Event guide and recordings
Our guide to the events and recordings that took place at Cardiff University's 2020 Festival of Social sciences.
The 2020 Festival of Social Science was held virtually and showcased different Social Science research that is taking place here at Cardiff University. For those that may have missed some of the events, recordings have been made available were topics discussed are not deemed sensitive.
7 November: Field to fforc: A people’s assembly
Saturday 7 November, 10:00-12:00, Interactive Online Webinar
Organiser: Dr Poppy Nicol, Dr Hannah Pitt, Dr Angelina Sanderson-Bellamy, Alice Taherzadeh
Join us to imagine and discuss food system futures in the city region of Cardiff.
This online event builds upon a number of online People’s Assemblies on food and farming carried across out Wales since the start of the lockdown.
Responding to calls for participation across society to co-create Welsh Food System futures, this event aims to create space for public dialogue and deliberative democratic process around Cardiff city-region food system futures.
A full recording of the event will be made available soon.
8 November: MyJourney to acceptance - when does it start?
Sunday 8 November, 19:30-20:30, Interactive Online Webinar
Organiser: Bethan Rowbottom
In partnership with The Portuguese Fertility Association (APF) and Fertility Network UK (FNUK), we have developed MyJourney - a bilingual (Portuguese, English) research-based web-app to support people who have exhausted their chances of having the children they wished for. MyJourney will be launched in early November in a joint event by APF and FNUK. It is the culmination of a long research process that focused on understanding how people adjust to an unfulfilled child wish and how to best support them
Find out more about the research surrounding this event on Myjourney.
9 November: Teching 9-5: New technology and unions
Monday 9 November, 13:00 -15:00, Online Workshop
Organiser: Cate Hopkins
Technology has changed the way in which we work, including the capacity for workplace surveillance and monitoring. The speed of this change means that in many instances employees are unsure what data is collected about them, how it is used or their rights.
This leads to questions about the ability of workers to resist unfair practices, and to organise in their workplace.
This workshop is a space for academics, researchers and activists to work together to identify the concerns, discuss solutions, and to reflect upon their own experiences. The event proposed is a digital workshop hosted by representatives from academia and from the trade union movement.
9 November: Changing coasts: Climate change adaptation in YOUR community
Monday 9 November, 14:00 -16:00, Online Workshop
Organiser: Dr Emma Mckinley
For communities across the coast, coastal management and the growing need to adapt to climate change are central to their future. The Irish Sea and its coastal communities across Ireland and Wales are directly impacted by climate change. Through the Coastal Communities Adapting Together (CCAT) project, a multi-partner project, we are working to support coastal communities in Pembrokeshire (Wales) and Fingal (Ireland) to understand the impact of climate change, and how it might impact their local communities.
This event will showcase the work being done through CCAT, including presentations on community perceptions and attitudes towards climate change and the implications of this for adaptation, a showcase of the suite of educational resources, including an interactive online climate change game, an animation on climate change adaptation for our Irish case study community, as well as the use of innovative technologies (such as geodesign and virtual reality) as a way of increasing awareness, understanding and capacity to adapt to climate change.
If you missed this event, you can watch a recording:
9 November: Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland: Theoretical and practical perspectives
Monday 9 November, 16:00 -18:00, Online Panel Discussion
Organiser: Dr. Giada Lagana
Knowledge of the economic and political contributions of the European Union (EU) to the Northern Ireland peace process is generally under-theorised. However, the EU acted as an arena in which to foster dialogue and positive cooperation and contributed to the reconfiguration of the region from a site of conflict to a site of conflict amelioration and peacebuilding.
This panel discussion has a dual aim. First, it will demonstrate that the relationship between Northern Ireland and the EU has been much more significant in the peace process than it has ever been suggested. Second, it will shed light on the nexus between theories, policies, and peacebuilding practices of the EU in Northern Ireland.
This nexus matters because the EU still lacks a detailed strategy of peacebuilding. The case of Northern Ireland and the challenges faced by peacebuilding practitioners in implementing the PEACE Programmes can teach the EU itself on how to strategise better in other areas of mediation and peacebuilding it is involved in around the world. Moreover, the discussion will shed light on the challenges faced by peace practitioners in Northern Ireland and the solutions they arrived at. This panel debate will generate a lively discussion on policies and politics and can have a real policy impact.
10 November: Putting your money where your mouth is
Tuesday 10 November, 10:30 -12:00, Online Panel Discussion
Organiser: Robert Callaghan
Competitive grants are one of the most common ways we try to change society. They are used to increase economic growth, spur scientific discovery, improve public services, preserve history and encourage civic activism. Grant making organisations, whether they’re public bodies or in the third sector, want to do as much good as they can with limited funds, but despite their best intentions sometimes they unwittingly restrict the pool of talent and ideas. Complicated processes can put off busy but talented applicants. Application sifting can trigger unconscious bias. The result is frustrated applicants and grant-making organisations not maximising their cash. This workshop will explore how one charitable foundation looked deep into its data to understand how it could do better.
10 November: Creative entrepreneurs: Small business resilience and pivoting during COVID-19
Tuesday 10 November, 17:30 -19:00, Online Panel Discussion
Organiser: Dr Amy Yau
The event will explore small independent creative businesses and the owner's experience and journey during the pandemic. The event will share some preliminary findings of the study on how the business that is embedded in the passion economy has changed during the turbulent times of creating and selling.
The panel of business owners will share their stories about their business during these uncertain times, how creativity was harnessed or stifled and the journey of managing and coping with the business during the different stages of COVID-19.
A full recording of the event will be made available soon.
11 November: The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain: Between Creativity, Community, and Commodification
Wednesday 11 November, 13:00 -14:00, Webinar
Organiser: Dr Francesca Sobande
Black women’s digital creativity and work is at the forefront of many significant media, creative, and cultural production changes in Britain—yet they rarely receive sustained public recognition and substantial sources of long-term institutional support.
Drawing on five years of research for her recently published book, The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), Dr Francesca Sobande reveals how the digital creativity of Black women is often exploited by commercial organisations, including brands that attempt to "diversify" their image due to its potential profitability.
She argues that although Black women are increasingly identified as digital "trendsetters" by businesses, they are simultaneously erased and hyper-visible as creators, knowledge-producers, and social movement builders. Dr Sobande explores the tensions between digital culture’s communal, counter-cultural, and commercial qualities, focusing on how these matters are shaped by intersecting anti-blackness, sexism, and other forms of entangled oppression.
This talk, hosted and organised by University of Sussex and part of the Digit Debates series, is held in partnership with the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics Women and Gender Forum.
Watch a recording of the event - Digital lives of black women
11 November: Renting consumer goods: sustainable consumption in a post-COVID world?
Wednesday 11 November, 16:00 -17:00, Online Panel Discussion
Organiser: Dr Carmela Bosangit & Dr Nicole Koenig-Lewis
Prior to COVID-19, renting consumer goods such as fashion clothes, toys, tools and baby clothes has been gaining popularity as a convenient, cost-effective and sustainable alternative. It offers environmentally conscious consumers an opportunity to extend product-lifetimes and to reduce their consumption of brand-new consumer goods. In addition, we examine a shift from traditional ownership (becoming less important) to valuing experiences and access to goods. However, despite the increasing popularity of sharing economy platforms offering accommodation and transport services, awareness and experience of renting every-day consumer goods online is still very low.
Recently, high-end department stores have announced rental trials. Selfridges launched its first rental collection in partnership with rental platform HURR Collective, whilst John Lewis launched a furniture rental service with Fat Llama. Are these signs that renting consumer goods can become mainstream in the future and be available at every high-street?
In this online event we will be exploring attitudes, drivers and barriers to renting consumer goods as an alternative to buying brand-new. We will present the results from three consumer-focused studies funded by the British Academy/ Leverhulme Trust. In addition, we will reflect on the impact of COVID-19 on rental services. During the current pandemic, consumers have become more aware of the impact of their consumption habits and have made some significant changes to their everyday routines. Meanwhile, some rental platforms experienced an increase in demand whilst others saw their business operations disrupted. The event will feature a panel discussion with rental business owners (Our Closet and Toybox Club) providing an opportunity to share their experiences. Interactive polls and a Q&A session will allow for audience participation.
If you missed this event, you can watch a recording:
12 November: Who cares for those leaving care? Care leavers' experiences during COVID-19 and lockdown.
Thursday 12 November, 12:30 -13:30, Online Workshop
Organiser: Rachael Vaughan; Dr Alyson Rees, Dr Louise Roberts
This event will present findings from a recent COVID-19 study that has explored the experiences of young people who were in the process of leaving care in England and Wales during lockdown. This event will include contributions by care experienced young people from Voices From Care Cymru.
The study involved qualitative interviews with 21 young people and included some creative outputs of art and poems. In addition, we undertook a survey of local authority departments about their support mechanisms.
Findings indicate varied experiences for young people; some felt isolated and uncared about during lockdown, with opportunities for support diminished and inadequate. Yet for others, the challenges of the pandemic had been eased by relationships with key individuals and a variety of local initiatives. Young people’s resilience is noteworthy within the findings and recommendations are proposed to enhance support responses in the event of a subsequent lockdown, as well as when restrictions are fully lifted.
This workshop will present the findings of this study, discuss the recommendations raised from the research and will include time for Q&A at the end.
If you missed this event, you can watch a recording:
Watch the 'Who cares for those leaving care?' event recording on YouTube.
12 November: ‘Next of Kin’: a performance and discussion about dementia, disabilities and healthcare (with BSL interpretation and captioning)
Thursday 12 November, 11:00 -12:30, Interactive Online Webinar
Organiser: Dr Sofia Vougioukalou
This event will showcase the premiere of ‘Next of Kin’ followed by a discussion about dementia, D/deaf communication, disabilities and healthcare. ‘Next of Kin’ is a play that is based on anthropological research on the dementia care experiences of minority groups (in relation to ethnicity, sexuality and disability) and the impact of microaggressions on people’s lives.
In this event, participants will have a chance to learn more about the research, watch the performance and take part in a discussion on dementia and health inequalities. The discussion will be interactive and participants will be able to share their own experiences and ask questions to the researchers, the performance director and the actors involved.
The event aims to change the way people view dementia and gain a deeper understanding of the way societal stigma and discrimination impacts on quality of life as well as how the arts can disrupt health inequalities.
This event will be of interest to professionals working in the field of dementia and health inequalities, people living with dementia and their families, as well people interested in theatre, arts and social justice.
