News and Blog

Remembering in Aberystwyth: Memorialisation, civil society and the importance of place

Dr Sophie Yarker on the unique shared Remembrance Day practices in Aberystwyth Remembrance Sunday and its parades, wreath-laying and fundraising provides perhaps one of the clearest examples of the coming together of civil society through a shared practice of memorialisation. Although dominated nationally by the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal, at a community level there…

WISERD analysis helps determine whether Welsh Government can fulfill childcare commitment

WISERD’s bespoke analytical tools were used in a Welsh Government research project to assess whether the existing supply of childcare in Wales can cope with the increased demand due from a change in Government policy. The research and analysis was conducted by WISERD Co-Director Prof Gary Higgs and Dr Mitchel Langford of the University of…

Rediscovering passion: how my placement at WISERD has helped my future

Josie Phillips has recently graduated from her third year of a sociology degree at Cardiff University. This summer, Josie undertook a research placement at the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD), assisting Dr Esther Muddiman with a project about the passing on of values between family members. As my third year of…

Developing ‘inheritance’ mapping

Louise Taylor is in the second year of her sociology degree at Cardiff University. This summer she took part in a Cardiff Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (CUROP) placement at the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD). Louise has been working with Dr Esther Muddiman on a project about intergenerational values….

Cardiff hub helps UK-wide effort to shape housing policy

Welsh housing experts, including WISERD academics, are set to take a leading role in a new UK-wide effort designed to shape UK policy and tackle chronic housing problems. The Glasgow-based UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) is a joint collaboration between ten universities and three non-higher education organisations. Staff are located at hubs across…

Senedd motion on carbon emissions reduction based on WISERD work

Government evaluation of a scheme developed to reduce carbon emissions was debated at the National Assembly for Wales on Wednesday 4th October 2017. The proposal draws on the work of Martin Burgess, a WISERD researcher at the Behavioural Insights Research Centre located in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth University. Sponsored by…

Civil Society research presented to leading Chinese institutions

Findings from the WISERD Civil Society project, ‘Territoriality and Third Sector Engagement in Policy-making and Welfare Provision’, were recently presented to two of China’s leading institutions. WISERD Co-Director, Professor Paul Chaney, gave a presentation to the leading Chinese Government Research body, the Beijing-based Institute of Economic Reform. He outlined research findings on the impact of…