Increased interest in Theatre for Development (TfD) has generated critical attention from practitioners and critics but this has overlooked two unfortunate factors; increased gender divide and the continuing undervaluing and marginalisation of women. This study investigates the cultural representation of women in Nigeria and how TfD can be used effectively to empower and mobilise women's participation in development and change. It investigates the growth of local NGOs and women's organisations and TfD practice in Nigeria, the challenges facing its use of indigenous performance techniques to facilitate women's participation in development at grassroots level and the possibilities of alternative models.

The focus of the research is the everyday life of children, young people and families living in spaces of New Urbanism in India. India's economic growth has been matched by rapid urban development in recent years; the urban landscape is being significantly re-modelled in line with the principles of New Urbanism - the creation of 'walkable,' diverse, inclusive, sustainable spaces where people will want to live both now and in the future. New large scale developments such as the case study community, Lavasa, are emerging to meet the demand for housing in the Indian context (c.300,000 residents). Future plans include the replication of Lavasa, providing homes to hundreds of thousands of families and individuals across the country, a move to attract individuals away from the clogged metropolitan cities of Delhi and Mumbai, to new urban environments. This research is a unique opportunity to gather empirical evidence of the day-to-day experiences, issues and needs of residents (children, young people and adults) living and moving through this new urban environment. The research is of international significance; current research into the lives of families in large scale, inclusive, sustainable communities is lacking, particularly in the context of an emerging superpower. The research predominantly uses qualitative research methods; however, an innovative mobile 'app' will be developed to further explore and map family mobility within the community. There are three interlinked strands to the research: Internationalising New Urbanism: Primarily, this strand aims to create a dialogue of exchange between those engaged in sustainable urbanism in the UK context (primarily those involved in the creation of 'sustainable communities', albeit on a smaller scale) and those creating new communities in India. What lessons can be learnt from applying the principles of New Urbanism (essentially American and European informed), are there specific design features and points of best practice which can be transferred between these communities and contexts? Sustainable design and mobility - everyday routines, transport and access: This strand will explore family mobility in the context of this new urban environment; a landscape which has been designed in line with principles of sustainability and effective transport use. How are residents moving through and interacting with their environment during their everyday routines? Given that its design has been planned so that 'all components of essential city life are located within walking distance,' is car use minimised within this context? Given the plethora of services and amenities Lavasa provides, how are these connected and used in the rhythm of everyday life? Efficient connectivity is a key principle of the urban infrastructure in Lavasa. This strand aims to explore the successes and limitations of Lavasa's connectivity. Nature and green space in a planned city: Following on from the previous objective, this strand aims to explore the impact of green and public space on the lives of children, young people and their families living in the community. Nature and green space are important and educational; they are interactive elements of the planned city. How are these spaces being used in the everyday life of residents? Are children and young people free to explore the nature and open space which has been planned into their neighbourhood?

Doctoral Training Partnerships: a range of postgraduate training is funded by the Research Councils. For information on current funding routes, see the common terminology at https://www.ukri.org/apply-for-funding/how-we-fund-studentships/. Training grants may be to one organisation or to a consortia of research organisations. This portal will show the lead organisation only.

Doctoral Training Partnerships: a range of postgraduate training is funded by the Research Councils. For information on current funding routes, see the common terminology at https://www.ukri.org/apply-for-funding/how-we-fund-studentships/. Training grants may be to one organisation or to a consortia of research organisations. This portal will show the lead organisation only.

On 7 May 1915, the German submarine U20 fired a torpedo at the passenger liner Lusitania. Eighteen minutes later the pride of the Cunard fleet disappeared beneath the waves. The sinking of the Lusitania ushered in a new, more savage era in naval warfare. It was a passenger vessel struck without warning by an unseen opponent; the victims were all civilians. Thus, both in its method and in its results, this action brought the stark brutality of 'total war' to the world's oceans.\n\nFor the Royal Navy, the sinking of the Lusitania has a further significance. The demise of this ship is proof for many of the backwardness of British naval thinking. That so important a vessel could be allowed to travel alone and unprotected in dangerous waters shows that no thought had been given by those in charge of Britain's maritime defences to the peril the country faced. Had the navy been truly prepared for 'total' warfare, so the argument runs, it would have anticipated that Germany would seek to defeat Britain with an attack on its trade and measures to protect British commerce would have been developed ahead of time and put into place from the outset.\n\nThis is a compelling argument, and it is true that Britain was not prepared for unrestricted submarine warfare. Yet, ironically, the Lusitania is proof that, before the First World War, the navy had given thought to the possibility of a German assault on British trade. For the liner that succumbed so dramatically to a German torpedo in 1915 had been conceived specifically to protect British commerce. The product of an agreement between Cunard and the government, the Lusitania was meant to serve as passenger vessels in peacetime but to become an auxiliary cruiser in wartime. To this end, it was built with turbines capable of generating a high speed, large coal bunkers designed to provide endurance, and pre-established fittings for gun mountings, intended to facilitate an easy-to-install offensive capability.\n\nThe Admiralty's decision to subsidize Cunard to build fast liners reflected the navy's belief that a new and dangerous threat to British commerce was being created. The threat in question came from Germany, whose fleet of Atlantic liners were viewed with apprehension. Intelligence suggested that these ships were capable of great speed, were manned largely by reservists and always had arms on board. Thus, the moment war broke out, it was feared that they would be converted into auxiliary warships and sent to prey on the trade routes. Because of their high speed no British merchantmen would be able to escape them and no British warships would be able to catch them. They would be in a position to run amok on the sea lanes; hence the need for British liners even faster to track them down.\n\nPaying Cunard to build the Lusitania was the first step in a twelve year history of efforts to counter the threat to British commerce from Germany's transatlantic liners. These efforts included radical new warship designs; a campaign to change international law to outlaw the conversion of liners on the high seas; and the establishment of a new global intelligence network to determine the location of German liners and route British ships away from them. Finally, in 1912 the decision was taken to arm British merchant vessels for their own defence.\n\nThese efforts to defend British trade from German attack absorbed considerable resources. Yet, despite the time and money devoted to this issue, the story of the threat from Germany's 'ocean greyhounds' and the British response has never been told. This project will remedy this. Focusing on the perceived threat posed by Germany, it will examine why the British naval authorities anticipated a danger from armed German liners and will explain how they chose to meet this challenge. This will illuminate an important but unknown area of our naval history and go some way to explaining why Britiain's trade defence policy was orientated in the wrong direction in 1914.