West scheme
co-ordinated by UCLan’s Crime
Reduction Unit. The next event, entitled
CSI TruckwatchNW, will be opened by
Lord Henley, Minister for Crime
Prevention and Anti-Social Behaviour,
and will further assist in the reduction
of impact and incidence of freight
crime in the North West.