News and Blog

The murderous onslaught on sovereign Ukraine by Putin and his ruling clique of siloviki, or former members of the security services, has made the world aware of the enormities characterising his regime. We already had plenty of evidence of ruthlessness: Chechnya, Georgia, Syria, fomenting ethnic division in Donbass, and the Crimea. Putin, a KGB foreign intelligence…

A new WISERD paper draws attention to how geographical approaches can contribute to an understanding of inequalities in access to nursing and residential care places in Wales. This research has been carried out by WISERD co-directors, Professor Gary Higgs and Dr Mitchel Langford, along with WISERD Associate, Professor Mark Llewellyn, Director of the Welsh Institute…

The arrival of Covid-19 to the UK in early 2020 led to rapid and far-reaching changes in the way we live our lives. ‘Lockdown’ led to school closures and working from home became the norm for many workers. And while most shops and businesses closed, ‘key’ workers and services experienced unprecedented pressures. For the last…

Cardiff’s new sbarc|spark hub will bring together researchers to connect across social science research disciplines to create new ways of working. Professor Sally Power, WISERD, recently published a paper examining calls for an ‘evidence ecosystem’ to address the disconnect between university-led education research, and education policy and practice. Here, she shares thoughts on what the Social…

Since February 2021, we have been working with a community group in South Wales who are concerned about the air quality in their local area. We have adopted a participatory approach that facilitates the group’s work, but which also recognises the expertise of individual members and tracks how the group develops, shares and uses this…

A new report from the educational charity Cumberland Lodge calls on police, politicians, and policymakers to take a more joined-up approach to responding to past harms – and place the needs of victims, survivors, and their families at the heart of this. A key recommendation in Towards Justice: Law Enforcement & Reconciliation by Martina Feilzer (WISERD co-director), Professor…

Characteristics closely linked to educational outcomes can vary by individual pupils’ situations and can be the result of a complex interplay between a number of risk factors. For example, being classified as having a disability such as communication difficulties, and experiencing behavioural and mental health problems can increase the risk of losing school days, which…

The Migration Research Wales Network held an online symposium on 19th January for postgraduates and early-career researchers working on aspects of migration in Wales or based at Welsh institutions. The theme of the symposium was ‘New Perspectives on Migration’. Presentations covered research areas ranging from Italians in Wales, refugee women and Welshness, and the challenges facing LGBTQ+…

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated inequalities in society. In doing so, it has reinforced the importance of the government’s ‘levelling up’ policy agenda. In terms of protected characteristics, attention focused most immediately on ethnicity given the differences in health risk posed by COVID-19 and was subsequently concerned with gender as a result of…

An initiative that has transformed how de-identified administrative data can be securely used to provide insight into social and economic issues in Wales is set to continue thanks to an investment of almost £17 million. Administrative Data Research Wales (ADR Wales) has been awarded £16,985,944 until 2026 as part of the £90 million UK wide Administrative Data…