Professor Suzanne Romaine is a linguist based at the University of Oxford. Her research addresses the extinction crisis in the world’s 6,900 or more languages, which are at risk of disappearing often in the same locations as endangered species.
Impacts included:
• Raising awareness of declining linguistic diversity, and supporting the sustainability of vulnerable languages and cultures
• Potential to inform conservation policy
Global ‘hotspots’ have been identified by bringing together global datasets on the geographic distribution of languages in high biodiversity regions. The greatest linguistic diversity is found in some of the ecosystems that have the highest rates of biodiversity, and which are inhabited by indigenous peoples, who represent around 4% of the world’s population but speak at least 60% of the world’s languages.
By collaborating with people outside of her discipline, Professor Romaine has drawn attention to the declining linguistic diversity of the world. Although most people have heard of the biodiversity crisis, the threat to languages has received much less attention, even though languages are at an even greater risk than species. As regions with high biological diversity also represent areas of importance in maintaining linguistic and cultural diversity, conservation strategies that promote a community’s economic and cultural well-being are likely to sustain linguistic diversity as well.
Pinpointing the areas that are most in need of action in conserving biological and linguistic diversity is a critical first step in developing common plans, policies and goals for conservation at local, regional and global levels. The research also improves our understanding of the human context of biological diversity and will prime further research targeted at better understanding of the factors that threaten and sustain languages.
During the project, Professor Romaine collaborated with conservation practitioners and planners at Conservation International, a not-for-profit organisation that seeks to protect the Earth’s biodiversity. Follow-up research may include fieldwork case studies that target some of the hotspots identified in the analysis, and which have a high overlap between biological and linguistic diversity, to gauge the potential of working with indigenous peoples living in those areas. There are also plans to produce a short publication aimed at a general audience, including non-governmental organisations, human rights professionals, indigenous peoples, and local, national and international agencies.
Further information:
These short overviews have been produced as an aid to understanding some of the impacts arising from arts and humanities research. The examples are taken from existing AHRC projects, ranging from small awards up to large Research Grants and Centres. They are not exhaustive; impact from research takes many forms. It can occur at any stage of the research process, from its beginning to well after the research itself has finished.
The Research Councils define impact as the demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes to society and the economy. This definition accords with the Royal Charters of the Councils and with HM Treasury guidance on the appraisal of economic impact. Impact embraces all the extremely diverse ways in which research-related knowledge and skills benefit individuals, organisations and nations by:
• fostering global economic performance, and specifically the economic competitiveness of the United Kingdom
• increasing the effectiveness of public services and policy, and
• enhancing quality of life, health and creative output
These case studies offer some, but in no way all, of the diversity and variety of those impacts. They are not, however, intended as guidance on completing the Impact Requirements sections on proposals, for which you should refer to the Je-S guidance for Standard Grant proposals and Fellowship proposals.
It should also be remembered that the impacts described here will not necessarily be replicated by undertaking the same activities. The pathways to impact are as diverse and varied as the impacts themselves. These examples can, however, provide some illustration of what can be achieved.