The ‘Sounding the Way: Audio Walking in Cardiff’s Urban Neighbourhoods’ project was funded in 2010 by the Beacon for Wales and led by Dr Kate Moles at WISERD Cardiff University and Dr Angharad Saunders at the University of Glamorgan.

As part of the project, residents of Grangetown in Cardiff were encouraged to explore their neighbourhood through producing audio walks.

This project had at its core the idea of engaging young people in producing audio walks about their communities, about where they like to go. The work involved enrolling the young people not just as participants in producing these audio walks, but as active contributors, developers, researchers and producers.

The work also involved intergenerational interactions, with young people working with older people in the exploration of their shared neighbourhood, thus empowering the residents and making them engage with and think about their areas in new and exciting ways.  

The maps and audio walks that have been produced are now available to the entire community as a resource to use and enjoy. The event next week will launch these resources and attendees will have the opportunity to listen to the audio walks, watch a film about the project and read the audio walk guide.

The launch event is open to everyone and takes place on Monday May 14^th at 3.30pm at The Deck Coffee House, Harrowby Street, Cardiff.

For more information please email Dr Kate Moles: Molesk@cf.ac.uk 

NESET, which stands for the Network of Experts on Social aspects of Education and Training, has launched the website to provide a valuable tool for policy makers and practitioners interested in promoting equity and inclusion in education and training across the EU.

 The website draws together the expertise of the European Commission funded NESET Network, consisting of over 50 leading researchers from across the European Union and beyond, which is coordinated by Cardiff University and which advises the Education and Culture Directorate-General of the European Commission.

Available in four languages, English, French, German and Welsh, the website contains links to the latest debates and robust evidence relating to social aspects of education and training. These cover issues such as the costs and benefits of cross-sector working, the strengths and weaknesses of different ‘recovery’ strategies for children and young people and how best to foster transitions from school to work or further education, and widening access.  NESETweb also provides information about relevant news and events so that policy makers and practitioners can keep abreast of the latest developments in Europe and elsewhere.

Although designed to be a resource for stakeholders and policymakers, it will also be an important reference point for education researchers in particular and social scientists more generally.

Professor Sally Power, from the University’s School of Social Sciences and Director of NESET, said:  “We believe the NESET website will provide an invaluable website for all those interested in promoting educational equity and social inclusion in Europe.  It has the potential to make a really important bridge between the education research committee and the policy-makers and practitioners who face the difficult task of trying to make education not just better but fairer.”

To view the website, please click on the following link: http://www.nesetweb.eu/

Venue: Room -1.31 Glamorgan Building, Cardiff University

Ethnography, Culture and Interpretive Analysis research group

Chair: Robin Smith

Speakers

Tom Hall and Robin Smith (Cardiff University and WISERD)

Rachel Taylor-Swann (Cardiff University)

Oliver Cowan (University of Plymouth)

This is the second of a two part session on Street Research and Researcher Safety.

This event is a forum for the discussion of the conduct, experience and representation of ethnographic and/or qualitative research on the street; that is, the public and not so public spaces of the city. In conjunction with popular imagery and imaginings of the street, with spectacle and fear served in equal proportion, discussions of such research can often foreground questions of safety, ethical conduct and the management of risk viewed from the perspective of the researcher. A potential consequence of such – undoubtedly important – discussion is the romanticisation of research endeavour in place of an examination of the way in which informants routinely navigate and negotiate such matters in the course of their daily round. In considering research ‘on the street’, three papers take the phrase in the two senses in which it might be heard – with the street as both object and setting of inquiry – in discussing the way in which ‘the street’, ‘risk’ and ‘safety’ feature both within the conduct and reporting of research projects and, more significantly, as they are managed in and through the street-level practices, routines and accounts of everyday life in the city.

Times: 9.30am to 4.30pm

Location: Main Arts, Bangor University

Keynotes

‘The Politics of Belonging: Intersectional Constellations’ 
Professor Nira Yuval-Davis, Director of the Centre on Migration, Refugees and Belonging, University of East London.

‘A Transnational History of Victimhood Nationalism: National Mourning and Global Accountability’ 
Professor Jie-Hyun Lim, Director of the Institute of Comparative History and Culture, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea

‘African American Sociology: Identity, Inequality and Emancipation’
Dr Gurminder K. Bhambra, Director of the Social Theory Research Centre, University of Warwick, UK

Overview

This conference has been organised by the Belonging and Ethnicity Research Group (BERG) jointly with the Bangor School of Social Sciences, the British Sociological Association Theory Study Group and WISERD.

Current debates on gender, nation, sexuality, religion and other categories of social divisions and belonging often address the relations between these categories with the term ‘intersectionality’: intersecting in an infinite variety of ways, each of these categories helps construct all the others. What we are, what we suffer, what we belong to, or what we long to be, is multifaceted and contradictory. Our longings, or aversions, are related to our belongings in complicated and ambiguous ways, and what social group or category we belong to does not determine our political or cultural values, goals or dreams. And yet: the former inform the latter, if only to the extent that we do not wish to remain tomorrow what we are today. Nor do our positionings, situatedness and belongings simply add up to an ‘identity’ (being one way and not other) – as if my hold of ‘ethnicity no. 7′ plus ‘gender no. 2′ plus ‘citizenship in state no. 11′ etcetera could ever equate to exactly what ‘I am’: ‘citizenship in state no. 11′ does not mean the same depending on whether I am of this or that sex, or sexuality, or age, or ethnicity. These intersections complicate, perhaps thwart, any efforts to ground the cultural and political projects, coalitions, emancipation that we long for in the spaces (physical, virtual, rhetorical) we belong to.

The organisers welcome critical contributions on all aspects of ‘spaces of belonging’ under the perspective of the concept of intersectionality. Theoretically informed contributions from scholars in all disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, broadly conceived, are invited, as well as from social and community activists or artists.

The call for papers is now closed. Please visit the conference website here for more information on the programme and how to attend.

For more information about this event please contact Sue Jones (berg@bangor.cf.ac.uk).

Funder(s): European Agency for Health and Safety at Work

Funding: £80,000

Start Date: January 2010

End Date: November 2010

Research Team

Rhys Davies, WISERD Cardiff
Emma Wadsworth, Cardiff Work Environment Research Centre (CWERC), Cardiff University
David Walters, Cardiff Work Environment Research Centre (CWERC), Cardiff University

Overview

The involvement of workers and their representatives in consultation on arrangements for managing risks to health and safety at work is a key element of the requirements of the EU Framework Directive 89/391.   While there are differences in provisions between member states that reflect national differences in regulatory styles and labour relations cultures and practices, their long standing presence in some countries allows opportunity to assess the extent to which such involvement is effective, the conditions that make it and the barriers that militate against effectiveness.  However, possibilities to undertake such analysis quantitatively and comparatively are limited in practice by the extent to which robust survey data exist across all countries within the EU.  The programme will undertake analysis of the data on management of health and safety and psychosocial risks at work that were gathered through the European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER).

Deliverables

The symposium was highly successful and enjoyable. A variety of interesting presentations explored different aspects of Qualitative GIS and prompted wide ranging debate around the topic. Conversation was enhanced by the consistently high number of delegates attending the sessions, many following the symposium from beginning to end. This allowed ideas to develop and be explored as the symposium progressed. As well as co-organising the symposium, WISERD staff directly inputted into the stream as presenters (Scott); chairs (Stephen); discussants (Stephen) and panellists (Stephen). The symposium ended with a round table in which panellists Mei-Po Kwan; Jeremy Crampton; LaDona Knigge; Marianna Pavlovskaya; Matthew Wilson and Stephen Burgess led a discussion on the past, present and potential futures of Qualitative GIS.

Qualitative GIS is a growing research area concerned with the integration of qualitative and GIS data on space and place in order to further geographical research. WISERD input into the symposium was part of work the institute has been developing over the last three years, particularly through the work of Stephen Burgess and Scott Orford. Stephen and Scott have presented at many conferences on aspects of Qualitative GIS. Stephen has also been an invited speaker on the subject, as well as teaching Qualitative GIS workshops.

A key moment in this work was organising and hosting the First international Qualitative GIS conference in Cardiff (August 2010). Since 2010, WISERD has helped develop an international network of academics interested in Qualitative GIS. This has included the visit of Mei-Po Kwan to WISERD as Cardiff University visiting scholar. It is through this network that the idea for a Qualitative GIS strand at AAG 2012 was conceived and implemented. The intent was to build on some of the conversations that started at the 2010 conference in Cardiff and present these to an increasingly broad audience.

As WISERD moves forward, staff will continue to develop the Qualitative GIS project as part of the data integration strand. Leading directly on from the conference, Timothy Hawthorne (Georgia State University) has visited WISERD and is currently working with Stephen and colleagues in Cardiff and Swansea Universities to undertake joint-writing projects and develop grant bids to secure funding for collaborative international projects around areas of shared interest.

For more information on this, please contact Stephen Burgess burgessS@cardiff.ac.uk.          

Issue 1 – August 2010
Issue 2 – February 2011
Issue 3 – July 2011
Issue 4 – October 2011
Issue 5 – March 2012

The lecture entitled ‘The Future of Homelessness Policy in Wales: Learning Lessons from the States and the Scots’, considered what lessons could be learnt from Scotland and the United States of America; two countries that approach the enduring social issue of homelessness very differently.

Chaired by Dame Mavis McDonald DCB, Trustee of JRF and its Housing Trust, the lecture provided contributions from Professor Dennis Culhane (University of Pennsylvania), Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick (Heriot-Watt University) and Huw Lewis AM (Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage).

Professor Culhane, previously a consultant to the White House Domestic Policy Council, examined recent developments in America.  Professor Fitzpatrick, a member of the Scottish Executive Homelessness Task Force which guided post-devolution changes in Scottish policy, then described the challenges of adopting a rights-based approach.  Finally, Huw Lewis AM concluded the lecture by reflecting on key lessons for homelessness policy in Wales.

The entire presentations from Professors Culhane and Fitzpatrick are available to view below.

To find out more about the WISERD Housing Reference Group, please visit: http://www.wiserd.ac.uk/networks/thematic-group-on-housing/

Professor Fitzpatrick – Homelessness, Human Rights and Legal Rights: Does Scotland Provide the Ideal Model

Professor Culhane – The Dynamics of Homelessness

*Cymraeg isod

Media release: March 21^st 2012

One of the most important events in the social science calendar for people concerned with social and economic issues in Wales is travelling to Bangor next week.

The third annual Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods’ (WISERD) Conference will bring together social science researchers, politicians, postgraduate students and public sector representatives to explore topical themes that impact society in the context of devolution, place and change.

The wide range of themes covered at the two-day conference reflects WISERD’s interdisciplinary research. They include: Labour markets in Wales and the UK, Environment and Sustainability inWales, Health and Care, Identity and Place, Theory and practice of Devolution, Poverty and Ethnicity, Education and Children inWales, Migration and Mobility, Crime and criminology, and Citizenship and Language.

Headlining the programme of more than 55 talks and roundtable discussions are three high profile keynote speakers: the Rt. Hon Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM, Professor John Curtice from the University of Strathclyde and Costa Rican politician and former presidential candidate Ottón Solís.

Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas’ keynote address on how to legislate for sustainability will open the conference.  WISERD Director, Professor Gareth Rees, said:” We are delighted to welcome such a well respected figure to the WISERD conference. Dafydd Elis-Thomas is one of the major figures in contemporary Welsh politics and I’m sure that his contribution will be well-informed and thought-provoking”.

To launch the event there will be a special poetry reading on the eve of the conference with renowned local poets Menna Elfyn and Zoe Skoulding presenting their work under the title of ‘Ffin a Frontier’ (boundary and frontier).

WISERD is a collaborative venture between the Universities of Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, Glamorgan and Swansea.  Funded by the Higher Education Funding Council of Wales (HEFCW) and the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), WISERD has established itself as a leading centre for social science research excellence since its creation in 2009.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors

1. The third annual WISERD Conference entitled ‘Devolution, Place and Change’ takes place at Bangor University on March 28^th and 29^th 2012. Visit www.wiserd.ac.uk/conference2012 for more information and to view the full programme.

2. The ‘Ffin a Frontier’ poetry evening will take place in the Terrace Lounge, Bangor University on Tuesday March 27^th at 7.30pm.

3. The Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods (WISERD) is jointly funded by the Welsh Assembly Government (HEFCW) and the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to draw together and build upon the existing expertise in quantitative and qualitative research methods and methodologies at Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, Glamorgan and Swansea Universities.

Established in 2009, WISERD undertakes research and capacity building activities that underpin research infrastructure in the economic and social sciences across Wales and beyond.

Cynhadledd bwysig ar y gwyddorau cymdeithasol yn dod i Gogledd Cymru

Datganiad i’r wasg: 21 Mawrth 2012

Bydd un o’r digwyddiadau pwysicaf yng nghalendr y gwyddorau cymdeithasol ar gyfer pobl sy’n ymwneud â materion cymdeithasol ac economaidd yng Nghymru yn teithio i Fangor wythnos nesaf.

Bydd trydedd cynhadledd flynyddol Sefydliad Ymchwil Gymdeithasol ac Economaidd, Data a Dulliau Cymru (WISERD) yn dwyn ynghyd ymchwilwyr y gwyddorau cymdeithasol, gwleidyddion, myfyrwyr ôl-raddedig a chynrychiolwyr o’r sector cyhoeddus i archwilio themâu amserol sy’n effeithio ar gymdeithas yng nghyd-destun datganoli, lle a newid.

Bydd yr ystod eang o themâu sy’n cael sylw yn y gynhadledd ddeuddydd yn adlewyrchu ymchwil ryngddisgyblaethol WISERD. Maent yn cynnwys: Marchnadoedd Llafur yng Nghymru a’r Deyrnas Unedig, Amgylchedd a Chynaliadwyedd yng Nghymru, Iechyd a Gofal, Hunaniaeth a Lle, Damcaniaeth ac Arfer Datganoli, Tlodi ac Ethnigrwydd, Addysg a Phlant yng Nghymru, Mudo a Symudedd, Troseddu a Throseddeg, a Dinasyddiaeth ac Iaith.

Bydd tri phrif siaradwr gwadd uchel eu proffil i’w gweld yn y rhaglen sy’n cynnwys dros 55 araith a thrafodaeth o gwmpas y bwrdd, sef: y Gwir Anrhydeddus yr Arglwydd Dafydd Elis-Thomas AC, Yr Athro John Curtice o Brifysgol Strathclyde a’r gwleidydd o Gosta Rica a’r cyn ymgeisydd arlywyddol Ottón Solís.

Bydd araith flaenllaw yr Arglwydd Dafydd Elis-Thomas ar sut i ddeddfu ar gyfer cynaliadwyedd yn agor y gynhadledd. Meddai Cyfarwyddwr WISERD, yr Athro Gareth Rees: ”Rydym yn falch iawn o groesawu unigolyn mor uchel ei barch i gynhadledd WISERD. Mae Dafydd Elis-Thomas yn un o’r ffigurau amlycaf yng ngwleidyddiaeth gyfoes Cymru ac rwy’n siŵr y bydd ei gyfraniad yn ddeallus ac yn gwneud i ni feddwl”.

I lansio’r digwyddiad, byddwn yn cynnal noson arbennig o farddoniaeth noswyl y gynhadledd gyda’r beirdd lleol enwog, Menna Elfyn a Zoe Skoulding, yn cyflwyno’u gwaith o dan y teitl ‘Ffin a Frontier’.

Mae WISERD yn fenter gydweithredol rhwng Prifysgolion Aberystwyth, Bangor, Caerdydd, Morgannwg ac Abertawe.  Fe’i hariennir gan Gyngor Cyllido Addysg Uwch Cymru (CCAUC) a Chyngor Ymchwil Economaidd a Chymdeithasol y DU (ESRC), ac mae WISERD wedi sefydlu ei hun fel canolfan flaenllaw ar gyfer rhagoriaeth mewn ymchwil i’r gwyddorau cymdeithasol ers ei chreu yn 2009.

-DIWEDD-

Nodiadau i Olygyddion

1. Bydd trydedd cynhadledd flynyddol WISERD, sy’n dwyn y teitl ‘Datganoli, Lle a Newid’ yn cael ei chynnal ym Mhrifysgol Bangor ar 28 a 29 Mawrth 2012. Ewch i www.wiserd.ac.uk/conference2012 i gael rhagor o wybodaeth ac i weld y rhaglen lawn.

2. Bydd noson farddoniaeth ‘Ffin a Frontier’ yn cael ei chynnal yn y Lolfa Teras, Prifysgol Bangor, nos Fawrth, 27 Mawrth am 7.30pm.

3. Caiff Sefydliad Ymchwil Gymdeithasol ac Economaidd, Data a Dulliau Cymru (WISERD) ei ariannu ar y cyd gan Lywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru (CCAUC) a Chyngor Ymchwil Economaidd a Chymdeithasol y DU (ESRC) er mwyn dwyn ynghyd ac adeiladu ar yr arbenigedd sydd eisoes yn bodoli mewn dulliau a methodoleg ymchwil ansoddol a meintiol ym Mhrifysgolion Aberystwyth, Bangor, Caerdydd, Morgannwg ac Abertawe.

Mae WISERD, a sefydlwyd yn 2009, yn cynnal ymchwil a gweithgareddau meithrin gallu sy’n sylfaen i seilwaith ymchwil yn y gwyddorau cymdeithasol ac economaidd ar draws Cymru a thu hwnt.  

Rhagor o wybodaeth

Catrin Palfrey

Swyddog Cyfathrebu, WISERD

E-bost: PalfreyC@caerdydd.ac.uk

Ffôn: 029 2087 0026

The article leads on Education Minster Leighton Andrews’ comments that he doesn’t expect Wales to show ‘real improvement’ in the school rankings because the Welsh Government’s new education reforms haven’t had enough time to bed in.

Professor Rees commented that the Pisa system makes it difficult to rank schools in a meaningful way in order to construct robust league tables. However, Professor Rees added that he did predict Pisa scores for Wales to increase over the coming years given the intense focus on the assessments and the level of support that is being offered to schools and teachers.

Click here to read the online version of the full article.