The 14th century was a formative period in the development of both the North of England, and the kingdom of England, as political-cultural entities. It culminated in the execution of Richard Scrope, archbishop of York, for treason, following his participation in the northern rebellion against Henry IV in 1405. These events and their aftermath would condition 'northerness' and royal government of the north for centuries to come, through the Reformation and beyond. The Northern Way begins from the proposition that we cannot understand these events with understanding the role of the archbishops of York as northern leaders in the century before 1405. As a result of the Scottish Wars of Independence from 1296, the English state adopted new mechanisms for governing the lands north of the Trent. The Church provided active leadership in the war through the mobilization of material support, military leadership, and promotion of the cults of the northern saints. Much of this promotion centred on the personalities of the archbishops of York who in addition to their political leadership were extensively engaged in pastoral reform and memorialised in new chronicles and in a greatly enlarged and newly glazed York Minster. Ultimately the representation of the archbishops as northern leaders reached a crisis in the rebellion and execution for treason of Archbishop Richard Scrope in 1405. Yet the deeper historical reasons for the extraordinary political events of 1405 are still not understood and of the eight archbishops of this period only one, Arundel (1388-1396), is the subject of a modern detailed study (Aston, 1967). One reason for the neglect of the archbishops of York in the development of a regional polity is the divide between different branches of historical inquiry which in this period have tended to treat political and ecclesiastical history, central and regional history, as separate entities. Another is the inaccessibility of the key primary sources, which are mainly held in the Borthwick Institute for Archives and The National Archives, but also include small collections of records in other northern record offices. This project will complete a publicly-available comprehensive searchable online index of all relevant primary sources for the political activity of the archbishops from both diocesan and national archives. It will undertake a thorough quantitative and qualitative analysis of their contents with a particular focus on prosopography and network analysis of both clergy and laity engaged by the archbishops in governing the north and representing the north in Westminster. Finally it will undertake a comparative analysis of the discourse and agendas present in the representation of the archbishops through their official correspondence and public memorialisation both in the north and in central institutions of government. Was their agenda a 'northern' agenda and does this emerge as a longer term context explaining the state crisis in 1405? Our work will be of interest to historians, political scientists and to all those interested in northern identity, past and present. We will provide a comprehensive means of accessing the principal records generated by the archbishops of York in their capacity as diocesans, metropolitans and royal ministers, and of understanding their political nature and implications. We will create a public, free and accessible online index to the contents of all the manuscript materials. Through an extensive programme of external activities including public lectures, conferences and workshops with local history groups, scholars, students and record keepers. We will create accessible case studies and videocasts that will be freely available online and we will actively support and encourage further use of the materials. We will publish our findings and the results of the workshops through a monograph, an edition of selected materials, and essays and articles in both books and journals.

By the middle of this century, two thirds of the world's population will be urban - equivalent to around 6.3 billion people. Mismanagement of these urban areas will adversely affect the health and well-being (i.e. how people experience their lives and flourish) of the population, and lead to social and environmental injustice. It has long been recognised that good quality cultural, social, built and natural environments within cities provide benefits in terms of health, well-being and equity of urban residents. Conversely, poor quality environments negatively affect the health and well-being of citizens and have negative economic consequences. With increasing urbanisation and changes in climate, the built, cultural, social and natural environments within cities will come under further pressure. While the relationships between selected environment quality parameters, such as noise and air pollution and health, have been well characterised, relatively little is known about the relationship between other quality measures, or endpoints, of economic and societal well-being and health. A major reason for this limited understanding is that while much data on city environments exist, this is fragmented across numerous data owners, is not joined up or at suitable granularity. As these existing datasets have been collected for other reasons, they are not always in a form where they are useful for a wide variety of purposes or for future needs. Data on some important parameters simply does not yet exist. Additionally, specialists in the different disciplines needed to tackle these complex issues often work in isolation. By bringing data together, breaking down barriers across research disciplines and exploiting and developing new monitoring, modelling and analytical technologies (e.g. wireless sensing networks, wearable devices, drones, crowdsourcing, 3D models of cities and virtual reality), it should be possible to provide a holistic analysis of the quality of the environment with a city that can be used by many different stakeholders (e.g. researchers, policy makers, planners, businesses and the public) to address their needs. This holistic analysis will then provide us with a better understanding of how to manage city environments and will provide long-term benefits to citizens and the economy. The York City Environment Observatory (YCEO) initiative will address this major knowledge gap by providing a framework, tools and conceptual models at the urban scale that can be rolled-out to assist with governance of environments in York and other cities in the UK and around the world. In this diagnostic phase project, experts from a diverse range of sectors and disciplines, will work together in a holistic way to design and lay the groundwork for establishing the YCEO. The consortium will work with a range of stakeholders and look to the past, present and future in trying to diagnose and predict environmental issues for York and their associated human health and well-being and economic impacts. We will build on York's strong track record in open data and combine data and models in order to do this. This diagnostic project will allow us to develop a prototype design for the YCEO, to be implemented within the next five years and a roadmap for achieving this. The YCEO will be designed to provide the evidence-base for making decisions on how best to manage and enhance the social, cultural, built and natural environment across city systems now and into the future, and in this way, improve the health, well-being and equity of citizens and the economy of the city. The YCEO will also aid local, national and international stakeholders (including planners, businesses, residents and community groups) to come up with low cost and innovative solutions to a range of problems identified as part of this diagnostic phase of the Urban Living Partnership.

'Pilgrimage and England's cathedrals' employs a ground-breaking combination of interdisciplinary perspectives and methodologies to identify and analyse the core dynamics of pilgrimage and sacred sites in England from the 11th to 21st centuries, to assess the growing significance of English cathedrals as sacred/heritage sites today, and to inform management of/public engagement with these iconic buildings. Set against the background of the worldwide growth of pilgrimage and the increasing importance of sacred sites, the project's innovative approaches and timely research agenda also contribute substantially to defining and establishing the emerging field of Pilgrimage Studies. At the heart of this project is a new, wide-ranging analysis of the meaning and breadth of 'pilgrimage' and the role of sacred places past and present. Why did pilgrimage matter in the past and why does it still matter today? In exploring these issues, the project focuses attention on the role of cathedrals: places where, uniquely, national and local history and identity, material culture and traditional and emerging religious practice can be encountered together. Pilgrimage was central to the development and status of English cathedrals in the Middle Ages and although most shrines were destroyed at the Reformation, many of the great churches and monasteries which housed them remain as cathedrals today, literally shaped by their pilgrim past and retaining a strong pilgrimage legacy. Anglican cathedrals are increasingly refocusing on and reinstating shrines, reflecting an international multi-faith phenomenon in which an estimated 200 million people across the world engage in pilgrimage and religious tourism annually. Cathedrals in England are the group of sacred sites visited by the largest, most diverse group of people. A recent report reveals that 27% of adults resident in England visited an Anglican cathedral at least once in the previous year (THEOS, 2012). Moreover, over 40% of those visitors came from faith traditions other than Christianity or had no religious affiliation. This suggests that cathedrals are seen as shaped by, but transcending, Christianity, offering unique access to the 'spiritual' within the context of history, heritage and culture, and providing meaningful spaces for people of all faiths and none. These developments demand fuller, rigorous, multi-disciplinary investigation so that the implications for cathedrals, visitors and communities can be explored in detail. The project uses 4 cathedrals, Canterbury, York, Durham and Westminster (chosen to represent a range of historical, social, geographical, cultural and denominational settings, and varying policies on charging for entry) as historical and contemporary case studies. Research methods include analysis of architectural and visual material, archives and contemporary documents. Interviews, photo/audio-diaries, and participant observation will be employed to gather and examine the experiences and views of cathedral staff, volunteers, pilgrims, tourists and local residents (of all faiths or none). English cathedrals face multiple challenges as they seek to balance meeting the needs of congregations and pilgrims with remaining accessible to wider communities and tourists, and funding the maintenance of their historic buildings. This project provides insight into the historical and contemporary significance and use of spaces in and around cathedrals and analyses the specific connections between spiritual practice, cultural and historic interest, and individual, local and national senses of belonging. Outputs will include books, journal articles, conferences, a website, and an interactive animated visualization of medieval pilgrim experience. Findings will inform a range of academic disciplines, enhance visitor provision, tourism strategies and heritage management in English cathedrals and other sites, and provide resources for use by schools and the wider public.

York is one of the most visited places in England. With major attractions such as the York Minster, the National Railway Museum and a plethora of historical city churches, York attracts close to 4 million visitors per annum, with just over one million arriving by train. A staggering 3.38 million visitors attended city museums and churches in 2005, of which a very high proportion attended York Minster. In the month of September, the number of visitors in the city usually totals 351,360 and this number will swell this year because of the Festival. The visitors are regionally and culturally diverse arriving from all continents with a multitude of interests, for example, theology, architecture, history, engineering, art and photography. The interest may be either professional-based or merely social such as a hobby. We appreciate some of the audience will be international, and possibly non-English speaking. Language is not a barrier since one part of the engagement is visual. Stunning liquid crystal images, 5 m wide by 10 m high, will be digitally projected on to the east wing of York Minster together with picture galleries in venues across the city, including inside the Minster and at the National Railway Musuem.With such a large, diverse and captive audience the impact of our public engagement and participation will very high. Not only will members of the public have access to stunning scientific imagery across the city, but also a unique chance to engage in public debate with three internationally leading experts in the field of liquid crystals, Professors Gray, Goodby and Raynes, as part of a Caf Scientifique event.Publicity will be at the highest level possible since it forms part of the Festival. The Festival boasts the highest rates of press coverage, national and international, of any annual UK Science event ensuring worldwide media exposure. Publicity and dissemination will be further enhanced using the network of media and public relations experts at York City Council and the University of York. The production of leaflets, programme cards, radio and possible television interviews are envisaged.We are disseminating science through visually stunning artwork. The nature of the artwork as such is mobile and can be easily transported. We envisage dissemination as part of a travelling exhibition, making it accessible to various parts of the country, for example to Tate Modern.