Seminar showcases civic society-academic research partnerships

As part of the strategic partnership between the Irish Research Council and The Wheel, an event was held last week to hear about impact of the Engaging Civic Society strand of New Foundations 2014 and consider how to build on this to enhance knowledge exchange and conduct of collaborative research.

The seminar was organised to mark the current cycle of research projects undertaken by academic researchers working with civic society organisations.  Thirty-nine projects were funded under the Engaging Civic Society Strand of the Irish Research Council’s New Foundations initiative, run in partnership with The Wheel.

The seminar audience heard of the progress of a number of the funded projects. The event also gathered stakeholder views and perspectives on how the civic society research partnership between The Wheel and the Irish Research Council might further develop in the years ahead.

Speaking at the event, Dr Eucharia Meehan, Director of the Irish Research Council commented: ‘We have heard today a number of practical examples of the benefits and key emerging outcomes arising from researchers and community or voluntary organisations working together on a specific problem or challenge. Research is helping to add to the knowledge and evidence base for civil society, benefiting both individual organisations and the sector as a whole. New Foundations Engaging Civic Society strand also strongly benefits the research community by cultivating cross-fertilisation between academia and other sectors and spreading the impact of research outside the academic domain’.