The ARK team would like to recognise the tremendous input that Lizanne Dowds contributed to the establishment of ARK back in 2000 and to its strategic development to date. Working primarily as a consultant to ARK, Lizanne worked with the team on strategic planning, proposal development and on the Northern Ireland Life and Times survey.

Lizanne has now decided it is time for a change. We know that many of you who worked with her on ARK projects will join with us in wishing her well in the future.  

Since the referendum in June 2016, Brexit has been a major topic in the media and in our homes. It is likely that the UK will leave the EU at 11pm on Friday 29 March, 2019. ARK's resources on Brexit include:

• Questions in the 2016 Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) Survey
• Questions in the 2016 Young Life and Times Survey
• Waking up in a different country - Brexit and Northern Ireland (Research Update 116) by Cathy Gormley-Heenan, Arthur Aughey and Paula Devine, based on the 2016 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey.
• Waking up in a different country - Brexit and Northern Ireland video by Cathy Gormley-Heenan, also based on 2016 NILT data.

Questions on Brexit have been included in our current surveys, and results will be available in summer 2018.  

CAIN and Conflict Textiles recently facilitated a five-day programme at Ulster University which incorporated:

• Textile Language of Conflicts exhibition at Magee Campus
• ESRC Festival of Social Science Interactive workshop for students in the exhibition space
• A two-day International Colloquium

17 delegates participated in the Colloquium from Colombia, Spain, France, Chile, Japan, Germany, USA, Venezuela, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England. The Colloquium included a fieldtrip to the Ulster Museum. A total of 140 people engaged in the exhibition and interactive workshop for students.

Find out more  

ARK produces a range of publications, including Research Updates and fact sheets, most of which are available on our website. The most recent publications are:

• Bonfires, flags, culture and identity (Research Update 119) by Gillian Robinson and Paula Devine. This Research Update focuses on findings from the 2016 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey.
• Exploring inequalities in the context of kinship care by Alexandra Chapman and Anna Tarrant. This Policy Brief is based on a workshop held in June 2017

The ARK team also publishes articles in academic journals. For example, Grace Kelly, Paula Devine and Martina McKnight published a paper in the October 2017 edition of the International Journal of Care and Caring. This paper 'Lost in translation? The challenges of measuring informal care among children and young people', was based on issues raised within the Kids' Life and Times Survey

For a full list of ARK publications, as well as links, visit our Publications page

 

ARK holds many workshops, seminars and launches. Where possible, we video the main presentations and make these available online, along with presentation slides and relevant publications. These are viewed extensively by people who cannot attend the events, and also for teaching purposes.


The videos and slides from our two most recent events are now online:

• Bonfires, flags, identity and cultural traditions, by Gillian Robinson and Paula Devine on 22 November
• Relationships in the Round in Adult Safeguarding: messages from recent research in England, by Jill Manthorpe on 16 November

Find out more  

ARK is a joint initiative between Queen's University and Ulster University, and began in 2000. Our mission is to make social science knowledge on Northern Ireland easily accessible to the widest possible audience. Most of our dissemination is via our website at www.ark.ac.uk, which is divided into four main areas:

• Surveys
• Conflict, Politics and Elections
• Policy, Research and Resources
• Outreach, Dissemination and Training - including publications and events

Find out more