Colleagues from Birmingham City University (BCU) and the BML Munjal University (BMU) in India are hosting a two-hour online session of exciting, succinct lectures demonstrating the hard work, collaboration and academic achievements of staff in two different countries.
Posted 14 October 2022
A global partnership
The online event will take place on Thursday 20 October from 11am to 1pm in conjunction with Diwali.
The lecture is the third annual edition of this lecture series which showcases the strength and breadth of the relationship between BCU and BMU.
The partnership began in 2019 when Deputy Vice-Chancellor Julian Beer and members of the BCU India group made a visit to Hero Group, India’s motorbike and cycle manufacturing giant, which has since led to the opening of a ground-breaking business innovation centre in India.
Visiting Hero led to further meetings and introductions, including with the Vice-Chancellor of BMU.
“This will be our third year of the lecture series and it has become a wonderful calendar event for our collective partnership,” says Makhan Singh, Senior Development Manager (India Partnerships) within BCU’s Research, Innovation, Enterprise and Employability directorate.
“It’s a great opportunity to learn about the importance of Diwali, the symbolic importance of light over darkness, as well as seeing the amazing work of academics working in two different countries.”
Sustainability and ground-breaking international projects
Representing BCU at the event are four experienced academics, all discussing highly important subjects.
Professor Alex De Ruyter, Director of the Centre for Brexit Studies, will offer a talk reflecting on securing a just transition to Net Zero, an international target whereby we completely negate the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activity.
Alex is Principal Investigator in a British Academy-funded study around this subject for automotive sector workers, drawing on evidence from the UK and Australia.
Also speaking is Professor Kathryn Moore of BCU’s Creative Artistic Thinking in Design research group.
Kathryn will discuss the group’s West Midlands National Park (WMNP) project, which proposes a new kind of urban park that deals with challenges such as climate emergency, regeneration, transport and infrastructure.
WMNP has garnered mass acclaim, attracting considerable support nationally and from UN agencies, the West Midlands Combined Authority and Birmingham City Council.
This research is also directing the long-term social and economic regeneration in the Black Country, and was instrumental in setting the course for the region being awarded ‘UNESCO Geopark’ status, places where outstanding geographical heritage is used to support sustainable development.
The third speaker from BCU is Louise Lansdown, Head of Strings at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, who will discuss their collaboration with Arco, an innovative alliance that provides regular distance learning opportunities for talented children in India and further afield.
Also speaking is Steve McCabe, who will discuss his experience of growing up in Birmingham as the child of immigrants and how the city has evolved to become one of diversity.
Succinct, impactful online lectures
The event will also see Sunil Munjal Ji, part of the Hero Group, provide the opening welcome keynote, alongside BCU’s Professor Beer and Professor Philip Plowden, the University’s Vice-Chancellor. BMU staff will also be providing lectures.
The event begins at 11am and ends at 1pm (UK time), with all lectures being succinct and clocking in at just 15 minutes each.
It is online and free to attend via the Google link.
