News and Blog

The previous post outlined the central finding of Social Action as a Route to the Ballot Box: youth volunteering increases turnout among young people by increasing their interest in political issues and so raising their motivation to vote. This effect is only apparent, however, for young people whose parents have little or no interest in…

The WISERD exhibition stand attracted much interest at the Co-production Network for Wales annual conference in Wrexham today. All in this Together: A Celebration of Co-production and Involvement in Wales provided key networking opportunities to connect our work with third and public sector organisations. The aim of the day was to explore co-production of policy…

It is recognised across many different spheres of public services, research, health and community work that working in co-production with stakeholders and the public can bring benefits to all, and produce more meaningful outcomes. While the concept of co-production is well evidenced, the difficulty lies in actually doing this work properly, as different actors bring…

As previous posts in this series have shown, one of the major challenges facing British democracy is the declining tendency of successive generations of young citizens to vote, leaving them under-represented in policy-making and potentially raising questions about the legitimacy of our democratic institutions in the future, as this low turnout becomes a lifelong habit….

Dr Stuart Fox has been awarded the Dillwyn Medal for Social Sciences from the Learned Society of Wales. He is among three researchers from Cardiff University to have received an award in recognition of outstanding early career research. The medals were awarded on the evening of the 22nd May at the Royal Welsh College of…

  Austerity, the further devolution of powers, and issues such as an ageing population, climate change, and Brexit are all important conditions and events leading to uncertainty, instability and an unprecedented situation in Welsh policy and politics. These issues affect how and why policy is made and services are delivered. Held in partnership with the…

Sally Holland, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales and Dr Rhian Barrance, WISERD Research Associate, discuss how Wales has gone further than any other UK country in implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) by introducing the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure in 2011. This requires that ministers…

WISERD recently conducted a survey of almost 10,000 children aged between 7 and 18 years-old in Wales for the Children’s Commissioner for Wales. The aim of the survey was to identify the most significant issues facing children in Wales in order to guide the Commissioner’s 3 year workplan for children and young people. The 11-18…

Dr Rhian Barrance talks on BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio Wales about new research findings from her work with the Children’s Commissioner for Wales on the impact of national tests on children in Wales. BBC Radio Cymru, ‘Post Cyntaf’, 8am, 09/05/19: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004rn5 BBC Radio Wales, ‘Good Evening Wales’, 5pm, 09/05/19: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_wales_fm

New data from over 10,000 children and young people in Wales reveal the impact pressures of modern life are placing on their mental health. WISERD Research Associate, Dr Rhian Barrance carried out the Beth Nawr, 2019 survey for the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, which collected data to help shape the Commissioner’s new three-year work plan….