On 1 October, the ARK Ageing Programme celebrated its 2nd birthday. To mark the occasion, the team met to discuss the next stage of work.

The ARK Ageing Programme was set up to support engagement between the age and academic sectors in Northern Ireland. Our activities include seminars, networks, publications, survey analysis, and much more. In particular, our Visiting Fellow scheme is a very exciting initiative, and is highlighted separately in this newsletter.

To find out more about the ARK Ageing Programme, visit our website. And if you would like to get in touch, please contact Paula Devine or Gillian Robinson.

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We are very pleased that the next ARK Ageing Programme Visiting Fellow is John Williams. John is Professor of Law at the University of Aberystwth, and will be based in Queen's University from 12-23 October. We have working with a range of organisations, including AgeNI and the Disability Research Network, on a packed programme of events for John's visit. We hope that you will be able to join us.

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The Young Life and Times Survey asks 16 year olds in Northern Ireland their opinions on key social issues affecting their lives. As with all of ARK's surveys, tables of results, questionnaires, datasets, technical notes, and other publications are available online.

As well as being used in ARK publications, the data are also used by other organisations. For example, the Integrated Education Fund (IEF) recently launched their Young People's Voices report. Over a period of two years, the IEF engaged with more than 2,000 16-24 year olds in Northern Ireland exploring their perceptions, experiences and future aspirations. As part of the study the IEF worked with ARK to include some questions in the 2014 YLT and KLT surveys. These survey results are extensively covered in the report.  

Gemma Carney and Paula Devine from the ARK Ageing Programme have been involved in setting up a branch of the British Society of Gerontology (BSG) in Northern Ireland. The BSG provides a multidisciplinary forum for researchers and other individuals interested in the situations of older people, and in how knowledge about ageing and later life can be enhanced and improved.

The next BSGNI event 'Ageing and Research' will be held on 27 October in Ulster University. The keynote speakers are Jill Manthorpe (Kings College London) and Assumpta Ryan (Ulster University).

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ARK provides access to a broad range of information on the Northern Ireland conflict and politics in the region. Through its resources, ARK aims to facilitate researchers and others in understanding the underlying causes of conflict and to facilitate conflict transformation and peace-building locally and internationally. A key resource is CAIN (Conflict Archive on the INternet), which is an encyclopaedic resource on the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

CAIN includes a wealth of material, including a range of public records:

• PRONI records: A selection of digital versions of public records that are held by Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). The records selected by CAIN are ones which relate to the conflict and politics in the region, from 1968 to 1984.
• NAI records: A selection of digital versions of Irish records that are held by the National Archives, Ireland (NAI). These records focus on the conflict and politics in Northern Ireland from 1965 to 1974.

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A new Research Updates is now available:

• What do children think about old age? (Research Update 101), by Paula Devine and Gemma M Carney. This report is based on data from the 2014 Kids' Life and Times Survey.

This publication was launched at an event 'Population Ageing Affects All Age Groups', at which Professor Pearl Dykstra was the keynote speaker. More information about the seminar is available on the ARK Ageing Programme website.

ARK produces a range of publications, including Research Updates and fact sheets. Most of these are available online. For a full list of publications, as well as links, visit our Publications page.