Transforming Tomorrow

You might find accessing the commercial world straightforward. Not everyone does. One in five people in the UK have a disability, so how do we make the marketplace more accessible for them? Dr Leighanne Higgins and Dr Killian O’Leary are here to talk about their Marketplace & I project, which works with organisations to improve their accessibility for consumers through specialist training. We find out how they use art and artworks produced by people with a disability and their families at the heart of their project – and which artworks really stand out to the project leaders; and how their work goes beyond shops and cafes to charities, universities, and councils, taking a broad look at issues. Leighanne and Killian tell us why they are so passionate about ending exclusion from society, and how all of us might face accessibility issues as we enter old age. They show how things have evolved over the last decade when it comes to accessibility attitudes, and how organisations they worked with several years ago are now exemplars of change. We talk about the difference between visible and invisible disabilities, and how needs differ when entering the marketplace. And we discover how public exhibitions of the artworks led to direct business engagement with key issues. We look at the importance of creating a welcoming atmosphere, uncover myths surrounding the costs of accessibility, and see how employees can be inspired by training. Plus, why is Jan not a fan of shopping? And why are we talking about Monsters Inc’s Mike Wazowski? Find out more about the Marketplace and I project and some of the artworks here: The Marketplace and I And details of their accessibility training workshops are here: Accessibility training workshops - Lancaster University This is the website of the Jumbulance Trust, whom we mentioned in the show: Jumbulance Home And the NeuroChatin podcast can be found here: https://pod.co/neurochatin Episode Transcript

There is a big difference between doing things we might not like, being assigned a task at work not to your particular liking, and being forced into a job by your government. And there is just a radical a difference between reading about forced labour in a textbook and speaking with someone who had experienced it first-hand. Farmon Asadov is now a PhD researcher at Lancaster University, but before that he spent time as a forced labourer within Uzbekistan’s cotton industry. Farmon is here to tell us about his experiences in a country that only moved away from widespread forced labour in the last decade. He also enlightens us the history of his country, why cotton has been such an important pillar of the Uzbek economy, and the intensive labour system that involved two million people being corralled by the government for each year’s harvest. But most importantly, Farmon tells us how as a student he was sent to remote camps to carry out the cotton harvest, receiving little to no reward, and all framed as being his patriotic duty. We hear about the long hours of hard labour in intense heat, the sometimes-impossible quota targets they were set, and the punishments for not meeting them. We discover the forces that brought about change to the state-imposed forced labour system, the influence of major corporations in the change, and how Uzbekistan tried to get around sanctions when the world clamped down on exports. We find out how the cotton industry works now; how new markets have been grown; how supply chains have been built with international support; and how quickly new generations have no memories of the old system. Plus, do your clothes have a label saying ‘Made in Uzbekistan’? Chances are you’ll be rooting around your wardrobes to find out. Meanwhile, Jan is already planning her next holiday on the old Silk Road to Samarkand – joining 10 million other annual tourists to the country. Find out more about Farmon and his work within the Pentland Centre here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/pentland/about/meet-the-team/farmon-asadov Discover the Better Cotton Initiative in Uzbekistan: https://bettercotton.org/where-is-better-cotton-grown/better-cotton-in-uzbekistan/ And learn about other groups here: Cotton Campaign Uzbekistan: https://www.cottoncampaign.org/uzbekistan Better Work Uzbekistan: https://www.betterwork.org/uzbekistan/ GIZ Uzbekistan: https://www.giz.de/en/downloads/giz2021_en_Factsheet_Cotton_Uzbekistan.pdf

Once you go sustainable, you never go back. Careers in sustainability may not always be obvious, but once you get involved in the sector, it has its claws in you. Richard Mason is Positive Business Director at Pentland Brands – who include Speedo, Canterbury, Berghaus, and many more brands under their umbrella – and is a two-times Lancaster University graduate. Richard talking us through how sustainability threaded through and was inspired by his studies at Lancaster and went on to influence his subsequent professional roles with the likes of AO and Burberry. And as we consider how we each end up in our careers, Jan reveals a boring teenage rebellion that revolved around accounting, Richard reveals how his mum sent him in the right direction. We find out how sustainability has grown over the last two decades, and how it no longer sits separately from the rest of a company but rather as part of everything. As we delve into how corporations consider sustainability in their operations, Richard talks about how businesses balance sustainability and innovation with considering consumers – while not being dragged down by unengaging jargon – and the influence of global politics on business operations. We look at the challenges of brands selling clothes they do not always manufacture in-house, how clothing brands collaborate when it comes to sustainability in their supply chains, the challenges that regulations present to corporations, and how companies can no longer make unfounded green claims. Plus, can you ski in Belgium? When is a journalist not a journalist? And did we really find some positives about AI?! Discover more about Pentland Brands: https://pentlandbrands.com/our-brands/ And you can see the six points to check when figuring out if a green claim is genuine, or take part in a quiz on green claims to see if you understand the rules, here: https://greenclaims.campaign.gov.uk/ Episode Transcript