https://t.co/YYH0DKCLfC

I've been working on the links between greenspace and wellbeing in prisons, and delighted to say that the latest piece of this work is now out - 'Design Principles for Prison Landscapes: Security, Biodiversity and Wellbeing'. Free to download from https://t.co/0AOfDAzx5R

An exciting line up of speakers at our annual conference @SBandyo72 @drdommoran @unibirmingham @CoSS_Birmingham @JohtChandan @CJ_researcher Register here if you have not yet:

Save the Date: 26 August, 10-5 pm. Everyone welcome

Last few days to apply for this fully-funded PhD!

New @mgsesrcdtp-funded PhD opportunity @unibirmingham in partnership with the UK Ministry of Justice, co-supervised w @philjonesgeog. Explore the capacity for green views from prison cells to support wellbeing in incarceration. Closing date 23 Feb 2025.

@TricksterPrince @TheHowardLeague @drdommoran @YvonneJewkes @JenTurner0 Excellent report by top people on how bad things are. Support the use urban sites for Cat D to support resettlement, increase RoTL jobs and boost reintegration but HM Treasury wants a 6% cut in prisons budget so sadly the scale of investment needed very unlikely. We can but hope

This week, the government promised to spend £100m to fix the problems in just one prison – Wandsworth, built in the mid-19th century. Today we share new research that explores the need for a clear strategy on Victorian prisons: https://t.co/CalyilVbr0 @VictorianPrison

The first patient has been recruited to the @unibirmingham run FARGO clinical trial, testing a new treatment to improve quality of life for patients living with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a rare liver disease. @BirminghamBRC @CholestasisDoc https://t.co/qmBmiwzDzh

Christ this is absolutely awesome #bbcgaa

This just fills me with so much hope! Good luck @JamesTCobbler

Such a well deserved appointment! Congratulations @APCroft on leading world-class research in inflammatory arthritis, with clear impact on patients' lives. @RRG_Birmingham @unibirm_MDS @InflamAge_UoB @BirminghamBRC #TranslationalResearch

@philjonesgeog This may seem like common sense. We know that nature contact supports wellbeing, and that biodiversity supports sustainability; but in secure contexts, evidence of the benefits of biodiverse green spaces, and of controlling pollution, helps in making key decisions. 7/7

@philjonesgeog Our previous recommendation - that prisons should expand green spaces wherever possible - still holds. But we can nuance this to also say that these green spaces should be as biodiverse as possible, supporting schemes aimed at improving the biodiversity of prison estates. 6/7

@philjonesgeog …but in this new paper we ask if local environmental quality affect this relationship. The data are patchier than we'd like, but we show that the beneficial effects are greater where biodiversity is high and pollution is low. https://t.co/PpPft9N2uu So what does this mean? 5/7

Inspired by this work, @philjonesgeog, Jacob Jordaan and I have analysed prisoner wellbeing data alongside local environmental quality markers. (We’d already shown that green spaces in and near to prisons positively influence wellbeing) …. 4/7

But proximity to pollution does not reveal impacts on the incarcerated. Elisa Toman asked whether industrial facilities close to prisons polluted more than those further away – thus exposing the incarcerated to more pollution than others. 3/7

Which draws the other, or do both end up there by following a common path to ‘less desirable’ locations? In a great new paper Pierce Greenberg and Robert Todd Perdue look in detail at prison location and pollution levels in the US. 2/7

Prisons tend to be located near to sources of environmental pollution – and are also polluters themselves. Prisoners cannot avoid exposure, and there have been numerous reports of adverse prisoner health and wellbeing outcomes attributed to local environmental quality. 1/7

"Absolutely superb and moving. This has made me look deeper and think more - and it looks beautiful too" We have been blown away by feedback on 'Incarcerated' @mac_birmingham. Come see it and let us (and the creators of the work) know what you think!

Fabulous photos of the exhibition from Tegen Kimbley. We have had sets printed for the incarcerated men @HMPrisonLincoln and @HMP_Liverpool who won't see their own work in the Gallery. We'll also share visitor feedback. So come along and let us - and them - know what you think!