Current ISS21-affiliated Projects
Click on the links below to find out about current ISS21-affiliated projects, which are co-hosted with schools and departments across UCC. Projects are funded through major national and international funders, including Research Ireland, Horizon Europe, Wellcome, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Details on previous projects are available at: Earlier ISS21 Projects.
There are a number of benefits to affiliating a project to ISS21, including support with project applications. For detailed information on what is involved in affiliating a project to ISS21, please go to: ISS21ProjectsPolicy.pdf
CLIMATUDE
Dr Niall Dunphy (PI) and Dr Breffni Lennon (co-PI). Funder: Environmental Protection Agency (2025-2028)
The DICES project seeks to unlock the potential of the social economy to foster social inclusion and provide access to high quality care and care work. A key objective will be to assess and make policy recommendations to strengthen working conditions in the social economy and best practice care organisations will be identified and strategies to scale these will be developed. The project will have practical outcomes, such as the piloting of innovative care organisations and initiatives co-designed with key stakeholders.
Funded through Horizon Europe, the DICES project will focus on optimising the potential of Europe’s social economy organisations to enhance social inclusion at both the local level, particularly in 'left behind places,' and within organisations, with a specific emphasis on care provision.
Find out more about DICES
INSPIRE
Representative democracy is undergoing a deep crisis of legitimacy. Climate assemblies, participatory budgeting, and civic tech are examples of democratic innovations that connect the voices of everyday people to decision-makers (Smith 2009; Geißel and Newton 2012; Elstub and Escobar 2019). On the one hand, these participatory and deliberative democracy (PDD) processes are celebrated for their potential in addressing political distrust and polarisation by deepening public engagement. On the other hand, they are accused of being cosmetic solutions to deep-seated problems that continue to exclude already disempowered groups (along socioeconomic, gender, racial, physical, and mental ability lines).
INSPIRE sets out to tackle these issues and failures by creating participatory spaces that are: inclusive, starting from the needs and assets of marginalised groups; resilient to changes in government and developing upon existing grassroots work to support community resilience; and adaptively embedded within the wider public sphere and in productive relationships with policymaking institutions.
Find out more about INSPIRE
Deep Societal Innovation for Sustainability and Human Flourishing
Prof. Edmond Byrne (PI), Prof. Maggie O’Neill and Dr Ian Hughes (co-PIs). Funder: EPA (2024-2028)
