Authors: Matthew McKenna, Cassandra Murphy, Neasa Boyle, Elodie Makhoul and Dr Opeyemi Kolawole
Research Stream: Symposium
The Ideas in ALL Blog celebrated its fourth anniversary at the end of November 2024, marking four momentous years since its inception. The Blog has grown markedly over this timeframe, driven by a dedicated Editorial Team whose ranks are filled by researchers from a diverse variety of fields, reflecting the interdisciplinary ethos of the ALL Institute through a collective emphasis on inclusion, human rights, equality and accessibility. Though the membership of the Editorial Team has slowly changed over time, each participant has made their own invaluable contributions to the growth of the blog and has left an indelible imprint through their work, and in the connections they fostered with dedicated contributors from within, and outside of, the ALL Institute. This helped raise the profile of the ALL Institute by emphasising to the generalist audience the importance of the core values of social inclusion and participation for all persons in a transformational and digitalising society.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks and well wishes to our outgoing Editor, Hannah Casey who, since passing her viva, has taken the next step in her career as a Postdoctoral Researcher in DCU. Hannah’s work as an editor and contributor has been both invaluable and instrumental in expanding the profile and remit of the blog.
We also welcome a new member to the Editorial Team, Elodie Makhoul, who is also working as a Research Assistant on the DANCING Project. Elodie has an extensive and international academic background in law, with a particular interest in EU law, human rights, information technology and intersectionality. Elodie is the perfect edition to the blog team.
The diverse disciplinary background of the Editorial Team, alongside a wide range of blogpost contributions from our researchers discussed below, strongly echo the theme of this years’ Winter Symposium:
‘Advancing Perspectives on Wellbeing through Interdisciplinary Research’.
Our Editorial Team is immensely grateful to our network of contributors whose hard work and commitment to the Blog has enabled us to grow, expand and capture the opinions and analyses of individuals who share the core values of the ALL Institute. Our expanding network of authors, bolstered by some committed veteran-contributors, play an indispensable role in identifying the many social, environmental, technological, legal and policy barriers to full participation by all persons in society. Additionally, some of our contributors write through the lens of lived experience of such barriers and are at the forefront of the fight for equality and participation. This is particularly relevant, as the events of the past four years have shown us that technological development is not synonymous with an improvement in human rights or inclusion. Thus, this knowledge lends greater relevance than ever to the topicality and mission of the Blog and reinforces the message that an inclusive society free of social, legal, policy or technological barriers to participation, must be tirelessly fought for.
To this end, we welcome blogposts from a variety of expert contributors who lend their expertise and wealth of knowledge to this years’ symposium. Amongst these blogposts are five fantastic contributions from Alessia Paladino, Elodie Makhoul, Roberta Esposito, Luke McKenna, Rachel McGetrick and Dr Blanca Suarez-Bilbao. Alessia Paladino is a Research Assistant in the ALL Institute working on the DANCING Project and her blogpost focuses on enhancing access to culture for persons with disabilities and supporting their wellbeing. Elodie Makhoul is a Maynooth University alumnus and she offers some very interesting insights into the DANCING Project discussing the important nexus between culture and wellbeing and the role of the EU.
Luke McKenna discusses the critical necessity for increased availability of universally accessible products and emphasises the need for manufacturers to incorporate Universal Design and Design for All concepts in product design and development. This post highlights the ongoing work ALL blog contributors are undertaking to improve the lives of the wider populations.
Rachel McGetrick and Dr Blanca Suarez-Bilbao shine the spotlight on wellbeing in research. They discuss the PROMOTE and PATHWAYS projects. The PROMOTE project is designed to reshape how early-career researchers navigate academic life and provides a digital platform where they can connect, access resources and share opportunities such as funding, publications and networking events. The PATHWAYS project explores why some researchers leave their field while others persist, and it aims to identify the opportunities and challenges that shape their career paths.
Our symposium also includes a note from the Directors of the ALL Institute to mark the end of another successful year of work in advancing the core mission of ALL, enhancing the scholarly output and societal impact of the Institute.
While this symposium covers the work of ALL members, our editors have been reflecting on their own learnings from the past year as a result of their engagement with ALL, hence our theme for this symposium ‘Advancing Perspectives on Wellbeing through Interdisciplinary Research’, a common thread that can be seen from each of our showcased blogs. As members of the editing team, the exposure to the variety of blogposts over the year has shown the overall growth of the ALL Community and the potential for interdisciplinary collaboration. As members of the ALL Institute ourselves, being part of the editorial team for the blog has allowed us to further embody its ethos- striving to ensure that all people across their lives have the support and opportunity to participate fully across the life course. This along with the key goals of the blog– inclusivity, accessibility, respect for diversity, and participation is what drives our team to continue to search for and solicit regular contributions to highlight the diversity of approach and wealth of knowledge within our ALL community. With that in mind, please enjoy the fantastic contributions of each of our symposium writers, and join us once again in saying a big happy birthday to the ALL Blog!
