The Challenge

Twenty-first century Ireland has witnessed a series of social, cultural and economic transformations, which pose questions about how to create a more just, equal and liveable  society. The Institute for Social Science in the 21^st Century (ISS21) at University College Cork seeks to develop, sustain and enhance impactful research on the social, economic and cultural issues shaping Ireland. Understanding young people’s lives, exploring the impact of austerity on local communities, and ensuring voices of marginalised groups are heard in policy-making processes, for example, are all issues that require innovative and integrative research methods that traverse disciplines. Researchers at ISS21 interrogate such complex societal challenges and promote collaborative, interdisciplinary research unified around the following thematic areas:

• Children and Young People
• Family, Gender and Sexualities
• Disability and Mental Health
• Migration and Integration
• Ageing
• Caring
• Educating for the Professions
• Civil Society

Interdisciplinary research requires sustained communication, coordination and engagement across and between individual departments and academic disciplines. Through its clusters, events, and research activities, ISS21 provides a space for these conversations, thereby improving research capacity and demonstrating the significance of the social sciences in everyday life within and beyond the University.

The Research Institute 

Established in 2008 through the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions, ISS21 is a focal point for ntional and international social science research and a leading platform for Ireland’s research infrastructure and capacity-building efforts. Through its interdisciplinary governance structure and thematic research clusters, ISS21 brings together more than 100 social scientists across disciplines, institutions and countries.  The Institute raises awareness of research opportunities, explores and evaluates new research approaches and methodologies, disseminates research findings, and sustains engagement through its growing networks. Tailored supports provided by the Institute have resulted in funded research projects, educational and training initiatives, publications of academic merit, research reports and other award-winning outputs. The Institute has launched 30 substantive research projects on issues of societal significance, including large scale, multi-partner, and EU-funded projects on the themes of gender in/equality (Through the Glass Ceiling, GENOVATE), sustainability and energy citizenship (ENTRUST), and youth migration (Y-MOBILITY). Engaged research has been a cornerstone of the Institute’s work, with significant relationships forged with community and voluntary sector organisations, local and central government policymakers and other public sector bodies.  As a member of the Irish Social Sciences Platform (ISSP), the Institute continues to contribute to national debates on the direction and impact of the social sciences in Ireland.

The Impact

New Knowledge Produced and Exchanged: Since its establishment in 2008, ISS21 has made significant and wide-ranging contributions to social science knowledge at a national and international scale. Outputs include books and edited collections, research reports and international peer-reviewed journal articles. Articles by ISS21 researchers have appeared in international and national peer-reviewed journals across the social sciences, including Area, Child and Family Social Work, Children’s Geographies, Critical Studies in Education, Disability and Society, International Journal of Organisational Diversity, Irish Journal of Family Law, Irish Journal of Legal Studies, Irish Journal of Sociology, Youth and Policy.  ISS21 researchers have led the development of commissioned reports for government departments and bodies, including the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, the National Disability Authority, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, and Cork City Council. Between 2015 and 2017, ISS21 hosted 13 events which brought researchers, community and advocacy groups, and policy-makers together to investigate diverse topics such as migration and integration, ageing, eldercare, and the politics of research.  ISS21 researchers have advanced knowledge exchange through conference papers and presentations in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Austria, and Belgium, and ISS21 research has been highlighted in print and broadcast media, including The Irish Times, Irish Examiner, RTE DriveTime and RTE Brainstorm. In recognition of research excellence, ISS21-affiliated projects have received the University’s Research Team of the Year award for two consecutive years: the Child Care Proceedings in the District Court research team (2016) and the GENOVATE research team (2017).

Key Policies Informed by ISS21 Research: ISS21 researchers seek a more just, equal and liveable society and, to this end, engage with policymakers and community, voluntary and advocacy sectors through commissioned co-created research and to contribute to the broader policy environment.  Members of the Children and Young People research cluster have conducted extensive investigations in the areas of children’s participation, the sexualisation of childhood, and children’s involvement in urban regeneration. This work has brought innovative and creative research methodologies into the children’s policy arena and directly informed the National Children and Young People’s Participation Strategy, 2015-2020.  Findings from the GENOVATE project informed the Higher Education Authority’s National Review of Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions, 2016, which provided an in-depth analysis of the gender-balance of academic and non-academic staff, management teams, academic councils and governing boards.  Collaboration with the National Disability Authority on access to justice for people with disabilities as victims of crime was cited heavily in the Law Reform Commission’s report, Sexual Offences and Capacity to Consent, 2013, recommending changes to criminal law and sexual offences legislation as it affects people with disabilities.

Co-Created Research through National and International Collaborations: ISS21 researchers have secured €4.6 million in funding from diverse sources including the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions, the European Union 7th Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, Marie Curie, NORFACE, the Irish Research Council, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, Pobal, the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI), Cork City Council, the National Academy for the Integration of Research and Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL) and the National Disability Authority. Ongoing engagement with international partners, including researchers at the University of Bradford, Lulea Technological University, Trnava University, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ankara University, University of Naples, University of Roma La Sapienza, University of Bielefeld, University of Surrey, and Liverpool John Moores University has resulted in close ties across research clusters.  For example, the Children and Young People Research Cluster at UCC, Tema Barn/the Department of Child Studies Interdisciplinary Research Unit at Linköping University in Sweden, and the Children and Youth Research Institute at Anglia Ruskin University in the United Kingdom engaged in a knowledge exchange initiative as a way of developing future collaborations. Ongoing collaborations with community and voluntary sector groups and public bodies in the areas of housing, ageing, caring, disability rights, mental health and children’s rights are enhancing the research landscape and include Respond! Housing Association, Threshold, Carers Alliance, West Cork Carers’ Support Group, Headway (Brain Injury Services and Support), Critical Voices Network, and Wallaroo Playschool. Partners have collaborated to develop novel research questions, programme designs and modes of dissemination.  ISS21 has hosted visiting scholars from Italy, Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, as well a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow, demonstrating a commitment to fostering research capacity and excellence at all career levels and a research environment of global significance.

ISS21 Selected Activities

RESEARCH REPORTS

• Kelleher, C. and O’Riordan, J. (2017) Post-Caregiving: Family Carers’ Experience of Cessation of the Caring Role. Cork, ISS21.
• O’Riordan, J. and Kelleher, C. (2016) A Fine Balance: Mental Health and Family Caring, Cork, UCC.
• Horgan, D., Forde, C. Martin, S., Parkes, A., O'Connell, A. (2015) Seen and Not Heard: Children and Young people's Experiences of Participation in the Home, School and Community. Dublin, Department of Children and Youth Affairs.
• ISS21 Civil Society Cluster (2015) The Changing Landscape of Local and Community Development in Ireland: Policy and Practice: Proceedings, Cork, ISS21/UCC.
• Kiely, E., Ging, D., Kitching, K. and Leane, M. (2015) The sexualisation and commercialisation of children in Ireland: an exploratory study. Dublin, Department of Children and Youth Affairs
• Kitching, K. and Shanneik, Y. (2015) Children's Beliefs and Belonging: A Schools and Families Report from the 'Making Communion' Study. Cork, University College Cork.
• Martin, S., Forde, C., Dunn Galvin, A. and O'Connell, A. (2015) An Examination of Young People’s Views on the Impact of Participation in Decision-making. Dublin, Department of Children and Youth Affairs.
• O'Connell, C., O'Sullivan, S, and Byrne, L. (2015) Children's Voices in Housing Estate Regeneration. IRC, DCYA, DECLG, Ireland.
• O’Gráda, A. et al. (undated) Through the Glass Ceiling: Career Progression Programme and Strategy for Female Academics and Researchers. Cork, ISS21/UCC.
• Conway, P., Murphy, R. and Rutherford, V. (2013) Re-imagining Initial Teacher Identity and Learning Study: Final Report. Cork, UCC.
• Glynn, I., Kelly, T. and MacÉnri, P. (2013) Irish Emigration in an Age of Austerity. Cork, UCC.
• Kitching, K. and Curtin, A. (eds) (2012) Addressing the Concept and Evidence of Institutional Racism in Education in Ireland. Cork, School of Education & ISS21, UCC.
• Edwards, C., Harold, G. & Kilcommins, S. (2012) Access to Justice for People with Disabilities as Victims of Crime. Cork, UCC.
• Bantry White, E., Ni Laoire, C., Wills, T., O'Connor, E., Cusack, S. & Huan, Y. (2011) Age, Income and Food in Ireland: A study of the socio-economic influences of food expenditure amongst community-dwelling older people in Ireland. Belfast, Centre for Ageing Research and Developments in Ireland.

BOOKS LAUNCHED BY 1SS21

• Day, M.R., McCarthy, G. and Fitzpatrick, J.J. (eds.) (2017) Self-Neglect in Older Adults. New York, Springer Publishing Company.
• Connolly, L. (ed.) (2015) The ‘Irish’ Family. Abingdon, Routledge.
• Ralph, D.  (2015) Work, Family and Commuting in Europe: The Lives of Euro-commuters. Basingstoke, Palgrave.
• Griffin, R. (ed.) (2014) Education in Indigenous, Nomadic and Travelling Communities. London, Bloomsbury Academic.  
• Kitching, K. (2014) The Politics of Compulsive Education: Racism and learner-citizenship. Abingdon, Routledge.
• Okyayuz, M. Herrmann, P., Dorrity, C. (Eds.) (2014) Migration – Global Processes Caught in National Answer. Weinar, Verlag.
• Veale, A. and Doná (eds) (2014) Child and Youth Migration: Mobility-in-Migration in an Era of Globalization. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
• Gilmartin, M. and White, A. (eds) (2013) Migrations: Ireland in a Global World. Manchester, Manchester University Press.

SELECTED ARTICLES FROM ISS21 PROJECTS

• Martin, S. and Forde, C. (2017) 'Perspectives on representation in local child and youth councils in Ireland'. Youth and Policy, (116):79-95.
• Kitching, K. (2017) 'A thousand tiny pluralities: Children becoming other than the requirements of postsecular neoliberal policy recognition'. Critical Studies In Education DOI: 10.1080/17508487.2017.1381630.
• Martin, S. and Forde, C. (2016) ‘Children and Young People’s Right to Participate: National and Local Youth Councils in Ireland’. The International Journal of Children’s Rights 24(1):135-154.
• Archibong U., O’Mullane, M., Kállayová, D., Karodia, N., Ní Laoire, C and Picardi, I. (2016) ‘Guided reflection as an
• organisational learning [and data collection] tool in a gender equality change management programme’.  International Journal of Organisational Diversity 16(1): 19-34.
• O'Mahony, C. Parkes, A., Shore, C. and Burns, K. (2016) 'Child Care Proceedings and Family-Friendly Justice: The Problem with Court Facilities'. Irish Journal of Family Law, 19 (4):75-81.es.
• O’Mahony, C. Shore, C Burns, K. and Parkes, A. (2016) 'Child Care Proceedings in Non-Specialist Courts: The Experience in Ireland'. International Journal Of Law Policy And The Family, 30 :131-157.
• Horgan, D., Forde, C., Martin, S. and Parkes, A. (2016) 'Children’s participation: moving from the performative to the social'. Children’s Geographies, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14733285.2016.1219022 :1-15.
• O’Grada, A., Ni Laoire, C., Linehan, C., Boylan, G., and Connolly, L. (2015) ‘Naming the Parts: a case-study of a gender equality initiative with academic women’. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 30(5): 358–378.
• Edwards, C; Harold, G; Kilcommins, S (2015) 'Show me a justice system that's open, transparent, accessible and inclusive: barriers to access in the criminal justice system for people with disabilities as victims of crime'. Irish Journal of Legal Studies, 5 (1):86-105.
• Edwards, C. (2014) 'Pathologising the victim: law and the construction of people with disabilities as victims of crime in Ireland'. Disability & Society, 29: 685-698.  

EVENTS & WORKSHOPS

• ISS21 Children and Young People Cluster, with Mental Health and Disability Cluster: Interdisciplinary encounters: neuroscience, social science and the politics of research, 5 May 2017.
• Looking Ahead: Brexit, Borders and Belongings, 10 March 2017.
• ISS21 Migration & Integration cluster in conjunction with Y-MOBILITY project: workshop, 3 September 2016.
• GENOVATE project: Gender in/equality: successes, challenges and the path ahead, 9 December 2016.
• ISS21 Migration & Integration Cluster, CCJHR, Study of Religions and Women’s Studies: Muslim Immigration in Europe: Masculinity, Politics and Law, 3 September 2016.
• ISS21 Ageing Research Cluster Symposium: Eldercare Consumption, Service Provision and Cultures of Care: International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 14 June 2016.
• ISS21 Mental health and disability cluster: Mad Activism in Academia: Challenging Traditions, 18 April 2016.
• ISS21 Mental health and disability cluster: Connections: Exploring Acquired Brain Injury through the Medium of Dance, 10 March 2016.
• ISS21 Civil Society Cluster: Conference: The changing face of local and community development in Ireland: policy and practice, 21 October 2015; launch of conference proceedings, 2 June 2016.
• Symposium linked to IRC New Foundations award (C. O’Connell): Responding to Isolation and Loneliness: Housing and Community Perspectives, 26 November 2015.
• ISS21 Children & Young People Cluster with Wallaroo: Play Matters – exploring children’s play worlds, Symposium, 13 November 2015.
• ISS21 Migration & Integration Cluster Two panel workshop: The EU and the southern Mediterranean, 3-4 July 2015.
• ISS21 Research Findings Showcase Day: Towards a Better Understanding of Children’s and Young People’s Lives in Ireland, 29 June 2015.
• ISS21 symposium Changing Families in Ireland: the Social, Legal and Political Context, May 2015.
• GENOVATE Symposium: Transforming Commitment into Action - towards gender equality for academic and research excellence, March 2015.
• ISS21/School of Education event: Anti-Racist Social Justice Praxis across Education Sites in Ireland, December 2014.
• Crisis, Mobility and New Forms of Migration, International conference, ISS21, 2-4 September 2014.
• ISS21 visit: Visit of Minister of State for Research and Innovation Sean Sherlock to ISS21, February 2014.
• ISS21 Seminar: emerging research on public sector work, November 2013.
• Emigration at a time of austerity: Ireland and peripheral Europe under the spotlight, conference, September 2013.
• ISS21 Children & Young People Cluster with Children’s Research Network for Ireland and Northern Ireland (CRININI): workshop on ethics, participation and consent in children’s research, June 2013.

PRINT & BROADCAST MEDIA

• ‘New equality initiative at UCC aims for gender ratio of 60:40’, The Irish Times, 1 February 2017
• ‘‘Are Ireland’s post-crash emigrants likely to return?’, The Irish Times, 4 July 2016
• ‘Secular pupils feel left out in Church’s schools’, Irish Examiner, 30 June 2015
• Dr Conor O'Mahony talking about the findings of ‘Child care proceedings in the District Court’ project on RTE DriveTime, 13th April 2015

AWARDS

• ISS21 GENOVATE project awarded UCC’s Research Team of the Year award, 2017.
• Niall Dunphy, leader of ENTRUST consortium, awarded Leadership Award at Staff Recognition Awards, 2016, for his leadership of the ENTRUST multidisciplinary team, 2016.
• Research Team of the Year awarded to ‘Child Care Proceedings in the District Court’ (team from ISS21, Applied Social Studies and Law), 2016.
• Émigré research team wins runner-up prize at the UCC-Pfizer Innovation through Teamwork awards, 2014.

SELECTED ISS21 RESEARCH FUNDING AWARDS

• Evidence-based Research for Policy and Society: A Critical Evaluation of the implications of Participatory Governance for Civic Engagement and the State. IRC Research for Policy and Society Scheme, 2016.
• Disability and the creation of safe(r) space, IRC Research for Policy and Society Scheme, 2016.
• Post-Caregiving: Family Carers’ Experiences of Role and Identity Transition on Cessation of the Caring Role – Implications for Policy and Practice, IRC New Foundations, 2016.
• Precarity in the private rented sector in Ireland. IRC New Foundations, 2016.
• ENTRUST: Energy System Transition Through Stakeholder Activation, Education and Skills Development. EU HORIZON 2020, 2015.
• Technological responses to social isolation and loneliness. IRC New Foundations, 2015.
• Impacts of the Local Government Reform Act (2014) on community and development initiatives and programmes, UCC Strategic Research Fund, 2014.
• Youth mobility: maximising opportunities for individuals, labour markets and regions in Europe (YMobility). EU HORIZON 2020-YOUNG-SOCIETY, 2014.
• Children and Housing Estate Regeneration: Unheard Voices, IRCHSS RDI, 2012.
• Child Abuse Enquiries in Context, IRCHSS Collaborative Project, 2012.
• Making Communion: Disappearing and Emerging Forms of Childhood in Ireland's Schools, Homes and Communities, IRCHSS Collaborative Scheme, 2012.
• Emigration and return: profiling today’s generation of emigrants and their propensity to return, IRCHSS Collaborative Scheme, 2012.
• The Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Children in Ireland, An Exploratory Study, IRCHSS RDI 2012.
• Seen and not heard? The lived realities of children and young people’s participation in Ireland in their homes, schools and communities, IRCHSS RDI, 2012.
• GENOVATE: Transforming organisational culture for gender equality in research and innovation, FP7 Science in Society, 2012.
• Access to Justice for People with Disabilities as Victims of Crime, National Disability Authority Research Promotion Scheme 2011.
• Intra-European Commuter Household Mobility/Immobility Strategies. Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (D. Ralph), 2011.
• Through the Glass Ceiling: Career progression for women academics and researchers, Pobal Equality for Women measure, 2010.
• Age, Income and Food: A study of the socio-economic influences on food expenditure amongst community-dwelling older people in Ireland, CARDI Data Mining Programme, 2010      
• Young People as Social Actors: An examination of young people’s perspectives on the impact of participation in OMCYA initiatives, IRCHSS RDI Strand 9, 2010.
• Connecting, Challenging and Transforming Practices in Schools, IRCHSS RDI Strand 8, 2010.
• Transnational Childraising (TCRAfEu): Effects of transnational child-raising arrangements on life-chances of children, migrant parents and caregivers between Africa and Europe (TRCAfEu). NORFACE, 2010.

For More Information

Please contact Dr Claire Edwards, Director, or

Dr Caitriona Ni Laoire, Deputy Director, at https://www.ucc.ie/en/iss21/.

Follow us on Twitter @ISS21UCC.