Latest Posts

In a year when we spent more time at home than ever before, television provided a crucial window on the world. Ofcom estimated in August 2020 that during lockdown people were spending an average of 40% of their waking hours in front of a screen. TV watching was up by approximately a third. While this … Continue reading A Year of Covid TV

As outdoor sports facilities open and organised sports clubs begin to welcome back members, it’s uplifting to note that there have been numerous positive developments in safeguarding children and young people in this sector recently. These include: In its latest 10-year plan, Sport England, the body responsible for grassroots sport, have named safeguarding as one … Continue reading Covid-19 and Sport: Some Positive Outcomes for Athletes and Athlete Welfare

Negative discourses around migration have created a hostile environment for asylum seekers and refugees. Having often had horrific and unimaginable experiences in their home country – and endured dangerous passage to claim asylum, refugees need places to feel accepted, recognised, to heal, reconcile in their host communities and to share their experiences of daily life … Continue reading Third sector organisations: An oasis for asylum seekers and refugees in the wake of Covid-19?

While the pandemic has been detrimental for many, COVID-19 has also presented us with opportunities. One such opportunity has been to re-examine the impact that increased digital engagement has had on increasing participation in the autistic community. Autistic people are advantaged by being able to engage digitally with friends, colleagues, classmates and educators. Among other … Continue reading Silver Linings: Autism, Covid and Digital Engagement during the Pandemic

In this morning’s tutorial with a postgraduate our conversation meandered here and there, touching on writing, juggling deadlines and inter-weaving theoretical ideas with the blessed Harvard referencing. It reminded me of the best things about being a university tutor – I was actually helping! Except, I was sitting in my house with my laptop perched … Continue reading After a Year, is it Time to Log Off?

Motor cars have been used for crime since their earliest pre-First World War development. However, with the rapid rise in car ownership it was the interwar period that saw public and political concern rise significantly. Fears about criminal use of motor cars became focused on the idea of the ‘motor bandit’, an emotive and flexible … Continue reading Then and Now: Crime, Speeding Cars, and How to Stop Them

A year ago we started to experience changes to even the most menial of tasks, including the weekly shop. Stripes of yellow and black tape appeared on supermarket floors guiding us around (sometimes unfathomable) one way systems, and indicating where we should stand in a ‘socially distanced’ queue. Plastic screens that used to adorn checkouts … Continue reading A Year ‘at a distance’: Is there hope ‘when this is all over’?

So now we know.  Figures published by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation show that the impact of COVID-19 on tourism has been devastating. International arrivals to the UK fell by 74% in 2020; levels not seen since the early 1990s. 1 billion international arrivals have been ‘lost’, along with export revenues of $1.3 trillion. … Continue reading Winners and Losers: A Year of Tourism During Covid-19

Has the time finally come for a universal basic income (UBI)?  Many believe so, especially in light of the economic fall-out from the covid-19 pandemic. Experiments of basic income are running in many advanced welfare states. What for centuries has been an outpost of radical, even obscure, philosophical and economic debates could soon become a … Continue reading Rebuilding after COVID-19: Is Now the Time for a Universal Basic Income?

`Never say never’ … the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico has fallen. Well, not literary, but since the inauguration of Joe Biden, they have stopped building it. Yet this is largely symbolic, as due to pandemic, the U.S.-Mexico border continues to be closed. In fact, since March 2020 the US-Mexico border has been … Continue reading Who needs a wall? US-Mexico Immigration during a Pandemic

A year ago I was planning a workshop hosted by Youth Focus NW. Speakers were coming from across the country and there were lots of discussions over whether the event should be cancelled or go ahead. Taking the lead from the Cheltenham Festival, we went ahead with our chairs spaced a metre apart. That was … Continue reading A Year of Youth Work in Lockdown: What have we been doing if not innovating?

COVID-19 has had a huge impact on human mobility and migration. Governments across the world took extraordinary measures to curtail international travel and movement of peoples whilst simultaneously calling all their citizens to return home. Domestic systems of disease management followed including enforced quarantine and closed borders. The pandemic was initially thought as an equalizer; … Continue reading COVID-19, (im)mobility and Health Inequalities

Research and contemporary reports on the impact of COVID-19 indicate how those from marginalised and disadvantaged backgrounds have been most impacted by the virus. This has been particularly the case for disabled people and ethnic minorities. February 2021 was LGBT History Month, a time to focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who shaped … Continue reading The Continued Impact of Coronavirus on LGBTQ+ People

There were many revealing moments in the explosive interview between Oprah Winfrey and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex broadcast on ITV1 on Monday night. But the one that caught my attention was the slightly awkward admission from the pair that they had watched ‘some’ of The Crown. This was not exactly an Oprah scoop. … Continue reading A brief interlude from COVID: is The Crown fact or fiction?

A year of ministry in lockdown brings with it a conflicting mixture of befuddlement, anger and hope. The anger comes from standing alongside many families in their bereavement with so few people allowed in our buildings; thirty in Church, and ten or twenty at Crematoria. No hymn singing allowed even in a brief respite near … Continue reading A Year On in Lockdown Ministry

12 months ago I reimagined a good society in the wake of Covid-19. The vision was one of mutual aid, community strength and public policy, led by strong, independent and diverse voices. One year on, this vision has in some sense been enacted; yet the pandemic has revealed more obstacles on the road to a … Continue reading Digital Inclusion and a ‘Good Society’ in the wake of COVID-19

The information paradox dictates that as news sources multiply and information becomes overabundant, the more likely it is for exaggerated, implausible and untruthful stories to gain traction. The pandemic aside, it is the ‘infodemic’ we should now be fighting? Over the last 12 months, conspiracy theories have not only become a main mode of communication … Continue reading Pandemic or Infodemic? 2020, the Year of ‘Fake News’?

Endgame stages a world in which old people expire in dustbins, a worker incarcerated at home reels under the weight of contradictory imperatives, while a self-regarding overseer, obsessively gives, and reviews his own performance. Beckett left us a play for our times. A year on from our first collective experience of lockdown, ‘hyperconnectivity’ has shaped … Continue reading Hellish Repetition: Lockdown Anticipated in Samuel Beckett’s ‘What Where’

Covid-19 Anniversary Blog 22/04/2020.. London, United Kingdom. First virtual PMQs and Ministerial statement on Coronavirus, with First Secretary of State Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP and the Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer MP. Picture by  Jessica Taylor © UK Parliament “It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear”, writes US Political Consultant … Continue reading Keir Exposure – Constructive Opposition a Year on?

In April 2020 regulations in the United Kingdom (UK) relating to the protection and care of children who live in residential family centres and who are cared for by foster carers, were relaxed. This raised alarm bells about the increased risk of these children’s rights not being met. Twelve months on, what is current state … Continue reading The Unmet Rights of Children in Care: the State of Affairs 12 months on

The 24th March 2021 will be the anniversary of the first Covid-19 lockdown in the UK. Since then we have been on a roller-coaster, both personally and professionally, and witnessed unprecedented changes to our way of life. Some will be temporary – others will be permanent; but as we approach the anniversary, can we predict … Continue reading Covid-19 Anniversary Blog

This May sees a huge set of elections.  It will be the biggest national test of party popularity since the General Election.  Postponed local and mayoral elections from last year combine with scheduled contests to give us a psephologist’s dream. Yet a row in Liverpool over who will be on the ballot paper for Labour … Continue reading Who chooses – finding candidates for public office

By Heidi Beirich Taking the stage on January 20 for his inaugural speech in front of the American Capitol that had just been stormed by hundreds of right-wing extremists, President Joe Biden specifically called out the problem of white supremacy and the need to confront it. He denounced the “racism, nativism, fear, demonization” that propelled … Continue reading How the Biden Administration Can Take on White Supremacy

We’re midway through Veganuary, the annual challenge to those who typically consume animal products to spend a month going vegan. Reports suggest half a million people in the UK have made the pledge to eat only plant-based food as part of the initiative this year, and the number of participants has risen rapidly since the … Continue reading Veganuary

Social responsibility is part of Bluecoat’s core purpose. We have survived many challenges and the basis of our resilience has always been a deep sense of responsibility to our civic role. We are a working arts centre with a community of artists, creative businesses, a public garden, galleries and performance spaces. We engage offsite with … Continue reading Is Socially Distanced Social Responsibility Possible?

Over recent years organisations have increasingly tried to engage with the digital world, but who would have thought that a global pandemic would be the thing to turn our practice upside-down? To the world, and its young people, 2020 was a year of change and instability; rules changed seemingly minute by minute. Life as we … Continue reading Socially Distanced Social Responsibility: Engaging Young People Today

In light of the current, and preceding lockdowns, ‘church’ at St Gabriel’s, Huyton, has been very different. Transferring worship services online has allowed our congregation to interact, but the ceasing of public worship has decimated church finances and fees. We cannot let out of our facilities which impacts our ability to reach out to the … Continue reading Social Distant Socially Responsible: One Church’s Experience

Overcoming digital divides, building social connections and acting in a socially responsible way in the midst of a global pandemic isn’t easy. Last week (13/01/21) ISR hosted a webinar to discuss this challenge. The date of the webinar coincided with the launch of the JRF UK poverty report and the JRF Destitution Report which both … Continue reading How do you do Socially Distant Social Responsibility?

On his or her way out of office, a UK Prime Minister will often send a small group of allies to the House of Lords. On his way out of office, a US President will let a bigger group out of jail! The ability to issue a pardon for a federal crime is one of … Continue reading Sorry seems to be…

Since the mid-90s secularisation in Ireland has been discernible, with sharp declines in mass attendance, vocations, regular family prayer and Catholic sacramental engagement. This period dovetails with allegations of sexual abuse amongst the clergy, and the mistreatment of unmarried mothers (Fallen Women) in religious-run institutions (Magdalene Laundries, Mother and Baby Homes). It also coincided with … Continue reading ‘Catholicism at a Crossroads’: Technology in Times of Crisis in Modern Ireland

The death of filmmaker Michael Apted on 7 January 2021 prompted an outpouring of praise for his long career in film and television production. He directed well-regarded feature films such as Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980), Gorillas in the Mist (1988) and Nell (1994). But it is for his work on the pioneering television documentary Seven … Continue reading ‘A Nosy Interest in the Human Condition’: Michael Apted’s Up Series

The recent scenes of mob rule in Washington DC have sent shockwaves around the globe, and have been met by statements of disbelief and disapproval from world leaders. The condemnation of the insurrectionists by leading Republicans, including Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Mike Pence, and the subsequent congressional confirmation of Joe Biden’s … Continue reading Two Cheers for American Democracy

As we see the imposition of hard borders within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the first time since the Acts of Union in 1707, the cosmopolitan dream of a world without borders appears to be slipping away. The European Union, once an organization eager to push for the dismantling of … Continue reading The Pandemic X Brexit: A World with Hard Borders?

When Arts Council England launched its 10-year strategy in January, no-one could have guessed what was just around the corner. ‘Let’s Create’ is a strategy full of hope; about opening up opportunities, developing shared experiences and recognising the creative potential in each of us. COVID-19 has challenged us all, on a professional and personal level. … Continue reading COVID Creativity: new possibilities or a fresh challenge?

Each year the 20th November marks World Children’s Day in recognition of, and to promote, children’s rights. This date is significant because on the 20th November in 1959, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and, on the same date in 1989, the UN General … Continue reading World Children’s Day: why we need to raise awareness about children’s rights

According to experts at a recent public event supported by the Institute for Social Responsibility (ISR), sports organisations need to rethink how they approach athlete welfare, to ensure they are meeting their legal and moral obligations, and to provide a healthy and safe environment. Abuse and maltreatment in sport have featured heavily in national and … Continue reading At the Heart of Gold: Rethinking Athlete Welfare

In recent weeks media commentators have dubbed the 2020 U.S. election ‘historic’. It’s understandable. The campaign was fought in the midst of a global pandemic. By election day over 9.5 million Americans had contracted COVID-19 and more than 235,000 had died. The contrasting responses of the candidates towards the epidemic, and their competing visions of … Continue reading Biden, Trump and the Lessons of the Past

We may not know yet who will win the Presidential Election but, as Edge Hill programme leader for Politics Paula Keaveney, argues, some people have “won” already. I am constantly amazed by the speed with which US commentators switch from the results of an election to the question of who will run next.  Sometimes there … Continue reading And the winner is…

Even in a small national state like our own, it would be more accurate to talk about identities rather than posit the notion of a single all-encompassing identity. This multiplicity of identities is formed by an interaction of class, region and culture. George Orwell’s comment that one rarely hears an educated accent north of Watford … Continue reading Some Thoughts on the Crisis of National Identity

November 1st 2020 is World Vegan Day, a day when vegans around the world will celebrate veganism. It’s also a great opportunity to reflect on recent research about veganism undertaken by academics including those from Edge Hill University. In the last five years veganism has moved from the margins to the mainstream. This is best … Continue reading World Vegan Day: What Does the Research Say?

The post-Brexit referendum period has witnessed the growth of English nationalism, spikes in hate crime, allegations of institutional racism in the Home Office following the Windrush scandal, and accusations of anti-Semitism in the Labour party. Terror attacks in London and Manchester have undermined public confidence feeding widespread anti- Muslim sentiments, and wars of the last … Continue reading Britishness, Identity and Belonging

In the volatile COVID-19 era, the shift of the UK government away from the ‘hostile environment’ may come as a surprise to some. Priti Patel’s statement on the 21st July 2020 on a more compassionate ‘people, not cases’ approach to immigration in the wake of the Windrush scandal contrasts sharply with Brexit and its aggressive … Continue reading Windrush as Watershed? Revisiting migration policy and practice in the UK

As schools and settings prepare to welcome back all children it is important to be aware that the past 6 months will have been a different experience for each child. We also cannot assume that all children have the same feelings, thoughts and emotions about the transitional processes that they are currently undergoing and the … Continue reading “Have you heard me?” Consulting with young children at a time of transition and change in early years.

In my favourite political sitcom, The Thick of It, defenestrated opposition leader Nicola Murray tells spin doctor Malcolm Tucker to take her seriously because she is now “a grandee”.   “You’re not a grandee… you’re a blandee” he replies. Tucker doesn’t want to listen to any of her advice.  She is, as far as he is … Continue reading The Club of 5: Can former PMs really shape the debate?

When schools around the world transitioned to a distance learning model caused by COVID-19, many believed that the current generation of young people, born in a context of great technological development, would easily make the leap. For many students however, this was not the case. Although students need to master information, media and technology skills … Continue reading Technologically Savvy Students? Revelations During a Pandemic

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s 2018 presidential election victory appeared to seal his party’s domination over Turkey’s politics until the end of his term in 2023, or even 2028. Since this victory however, he has presided over an ailing economy. The Turkish lira has plummeted, foreign reserves have shrunk as the Central bank intervened to stabilise the … Continue reading Narrating the pandemic: COVID-19 as a feature of Turkey’s political landscape

Some of you might have seen the Tweets and blogs making the rounds regarding the sexual harassment and exploitation (sexual and not) of female academics. I read them with a profound sense of knowing sadness: whilst I have been lucky to not be in these women’s places, the misogyny and gendered power imbalances are evident … Continue reading Gendered Double Imbalances in Higher Education

Musings on Julio Nakpil’s “Deus Omnipotens et Misericors (Requiescat et pace), Marcha Funebre” (1943) The Research Center for Culture, Arts and Humanities of the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, was in the middle of retrieving and publishing the works of the Filipino composer Julio Nakpil (1867-1960) when we were locked down by the pandemic. Manila … Continue reading Art, Music and Death Amidst the COVID 19 Pandemic:

If we look only at trade figures, Sino-Italian relations might not be considered worth our attention. In fact, they are very lop-sided. For Italy, China is not a significant partner, accounting for 3.4% of exports and 7.2% of imports. For China, Italy is even less important, representing less than 1% of both imports and exports. … Continue reading Caught in the middle? Italy and China after COVID-19

Nigeria confirmed their first COVID-19 case on 27th February and since then Nigeria’s centre for disease control has been the leading institution for reporting and tackling the pandemic. By June 2020, there were 22,020 cases and 542 deaths recorded. Nigerians have to adapt to a new reality, after initially only hearing the news via media platforms … Continue reading Covid-19 and Nigeria

As a social scientist working in the field of Chinese politics, I note with interest the speed with which perceptions of China changed these last months. A Cold War mentality is detectable. We hear from many parts of the world that China’s rise as a superpower is a challenge to the status quo. Politicians and … Continue reading A New Cold War? Can we maintain good academic relationships with China post Covid-19?

As Covid-19 spread rapidly throughout the world, the Australian university year was just beginning. Student introductions had been made, course material had been outlined, but deep learning had not been initiated. As swiftly as Covid-19 took hold, so did the need for Australian academics to restructure their courses from on-campus to online delivery, while attempting … Continue reading Computer Says ‘No’: Digital Resistance and Online delivery in Tasmania

The COVID-19 pandemic and its ripple effects became real in South Africa with lock down at the end of March 2020. No one, not the most prepared, respected or skilled lecturer, could have prepared for what was to come.  Initially, we higher education lecturers, waited patiently for the government and Minister of Higher Education to … Continue reading “In times of trouble the wise built a bridge and the fool a dam” a Nigerian proverb.

Over the past four months humankind has endured a combination of forced challenges and changes that few in history have experienced. Underlying the need for these constraints is arguably the cornerstone to our existence – health. Amongst all the uncertainty, unpredictability, panic, and novelty that has become part of a newfound daily routine for many, … Continue reading A View from Tasmania: Has the pandemic influenced health and health behaviour?

Just as the COVID-19 pandemic began five members of the Action Research Network of the Americas established a foundation. The Musical Learning Action Research Community was approved. A month later, we had a fortunate encounter with another member working from Java, Indonesia, and now this action research community is working on 16 different projects to … Continue reading Observing Different Worlds: Action Research and the Musical Learning Community

Black Lives Matter has been thrown into the news and all our consciousness following yet another black man’s death in the USA due to Police brutality. This has triggered a global reaction expressing the frustration of those who don’t feel that they are listened to. Having been brought up in St. Helens after the war, … Continue reading Racism and Me!

While our lives have been upended by the pandemic, the outrage triggered by the killing of George Floyd has drawn vital attention to the global scourge of racism. The impact of the Black Lives Matter movement has been immediate and spectacular. Protesters around the world have braved Covid-19 to amplify their anti-racist message. In the … Continue reading Totem and Taboo: UK Television Comedy in the light of Black Lives Matter

Isolating at home has become the norm, in what feels like an ultra-long winter vacation! The Chinese Ministry of Education has decreed that “classes will be suspended, without school suspension” and so, like the rest of the world, we have had to turn to the webcast. Webcast teaching has a number of advantages. It provides … Continue reading A View from China: Will COVID-19 Change the Way We Teach?

Recently we launched an international thread to the ISR blog with goal of amassing views and responses around the world; and we have been thrilled to receive a range of diverse contributions that we will be posting in the coming days. Of course, the world does not stop for anything – not even a global … Continue reading ISR Blog: A note from the editor

The current COVID pandemic has hit us all both professionally and personally. Personally, I am very relaxed and easy-going person who manages stress in my work and personal life easily through a combination of regular exercise, prioritizing, and controlling what I can control and not worrying about what I cannot control. The current pandemic is … Continue reading Coping During the Current Global Pandemic: A View from Australia

UK universities suffer worst-ever rankings in world league table while Asian institutions rise. Sure, we can blame a lot on a nasty virus, but truth is we all know this has been building up for some time. If you are surprised that the Asian Century is now well and truly underway then frankly you’ve not … Continue reading The Asian Century is Underway – but will Universities in the West lose out?

It is probably known to most readers of this column that Israel is home to an existential conflict between national-ethnic groups. This conflict is often manifest in clashes between narratives on how Israel was established, and the history of the very land upon which it sits. Yet, few realize how polarized the discourse among Israelis … Continue reading Tip of the iceberg: COVID-19 and the welfare state in Israel

Over the last few months, ISR has attempted to capture the EHU view of the pandemic. This proved to be wide-ranging, thought provoking and at times, challenging. Yet a pandemic is by its very nature a global, or at a least trans-boundary phenomenon. We have seen many countries attempt to deal with the pandemic in … Continue reading Seeking International Perspectives on a Global Pandemic

When we had the idea to ISR blog in the week after lockdown in late March, we could not have imagined that it would have such resonance. Since the start of April we have had nearly 50 posts, charting our immediate response as an academic community to a once in a 100-year event. In receiving, … Continue reading To the Moon and Back: Summing up the ISR/EHU Covid-19 Blog

HAMM: This is not much fun. But that’s always the way at the end of the day, isn’t it, Clov? CLOV: Always. HAMM: It’s the end of the day like any other day, isn’t it, Clov? CLOV: Looks like it. HAMM (anguished): What’s happening, what’s happening? CLOV: Something is taking its course. Samuel Beckett’s Endgame … Continue reading Staging Apocalypse: Endgame, by Samuel Beckett

In uncertain times, it is unsurprising that evoking the idea of ‘normal’ provides a source of comfort. ‘Normal’ implies a predictability and coherence that many of us crave. Both a return to the ‘old’ normal and a re-imagining of a ‘new’ normal are presented as potential reassurances of a more familiar and comprehensible future. It … Continue reading Returning to ‘normal’: Better or Worse for those with special need and/or disabilities?

The development of electronic communications over the past few years has made home working a possibility for many of us, the current Covid-19 pandemic has made it compulsory for even more of us. If we set aside the pressures of social isolation, this is a development that could have many benefits. In the early days … Continue reading Covid-19: Liberation from the Clock (for some)

As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, schools in England have radically shifted form. After temporarily closing for the majority of children, they have remained open for some. The sector is in the midst of planning how to bring more children on site safely. Alongside this, extraordinary attempts have been made to sustain relationships with … Continue reading Listen up! Schools have always been much more than places for Education

Following a series of family bereavements;  including my father, mother and only brother over a 2 year period, my elder daughter responded very positively when I said she was coping very well.  ‘Dad’, she said, ‘we have become experts at bereavement!’ Notwithstanding, I required counselling having been devastated by my losses; she is now a … Continue reading Experts at Bereavement?

Given the rapid shift to focus on online video-based learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is evident that we need to develop understanding of how this mode of learning will impact student engagement with their course and learning. Also, what measures can be used to determine its success? Video-based learning has a long history … Continue reading Covid-19, Higher Education and the rise of video-based learning

22/04/2020.. London, United Kingdom. First virtual PMQs and Ministerial statement on Coronavirus, with First Secretary of State Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP and the Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer MP. Picture by  Jessica Taylor © UK Parliament Parliamentary opposition is usually pretty easy.  You criticise the other side.  They are wrong, they haven’t … Continue reading Constructive Opposition in a Time of Crisis: Can the new Labour Leadership Rise to the Challenge?

As part of Voluntary Arts’ Creative Network, I was recently invited to talk with Nick Ewbank, Chair of ISR’s External Advisory Group, about everyday creativity in the context of the response to COVID-19. In particular, we were looking at David Gauntlett’s definition and how he emphasises the idea of ‘making is connecting’, and advocates the … Continue reading Creative Resilience and going OFFLine during Lockdown

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the film and television industries. Production has been halted on all UK feature films and television series, cinemas were closed, and film festivals migrated on line. The onset of the virus has, however, accelerated changes that were already forecast. The enhanced subscription take up  for the streaming platforms such as … Continue reading Streaming and CGI? The future of TV and Film after COVID-19?

Media scholarship, cultural commentary and movie reviews regularly reflect on production contexts and their impact on possible readings of the films and shows we watch. Both 9/11 and the Covid-19 epidemic have been described by as ‘America under attack.’ President Trump has stated that the epidemic is a ‘worse attack’ on the US than both … Continue reading Covid-19: Hollywood’s Next 9/11?

Those who lead – people, educational or research programmes, engagement activities or even entire organisations in Higher Education, like every other sector globally, are now confronting the challenges of how to move forward in a world where everything we do has the potential for radical change. However, despite common references to a ‘new normal,’ realistically … Continue reading Towards a ‘Next Normal’: HE and Reflection at Speed

Italy’s first two cases of the coronavirus pandemic were confirmed on 30 January 2020 by the Istituto Spallanzani which specializes in infectious diseases, the first research centre in Europe in fact to isolate the genomic sequence of COVID-19. The patients were a couple of Chinese tourists, both of whom had recovered by 26 February. Just … Continue reading Epidemics: A View from Italy

Since March headline stories have abounded across news outlets suggesting the positive impact that the decline in human activity, as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown, is having upon the natural world. The National Geographic (April 2020) reported ‘carbon omissions are crashing’ and forecast a  9% drop in Europe this year, elsewhere observations were recorded … Continue reading Covid-19: An Opportunity for Nature and Outdoor Education

Since late March we have been separated from those whom we love, our friends and even our business acquaintances. We stand two metres apart in our shopping queues. We see poignant, yet often painful, pictures on our televisions of grandparents with spread hands on panes of glass trying to ‘meet’ their grandchildren. On our daily … Continue reading Emerging from Lockdown: Shared Experience as we (re)commune together

Global public health expert Michael Marmot warned recently that the pandemic will make health inequalities worse. If this is the case, then how can we ensure that the arts become part of the solution? The 2017 Creative Health report outlined the extensive range of ways in which the arts supports health outcomes, yet the report … Continue reading Everyday Creativity: Why the Arts need to Rethink What Matters

“In December 1987, Myles Horton and Paolo Freire, two pioneers of education for social change, came together to ‘talk a book’ about their experiences and ideas” (Bell, Gaventa & Peters, 1990. p xv) The seminal book that ensued, ‘We Make the Road by Walking’, marked a major landmark in the development of participatory education for … Continue reading We Make the Road by Walking: A ‘Kinder’ Society after COVID-19?

Sunday 17th May 2020 was International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. It is significant that this year this falls when many LGBTQ+ people are in lock down with their families or relatives to whom they have not disclosed their self-identities. Back in April 2020, during the initial stages of the coronavirus lockdown, the LGBT+ … Continue reading “Coming Out” and Covid-19

Youth work is all about engaging with young people, engaging them because it is what they want and exploring things that they are interested in. For many, the relationship with their youth worker is the only one where they’re recognised in their own right. Recent research has shown that two million young people need such … Continue reading How to Stay ‘Engaged’ at a Distance: Youth Work and COVID-19

The impact of lockdown on our daily life has been dramatic. We had to suddenly abandon our routines. Even those privileged with good health and steady employment have experienced severe disruptions. We had to undertake extraordinary tasks while socially-isolating, such as transitioning to online work and/or home-schooling. We have had to revise plans, goals, expectations.  … Continue reading Flattening the Acceptance Curve: Transitioning a more Inclusive World after COVID-19

The Coronavirus epidemic may be without precedent in living memory, but global pandemics are nothing new. In the sixth century AD the ‘Plague of Justinian’, an outbreak of bubonic plague, killed around 25 million people in Europe and Asia. The best known pandemic, the ‘Black Death’ of 1348-9, is thought to have killed up to … Continue reading Pandemics, Prohibition and the Past: COVID-19 in Historical Perspective

What will life be like once ‘normality’ returns? Without needing to resort to crystal-ball gazing, it is obvious that whatever normality emerges, it will be a form of a ‘new normal’. We will be required to negotiate radically altered public health and economic conditions, as well as new complex emotional geographies. So here, I want … Continue reading Constructing a ‘New Normal’: What Changes when it’s all over?

We don’t have to look far to see that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on tourism has been both enormous and catastrophic.  All resorts, hotels, restaurants, campsites and visitor attractions are closed, and there are few flights. Tourism as we know it has totally ground to a halt.   How will tourism recover?  This … Continue reading The Road to Nowhere? Tourism after Covid-19

The implications of measures taken to reduce the impact the lockdown for children (and adults) who reside with violent, abusive or exploitative partners and family members have been widely highlighted. For those in such circumstances, ‘keeping the NHS safe’ and ‘saving lives by staying at home’ comes at a very high price. It is well … Continue reading COVID-19 and Child Abuse in Institutions

The COVID-19 virus causes respiratory illnesses that can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome, which in some cases requires a ventilator for survival, and may cause permanent lung damage (Cox 2020). Therefore, it is possible that COVID-19 will result in an increased number of individuals who are sensitive to poor air quality. Preliminary research on … Continue reading Citizen Science to tackle Poor Air Quality post COVID-19

It’s day something of the lockdown and I’m surrounded by images that I don’t understand. There’s an image of a pizza that’s trying to kill me, it’s on the main news three times a day, as if on repeat. Nobody is quite sure where it came from or where it’s going. There are lots of … Continue reading Images in the Head; the Pervasiveness of Dreaming in Isolation

As a public and community historian, I am interested in how people engage with the past in their lives in the present. In an undoubtedly historic moment like a global pandemic our anxieties tend to be on the future; but the past still matters – and right now it appears to be hyperlocal. We are … Continue reading Dig where you stand: Histories of where you live in a Global Pandemic

In the current climate, particularly today, on the 75th anniversary of VE Day, and the current Prime Minister’s penchant for Churchillian rhetoric, it is perhaps inevitable that people are drawing parallels with the Second World War, the ‘Dunkirk Spirit’, the ‘Britain can take it’ response to the German ‘Blitz’, and so on. Clearly, there are … Continue reading Blitzed by Myths: The ‘Spirit’ of the Blitz and COVID-19

There is no doubt that changes inflicted on the workforce, practically overnight, are unprecedented. Whilst this shows what can be achieved when there is a collective purpose, as ‘people experts’ we know the toll this takes on some individuals, those who struggle to adapt, especially when it is brought in at such a significant pace … Continue reading New Realities? New Culture? What next for HR post Covid-19?

From lack of hand sanitiser to toilet paper, cargo stuck in ports, crops unpicked in fields and a work force relocated to their homes; organisations and consumers are adopting new approaches to deal with these shortages. With amazing flexibility and agility some firms have shifted their business models, invested in people and processes, explored new … Continue reading Temporary or Fixed? Changing Business Models in a Global Pandemic

Since lock down measures have been implemented in the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State for England has exercised its powers to make changes to regulations concerned with the care planning, placement and review of services designed for some of our most vulnerable children. Specifically, changes have been made which dilute regulations relating to the … Continue reading Slackening of Statutory Measures to Safeguard Children: An Outcome of the Coronavirus Outbreak

In 1909 Beatrice and Sydney Webb published The Minority Report envisioning ‘a good society’ where the state provided the basics; health, education and welfare, while civil society and the private sector offered extension to this in the form of  wealth, prosperity and societal support. Research, conducted by myself and Professor John Diamond at Edge Hill … Continue reading Re-imagining a ‘Good Society’ in the wake of COVID-19

In 1970, Basil Bernstein famously wrote that education cannot compensate for society. Bernstein may have been writing fifty years ago, but recent reports on the impact of school closures on disadvantaged children and young people resonate with his conclusions. Despite decades of government rhetoric about inclusion, the empirical reality of social inequality has been exposed … Continue reading Lockdown and Educational Inequality: Some Reflections

France has been in lockdown since 16 March with strict rules limiting movement outside homes but what does this mean if you haven’t actually got a home? There are around 1200 refugees living rough in the pas-de-Calais region. They are in constant fear about their health and supplies of food and water as COVID-19 takes … Continue reading Coronavirus and Calais refugees: How can you stay safe without soap?

The current pandemic has reproposed, this time with more acuity than ever, key questions for the media and journalism. First, the current crisis has reconfirmed that our reality is indeed substantially shaped by media. We live in an era of deep mediatization, as researchers call it (see Andreas Hepp’s Deep Mediatization book published in 2019, … Continue reading Wither Fake News: COVID-19 and its Impact on Journalism

There is much for us reflect upon during these difficult times, not the least of which might well be encompassed by how the modern, high-tech, sophisticated world of Homo Sapiens can be brought to a virtual standstill by a simple single-celled organism called Covid-19. This very fact is sufficient in itself to make us stop … Continue reading In Troubled Times, Philosophy CAN Help

The onset of COVID-19 has made an impact on every aspect of our society. But one group in particular is facing real difficulties in coping with the crisis, a group so often ignored by society, and that is people in prison. It is shocking that reportedly up to 60% of prisoners could become infected with … Continue reading COVID-19: Lockdown when you are Locked Up