Authors: Matthew McKenna, Cassandra Murphy, Neasa Boyle, Hannah Casey and Dr Opeyemi Kolawole
Research Stream: Symposium
The Ideas in ALL Blog celebrated its third anniversary at the end of November 2023, marking three 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 contribution 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 has helped to 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.
Our Editorial Team is immensely grateful to our network of contributors whose hard work and commitment to the Blog has enabled us to grow and expand and to 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, technological, legal and policy barriers to full participation by all persons in society. Many 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 three 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 two fantastic contributions from Mohamed Maalim and James Cawley. Mohamed, a PhD Researcher in the ALL Institute and former editor of the Ideas in ALL Blog and veteran contributor, discusses his own professional doctoral research within the ALL Institute and celebrates the third and sixth anniversary milestones of the Blog and ALL Institute respectively. James Cawley is a Maynooth University alumnus and prolific ALL Blog contributor, whose professional activism and campaign for disability rights has led him to personally represent the interests of persons with disabilities in the European Parliament and to interact frequently with Irish government figures and leaders in pursuit of change. James discusses his lived experience, work and the symbolism of the symposium in his blogpost.
Health and Wellbeing come to the forefront in our contributions from the GoGreenRoutes Project and the Healthy Campus Steering Committee. Kalyn Potter and Maria Fernandez de Osso Fuentes take us through the innovations and learnings of their interdisciplinary urban health and wellbeing project. Many of which are of a result of being members of the ALL Institiute and sharing conversations with members. One of these including the need for a specific focus on Gender, Inclusion and Diversity, a thought echoed by the Maynooth University Health Campus Steering Committee. Dr Ronan Foley and Orlagh Eustance highlight the wonderful work already completed and their future plans for the group. There are many potential overlaps between the Steering Committee and ALL members. Both of these posts showcase the ongoing work ALL members are undertaking to improve the lives of the wider populations.
The area of digital poverty was highlighted in the contribution from the Digital Wealth Project. The project, led by Dr Katriona O’Sullivan, Maynooth University, and Microsoft Education Ireland, offers a new framework to reconsider the supports that schools need to move out of digital poverty. Dr Holly Foley provides us with an overview of Digital Wealth, and their mission to address digital poverty and help citizens participate in a digitally equal society through increasing the digital capabilities of schools. In addition, she provides us with a wonderful insight to the advantages that come along with being members of groups such as the ALL Institute. One of which being the opportunity to collaborate with researchers with expertise in technology, education, psychology, and more, which allows for a holistic examination of the issue. This post provides a great insight not only to the amazing work being done by the Digital Wealth team but also highlights the importance of fostering a culture of inclusivity, diversity and collaboration.
Throughout the year, we have had contributions from ALL projects both new and long-running. The newest addition to the Institute, the PatentsInHuman Project, shared an exciting component of their research in June. Postdoctoral researcher for the project and new blog editor Dr Opeyemi Kolawole, drew attention to the adverse effects of intellectual property rights protection on access to health technology in the post, which examined how intellectual property rights may curtail a patient’s ability to repair or customise their medical devices depending on how they are implemented. His post did not suggest a definite pathway or solution to the problem; instead, the intention was to draw the public’s attention to this problem, which, to a large extent, has gone under the radar. For us as editors, this fits within the purpose and objectives of the blog, as we intend not only to be a dissemination tool for researchers but to serve as a platform to educate the public and, maybe, policymakers about obscure but pertinent issues.
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. As members of the editing team, the exposure to the variety of blog post 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!
Links below to all posts in this years symposium
Around ALL in Seven Blog Posts…
Building a Digitally Wealthy society with the support of the ALL Institute
Moving Forward to Have a More Inclusive Society
Reflecting on a Journey of Meaningful Impact: Celebrating with the ALL-Institute
Developing the Campus as a Healthy Environment: The MU Healthy Campus Steering Group