In May of this year the Consortium hosted a major conference in Belfast in collaboration with colleagues from the Wales Civil Society Forum on Brexit and the Civil Society Brexit Project in Scotland. The Brexit and Devolution conference brought NGO colleagues, academics and politicians together from across the UK and the Republic of Ireland to discuss the impacts of Brexit on civil society.

The Brexit, Devolution and Civil Society conference, which was funded by The Legal Education Foundation, provided a unique opportunity for around 100 civil society organisations (CSO’s), academics and wider stakeholders from across the four regions of the UK to reflect on the impact of Brexit in each jurisdiction, map out commonalities and collaborate on shared and individual responses.
Its aim was to explore the future of civil society and devolution after Brexit and to provide an opportunity for organisations to learn from and network with colleagues in a bid to establish and build on the strong connections which will be ever more essential as the UK’s relationship with Europe changes.

The conference proved to be an important opportunity to reflect on these issues and the ways in which how civil society can respond and collaborate more effectively together. The conference report reflecting many of these discussions and conclusions is available to download below.