AberCollab Case Studies

Reestablishing WISERD Language Network

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Aberystwyth University researcher Dr Elin Royles was awarded AberCollab funding to contribute to the re-establishment of the Wales-wide WISERD Language Network into a strong and sustainable knowledge exchange space. The development of the proposal followed initial discussions between Aberystwyth and Bangor University academics.

Although ‘Cymraeg 2050’ is an overarching, long-term Welsh Government strategy, no active network promotes linkages between Wales’ academics working on regional or minority languages and Welsh language policy governance practitioners. Currently lacking is engagement between academics working on regional and minority languages across Higher Education institutions and ways of engaging with the range of organisations involved in the Welsh language policy agenda.  These challenges are compounded for Early Career Researchers and PhD students, limiting support for their knowledge exchange involvement. The WISERD Language Network previously enabled connections with the Welsh Government but has been dormant in recent years.

Workshops and Panels

The key activities organised as the AberCollab project were a knowledge exchange workshop held at AU in March 2026, 3 online workshops and holding 3 panels at the WISERD Annual Conference in Cardiff in July 2026 that were branded as a new ‘Ffrwd Iaith Gymraeg’, a new ‘Welsh Language Stream’ to the conference’s activities. Re-establishing the network has created new interaction opportunities between researchers working on regional and minority languages in Welsh HE institutions and with policy practitioners associated with language policy.

A total of 232 people attended the series of workshops and panels organised by the Network between December 2025 and July 2026.

 

Outcomes

This AberCollab project has fulfilled both of its main aims. Through the AberCollab events, it has created new interaction opportunities between researchers working on regional and minority languages in Welsh HE institutions at a range of different points in their careers and policy practitioners. The emphasis placed on practitioners also sharing their work and research alongside academics has also supported great strides in democratising knowledge exchange in the Welsh language policy space.

The current aim is to continue with the work of the network in the 2026/27 academic year, with the first online seminar already confirmed for September 2026. Elin plans to follow the same model as developed this year based on consultation within the network: regular online workshops, an in-person workshop in Aberystwyth and organising panels at the WISERD annual conference.