IdeasInALL – Ideas in ALL

Celebrating the Fourth Anniversary of the ‘Ideas in ALL Blog’: A Note from ALL Co-Directors

Research Stream: Symposium

The year 2024 has seen several elections, new and old conflicts, and instability in many parts of the world. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, global challenges have continued to grow. Our blog, set up on 3 December 2020, has given account of these challenges and has shown how interdisciplinary research be a powerful catalyst for change, bringing new hope and enhancing the wellbeing of people. In fact, well-being is the key word of this symposium which aims to showcase how our research, by shining a light on often neglected areas, such as mental health and social infrastructures, social services, cultural goods, and assistive technologies, addresses issues affecting our overall quality of life. In that regard, the yearly symposium (and the Ideas in All blog as a whole) situates at the cutting edge, tallying with the renewed scholarly attention to wellbeing from multiple disciplinary perspectives.

As Co-Directors of the Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute, we feel that this blog remains an important, bespoke outlet for sharing ALL’s multi- and interdisciplinary research. It offers an important platform for our members to highlight projects in an accessible and reader-friendly way and for stakeholders to reflect on current issues. The blog complements an array of initiatives that show first-hand how research can bring people together, effect change and actually contribute to wellbeing of society at large. ALL has been proud to support events such as Prof. Aisling MacMahon’s seminar on Hospital Exemption Pathway and personalised cancer therapies, and to launch a new series of talks , the ‘Tell ALL Talks’, to discuss groundbreaking contemporary projects, sparking new collaborations and deepening existing connections.

As 2024 comes to an end, the yearly symposium is the latest evidence of how ALL, through new projects, multifaceted initiatives, mutual collaborations and programmes has engaged an array of different people in Europe and worldwide, and has championed research as a key driver of sustainable growth. This symposium shares our insights on how to support the breaking down of barriers to inclusion and build meaningful connections. It encourages a more robust approach to knowledge exchange and the strengthening of research that creates wellbeing, forging new connections across borders and disciplines. Hopefully, this symposium will also generate new ideas to continue addressing global challenges through research!

Seasons greetings to you! We look forward to sharing more research with you in 2025 and beyond!

Delia Ferri, Deirdre Desmond, Mac MacLachlan

A Note from the Editors of the Ideas-In-ALL Blog to Start the Semester

Research Stream: Editorial

Editorial Team: Cassandra Murphy, Hannah Casey, Matthew McKenna, Neasa Boyle

After a brief, restorative hiatus over the summer months, the blog has now returned full time and is ready to once again highlight and facilitate the communication of strong, important research happening in the ALL community. As always, we aim to share knowledge that best encapsulates our ethos, a task that is made all the more possible by the diverse and exciting range of projects under the ALL Institute banner.

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As always, we look forward to hearing from the researchers behind these projects, who have historically contributed generously to us, both in our regular postings, and across our three symposiums, the fourth of which will be posted this coming December. We have been fortunate enough to witness the progress of these projects over the last four years and look forward to doing so again by affording researchers the opportunity to submit posts to us, in which they tell us about their ongoing achievements in their own words. Therefore, as we enter a new academic year, we the editors wish to drop our readers a brief note to highlight the continued excellence of the ALL Institute, and to give a brief overview of the work that we hope to feature on the blog in the coming months.

To this end, the remit of the ALL Institute continues to expand, forging strategic connections across a diverse network of professional researchers and organisations. It incorporates a synergistic array of state-of-the-art research projects that, at their core, seek to promote person-centred and inclusive digital, social and technological development into the future.

In the words of the ALL Institute, “We work across disciplines, sectors and while remaining committed to independent research, we collaborate with civil society, policy makers, industry, intergovernmental organizations, United Nations agencies and most particularly individuals, especially those belonging to different marginalised groups”.

Principles of inclusivity, human rights, accessibility, respect for diversity and equal participation guide the research projects taking place at ALL Institute. Flagship projects include, ADVANCE CRT, AT 2030, ERC Project DANCING, Digital Wealth, Global Collaboration on Assistive Technology (GATE), GoGreenRoutes, PatentsInHumans, ReCreating Europe, SHAPES, STEM Passport for Inclusion that well epitomize the ALL ethos and mission to advance accessibility, equality and human rights for all persons in a digitalising society. Two of the above projects, ReCreating Europe and SHAPES, have recently concluded, bringing together years of invaluable work while furthering and strengthening the mission and impact of the ALL Institute in the process.

In the space of a few years, the Ideas-in-ALL blog has helped to significantly enhance the public profile of the ALL Institute. The blog complements the work of the ALL Institute and continues to raise awareness of the importance of ensuring that person-centredness, human rights and inclusivity underpins technological advancement and digitalisation in our societies. As such, the blog provides a platform for our diverse array of partners to draw attention to, and explain in straightforward terms, the importance of each research project and initiative taking place in ALL. Invaluable blogpost contributions from ALL members, external stakeholders and independent voluntary submissions, have greatly enhanced general civic interest in the work of the ALL Institute.

We look forward to continuing to hear the voices from the wide variety of projects ongoing within the institute, alongside potential posts from those which have recently concluded or that are coming towards the end of their journey. We strive to provide learning experiences for all, so hearing from PIs and researchers working on these successful projects helps to develop best practice principles in our own research and contributes to the generation of new ideas and collaborations. As a group our aspiration is to engage more external stakeholders in the blog process, hearing from those who are directly impacted by our research and exploring the beneficial nature of what we do as an Institute. We have some exciting posts coming up from several of our ongoing projects so stay tuned.

We appreciate your engagement with our posts as we continue to share commentary on the intersection between our principles and the wonderful research activities happening internally within the ALL Institute and externally with our partners. ALL Institute - Maynooth University

My Experience as Project Manager of DANCING… Some Personal Reflections on the First Four Years

Research Stream: Social Lives

Author: Hilary Hooks, Project Manager, Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity in EU Law: Exploring New Paths (DANCING) Project

As the Project Manager for the ERC-funded DANCING Project, led by PI, Prof. Delia Ferri, my role has been to manage the project’s administrative and operational aspects and supporting the PI in ensuring that the project stayed on track with its key milestones.

I have endeavoured to create a robust project management framework. This involved developing a suite of tools, including a spreadsheet to track finances, another to track project activities and deliverables and another to record meetings—ensuring that we met all milestones efficiently. With a project of this scale, managing a €2 million budget requires close attention, and by working closely with other university offices, I ensured compliance with all relevant regulations. The administrative side of the project is complex and involves coordinating with multiple university offices, as well as external entities like graphic designers, filmmakers, and dance companies, the latter two through a tendering process. By managing these details, I freed up our researchers to focus on their work without worrying about the operational hurdles.

Competition Law Enforcement in the EU and Access to Health Technologies: An Overview of the EU 2024 Competition Law Report on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Technologies – Update on Competition Enforcement in the Pharmaceutical Sector (2018-2022)

Author: Dr. Opeyemi Kolawole Post-doctoral Researcher, PatentsInHumans Project, ALL Insittute and Department of Law and Crimonology

Research Stream: Social Technologies

Competition law is pivotal in maintaining market equilibrium and safeguarding consumer welfare. In the European Union, competition law principles are enshrined in Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). While Article 101 prohibits the formation and enforcement of agreements that have the object or effect of distorting competition, Article 102 prevents a dominant firm from abusing its dominant market position.

Competition in healthcare services is critical to providing access to affordable medicines and medical technologies, ensuring expensive pharmaceutical and medical technologies do not significantly strain public and private finances. With their proactive enforcement of competition rules, the EU Commission and the 27 National Competition Authorities (NCAs) have been instrumental in this regard. In the recent Report on Competition Enforcement in the Pharmaceutical Sector, published in January 2024, the EU Commission provides an overview of how EU competition rules have been enforced to prevent and rectify business practices which may harm competition in the common market and consumer welfare. This article examines some of the key decisions reached by the Commission and some of the NCAs and highlights potential improvement opportunities to maximise consumer welfare.

‘Lived Fiction’ Goes on Stage: Reflecting on a Major Milestone for the DANCING Project and the Collaboration with Stopgap

Research Stream: Stories / Lived Experiences

Author: Eva Krolla Research Assistant DANCING, in dialogue with Professor Delia Ferri and Lucy Glover, Executive Producer at Stopgap Dance Company

Image on the left shows Eva Krolla smiling and wearing white, image in the centre shows Professor Delia Ferri smiling and wearing black, image on the right shows Lucy Glover smiling and wearing navy.

On 11^th April, the contemporary dance piece ‘Lived Fiction’ premiered at Dublin’s Lir Academy Theatre in collaboration with Project Arts Centre (PAC). The piece was commissioned by DANCING, a European Research Council (ERC) funded academic research project based at the School of Law and Criminology of Maynooth University. It was created by Stopgap Dance Company’s Deaf, Disabled, neurodivergent and non-disabled creatives under the lead of co-artistic director Lucy Bennett. Stopgap are a global leader of disability access in dance and are based in the UK. ‘Lived Fiction’ artistically embeds accessibility for dancers and audiences through an integrated creative access approach.

The ERC funded PatentsInHumans Project – Year One Project Report And Reflections!

Research Stream: Social Technologies

Authors: Professor Aisling McMahon, Principal Investigator (ERC PatentsInHumans Project) & Sinéad Masterson, Project Manager (ERC PatentsInHumans Project)

It is hard to believe that the PatentsInHumans Project has passed the one-year point having commenced in November 2022! And what a quick and busy year it was! Alongside recently publishing our Year 1 Report which gave us pause to reflect on the project, we were delighted to write this article for the IDEAS in ALL Blog to mark the first year of the project and to provide a snapshot of the research and other activities the PatentsInHumans team have undertaken during this time.

The PatentsInHumans Project:

What Role is There for Artificial Intelligence in the Assessment of Neurodiversity?

Research Stream: Social Technologies

Author: Emily McConway, Undergraduate Intern in Psychology, Maynooth University and Mac MacLachlan, Professor of Psychology & Social Inclusion, and Co-Director of the ALL Institute, Maynooth University

Early assessment and intervention are vital in facilitating positive developmental and behavioural outcomes for children with neurodevelopmental conditions. Early intervention has a positive long-term effect on both autistic children and their caregivers. The current process of assessing the needs of children with possible autistic traits focuses on the use of behavioural clinical diagnostic instruments such as Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R). Both instruments require direct clinician-to-child observation and can take hours to administer and score. In many countries, long waiting lists, coupled with social, economic and geographic barriers hinders timely assessment of neurodiverse children. The ALL Institute is interested in pragmatic ways to streamline access to services, including assessing a person’s needs for services and supports.

Equality in a Digital Future? Ensuring Access to Assistive Technology in Third-Level Education

Research Stream: Social Technologies

Author: Matthew McKenna, PhD Researcher at Maynooth University’s Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute , Research Funded through the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research Training in Advanced Networks for Sustainable Societies (ADVANCE CRT)

Supporting universal and consistent access to Assistive Technology (AT) at third-level education within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Ireland represents a critical milestone to achieving equal opportunities for persons with disabilities.

GoGreenRoutes: Accessible and Sustainable Futures

Authors: Kalyn Potter, Project Manager GoGreenRoutes, Department of Psychology and ALL Institute, and Maria Fernadez de Osso Fuentes, PhD Researcher All Institute and Department of Business

Research Stream: Symposium

In January 2021, the Horizon 2020 funded project, GoGreenRoutes, moved to Maynooth University under the coordination of Dr. Tadhg MacIntyre. As a large-scale multinational project at the nexus of human health, climate and equity, GoGreenRoutes is particularly aligned with ALL’s mission. We aim to address complex issues of how the environment impacts human health and sustainability, especially for disadvantaged groups and minority populations who typically have less access to urban green space.

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