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Queens honours university for de-mining programme
Cranfield recognised for landmine clearance training benefitting Iraq, Afghanistan, Cambodia and Angola.
World-renowned science, technology and management institution Cranfield University has been awarded a 2007 Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its leading international role in humanitarian demining.
Cranfield University is the academic partner in management and technology to the UK's Defence Academy at Shrivenham. The university has a strong reputation for the delivery of high-quality education, and is almost unique in its access to military as well as civilian resources.
This is the second time that Cranfield has been awarded the prize, which is given to institutions which make an outstanding contribution to the intellectual, economic, cultural and social life of the nation.
In 2005, it gained the award for its highly-regarded Fellowship In Manufacturing Management. This year, it achieved the award for a long-term project to help build sustainable national capabilities in mine-affected countries.
Since the end of the Second World War over 75 million landmines have been deployed, including more than 65 million since 1980.
However, many countries are still not free from the physical and socio-economic threats that landmines pose.
In 1999 the United Nations invited Cranfield to assess the international landmine situation and propose options for delivering appropriate, effective and affordable training to national managers.
As a result, the university developed a strategy to help mine-affected countries build their own resilient national capabilities and reduce their dependence on international demining organisations.
Eight years later and Cranfield has become the vanguard of these developments through its educational and training programmes.
To date, Cranfield has delivered training to over 1,000 managers from 68 countries, including Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia and Iraq.
In addition to training courses, Cranfield also provides leadership in other aspects of mine clearance, including technology management courses, testing and evaluation of metal mine detectors, ground penetrating radar and personal protective equipment.
Alastair McAslan, a former British Army officer who leads the university's Humanitarian Resilience Centre at the Shrivenham campus, said: "It will take many years to remove this dreadful legacy of war, and the only sustainable way of tackling the long-term problem is to develop effective national management capacities.
"Our task at Cranfield is to work with our colleagues in the UK Defence Academy, the United Nations and other national and international organisations to establish these capacities."
Cranfield's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir John O'Reilly, said: "Our humanitarian demining programme has been a great success story for Cranfield and highlights our commitment to helping the international community solve real problems.
"I am honoured to learn that our work has been recognised by the highly-esteemed Queen's Anniversary Prize for a second time. We are committed to researching and applying new knowledge for the practical and developmental benefit of all."
The prize will be presented to Cranfield University by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at the Honours Ceremony at Buckingham Palace in February 2008.
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