FIFTY FOUR DEGREES | 9 Professor Katy Mason is the Associate Dean for Research in Lancaster University Management School, and a Professor of Markets, Marketing and Management in the Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy. Discover more about the LUMS research agenda, and explore highlights of the work we are doing across the fields of Sustainability, Social Justice, and Innovation in Place, at https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums /research/ k.j.mason@lancaster.ac.uk We have researchers in the Plastic Packaging in People’s Lives project who are working with industry and local government across the North West and nationally on consumer attitudes towards plastic packaging. We are working with keystone actors – those international corporations who can influence smaller firms in their supply chains and industry practice as a whole – on sustainable oceans. Social Justice: We work with businesses, government and society to tackle inequality and make a real impact on the wider world, helping to deliver access to economic, political and social rights and opportunities. The Academy for Gender, Work and Leadership tackles issues of gender inequality in the workplace – as well as here within higher education – and our researchers advise government on problem gambling, investigate how industrial pollution disproportionately affects those with low income and education levels, work with regulators and businesses on tackling and reportingmodern slavery, and increase business inclusion among underrepresented groups across Europe. The Centre for Health Futures leads us on addressing health inequalities. Innovation in Place: Through innovation, we can create a fairer society across geographies and groups, and in particular places and spaces. By taking development to targeted regions, and understanding their unique challenges and potential, we can enable socio-economic flourishing. The work mentioned above with 5G in rural communities, compassionate leadership in the NHS, as well as projects on natural disaster response and on the world of cyber, can and does drive positive change. With businesses, we deliver programmes which take our theories and turn them into practicable knowledge. With the CUSP Innovation Catalyst, we work to help companies in Cumbria build for an innovative and sustainable future; through Eco-I North West, we connect business leaders with academics – and each other – to pursue the Net Zero agenda; our Cyber Strategy programme enables companies to get ahead in developing cyber security and excellence. These are the latest in two decades of working across the North West, throughout England, and beyond, to help firms improve their productivity and practices. We truly want those around us to thrive, not just survive. WHAT’S NEXT? You can see the direction of future travel with our expertise in cyber – from cryptocurrencies to social media (both featured in this edition of Fifty Four Degrees) to cyber security and beyond – and health futures. What we must do is ensure the collective power of our research can be harnessed by working together across our departments, and with stakeholders outside the Management School. By collaborating on bigger projects – those with greater funding, creating the opportunity for more impact – we can affect policy and business practice, and bring about more real-world change. We should not – must not – do it alone. You can see the potential for multidisciplinary work in the Pentland Centre’s research on business sustainability practices, in the endeavours of the Centre for Transport and Logistics, and through the MIA – Measures for Improved Availability of medicines and vaccines project, which aims to reduce shortages of medicines and drugs. As I write, we have a new Prime Minister just starting out as leader of the UK Government. It is impossible to say what will happen to the Levelling Up agenda under her leadership, but we will always have a duty to work towards shared prosperity. There are areas where we can and will make a difference. We must ensure we do it in the right, most effective way, and address areas that the wider world has a stake in, not just academia.
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