In September 2022, the Fi Wi Road interns led the inaugural Black Research Futures Fair at the University of Birmingham. From the name, to the key themes and conference programme, the Fair was designed by them to bring together students, academics, and researchers from across disciplines. See the full 2022 programme.
As part of the fair Black students and researchers from across our networks were invited to contribute their own works in connection to the three central themes of this year’s fair: Inspirations, Aspirations, and Diversions.
‘BLACK RESEARCH FUTURES’
FI WI ROAD FAIR 2022
INSPIRATIONS
Who and what are the people, ideas, spaces which inspire us? Those things which drive us towards our goals? In acknowledging our inspirations we map those who have come before us, and who laid the foundations for the work we do now.
ASPIRATIONS
Our collective and individual aspirations lie at the cohesive middle ground between inspiration and diversion. What are our hopes? What are we looking toward? How will you take your inspirations and shape a new and exciting future?
DIVERSIONS
Our diversions enable us to challenge tradition and expand expectations and norms within academia. What does it mean to be unapologetic and outspoken - to create new spaces rather than wait for a seat at the table?
Investigating Spintronic Materials For Iridium Replacement In Energy Applications
This poster is part of research exploring alternative materials to be used in modern devices.
Living for future, we need today
This poster summarize[s] the Kenyan Peasants League’s theory of prefiguration and demonstrate how it relates to Huey P. Newton’s theory of intercommunalism, hereby looking at prefiguration through the lens of gender, class and (neo-)colonial positionalities.
The Effects of Extreme Poverty, Repressive Government, and Political Instability on Deforestation and Climate Change in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) The Way Forward
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is characterized by significant social vulnerability, political instability, food insecurity, and high rates of poverty. Projected increases in temperature, more extreme weather events, and changes in total precipitation and rainfall variability are likely to exacerbate these challenges, particularly since agriculture, the majority of which is rainfed, is a central engine of the DRC’s economy and the primary source of livelihood for most Congolese people.