In this month's Border-Zine:

The Centre The Centre is recruiting a Project Support Officer: Engagement and Outreach

We are looking for someone to support the “Maintaining the Necessary Conditions for Cooperation and Cross-Border Lives” project in its ongoing and regular engagement with a range of stakeholders, and to proactively secure new participants to activities under this project.

The Project

“Maintaining the Conditions for Cooperation and Cross-Border Lives” will, over twelve months, provide relevant policy and decision-makers with regular and evidence-based insights into the intensity and nature of post-Brexit North-South cooperation being undertaken by civic society organisations (CSOs) and local authorities on the island of Ireland, as well as the status of their relations with counterparts in Great Britain.

Closing date for applications is Wednesday 11th August at 10am.  Applications will be sent to ccbs@qub.ac.uk  Equal opportunities forms will be sent to crossborder@qub.ac.uk  
  

For a Job Description and Application Pack please click here!!

Presentation of the results of the 2nd Quarterly Survey on the Conditions for North-South and East-West Cooperation

Following the fantastic response to the 2nd edition of the Centre for Cross Border Studies’ Quarterly Survey on the Conditions for North-South and East-West Cooperation, the Centre held a webinar presenting and discussing the results. The responses, which have been received from civic society organisations and local authorities in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, have helped us assess how the necessary conditions for North-South cooperation are being maintained, and how relations between organisations on the island of Ireland and Great Britain are being safeguarded since the end of the Brexit Transition Period and the implementation of the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol. The feedback, which has been added to the results of the first survey in the series, will help us gain a picture of the concerns and challenges being experienced by organisations on the ground. They will be used by the Centre for Cross Border Studies as it works with other organisations to protect North-South and East-West relations.

Briefing Paper: Climate Legislation in Northern Ireland and Cross-Border Cooperation

In summer 2019, the United Kingdom government sets an ambitious target of 100% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 compared to 1990, overturning the target set by the Climate Change Act 2008.

This was a result of the claim widely shared by public bodies, scientists and civil society that significant measures must be taken in response to global warming. Nevertheless, if the UK government and Parliament are supported and advised by an independent body such as the Climate Change Committee (CCC), what about devolved governments, especially when it comes to Northern Ireland? The latter recently saw the launch by a Member of the Legislative Assembly of proposed legislation that includes provision for an independent body overseeing climate change concerns.

This was followed by the introduction of another climate change bill by Northern Ireland’s Agriculture and Environment Minister. Importantly, Northern Ireland’s geographical location offers a seemingly favourable context concerning cooperation on environmental management with the Republic of Ireland (RoI). However, while both governments are placing the challenges of protecting biodiversity and fighting against climate change in their respective governmental programmes, this Briefing Paper questions the extent to which such cooperation between the two jurisdictions is encouraged by the proposed legislation.

Briefing Paper Available to download here!!

Briefing Paper: The recognition of professional qualifications post-Brexit and the Professional Qualifications Bill

The end of the Brexit transition has seen citizens and businesses in the UK and the EU facing a great deal of additional complexity, which they must now try to understand the practical implications of.

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between the UK and EU allows for zero-tariff, zero-quota trade in goods between the two (although there are non-tariff barriers), while the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland ensured that the free circulation of goods could continue on the island of Ireland. Conversely, there are significant new obstacles for those wishing to provide services cross-border between the UK and EU, including between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Cross-border trade in services on the island of Ireland is estimated to have been worth £3.41bn in 2019. In the same year, and as reported by the House of Commons Library, total trade in services between the UK and Ireland was worth more than £35bn, with almost half of this figure was contributed by business services, such as legal work, accounting, and other professional work. There are more than 160 professions regulated by law in the UK, overseen by over 50 regulators, plus a range of other professions regulated voluntarily. According to the European Commission’s regulated professions database, Ireland currently has 182.

Many of these sectors have been facing uncertainty about the validity of their professional qualifications to practice outside of their home jurisdiction. It is this challenge that is explored in this Briefing Paper.

Briefing Paper Available to download here!!

Save the Dates

SCoTENS Annual Conference - All in this together! Teacher Education and Social Justice - Thursday 21th October 2021

Education is meant to be the great leveller, the great equalizer that also enables all learners develop their capacities and excel. From a social justice perspective, there is agreement that full appreciation of differences in linguistic background, class, culture, gender, ability, and race should be taken into account in our education policies and practices. How do we understand and enact social justice so that we can ensure we are ‘all in this together’? This year’s SCoTENS conference offers a timely opportunity to critically consider this major theme.

Universities Ireland Conference - Saturday 6th November 2021