The Role of Social Sciences in Creating a Wiser Society – Part 3: Towards a Wiser Society: A Roadmap for SPARK
21 August 2025
How do you build a place – and a culture – where wisdom can grow?
The final blog in the series brings the discussion home to SPARK, Cardiff University’s Social Science Research Park. More than just a building, SPARK is a bold experiment in research culture: a “living lab” for new ways of knowing, collaborating, and creating change. Professor Chris Taylor introduces the SPARK Roadmap, a guiding framework that outlines how this one-of-a-kind institution is working to turn the concept of a wiser society into practical, everyday reality. With strategies for co-production, systems learning, creative experimentation, and deep civic engagement, SPARK is testing what it means for research to be not only excellent, but meaningful. If the first two blogs sparked your curiosity, this final piece shows what it looks like to put wisdom into action – step by experimental step.
- Play in the Academy: What if we took play seriously at work?
- From Evidence to Action: SPARK’s Public Sector Partnerships
- From Research to Action: Why Social Science Needs Design
- Reimagining Alcohol Free, Night-Time Economy Social Activities in Cathays
- Doing Research Differently: Principles for equity in creative and participatory research settings