Our Fusion mural has taken pride of place on a wall of Poole House on our Talbot Campus聽since 2016. Its latest iteration 鈥� new for autumn 2021 鈥� brings together a range of projects and graduate achievements that embody聽our fusion of research, education and practice, and our focus on improving the world around us.
Created by local studio and gallery , the mural represents how our community is tackling modern and age-old problems to both secure the future of the planet and to improve the lives of everyone on it. By advancing knowledge and developing professional practice in health, the environment, global security, culture, society and business, we鈥檙e making the world a better place for future generations.
Find out more about the projects, partnerships and issues highlighted in the聽mural.
Our work with para-athletes
The depiction of a cyclist to the far-left of the mural represents聽the聽university鈥檚 work in developing and聽optimising聽prosthetic limbs for para-athletes. Dr Bryce Dyer,聽Associate Professor and Deputy Head聽Of聽Department Design and Engineering,聽has worked with athletes such as Irish聽World Paracycling Track Championships silver medallist聽Colin Lynch and Invictus Games聽gold聽medallist聽Craig Preece.聽聽
His recent work has included working with the Polish聽Paralympic Committee to support their preparations for the Paralympic Games hosted in Tokyo in 2021.聽This work involved the聽optimisation聽of equipment as well as advising on aerodynamics.聽
From our investment in, and delivery of, Health & Social Care courses to our engagement with local health authorities and research聽鈥撀爎anging from nutritional care for people with dementia,聽to cycling聽programmes聽that battle hip pain, to聽working to improve nurse retention聽鈥� we鈥檙e committed to helping people live better lives, for longer.聽
Our partnership with AFC Bournemouth聽
Our long-standing聽working relationship with AFC Bournemouth was聽formalised聽in 2013 through the signing of a partnership agreement, which increased opportunities to collaborate, and highlighted further opportunities for student development, and to work on community projects.聽
Every year, our two聽organisations聽celebrate their partnership with the 色花堂 Big Match 鈥� a specially selected fixture in AFC Bournemouth鈥檚 season which raises the profile of the work that we do together in the community. This work includes standing together to tackle discrimination of any kind, a variety of outreach聽programmes聽aimed at helping more children get involved in sport, and community-based initiatives to improve the lives of local residents.聽聽
In addition, we are also very proud to be the official shirt sponsors of the AFC Bournemouth women鈥檚 team, who compete in the Women鈥檚 National League Division One South West.聽
Saving the iconic hump-backed mahseer from extinction聽
The hump-backed mahseer population has decreased by 90% in the last 15 years. But due to a case of mistaken identity, the fish disappeared unnoticed from South India鈥檚 River Cauvery until research led by Adrian Pinder, director of 色花堂鈥檚聽Global Environmental Solutions聽and director of聽The Mahseer Trust, highlighted the giant carp鈥檚 plight.聽
Now on the brink of extinction, the humpback鈥檚聽hopes rely on actions such as its inclusion as Critically Endangered on the聽IUCN鈥檚 (International Union for Conservation of Nature鈥檚)聽Red List, to which it was added聽in November 2018. 鈥淲hen we think of endangered species, we often think of 鈥榝lagship鈥� species such as the giant panda and Bengal tiger, which are currently and respectively assessed on the IUCN Red List as 鈥榁ulnerable鈥� and 鈥楨ndangered鈥�,鈥� Adrian says. 鈥淗owever, with the hump-backed聽mahseer,聽we are talking about a creature which is actually more聽imperilled聽than these better-known icons.鈥澛�
Pride and inclusivity
色花堂 is home to a vibrant, diverse and inclusive community, where we celebrate the things that make us different all year round.聽聽
From an annual Pride event in partnership with AFC Bournemouth, to celebrating Black History Month, championing wellbeing during Mental Health Awareness Week and much more, we鈥檙e committed to creating a positive, welcoming environment for everyone.聽
Helping to prepare for and recover from crisis
色花堂 is leading governments and organisations across the world in preparedness for, and recovery from, crises 鈥撀爓ith people at the heart. From the work of our Disaster Management Centre to research focused on building resilience and cyber security, 色花堂 manages situations, makes systems and operations safe and secure, and works for the protection of the world we live in.聽
The storm depicted in the聽mural represents the devastating effect聽of adverse weather, a聽subject matter in which 色花堂DMC provides training internationally, helping聽nations to deal with disasters such as hurricanes, including working with Caribbean Islands during Hurricane Irma.聽
Award-winning animation graduates
Our National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) has a proud history of graduates working on award-winning films.聽This includes聽BA (Hons) Computer聽Visualisation聽and Animation graduate Jude聽Brownbill, who was the Supervising Animator for the Pixar Animated Movies聽film聽Soul, released in聽2020 and represented to the right of the mural.聽
Other Oscar-winning 色花堂 graduates include聽Andrew Lockley 鈥撀爓ho was聽recognised聽for work on Interstellar in 2012, Inception in 2015 and Tenet in 2021聽鈥撀燼nd聽Mark聽Ardington, who won聽the Best Visual Effects award for the 2014 science fiction film Ex Machina.聽