2014-2019
2014 - 2019
Leo Varadkar T.D. Minister for Social Protection visits ILAS
Date: 1st December 2016
Speaking ahead of the 2nd Biennial Distinguished Lecture by Leo Varadkar T.D. Minister for Social Protection to be held on Thursday 12th January at the Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS), Institute Director Pat Dolan has highlighted the need to see the easing of austerity as an opportunity to provide better family support to those worst affected by the economic crisis over recent years in Ireland. The biennial Distinguished Lecture Series provides a forum for public engagement with the important work of the Institute, through the delivery of key Irish and international policymakers perspectives on how best to address societal issues in an Irish context. “Minister Varadkar’s forthcoming lecture is timely given the current policy crossroads towards enabling social inclusion for those most marginalised,” Prof Dolan said.
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Community Living for Europe: Building on the Promise of European Structural and Investment Funds into the Future
Date: 1st December 2016
The European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) regulations represent a significant step towards realising the rights of millions of Europe’s most marginalised and disadvantaged citizens by ensuring access to community based living for all and ending the practice of institutionalisation. Experiences from the national and local level however evidence a relatively low impact of the ESIF regulations to support community living for all.
A roundtable in the European Parliament on 1st December, hosted by Mairead McGuinness, Vice President of the European Parliament and organised in partnership with the Community Living for Europe initiative, will share good practices from across the European Union and highlight areas for future improvement especially with a view to informing discussions about the content of the Regulations for the next programming period.
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3rd Annual Frontiers in Healthcare Conference
Date: 10th November 2016
The Health Economics and Policy Analysis Centre (HEPAC) hosted its 3rd Annual Frontiers in Healthcare Conference on Thursday, November 10th 2016. The conference, which was organized in conjunction with Novartis Ireland, brought together an exciting group of academics, industry professionals and clinicians to debate and discuss a significant issue in healthcare. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Real World Evidence: its use and potential in improving healthcare decision-making’.
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Irish Pilot of Carnegie Foundation’s Community Engagement Classification
Date: 1st November 2016
The Irish Pilot of Carnegie Foundation’s Community Engagement Classification was conceived in 2013 by the CKI’s Lorraine McIlrath in partnership with Prof. John Saltmarsh at University of Massachusetts and Dr. Elaine Ward at Merrimack College Boston and was subsequently funded by the Talloires Network and the Ireland funds with support also offered by the two Universities. This project marked the first time that a national pilot of this highly respected measurement tool was to take place with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning offering full support. Following an introductory workshop on the project process to all institutions of higher education in Ireland and invite to institution Presidents, 12 joined forces and created a critical friendship group to support the pilot and discussions therein. A significant part of the pilot is a research dimension in that the process may allow for the development of a national measurement tool that could be created and adopted to allow higher education institutions in Ireland measure community and civic engagement.
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International Conference on Old-Age Social Exclusion at ILAS
Date: 28th October 2016
Social exclusion of older people is a direct barrier to Europe’s social and economic development. That was the message from an international conference on ‘Old-Age Social Exclusion’ hosted on the 28th of October by the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology (ICSG) in ILAS. The international conference was also the opening event of a four-year innovative collaboration between researchers and policy stakeholders across Europe, entitled Reducing Old-Age Exclusion in Europe, or ROSEnet and chaired by ICSG’s Kieran Walsh.
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Project FairTax at the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU
Date: 25th October 2016
On October 25th, 2016, Project FairTax hosted an open research seminar on “Fair and Sustainable Taxation in the EU” at the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU in Brussels. The seminar, which was moderated by Dr. Emer Mulligan, ICSG, NUIG attracted an audience of over 100 participants from EU institutions, stakeholder organisations, lobby-groups, universities, and others with an interest in future tax issues in Europe. Challenging questions were raised during the seminar, shaping, in part the future direction of Project FairTax.
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Launch of the 3-Cities Findings by Min. Katherine Zappone at the ILAS
Date: 30th September 2016
Revealing insights into the inclusion of city dwelling children, older people and people with disabilities, the 3-Cities Neighbourhood Report Series was launched by Min. Katherine Zappone T.D. on the 30th of September at ILAS. The launch was a part of a national conference that brought together speakers from local authority and public health agencies.
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StudentVolunteer.ie Shortlisted for National THINKTECH Award
Date: 29th September 2016
An online volunteering resource developed by Lorraine Tansey has been shortlisted for THINKTECH, a €1 million project to grow ideas for a better Ireland. StudentVolunteer.ie, which connects students and community groups, charities, schools, hospitals, public bodies and NGOs across Ireland, was co-founded by Salthill native Lorraine Tansey. In total, 11 finalists will compete for access to an award fund of up to €750,000 in grants as well as support and mentoring to further develop their social innovations.
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New Report Published by the UNCFRC on Lone Parents and Activation
Date: 1st September 2016
Funded by the Irish Research Council's research project grants, Department of Social Protection Research Innovation Award (SPRIA), this report by Dr. Michelle Millar and Dr. Rosemary Crosse of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre (UNCFRC) investigates best practice and innovative approaches to the labour market activation of lone parents internationally. It examines policies, programmes and practices which enable lone parents to engage in employment which will lead to adequate living standards and improved well-being for them and their children.
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VOICES Project Holds Seminar on Criminal Responsibility and the CRPD
Date: 23rd September 2016
On the 22nd and 23rd of September, the VOICES project held the first of their thematic workshops on criminal responsibility in the Institute for Lifecourse and Society. The first day of the workshop was a private day where the storytellers and respondents who have chosen this theme worked together with international experts in the area and a creative writing facilitator to develop their pieces for the final edited collection.
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Speech & Language Therapy Joins ILAS
Date: 1st September 2016
The speech and language therapy team is delighted to join ILAS. We are excited about developing new collaborations, enhancing existing ones, and we believe that our research themes are closely aligned with ILAS. We have been in University of Galway since 2003 and will be celebrating the 10 year anniversary of our first graduates in 2017! In 2016, we launched two new MSc programmes (MSc in Childhood Speech, Language, and Communication Needs and an MSc in Advanced Healthcare Practice and Research).
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Pres. Michael D. Higgins gives Inaugural Lecture
Date: 30th November 2015
On Monday, November 30th, Pres. Michael D. Higgins gave the inaugural lecture marking the official launch of the Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS), following the Tánaiste’s visit to open the Institute less than two weeks before.
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The Impact of Social Support on Relationships and Loneliness
Date: 24th November 2015
Asking as many thought-provoking questions demanding further enquiry as it provided research-based answers, the lunchtime lecture entitled ‘Current Issues in Social Support’ was an engaging experience for all who attended it on November 24th in the ILAS institute.
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ILAS Launch!
Date: 11th November 2015
On Wednesday, November 11th, The Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton T.D. conducted the official launch of the Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS) at University of Galway. Representing a nine million euro investment consisting of significant philanthropic contributions from The Atlantic Philanthropies and Galway University Foundation, the ILAS Centre is a rare example of an interdisciplinary research hub designed to examine and re-imagine important social issues, especially for vulnerable populations.
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How Diverse is Irish Teaching?
Date: 4th November 2015
Unofficially at least, as a nation we have known for decades that there is an often startling lack of diversity in terms of gender and socioeconomic status in various professions and walks of life in Ireland, and that something needs to change. However, the Irish Government has always lacked the hard facts and statistics necessary to demand and drive this need for change, and a major shift in governing policy – until now.
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ILAS Stages Food Fair in Preparation for Saol Café’s Official Opening
Date: 29th October 2015
On Thursday, October 29th, SCCUL Enterprises Ltd. (managers of the new Saol café on the ground floor of the ILAS building) invited the campus-wide and local community to sample the best of locally-sourced food and produce at a Food Fair from 12.30 - 14:00. All present were provided with complimentary tea and coffee, and had the opportunity to sample delicious food products from local suppliers who specialise in a wide range of food and produce. ILAS staged the informal event is to give its staff a flavour of the type of food the new café will be serving over the coming months; and the opportunity for staff to invite to their key stakeholders and community partners to enjoy what it has to offer. Saol Café, which is scheduled to open in the first week in November, is a unique social inclusion project: the café will be the first of its kind in the country – most of the people employed by the café will face some barrier to employment, and, almost all of the food and drink served by the café will be produced and/or sourced locally, thus providing a further boost to the local economy. ILAS hopes that you will visit Saol Café in its opening weeks; and that you will enjoy all that it has to offer for years to come.
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Dr. Crystal Tremblay Visits ILAS
Date: 30th September 2015
On Wednesday, September 30th, ILAS had the pleasure of the touring Dr. Crystal Tremblay from the University of British Columbia, Canada, who attended to present the methodology and initial findings of the study she conducted using participatory video-based research entitled, “Participatory Water Governance in Urban Africa: Building Citizenship through Participatory Video”, focusing more specifically on how the communities of informal settlements in Cape Town, South Africa and Accra, Ghana access and use water, in addition to their water sanitation, whilst also reflecting on similar research she conducted with recycling cooperatives in Canada and Brazil.
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Touchstone Celebrated by the ILAS
Date: 16th September 2015
To coincide with the local and national launch of Touchstone, on Wednesday, September 16th, 2015, the ILAS staged a speaker series and forum fair consisting of over 30 different local and national organisations to celebrate Touchstone’s ongoing work with people aged 55 and over, using this unique opportunity to develop awareness about the organisation’s activities and to recruit volunteers through discussion and showcase of similar organisation's work.
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Ghent University’s Approach to Community Service Learning
Date: 9th September 2015
On Wednesday, September 9th, ILAS staged CKI’s seminar hosting Guillaume Tuytschaever of Ghent University, Belgium. Tuytschaever, Ghent University’s Community Service Learning Project Officer, attended to present an overview of the community engagement and service learning work that takes place at Ghent University.
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The 1914 WWI Christmas Truce and Flanders Peace Field: Learning from Humanity and Society
Date: 2nd October 2014
The Institute for Lifecourse and Society, in collaboration with the School of History, will host a Distinguished Lecture by journalist, author and humanist, Don Mullan. The lecture will tell the story of the 1914 unofficial Christmas Truce during World War 1, and its implications for Youth peace movements. In the lecture, he will draw parallels with his own experience of growing up in war-torn Derry during the 'Troubles'.
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An Empirical Analysis of the Time Allocation of Farm Household Members in the West of Ireland: Researching Time Using Diary Based Methods
Date: 27th September 2014
This presentation reports on research into the task management and time use in rural households in order to increase understanding of livelihood strategies, household organisation, and leisure time choices and constraints of farm families. The research provides a detailed understanding of how farm household members in the West of Ireland allocate an important household resource: their time. Data collection was using a single purpose time use diary survey and the research also makes a number of significant contributions to identified gaps in the currently available literature on time use. The research design allowed for the collection of close grained data and the investigation of questions of community engagement, social-capital, quality of life and should therefore enable more informed policy decisions relating to farm households.
