The WISERD Language Network hosts a range of events to provide opportunities for knowledge exchange and interaction between researchers and practitioners involved in Welsh language policy or research into other regional or minority languages. WISERD is the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data.
Over recent months, the network has held a monthly online seminar and a knowledge exchange workshop. Officials from the Welsh Government presented at the February online seminar on their ‘Areas of Research Interest: Welsh 2050’. This was an opportunity to hear from Eleri Jones and Jeremy Evans about the Welsh Government’s research priorities, framed as research questions on Welsh 2050 themes and in terms of analytical and research methods for the Welsh language.
At the Welsh Language Policy Knowledge Exchange Workshop, held at Aberystwyth University on 12 March 2026, the keynote speaker was Professor Bernadette O’Rourke of the University of Glasgow. There were also ten additional presentations, including contributions from policy practitioners, PhD and early-career researchers, and larger research projects such as the Bro Project.
Upcoming events currently include the April online seminar, “Our generation’s opportunity: The Welsh Language Commissioner’s 5-year report,” which will be held from 1–2pm on 23 April 2026. You can register for the online seminar here
The network also welcomes different types of contributions to be presented as panels at the WISERD Conference at Cardiff University, 8–9 July 2026. This event will be free, and contributions are welcome in the form of micro-presentations to be combined into a single panel, panels on a specific topic either as papers or in a panel discussion format, or experimentation with other formats. Ideas can be submitted here , and the deadline is Monday 27 April.
Online seminars are planned for May and June, and presenters and dates will be confirmed soon.
This year, the network’s activities are funded by the Welsh Government’s Environment and Culture Fund and WISERD. You can register for the WISERD Language Network mailing list here: https://forms.office.com/e/1jCYDz5a92
