Join us online on Tuesday 20 May, 10 – 11.15am, for the launch of Parallel Lives: 20 Years On: Exploring the Drivers of Interethnic Contact in the UK, a joint three-year research project between Belong and the Universities of East Anglia, Oxford and Bristol.
This engaging discussion will feature project researchers Professor Rose Meleady (University of East Anglia), Professor Shelley McKeown (University of Oxford), and Professor George Leckie (University of Bristol) as they offer their unique insights into the project and its aims.
Who is this event for?
This event will be of interest to policymakers, local authorities, civil society practitioners, think-tanks and academics working on cohesion, overcoming prejudice and the impacts of segregation.
About the project researchers
- Professor Rose Meleady and Professor Shelley McKeown are both Social Psychologists whose research centres around segregation, intergroup contact and positive societal engagement.
- Professor George Leckie is a specialist in methodological and applied quantitative research of secondary data in education and other social and health sciences, especially multilevel modelling of linked administrative data.
Together, all three will share how they plan to utilise their complimentary skills to enhance our understanding of intergroup contact.
This will be followed by a Q&A.
About Parallel Lives
Almost 25 years ago, Professor Ted Cantle published The Cantle Report which identified the problem of ‘parallel lives’, where people lived alongside each other but rarely if ever truly connected. This programme of research will draw on existing data sets, as well as collecting new data, to capture some of the real-world complexities of intergroup contact experiences.
As well as working with existing large data sets, the project research team will collect a new national data set and work alongside five diverse local areas where there have been cohesion challenges. The research will examine the role of place and individual characteristics and the interplay between them in helping or hindering positive intergroup contact. It will also examine what happens when negative contact occurs and how it impacts both ethnic majorities and minorities.
The research aims to:
- Improve understanding of intergroup contact engagement and contribute to interventions and policy measures aimed at building social cohesion
- Identify the conditions needed for successful intergroup contact
- Allow targeted interventions tailored to different populations/locations by exploring the drivers of intergroup contact amongst different groups, and in different localities
About the project partners
The Belong Network is working in partnership with Professor Rose Meleady (University of East Anglia), Professor Shelley McKeown (University of Oxford), and Professor George Leckie (University of Bristol) to conduct this important study. Belong Advisor Jo Broadwood is a Co-Investigator on the study and together with Jeni Vine, Belong’s Research and Development Manager is leading on this project for Belong.
For any questions or more information about this event or any of Belong Network’s work go to www.belongnetwork.co.uk or contact: hello@belongnetwork.co.uk