The What Works Centre for Wellbeing, together with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) have announced the successful bids for four research programmes to understand what really works to improve the wellbeing of people in the UK.
Work, Learning and Wellbeing – what are your priorities for action?
ISER has a key role in the new Work, Learning and Wellbeing evidence
programme of the What Works Centre for Wellbeing. The Programme – focused
on protecting and enhancing the wellbeing of workers, adult learners and
those seeking work – has just launched a consultation on its priorities
and focus.
We’re looking for feedback from individuals as well as from civil society
groups, charities and professional institutions.
Responses should be submitted (by 9th October 2015) via the survey here
You can download the questions beforehand to prepare your response here
The Work, Learning and Wellbeing evidence programme was awarded to a collaboration between the University of East Anglia and the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex.
This evidence programme is focused on protecting and enhancing the wellbeing of workers, adult learners and those seeking work. The programme seeks to find practical answers to questions such as:
- Is it possible to change working practices so that workers are happier, more productive and absent less often?
- How can growing numbers of older workers best adapt to working later in life and find new jobs in changing labour markets?
- What lifelong learning opportunities do adults require in order to thrive in globalised and technologically advanced economy?
- What are the societal costs of ignoring worker wellbeing?
The project team – which will include ISER’s Dr Mark Bryan, Dr Alita Nandi and Dr Simonetta Longhi – have two major guiding principles:
“First,”what works” for wellbeing needs to be actionable by workers, adult learners, those seeking work and those close to them eg. line managers, educators, careers advisors, job centre staff – so our focus is on what can be done ‘on the ground’.
“Second, because wellbeing is comprised of many things, we will focus on approaches that offer improvements across a broad range of the elements of wellbeing and a broad range of people.”
The evidence programme consists of three major themes
- Work – focused on those already in work
- Transitions – focused on those moving between jobs and in or out of the labour market
- Learning – focused the formal and informal learning of adults across the lifespan
The Lead investigator is Kevin Daniels, Professor of Organizational Behaviour in the Employment Systems and Institutions Group, Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia and a Fellow of the British Psychological Society. Kevin has been actively researching and providing advice on improving wellbeing for over 20 years – and has worked on numerous projects concerned with developing practical guidance for improving work-related wellbeing.
“We are delighted that the Universities of East Anglia and Essex have been asked to lead the evidence programme concerned with Work, Learning and Wellbeing and we are looking forward to working with the other evidence programmes and contributing to the What Works Wellbeing Centre. Good quality jobs and opportunities to acquire and use skills are not only key factors in the wellbeing of individuals and families, but also the economic and social wellbeing of communities.”
Co-investigators in alphabetical order
- Dr Mark Bryan: transitions theme co-lead
- Dr Sara Connolly: transitions theme co-lead
- Dr Lee Hooper: biomedical science
- Dr Simonetta Longhi: analytics
- Dr Alita Nandi: analytics
- Prof Karina Nielsen: work theme lead
- Dr Chidiebere Ogbonnaya: analytics
- Prof Anna Robinson-Pant: learning theme co-lead
- Prof Fujian Song: biomedical science
- Prof John Street: public engagement and policy
- Prof Gareth Thomas: employment law
- Prof Olga Tregaskis: learning theme co-lead
More on the Expert Teams and Board for What Works Centre for Wellbeing Announced
Over the next three years, the What Works Centre for Wellbeing will enable policy-makers, local authorities, employers and others to use evidence of wellbeing impact in decision making and to improve people’s lives, by translating academic evaluation of wellbeing measures into easy-to-use information about effectiveness, cost and applicability.
The successful consortia are led by world-renowned academics: Professor Lord Richard Layard (London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE), Professor Kevin Daniels (University of East Anglia, UEA), Professor Christina Victor (Brunel University London) and Professor Peter Kinderman (University of Liverpool).
Cross-Cutting Capabilities
Professor Lord Richard Layard (LSE) leads the Cross-Cutting Capabilities programme, working in collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Institute for Education, which will assess and develop methods of understanding how policy and practice affect wellbeing. The team will also conduct life course analysis, looking at the how important early life is to wellbeing in later years.
Work, Learning and Wellbeing
Professor Kevin Daniels (UEA) leads the Work, Learning and Wellbeing evidence programme, a collaboration between the University of East Anglia and the University of Essex. The evidence programme is focused on protecting and enhancing the wellbeing of workers, adult learners and those seeking work.
Bringing Wellbeing to Community
Prof Peter Kinderman (University of Liverpool) leads the Community Wellbeing evidence programme. His team is a collaboration of five universities including the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy and Practice at the University of Liverpool, Sheffield University, Leeds Beckett University, Durham University and Goldsmiths, University of London. They are joined by five civil society organisations including the New Economics Foundation, Happy City, the Centre for Local Economic Strategies, Social Life Ltd and Locality. The evidence programme will focus on how community wellbeing is affected by issues such as local social networks, having a say over what happens in our communities, and local living conditions.
Culture, Sport and Wellbeing
Professor Christina Victor (Brunel University London) leads the Culture, Sport and Wellbeing evidence programme, a collaboration between Brunel University London, the University of Brighton, the London School of Economics and the University of Winchester. They will look at the wellbeing benefits of participation in different culture and sport practices for people in a wide range of circumstances.
The research spans twelve universities, five civil society groups, and reaches internationally through the OECD.
For any further queries, please contact Dawn Snape on 07780 339528 or email us on whatworkswellbeingdevelopment@phe.gov.uk. We’re also on twitter @WhatWorksWB, so please feel free to retweet the news.