Below are brief summaries of some ongoing projects, which are externally funded, involving current staff members in the Economics Division.
Community-Driven Nature-Based Solutions for Environmental Sustainability in Malaysian Aquaculture (2025-2026)
Funder: British Council
Seda Erdem is the principal investigator of this project, which applies nature-based solutions to address critical challenges in Malaysian shrimp farming, including water pollution from nutrient-rich wastewater, which threatens both ecosystem health and industry sustainability. By introducing halophytes—salt-tolerant plants that absorb excess nutrients and reduce antibiotic use through their antimicrobial properties—the project improves water quality while promoting healthier shrimp production. The project emphasises community-driven innovation, engaging local farmers in co-designing and testing these methods to ensure cultural and economic viability.
Beyond environmental benefits, the nature-based solutions offer farmers a dual livelihood opportunity: as a sustainable wastewater treatment and a marketable product (food or bioactive additives). Social science research facilitates knowledge transfer by assessing adoption barriers, understanding consumer willingness to use these products, and ensuring equitable long-term uptake. The project also collaborates with Malaysian policymakers to integrate these solutions into national aquaculture strategies, fostering climate resilience and inclusive growth. By linking ecological restoration with socio-economic empowerment, it demonstrates how participatory approaches can advance sustainability in aquaculture.
Wage and Employment Dynamics (Stages 1-4), (2019 – 2027)
Funder: Administrative Data Research UK (Economic and Social Research Council / UKRI)
Carl Singleton and Rachel Scarfe are working with researchers at the University of the West of England (UWE), University College London (UCL), and City, University of London on a major administrative data linkage and research project. This aims to significantly extend the resources for labour markets research and policy making in the UK. The team is working closely with key stakeholders in government and elsewhere, such as Office for National Statistics, HMRC, Low Pay Commission, Bank of England, and Resolution Foundation. The datasets produced by the team are accessible through the ONS Secure Research Service, and the team has produced several research papers, as well as methodology papers on administrative data research for the UK. The latest round of funding secured in 2024 is to link the Census 2021 with the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (longitudinal employer-employee linked payroll data).
CAVEAT – Triangulation of values using different valuation methods, (2023-2026)
Funder: Arts and Humanities Research Council and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Danny Campbell is co-investigator on the CAVEAT project, which is looking to address the caveats associated with current valuation methods when applied to culture and heritage capital, to inform decision making. The project is exploring how to best triangulate existing valuation techniques to assess the value of the stock (and flows) of a complex historic asset, such as a historic high street/neighbourhood, to improve decision makers’ confidence when using such results in social cost-benefit analysis. The project team encompasses expertise from various disciplines (architecture, urban planning, heritage conservation, cultural economics, environmental economics, heritage advocacy, policy making support) who have worked on these themes before and are committed to an interdisciplinary approach.
Sustainable Plastic Attitudes to benefit Communities and their Environments, (2021-2025)
Funder: Natural Environment Research Council 
Mirko Moro is a co-investigator on the SPACES project. The overarching aim of the SPACES project will be to focus on the sources, economic & behavioural drivers of plastic pollution in densely populated cities in Tanzania (who have just enforced a ban on plastic bags) and Malawi (who have just rejected a ban on plastic bags) in order to influence policy and directly deliver societal impact by incentivising behavioural change. This project is a collaboration with Durham University, Heriot-Watt University, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, University of Dar es Salaam, University of Malawi and University of Strathclyde.
Restoration of Seagrass for Ocean Wealth UK (ReSOW UK), (2020-2024)
Funder: ESRC and NERC, under the Sustainable Management of UK Marine Resources programme
Danny Campbell is co-investigator on The ReSOW UK project, which aims to generate a step-change in our understanding of the contribution of seagrass to the UK’s environmental security, economy and wellbeing. It is applying a holistic, systems-based approach which integrates understanding of environmental functioning with the various priorities of those who use, or benefit from, the coast. The project will inform interventions for the management of seagrass which align with local, national and international priorities, yet that are inclusive of the needs of multiple stakeholders and geared towards the long-term sustainability of coastal communities.