Public Uni – reflections on public engagement

Posted on 6 April 2017 by WISERD

Dr Ceryn Evans presented her research on higher education and civil society at Public Uni’s 15th event at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff. Public Uni is an event organised by Cardiff University and aims to provide researchers with an opportunity to communicate their research in engaging, bite-sized ‘chunks’ to a ‘lay audience’. Each presenter has
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St Ives lifeboat coming ashore on a transporter

Why do we volunteer?

Posted on 21 February 2017 by WISERD

Hannah Blake is a PhD student at Cardiff University and recently contributed to the WISERD Cardiff lunchtime seminar series with a presentation on her master’s degree research into volunteer accounts of participation. Research in the volunteering phenomena is increasing. Having been a volunteer for six years, the decision to undertake my own research in this
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Making the Case for the Social Sciences in Wales Launch Event – In Pictures

Posted on 26 November 2015 by Natalie Richards

Wednesday 25th November saw the launch of ‘Making the Case for the Social Sciences: Wales’ at the Pierhead Building in Cardiff. “Making the Case for the Social Sciences: Wales” is the tenth in a series of publications produced by the Academy of Social Sciences and its Campaign for Social Science in order to celebrate the
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WISERD Toasts Another Successful Annual Conference

Posted on 8 July 2015 by Natalie Richards

Last week the 6th Annual Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods (WISERD) Conference took place at Cardiff’s iconic Millennium Stadium. The WISERD Conference is the largest of its kind in Wales, and brings together practitioners, policy makers and social scientists to discuss and debate a range of topical themes such as
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Party Promises and Voluntarism

Posted on 21 May 2015 by Natalie Richards

How does attention to the Third Sector in Parties’ 2015 Westminster Election Manifestos compare to previous post-war ballots? Compared to issues like the economy, employment, education and health, the voluntary (or “third”) sector is not a topic that is likely to swing the results of a general election. That said, party pledges on the third
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Economic Austerity and Older Volunteers

Posted on 13 May 2015 by Natalie Richards

In recent years the political, economic and social climate in which volunteering by older adults occurs has changed significantly, with the onset of an economic downturn, concern about pensions, a change in the public policy context for volunteering following a change of government, and the abolition of default retirement age. The notion of ‘unretirement’ is
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WISERD’s Civil Society Research Centre: Reflections on the official launch.

Posted on 12 February 2015 by Natalie Richards

On Thursday 5th February, 2015, WISERD celebrated the official launch of its flagship Civil Society Research Centre. WISERD’s Director Ian Rees Jones reflects upon a successful event. I spent a nervous few days prior to the WISERD Civil Society Research Centre launch. I wondered whether we would have an audience, hoped all the speakers would arrive
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What role do the political parties think the voluntary sector should play in delivering welfare services? How have parties’ ideas changed over the post-war period? And, what impact has devolution had… ?

Posted on 26 June 2014 by Jill Wilmott-Doran

By Dr Paul Chaney, WISERD Co-Director. These are some of the questions that I set out to address in a study that is to be published this month. Despite an extensive academic literature extending back decades – perhaps surprisingly, there has been little work on elections and how the political parties envision the role of
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