3rd December 2024
RENEWING OLD TIES: THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
28th September 2017 Hanoi, Vietnam
Be slow… to go fast!
Did you know that 28 September is International Right to Know Day? No? Neither did I until one of my colleagues suggested I write a blog. For most civil servants in the UK sharing information with the public is second nature. This is because the UK Parliament passed a Freedom of Information Act in 2000 […]
28th September 2017 Beijing, China
Sensors for just about everything
Fibre optic cables with acoustic sensing that can be laid alongside railways or oil and gas pipelines to detect faults or security threats; lasers that can detect different types of gases and pollutants with very high precision; sensors that measure water loss across the skin barrier that can be used in cosmetics or diagnostics; sensors […]
27th September 2017 Beijing, China
Climate science catching up with the changing climate
China is becoming a world leader in science and innovation, with ever increasing amounts of money to spend. But China still has abject poverty, and severe issues stemming from its unprecedented rapid exit from poverty. This makes it a perfect partner for the UK through the Newton Fund, where we are harnessing both countries excellence […]
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26th September 2017 Los Angeles, USA
Edinburgh students show off engineering prowess at Hyperloop competition in Los Angeles
In August, the Hyperloop society at the University of Edinburgh, HypED, for the global finals of SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition in Los Angeles, California.
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26th September 2017 Vienna, Austria
#ViennaMemories #3: Silesiastahl
I was in the flea-market at the Naschmarkt in Vienna in 1984 when I saw for sale a broken mechanical wall-calendar. With its black, white and gold decoration, it looked like something between Jugendstil (Austrian art nouveau) and Italian Futurism – I was reminded of a work by Umberto Boccioni in The Tate Modern. Further […]
25th September 2017 Geneva, Switzerland
What a Difference a Year Makes
Leaving aside the extremely grim subject matter which forms the basis of our work, one of the things I like the least in my job is having to say goodbye to good people. This summer we bade farewell to another great set of colleagues including the UK’s own James Mclaughlin and the ever wonderful, and […]
25th September 2017 Geneva, Switzerland
The UK’s Two Priorities In Geneva Since The EU Referendum
Over the last week the UK Mission in Geneva has advanced a new initiative on patient safety with Germany, Japan and Oman in the WHO; worked with partners in Europe and beyond to table resolutions on Syria, Burma and Somalia in the Human Rights Council; concluded the quadrennial Universal Periodic Review of human rights in […]
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25th September 2017 Shanghai
Innovation by road, rail and air to rebuild the UK-China Silk Road
In January of this year, the Dong Feng (East Wind) train arrived at Barking rail terminal, completing a 7,000 mile plus journey. 17 days previously the freight train had departed from Yiwu City in Zhejiang Province on its maiden UK-China journey. The East Wind train is the latest manifestation of China’s ambitious Belt and Road […]
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21st September 2017 Auckland, New Zealand
Space Science & Cows
In this blog I will provide an update on the annual UK-China Space Workshop, recently held in Edinburgh, as well as talk about cows and innovative technology that monitors their health. The two are not really connected. But there is a good story to tell, so please bear with me. The annual UK-China Space Workshop […]
20th September 2017 Vienna, Austria
Boldly going: how the UN is helping govern space
When I was posted to Vienna in the 1980s, one of my unofficial roles at parties where foreigners were present was, as a German speaker, to go to the door when the police arrived to ask us to turn the music down. The police often arrived at 22.00 after receiving complaints from the neighbours. Generally […]
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