Post-Covid Showcase/Consultation
03 Jul 2024
Exploring Impact: Faculty Research on Covid-19 and Post-Covid Society Showcased at Manchester Museum Event
Academics from across the Faculty who have undertaken research linked to the impact of the pandemic shared their findings at a special event held at the Manchester Museum in January. The purpose of the event was firstly to share ongoing research under the Post-Covid society Faculty theme, and secondly to explore the ways in which the theme might be reframed moving forward. So, this was both a showcase and consultation event.
One session presented by Natalie Shlomo, a Professor of Social Statistics in SoSS, highlighted the Evidence for Equality National Survey (EVENS) which has been collecting data on the extent and drivers of ethnic and religious inequalities during Covid and in the post-Covid space, including experiences of racial discrimination. EVENS (2020 - 2023) has produced an unrivalled dataset documenting the lives of ethnic and religious minority groups in Britain during the pandemic, and EVENS2 is now further building on that work.
A presentation from Professor Sheena Johnson from the Work and Equalities Institute at AMBS, explored lessons learnt from the government’s PROTECT study which sought to explain why some local authorities experienced high, sustained levels of Covid-19, and which also looked at the wider transmission of the Covid-19 virus.
The event also included a report from Duncan Shaw, a Professor of Operations and Critical Systems at AMBS and Honorary Professor at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute in SALC, on moves to develop an international standard around societal resilience. Dr Ola Demkowicz, a Senior Lecturer in Psychology of Education at the Manchester Institute of Education, also reported on the findings of the TELL study into the well-being of 16 to 19 year-olds during the first national lockdown in spring 2020 which looked at teenagers’ experiences and how they were managing during the lockdown.
Dr Abi Gilmore, a Senior Lecturer in Arts Management and Cultural Policy in SALC, discussed her ‘reflections on cultural recovery post-Covid’, and how certain towns and cities have benefitted more from the government’s Cultural Recovery Fund than others. There was also a presentation from Professor Mike Hodson from the Sustainable Consumption Institute at AMBS, on the results of a study into ‘Digital platforms and the future of urban mobility’, and how urban public transport systems have been reshaped in the wake of the pandemic.
This was a vibrant and well attended event which enabled the Faculty to bring together a number of excellent research projects linked to Covid-19 and the post-Covid society research theme. The discussions also enabled us to think more broadly about whether the pandemic has fundamentally changed the way that researchers design, approach and adapt methodologies. We are now also looking at the wider lessons we might collectively take from this broad range of connected research, and how to maintain and support momentum in this area of work.
*Following on from her work during the Faculty conference in 2022-3, we engaged artist Jenny Leonard to capture the conversations, discussions and emerging themes during our workshops and showcases this year. Above is her illustration from the Post-Covid Society event.