At the end of May, a two-day symposium organised by ARK's Dirk Schubotz focused on the opportunities and challenges of undertaking participatory and collaborative research. The event featured key note presentations by Timo Ackermann (Professor of Social Work at the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences in Berlin) and Emily J. Ozer (clinical and community psychologist and Professor at the UC-Berkeley School of Public Health). On the 25th June, Professor Schubotz was also involved with a similar event at NICVA. This one-day event explored research partnership models between academic researchers and the VCSE sector.

It was Men's Health Week from 8-16 June. In 2020, ARK's Paula Devine and Erin Early were commissioned by the Men's Health Forum in Ireland to undertake the Men's Health in Numbers project. The aim was to collate key statistics on men's health on the island of Ireland. This included a comprehensive Trends Report that describes, in detail, changes in significant markers of men's health on the island of Ireland in the last twenty years. This was complemented by two infographic reports provided a synopsis of key men's health statistics. Dr Devine has updated these infographic reports with the most recent statistics, with the Northern Ireland version available via the link below.

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Through textiles, people around the world have communicated their experiences in relation to violence and conflict, human rights violations, poverty, oppression and environmental issues. The ARK / Conflict Textiles permanent rotating exhibition at Queen's University Belfast McClay Library is one of the supporting exhibitions to Threads of Empowerment: Conflict Textiles' International Journey. The exhibition opened 21 June 2024 at The Ulster Museum. Full details available via the link below.

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It's been a bumper month for ARK publications. Three new Research Updates looked at 'Access to mental health supports in Northern Ireland', 'Does Northern Ireland lean Left or Right?' and 'Political identities and aspirations in Northern Ireland'. A new policy brief considered 'The impact of health transformation on rural communities'. Click on the link below to access all of our recent publications.

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Expanding on the theme of 'OpportUNiTY' for Good Relations Week 2024, this ARK event showcases the potential of social and community farming to cultivate good relations in Northern Ireland with communities old and new. Featuring Dr Matt Williams and Martin Cate from Jubilee Farm, Tiziana O'Hara of Cooperative Alternatives and Dr Aoibeann Walsh of Rural Support. The event will take place on Thursday 19 September, 10.00 to 12.00, in the Great Hall, Lanyon Building, QUB. Please register via the link below.

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Carer's week 10-16 June highlighted the challenges unpaid carers face, as well as the contribution they make to families and communities. Northern Ireland Life and Times asked in-depth questions about informal carers in 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2015. Most recently, in 2015, 60% of respondents who provided care did so seven days per week. Explore more of our survey findings via the link below.

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Some of the political papers that Sean Farren collected during his involvement in politics in Northern Ireland were recently added to CAIN. Sean was a long-standing member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in Northern Ireland until he retired from politics in 2007. He donated part of his paper collection to CAIN and these were digitised and catalogued. The collections are: Sean Farren's academic publications and also media items written by him; a set of papers from the Brooke / Mayhew Talks (1991-1992); and papers from the Mitchell Talks (1996-1998) that led to the Belfast / Good Friday Agreement. There is also a link to the collection of John Hume speeches which was based on documents donated by Sean Farren. A list, and links to digital copies, are available via the link below.

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The launch of the 2024 results from Kids' Life and Times (KLT) and Young Life and Times (YLT) is planned for Friday 6th September from 16:00 at a Belfast venue to be confirmed. Look out for more details closer to the time via our September newsletter and our social media channels.

ARK is Northern Ireland's social policy hub. Established in 2000 by researchers at Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University, its primary goal is to increase the accessibility and use of academic data and research. Most of our dissemination is via our website, which is divided into five main areas:

• Surveys
• Projects
• Resources
• Publications
• Events

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