Previous Consultations Archive

25th September 2018

Future for Communities

In partnership with Local Trust

This consultation focused on the future for communities and place, exploring the importance of community as a key issue for policy makers and practitioners. It drew on current research conducted by the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) and Local Trust on the necessary conditions for creating empowered communities in the 2020s which is due to report in the summer.

It also considered the emerging findings of the Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society due to report in autumn 2018. The consultation took place at a critical time in this policy space, as the Government considered the content of its own Civil Society Strategy (on which it launched its own consultation in March).

6th August 2018

The Ariane de Rothcshild Fellowship

The AdR Fellowship represents a unique experience for entrepreneurs, social innovators and those who practice doing business while at the same time doing good, particularly (but not exclusively) from a Jewish and Muslim cultural background, who demonstrate a proven commitment towards inclusion and forging bridges to other communities while at the same time strengthening the sustainability of their organization/enterprise or business.

6th June 2018

AI and Religion

In Partnership with The Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion

The “Trust and Artificial Intelligence” consultation is a follow up from a Seminar Series, ran by Jacopo Domenicucci (Cambridge, Philosophy) and Rune Nyrup (Cambridge, HPS). This consultation is an attempt to set up a conversation across the disciplines on a question of common concern: how do we develop the conditions for appropriate and intelligent forms of trust in the machines, systems and algorithmic procedures that we call “AI”?

25th May 2018

Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues

As part of its scope of work, the Jubilee Centre has produced statements on different aspects of character education, including A Framework for Character Education in Schools, a Statement on Youth Social Action and Character Development, a Statement on Teacher Education and Character Education, and a Statement on Character, Virtue and Practical Wisdom in Professional Practice.

These Statements have been met with widespread support and approval from policymakers, practitioners and academics across the UK and internationally. This consultation opened up a dialogue on the challenges faced in translating the research the Jubilee Centre conducts into accessible and practical solutions for those working on the ground, and discussed how these challenges might be best overcome in new and relevant ways.

13th February 2018

Modern families, modern family justice: supporting family relationships in intact and separated families in fast changing socio-political-economic climates

In partnership with Relate and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts

Family life continues to change – the impact of political change, economic uncertainty post the Great Recession and continued austerity policies in Europe, as well as the emergence of new opportunities and challenges not least through technology, means that relationship support and family justice services need to change if they are to remain relevant to those in need of these services.

During a twenty-four hour in-depth Consultation, we examined these challenges, reviewed promising and innovative approaches from across Europe, and, considered what services/organisations and individual practitioners can do to meet a variety of needs. The consultation brought together leading experts in the fields of family relationships and family justice from across Europe to debate current key issues and share knowledge and ideas for the future development of services to support family stability and ensure the best interests of children.

The full report from the consultation can be read here.

26th January 2018

Further and Higher Education and the Sustainable Development Goals

The seventeen SDGs present a novel framework for domestic and global pursuit of sustainability solutions. Our Further and Higher Education institutions have a key role to play in developing scholarship and skills to critically engage with the SDGs and the wider sustainability agenda.

A recent consultation examined how education in schools might consider the SDGs, but the tertiary sector presents additional complexities. Some universities and colleges already have initiatives addressing the SDGs, in research, teaching and operations; and students, policy makers and many academics have called for more sustainability in tertiary education. How might we deepen sustainability education in the tertiary sector? What role might the SDGs play? What might the outcomes be?

The full report from the consultation can be read here.

19th January 2018

Democracy in a Post-Truth Information Age

The year 2016 witnessed the UK vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald F Trump as President of the United States of America, two seismic events in the history of these democracies.

Both events brought to the fore significant debate regarding the nature and quality of information available to the voting public.

In particular, the Internet and social media were regarded as key emerging battle grounds. The debate honed in on two discrete topics: how information is accessed and shared in an Internet society; and the nature of the information disseminated, especially an increased focus on ‘false’ information. Such was the prevalence of the debate that the Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year for 2016 was ‘post-truth’.

We looked in depth at the challenges of living in a post-truth information age. Are our democratic processes under threat? Is there a danger of giving free rein to extremism and further destabilising society? Or is this the predictable response of the establishment as alternative viewpoints and information become a greater part of mainstream debate? Either way, society faces significant challenges. What are the responsibilities of citizens, governments, business and the media in this swiftly evolving landscape?

The full report from the Consultation can be read here.

8th December 2017

Competitively Loved? An Ecumenical Christian Consultation on Theological Language used about the Holy Land

In partnership with Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, Christian Aid.

A significant consultation on how, as churches, we use language in the context of our debate and deliberations on the Holy Land, especially with regard to the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

The consultation addressed some of the more vexed questions at the heart of our attempts to seek justice for those in the land, including opposition to occupation, and an ongoing commitment to opposing anti-Semitism in our own context, along with developing good interfaith relations with both Jews and Muslims.

1st December 2017

Young People and the Sustainable Development Goals

The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals are hugely important for the future wellbeing of all people, and for the integrity of the biosphere. It is clear that education has a key role to play, not only in helping people understand the significance of the goals, but also in helping to ensure that the goals, and their targets, are achieved.

We already know that a number of schools have programmes focusing on this, but if goal-related learning by students can help increase the likelihood that the goals will be valued, supported and hence realised, is it also the case that a critical study of the goals can enhance the focus, and help raise the quality of student learning? This Consultation examined these twin propositions. We looked in depth at what good goal-related outcomes might be; and explored what more can be done to embed a focus on the SDGs in work with young people both in and out of school.

To read the report from the Consultation please click here.

21st November 2017

Local Leadership in a Cyber Society 2: Strengthening our Technical Resilience

In association with National Cyber Security Programme-Local

The rapid pace of technical change is creating new opportunities for greater efficiency and effectiveness. These include more engaging and efficient digital services, new ways to work remotely and to store or transfer data such as mobile devices and cloud services. However, as the recent WannaCry incident showed, these new ways of working also present new opportunities for malicious cyber-attackers to cause harm and disruption to public services.

Across the country local civic and public service organisations are working hard to reduce these threats every day and the active support and engagement of their senior leaders is vital to ensuring the continued focus and profile of this work. In the face of these challenges the opportunity to look at the issue of the role local leadership in a cyber-society and to develop a common understanding of technology issues and capabilities needed to underpin cyber resilience has never been more important. Our Consultation looked in depth at the matter to identify practical, forward-looking technological approaches and solutions that local civic leaders can take in the face of such challenges.