Event Details

We are delighted to present to you a brand new theme for the 2020/2021 Public Lectures Series: ‘Talking about…’, and warmly invite you to join our researchers as they explore some of the most pressing issues facing the country.

About the Lecture

In this lecture, Lancaster University experts will explore the resilience of young people in low- and middle-income countries and, more locally, discuss how the Health Innovation Campus at Lancaster University acted as a catalyst for the region, and how the Lancaster University Management School supported a broad range of Lancashire & Cumbria enterprises through these difficult times.

Innovation through crisis and chaos – Dr Sherry Kothari with Annette Weekes

This talk will outline how Lancaster University's Health Innovation Campus (HIC) has been a catalyst for the region, especially in the last year, bringing together diverse stakeholders to identify and help tackle some of the significant societal and health challenges we face.

The pandemic has starkly highlighted the significant gaps in social and health equity, especially in our region. The HIC will be instrumental in trying to shift the health paradigm from treatment to prevention, with an emphasis on the wider determinants of health. Bringing together different sectors, communities, agencies and disciplines is a first step in solving major problems – encouraging collaboration, co-design and buy-in – and ensuring that solutions are sustainable. The Covid-19 Manufacturing Cluster, established jointly by the HIC and PDS Engineering, during the PPE crisis last year, is a great example of how, in the face of adversity, creativity, agility and a willingness to collaborate can transcend cultural and organisational constraints and catapult a community into action. The challenge now is to make sure we harness this to evolve, diversify, and ‘future-proof’ the region.

Supporting regional small and medium enterprises in the aftermath of Covid-19 - Professor Stefanos Mouzas and Matt Hutchinson

When the initial shock of Covid-19 had subsided, many business leaders were left wondering whether their business was still viable, whether their customers would make it through and how they could possibly overcome the financial, commercial and leadership hurdles ahead of them. Drawing on academic research and industry experts in equal measure, Lancaster University Management School created the Covid-19 Response Programme: Recovery & Resilience for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The team has supported a broad range of Lancashire & Cumbria SMEs through three cohorts to break through the pain barrier and come out stronger, more stable and more resilient. The programme is now in its third iteration and has supported more than 70 businesses across Lancashire and Cumbria to date, with place for another 60 planned before the end of the year.

Young Lives, Interrupted? Resilience of young people in low- and middle-income countries during the Covid-19 pandemic - Dr Catherine Porter

Adolescence is a challenging period of life, but the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the pressure on young people trying to complete their education and enter the labour market. Although medical research shows that the young are generally at lower risk in terms of the direct health effects of the virus, including hospitalization and death, the economic effects are likely to be long-lasting for those at the beginning of their adult life. Many jobs have been lost, and the young have been hardest hit. The worldwide closure of schools and higher learning institutions has no historical precedent, online learning is only accessible to some and typically excludes those with limited infrastructure or no access to the internet. In addition, vaccine rollout is likely to be much slower in lower income countries.

This talk presents research findings from a phone survey of just under 10,000 young people in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam and discusses the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic crisis on young people's employment, education and mental health, and what can be done to support them.

The lecture will be followed by a Q&A session during which you will have the opportunity to ask questions of the speakers via the Zoom Q&A function.

To register for your free tickets, please go to Eventbrite

About the speakers

Dr Sherry Kothari

Dr Sherry Kothari is the Director of the Health Innovation Campus, providing leadership to bring together businesses, communities, health care providers and researchers, to help address significant challenges in the North West, including health and social inequalities. Sherry and her colleagues are part of the Covid-19 Manufacturing Cluster for Lancashire and South Cumbria to support the NHS throughout the pandemic.

Annette Weekes

Annette is the Managing Director of PDS CNC Engineering in Nelson. She is the Chair of COVID19 Manufacturing Cluster for Lancashire & South Cumbria, a group she founded with a number of partners, including Lancaster University, the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and CUBE Thinking to respond to the overwhelming demand from the NHS in the battle against coronavirus.

Professor Stefanos Mouzas

Stefanos Mouzas is Professor of Marketing and Strategy at Lancaster University Management School. Researching UN Climate Negotiations, Tackling Sustainability, Organizing Innovation, and Assessing Performance, the aim of his work is to advance our knowledge on how organisations conduct negotiations, conclude contracts and perform in an interacted business landscape. Professor Mouzas is Associate Editor of the Journal of Business Research.

Matt Hutchinson

Matt is Senior Business Project Manager within Lancaster University Management School (LUMS). He oversees the delivery of a portfolio of knowledge exchange and business engagement activity, covering business growth, innovation and leadership themes. Matt led on the development of LUMS’ SME focussed response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr Catherine Porter

Catherine is a development economist and Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University Management School, she is also Senior Quantitative Advisor to the Young Lives at Work project since September 2019. Her research interests are in applied microeconomics, more particularly in how risk affects the lives of poor people, the impact of unexpected events on various outcomes such as nutrition, schooling and parental investments.

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