Community Collaborations: Building Research Evidence for Policy Impact Across the Lifecourse
Community Collaborations: Building Research Evidence for Policy Impact Across the Lifecourse
The Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS) at University of Galway hosted a research seminar titled “Community Collaborations: Building Research Evidence for Policy Impact Across the Lifecourse” on 28th November 2023 in Room G006 of the ILAS Building, from 10:00am to 1:00pm. This event marked the opening of ILAS’s International Research Training Series under the theme “Enabling Equity Across the Lifecourse”. It brought together researchers and community stakeholders to explore how impactful research partnerships can be built in ways that are both ethical and inclusive, spanning different stages of life.
Two keynote speakers Prof. Linda Steele from the University of Technology Sydney and Harry Rutner of the Australian Centre for Disability Law framed the central question: How can we design, implement, and sustain research that authentically collaborates with communities, including older adults and people with disabilities, while also delivering evidence to inform policy reform? Professor Steele, a leading socio-legal scholar, has published extensively on disability, institutionalisation, and restorative justice. Rutner, a legally qualified social worker and disability rights advocate with over 14 years of experience, co-founded legal services in Western Sydney and recently represented civil society at the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York in 2023.
The half-day seminar featured a structured agenda beginning with a welcome from Eilionóir Flynn, Director of the School of Law. This was followed by presentations, interactive discussions, and a concluding lunch between 12:30 and 13:00. The event provided a platform to reflect on the delicate balance faced by researchers: staying responsive to the expectations of community partners while simultaneously generating robust evidence that can influence and shape policy for meaningful social change.
