Northern Slant is excited to be part of this year’s Imagine! Festival of Ideas & Politics – and we want you to be part of it too. We’re delighted to host the panel discussion:

Thinking Longer-Term: The Future of Politics

Date and Time: Thursday 24 March, 2022 – 7:00pm-8:30pm

Venue: The Dark Horse bar, Belfast

Tickets: £5 – Book online via Eventbrite here

Event Description

As Northern Ireland emerges from the pandemic and approaches a fresh Assembly election, much of our politics remains dominated by short-term and reactive thinking. Our mechanics of government and ways of engaging citizens remain largely unchanged.

As a number of political and societal factors continue to shape Northern Ireland, how can we promote longer-term strategic thinking to meet the changing needs of citizens?

How can our political parties embrace the demographic, political and social changes taking place in Northern Ireland? In a post-pandemic world, to what extent are our public services prepared to respond effectively and adapt to multiple risks that might lie ahead? How can we, as citizens, reimagine our relationship with democracy and play a more active role in representing the interests of a place in transition?

Join Northern Slant and a panel of commentators as we consider how, together, we can think longer-term in our politics, governance and what it means to be a citizen in Northern Ireland.

Our panellists are:

  • Ben McAteer, Northern Slant, and Research Assistant, Queen’s University Belfast School of Natural and Built Environment
  • Susan McKay, writer and commentator
  • Quintin Oliver, Director of Stratagem International
  • Ann Watt, Director of Pivotal

More about the Imagine! Festival

The Imagine! festival website and full events programme can be found here. You can follow us on Twitter @Northernslant and on Facebook.

The image used for the advertisement of this event is from Ryan Simpson – he’s on Twitter @RSimpsonPhoto.

Also published on Medium.