Rob Ralston
@policyrelevant.bsky.social
Lecturer in Public Policy at Edinburgh Uni researching corporate power and planetary health - currently global plastics treaty | ‘most improved PhD student’ 2017-18 | part-time Kieran Tierney Ultra
Reposted by Rob Ralston
'One of the programmes...closed entirely was on public policy, and the two women leading it left. Staff claim “there are no longer any women in research leadership positions”, which the institute did not respond to directly, though it stressed its commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.'
Alan Turing Institute staff decry ‘unjustified’ cuts to research
Internal documents detail extent of changes to projects and personnel at national AI institute
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...
Internal documents detail extent of changes to projects and personnel at national AI institute
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...
Alan Turing Institute staff decry ‘unjustified’ cuts to research - Research Professional News
Internal documents detail extent of changes to projects and personnel at national AI institute
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:47 AM
'One of the programmes...closed entirely was on public policy, and the two women leading it left. Staff claim “there are no longer any women in research leadership positions”, which the institute did not respond to directly, though it stressed its commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.'
Reposted by Rob Ralston
Meta’s 2020 research project, Project Mercury, “gauge[d] the effect of ‘deactivating’ Facebook & Instagram, according to Meta docs obtained via discovery…’ppl who stopped using Facebook for a week reported lower feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness & social comparison,’ internal docs said.”🧪
November 23, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Meta’s 2020 research project, Project Mercury, “gauge[d] the effect of ‘deactivating’ Facebook & Instagram, according to Meta docs obtained via discovery…’ppl who stopped using Facebook for a week reported lower feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness & social comparison,’ internal docs said.”🧪
a thing you quickly learn when researching business power, is the lengths to which seemingly ‘legitimate’ corporations will go to extend markets and maximize profits
"Meta internally projected late last year that it would earn about 10 per cent of its overall annual revenue — or $16bn — from running advertising for scams and banned goods, internal company documents show" - Reuters www.ft.com/content/4560...
We have to be able to hold tech platforms accountable for fraud
Algorithms ensure that people who click on scams are likely to see more of them
www.ft.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:29 AM
a thing you quickly learn when researching business power, is the lengths to which seemingly ‘legitimate’ corporations will go to extend markets and maximize profits
Trump out here systematically dismantling every complex theory of policy making we have
November 21, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Trump out here systematically dismantling every complex theory of policy making we have
my platonic ideal of a secondhand bookshop - just absolute chaos
November 20, 2025 at 2:01 PM
my platonic ideal of a secondhand bookshop - just absolute chaos
new article (building on old fieldwork) in the Journal of Critical Public Health
an attempt to apply theories of post-politics to multistakeholder governance which highlights how norms of inclusion paradoxically lead to the exclusion of critical voices
an attempt to apply theories of post-politics to multistakeholder governance which highlights how norms of inclusion paradoxically lead to the exclusion of critical voices
New 'online first' paper from Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social - on 'multi-stakeholderism' in food policy, and how this renders power of corporations less visible
journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jc...
journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jc...
The post-politics of partnership: Understanding corporate power in multistakeholder governance
| Journal of Critical Public Health
journalhosting.ucalgary.ca
November 20, 2025 at 12:27 AM
new article (building on old fieldwork) in the Journal of Critical Public Health
an attempt to apply theories of post-politics to multistakeholder governance which highlights how norms of inclusion paradoxically lead to the exclusion of critical voices
an attempt to apply theories of post-politics to multistakeholder governance which highlights how norms of inclusion paradoxically lead to the exclusion of critical voices
surreal watching us qualify for the world cup with a chip from the halfway line
this will never be topped
this will never be topped
November 18, 2025 at 10:17 PM
surreal watching us qualify for the world cup with a chip from the halfway line
this will never be topped
this will never be topped
virtually indistinguishable from the plot of an A24 psychological horror
I really want to believe that there’s no market for these ghoulish AI apps
I really want to believe that there’s no market for these ghoulish AI apps
November 14, 2025 at 1:31 PM
virtually indistinguishable from the plot of an A24 psychological horror
I really want to believe that there’s no market for these ghoulish AI apps
I really want to believe that there’s no market for these ghoulish AI apps
Reposted by Rob Ralston
'Proximity to drilling wells, processing plants, pipelines + other fossil fuel facilities elevates the risk of cancer, respiratory conditions, heart disease, premature birth + death, as well as posing grave threats to water supplies + air quality, + degrades land.'
Other than that, great stuff
Other than that, great stuff
Exclusive by me: A quarter of the world’s population lives within three miles (5km) of operational fossil fuel projects, threatening the health of more than 2bn people as well as critical ecosystems, according to first-of-its-kind research.
@amnesty.org
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
@amnesty.org
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Fossil fuel projects around the world threaten the health of 2bn people – report
Exclusive: ‘Deep-rooted injustices’ affect billions of people due to location of wells, pipelines and other infrastructure
www.theguardian.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:32 PM
'Proximity to drilling wells, processing plants, pipelines + other fossil fuel facilities elevates the risk of cancer, respiratory conditions, heart disease, premature birth + death, as well as posing grave threats to water supplies + air quality, + degrades land.'
Other than that, great stuff
Other than that, great stuff
new open access paper on the right to science and pollution with several fantastic colleagues including
@bcarneyalmroth.bsky.social @jptilsted.bsky.social and @taraolsen.bsky.social
@bcarneyalmroth.bsky.social @jptilsted.bsky.social and @taraolsen.bsky.social
Protecting the right to science in multilateral environmental agreements addressing chemicals and plastics pollution
Scientific evidence supports dominant institutional understandings of the global socio-ecological crises of the triple planetary crisis-climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution-demonstrating...
www.tandfonline.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:21 PM
new open access paper on the right to science and pollution with several fantastic colleagues including
@bcarneyalmroth.bsky.social @jptilsted.bsky.social and @taraolsen.bsky.social
@bcarneyalmroth.bsky.social @jptilsted.bsky.social and @taraolsen.bsky.social
Reposted by Rob Ralston
🔴 NEW 🔴
Mapped: Big Food’s Routes to Influence at COP30
Interactive map shows the food & farming corporations, trade groups and initiatives at COP30 in Brazil and how these are set to navigate the summit
📝 @rachelsherrington.bsky.social & Gil Alessi👇
www.desmog.com/2025/11/10/m...
Mapped: Big Food’s Routes to Influence at COP30
Interactive map shows the food & farming corporations, trade groups and initiatives at COP30 in Brazil and how these are set to navigate the summit
📝 @rachelsherrington.bsky.social & Gil Alessi👇
www.desmog.com/2025/11/10/m...
Mapped: Big Food’s Routes to Influence at COP30
In the city of Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon rainforest, Brazil has kicked off the COP30 climate conference, a summit framed as a pivotal moment to reduce emissions and keep the Paris Agreement al...
www.desmog.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:30 AM
🔴 NEW 🔴
Mapped: Big Food’s Routes to Influence at COP30
Interactive map shows the food & farming corporations, trade groups and initiatives at COP30 in Brazil and how these are set to navigate the summit
📝 @rachelsherrington.bsky.social & Gil Alessi👇
www.desmog.com/2025/11/10/m...
Mapped: Big Food’s Routes to Influence at COP30
Interactive map shows the food & farming corporations, trade groups and initiatives at COP30 in Brazil and how these are set to navigate the summit
📝 @rachelsherrington.bsky.social & Gil Alessi👇
www.desmog.com/2025/11/10/m...
Reposted by Rob Ralston
We are featured in over 50 news outlets today: PhD student David Mahoney's research using web archives, @archive.org, to measure historic website emissions, offering a new method and open-source code for analysing & highlighting online environmental impact. www.energylivenews.com/2025/11/11/c...
COP websites emit 10 times more carbon than average webpages - Energy Live News
COP conference websites emit more carbon per page view than typical webpages
www.energylivenews.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:34 AM
We are featured in over 50 news outlets today: PhD student David Mahoney's research using web archives, @archive.org, to measure historic website emissions, offering a new method and open-source code for analysing & highlighting online environmental impact. www.energylivenews.com/2025/11/11/c...
Reposted by Rob Ralston
history will ultimately decide this but i think joyce carol oates might have just landed the most devastating burn in human history. like the death star trench run of posting
November 10, 2025 at 7:03 PM
history will ultimately decide this but i think joyce carol oates might have just landed the most devastating burn in human history. like the death star trench run of posting
Reposted by Rob Ralston
It’s one thing to have different environmental/health priorities for your foundation, it’s quite another to have been bankrolling one of the primary sources of bullshit on the topic.
Bill Gates Gave $3.5M to Think Tank Run by Climate Crisis Denier Bjorn Lomborg
By @rtakver.bsky.social @desmog.com
www.desmog.com/2025/11/05/b...
By @rtakver.bsky.social @desmog.com
www.desmog.com/2025/11/05/b...
Bill Gates Gave $3.5M to Think Tank Run by Climate Crisis Denier Bjorn Lomborg
Tax records reveal that the billionaire’s foundation has donated for years to Lomborg’s Copenhagen Consensus Center.
www.desmog.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:27 PM
It’s one thing to have different environmental/health priorities for your foundation, it’s quite another to have been bankrolling one of the primary sources of bullshit on the topic.
Reposted by Rob Ralston
Opinion
America First and the Fragmentation of Global Health: How Africa can Reimagine Its Agency
www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/06/11/2...
America First and the Fragmentation of Global Health: How Africa can Reimagine Its Agency
www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/06/11/2...
November 6, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Opinion
America First and the Fragmentation of Global Health: How Africa can Reimagine Its Agency
www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/06/11/2...
America First and the Fragmentation of Global Health: How Africa can Reimagine Its Agency
www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/06/11/2...
Reposted by Rob Ralston
They just gutted Teen Vogue which had top notch political journalism. The media is continuing to purge any sort of political dissent to Trump and the oligarchs.
www.vogue.com/article/teen...
www.vogue.com/article/teen...
November 3, 2025 at 8:01 PM
They just gutted Teen Vogue which had top notch political journalism. The media is continuing to purge any sort of political dissent to Trump and the oligarchs.
www.vogue.com/article/teen...
www.vogue.com/article/teen...
PepsiCo follows Coca-Cola in backtracking on commitments to reduce virgin plastic + abandoning reuse
despite all the talk of corporate sustainbility in UN plastic treaty negotiations, the reality is that Big Food companies are continuin to expand their use of single use plastics
despite all the talk of corporate sustainbility in UN plastic treaty negotiations, the reality is that Big Food companies are continuin to expand their use of single use plastics
PepsiCo downgrades its sustainability goals
PepsiCo, in its latest sustainability update, becomes the latest major company to scale back its climate targets.
trellis.net
October 27, 2025 at 2:05 PM
PepsiCo follows Coca-Cola in backtracking on commitments to reduce virgin plastic + abandoning reuse
despite all the talk of corporate sustainbility in UN plastic treaty negotiations, the reality is that Big Food companies are continuin to expand their use of single use plastics
despite all the talk of corporate sustainbility in UN plastic treaty negotiations, the reality is that Big Food companies are continuin to expand their use of single use plastics
I’ve said this jokingly to colleagues but a universal research income (URI) of 10k would be a far more equitable and productive system than the current funding model
staggering to think of the time and effort put into applications that have a 1% chance of getting funded
staggering to think of the time and effort put into applications that have a 1% chance of getting funded
After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results:
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
October 23, 2025 at 11:45 AM
I’ve said this jokingly to colleagues but a universal research income (URI) of 10k would be a far more equitable and productive system than the current funding model
staggering to think of the time and effort put into applications that have a 1% chance of getting funded
staggering to think of the time and effort put into applications that have a 1% chance of getting funded
Reposted by Rob Ralston
🚨 New working paper alert 🚨
Missing summer — and the Tour de France? Don’t worry, we got you covered. 🚴♂️🚴♂️🚴♂️
In this paper, we show that being on the route of Tour de France reduces far-right voting. osf.io/preprints/so...
Missing summer — and the Tour de France? Don’t worry, we got you covered. 🚴♂️🚴♂️🚴♂️
In this paper, we show that being on the route of Tour de France reduces far-right voting. osf.io/preprints/so...
September 16, 2025 at 10:25 AM
🚨 New working paper alert 🚨
Missing summer — and the Tour de France? Don’t worry, we got you covered. 🚴♂️🚴♂️🚴♂️
In this paper, we show that being on the route of Tour de France reduces far-right voting. osf.io/preprints/so...
Missing summer — and the Tour de France? Don’t worry, we got you covered. 🚴♂️🚴♂️🚴♂️
In this paper, we show that being on the route of Tour de France reduces far-right voting. osf.io/preprints/so...
shamelessly promoting this paper again - open access thanks to @uoe-sps.bsky.social
new article in @reggovjournal.bsky.social that examines how corporations engage in 'venue hopping' as a means to advance agendas in multiple spaces and at multiple levels
This riffs off Baumgartner and Jones' notion of venue shopping, but adapts it for an increasingly multistakeholder world
This riffs off Baumgartner and Jones' notion of venue shopping, but adapts it for an increasingly multistakeholder world
Corporate Power in a Multistakeholder World: Venue Hopping and the Multilevel Politics of Ultra‐Processed Food
The regulation of business is increasingly characterized by “soft” governance regimes that blur the boundaries of public and private authority, as signaled by the rapid proliferation of multistakehol...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 21, 2025 at 10:47 AM
shamelessly promoting this paper again - open access thanks to @uoe-sps.bsky.social
Reposted by Rob Ralston
🚨New from me & @fieldnotes.co in @theguardian.com → Revealed: The network of GOP hired guns behind Big Soda’s bid to turn MAGA against MAHA www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Inside the Republican network behind big soda’s bid to pit Maga against Maha
A Guardian investigation finds the US soda and snack-food industries, threatened by RFK Jr’s movement to change Americans’ eating habits, have turned to a group of well-connected strategists, shadowy ...
www.theguardian.com
October 19, 2025 at 12:09 PM
🚨New from me & @fieldnotes.co in @theguardian.com → Revealed: The network of GOP hired guns behind Big Soda’s bid to turn MAGA against MAHA www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
[stares forlornly at inertia of Edinburgh city council]
Cardiff will be the first UK city to introduce a surcharge for oversized SUVs and trucks, "while very large vehicles – those over 3,500kg – will be excluded from residential permits entirely."
Cardiff set to tackle SUV 'carspreading' in UK first
Cardiff Council is set to become the first local authority in the UK to introduce higher parking charges for SUVs and other heavy vehicles, in a move campaigners say will make city streets safer and f...
nation.cymru
October 16, 2025 at 7:41 AM
[stares forlornly at inertia of Edinburgh city council]
Reposted by Rob Ralston
"If geoengineering works well initially & you see this temperature drop, the tempempation to keep going & extracting fossil fuels will be greater than ever, because it will seem that you have a technologically that can cut off the link between temperature rises & fossil fuel combustion."
Overshoot & Climate Breakdown - Wim Carton & Andreas Malm | #39
YouTube video by Jesse Damiani
youtu.be
October 15, 2025 at 9:38 AM
"If geoengineering works well initially & you see this temperature drop, the tempempation to keep going & extracting fossil fuels will be greater than ever, because it will seem that you have a technologically that can cut off the link between temperature rises & fossil fuel combustion."
new article in @reggovjournal.bsky.social that examines how corporations engage in 'venue hopping' as a means to advance agendas in multiple spaces and at multiple levels
This riffs off Baumgartner and Jones' notion of venue shopping, but adapts it for an increasingly multistakeholder world
This riffs off Baumgartner and Jones' notion of venue shopping, but adapts it for an increasingly multistakeholder world
Corporate Power in a Multistakeholder World: Venue Hopping and the Multilevel Politics of Ultra‐Processed Food
The regulation of business is increasingly characterized by “soft” governance regimes that blur the boundaries of public and private authority, as signaled by the rapid proliferation of multistakehol...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 13, 2025 at 11:41 AM
new article in @reggovjournal.bsky.social that examines how corporations engage in 'venue hopping' as a means to advance agendas in multiple spaces and at multiple levels
This riffs off Baumgartner and Jones' notion of venue shopping, but adapts it for an increasingly multistakeholder world
This riffs off Baumgartner and Jones' notion of venue shopping, but adapts it for an increasingly multistakeholder world
Reposted by Rob Ralston
