Policy forum on local population challenges

As part of the 2023 ESRC Festival of Social Science, we organised a policy forum to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the British Society for Population Studies (BSPS). The event explored local population change and policy challenges in a science-meets-policy and practice event at the British Academy in London (and online). Hosted by BSPS President Professor Nicola Shelton of University College London, it brought together experts Professor Jane Falkingham (CPC-CG), Professor Tony Champion (Newcastle University), Jen Woolford (ONS), Professor Grant Hill-Cawthorne (House of Commons) and Professor Alison Park (ESRC) to showcase latest research knowledge, illustrate how quality population data is collected, and highlight routes to influencing public policy.

The event attracted over 100 attendees including school pupils, government members, local councillors, and local authority practitioners. Feedback was positive – 100%

Strategic away day

The Connecting Generations team came together for the first time in April 2023 for a strategic away day to share research progress, synergies and to plan future work as the project moved into its second year of funding.

The meeting took place over two days at New Place, Southampton, with colleagues joining from the Universities of Southampton, St Andrews, Stirling, Oxford and the Resolution Foundation. We also welcomed colleagues from the CG Advisory Board, including Eve Forrest from the ESRC, Mike Daly of attendees stated that they were glad they attended the event, and that they had learnt something new, with one delegate commenting: “The event was very interesting, insightful, and thought-provoking. I have learnt a lot, which is very motivating to me as a social researcher focused at the local level and, particularly, at the level of the community.” from the Department for Work and Pensions, and Gunnar Andersson from Stockholm University.

Alongside progress presentations from each project team, we heard from members of the CG Advisory Board about their organisations and how their research complements that of Connecting Generations. In two interactive sessions, attendees discussed topics which could feed into future Resolution Foundation Intergenerational Audits, as well as discussing subject crossover and areas for future research and collaboration.