The Northern Ireland Longitudinal study (NILS) is a wide-ranging administrative database of people living in Northern Ireland. This interactive workshop will provide an overview of the readily available data, the topic areas which can be rapidly explored and discuss feasibility of linkage with health data. The event will be of interest to researchers, as well as anyone with a policy interest.

The workshop is a collaboration between ARK and the NILS Research Support Unit, and will take place via Zoom at 11.30am on Tuesday 14 September 2021.

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The Dementia Fiction Festival celebrates the wealth of new fiction depicting dementia, exploring the issues raised around ethics, diversity, empathy and care. As well as performances of new writing, the festival features a series of workshops, panel discussions and keynote talks from researchers, creative writers, and people living and working with dementia.

The Festival is the culmination of the Dementia in the Minds of Characters and Readers project, which explores the potential for fiction to promote awareness and understanding around the lived experience of dementia.

The Festival will take place online on Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 September. All events are free.

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The CAIN Associate Programme showcases how CAIN plays an important role in academic research and in the work of policy makers and practitioners. The latest event will be presented by Roberta Bacic, a Chilean Human Rights advocate and researcher.

Since 2007, Roberta has been the curator of the International Conflict Textiles collection and has curated over 120 international exhibitions of arpilleras and associated events in museums, universities, art galleries, embassies and community spaces worldwide.

The event will be held on Zoom at 2pm on Wednesday 6 October.

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The results of the 2020-21 Young Life and Times survey are now available online. 2,069 young people aged 16 years took part, and gave their opinions on mental health, coercive control, good relations, community safety, shared education, and politics. A seminar was held on 31 August to launch the release of the findings, and a video of the event is available. Young people's attitudes to coercive control (Research Update 143) is based on the latest YLT data.

Full details of the survey, including questionnaires, technical notes and data are available on the YLT website .

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The results of the 2020-21 Kids' Life and Times survey are now available online. 2,242 children in Primary 7 classes across Northern Ireland participated. The survey explored a range of issues, including coronavirus, Shared Education, Children's Rights, and bullying. The results of this survey are now online.

Full details of the survey, including questionnaires, technical notes and data are available on the KLT website.

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Four new publications are now available, reflecting key social issues in Northern Ireland.

• Young People's Understanding of Coercive Control, by Susan Lagdon, Julie-Ann Jordan, Lucia Klencakova, Ciaran Shannon, Mark Tully and Cherie Armour (Research Update 143) is based on data from the 2020-21 Young Life and Times survey
• LGBTQ+ Ageing in Northern Ireland by Daniele Mackle (Policy Brief 18) presents evidence on the inequalities that exist for the ageing LGBTQ+ population in Northern Ireland and highlights key findings and recommendations.
• LGBTQ+ Community's Journey to Parenthood by Danielle Mackle and Fiona Bloomer (Policy Brief 19) considers the health inequalities and the legal implications that exist in the pursuit of parenthood for the LGBTQ+ community in Northern
• The Trauma of Violence and its Impact on Young People in Northern Ireland by Colm Walsh and Ann Marie Gray (Policy Brief 20) draws on published research evidence and discussion at an ARK roundtable event in July 2021. A video of the evidence session of this roundtable is also available.

ARK produces a range of publications, including Research Updates and fact sheets. Most of these are available online. For a full list of publications, as well as links, visit our Publications section.  

ARK is a joint initiative between Queen's University and the University of Ulster, and began in 2000. Our mission is to make social science knowledge on Northern Ireland easily accessible to the widest possible audience. Find out more at www.ark.ac.uk.

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