News and Blog

We are pleased to announce that cultural sociologist, Professor Michèle Lamont, of Harvard University will be visiting WISERD from 24 – 26 of March, as part of her Leverhulme Visiting Professorship. The programme of events will comprise an evening talk and workshop at Cardiff University, before Professor Lamont travels to Bangor University, where there will…

This year’s WISERD Annual Conference will take place at Aberystwyth University on Monday 30 June and Tuesday 1 July 2025. The theme of the conference is ‘Participation and partnership in a time of precarity and polarisation’. The theme for the WISERD Annual Conference 2025 talks to widespread concerns regarding the form and function of civil…

On the 3rd and 4th July, we held our WISERD Annual Conference 2024 at the University of South Wales and welcomed over 140 delegates from across the UK and beyond. Over 100 excellent posters and presentations come together under this year’s theme of ‘Aspiring to achieve a fairer society’. Professor Martin Steggall, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research)…

On the 3rd and 4th July, we held our WISERD Annual Conference 2024 at the University of South Wales. Here are just some of the photographs taken throughout the event by Michael Hall.

One of my first experiences with activism was within a school setting, when I was involved in the presenting of a petition against the dress code in 2019. It was circulated through social media as a Google Docs link and then forwarded to the headteacher. Unknown to me, this had become an increasingly frequent occurrence…

Our new WISERD video provides a fresh introduction to WISERD, including our research networks, collaborative projects with partners and our commitment to capacity building and training. It also gives a brief insight into some of our current research and its impact for society, and our vision for the future.   Full-length video     Teaser…

On the 28th and 29th of June, over 120 delegates, presenters and exhibitors gathered at Bangor University for this year’s WISERD Annual Conference. This year’s theme was ‘Civil society and governance in an age of crisis’. Colleagues from across WISERD’s five partner universities and more came together, and over the course of two busy days,…

Dr Elizabeth Woodcock is Research Fellow on the Social Prescribing Community of Practice research project. The project is led by Dr Koen Bartels, Associate Professor at the Institute of Local Government (Inlogov), University of Birmingham. The main research partner is The Active Wellbeing Society, a Community Benefit Society established in 2017 from Birmingham City Council’s…

Dr Emily Lowthian is a lecturer at Swansea University in the Department of Education and Childhood Studies in the School of Social Sciences. Emily presented her research with Dr Rebecca Anthony, Georgia Fee at a WISERD lunchtime seminar in March. Online communication behaviours, such as social media use, are often received negatively in the mass…

The role of voluntary organisations in tackling polarisation in local communities will be discussed by the Future Generations Commissioner in Aberystwyth next month. Aberystwyth University academics from the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD) will jointly host a symposium with partners from the Voluntary Sector Studies Network on Wednesday 24 May…