Archived Events
The Engaged University? From theory to practice.
Friday 19th March 2010.
A collaborative seminar between the Widening Participation Research Centre and the Centre for Local Policy Studies. Funded by Edge Hill University’s Knowledge Transfer Development Fund.
Colleagues from the Faculties of Health, Education and Arts and Sciences, the Students’ Union, Human Resources, Student Services and the Research Office of the University came together for an interesting session to consider the idea of the ‘Engaged University’.
Heather Squires of the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement engaged us in a discussion about perceptions of public engagement and the role of universities, and presented a range of ideas and concepts currently being developed as part of the Beacons of Public Engagement programme. Danny Burns of the SOLAR Research Centre, The University of West of England, Bristol is facilitating an action research process as part of the NCCPE progamme with members of inquiry steams from 40 universities exploring aspects of public engagement. One of the groups is looking at the issue of impact in the RAE and will connect leaning from this inquiry with the HEFCE pilots.
The session included identifying knowledge exchange and public engagement activities at Edge Hill, and motivations and drivers for these, as well as possible next steps to continue the conversation locally or as part of the action research programme.
The public engagement remit of universities has been described by HEFCE/RCUK as the “ambition for a different, more inclusive relationship between the academic and non-academic worlds” (www.publicengagement.ac.uk). Dimensions of public engagement include: public access to knowledge & facilities; widening participation; student and staff engagement; encouraging economic regeneration and enterprise and institutional relationship and partnership building. Activities involve staff and students at all levels of universities and the publics/communities with whom they engage (Auditing, Evaluating and Benchmarking Public Engagement: NCCPE Briefing Paper No.1).
Knowledge exchange can be viewed a central element of public engagement which at Edge Hill University is defined broadly and “recognises various forms of collaboration and benefit, extending well beyond narrow notions of income generation” (DRKT Knowledge Transfer Development Fund). Activities here include wider benefits of applied of knowledge and skills; critical analysis of policy and practice; commercial income generation through research, knowledge transfer and training services and consultancy. Following on from the Centre for Local Policy Studies Research Exchange Seminar on ‘Concepts of Knowledge Exchange’, we would like to continue the discussion about what knowledge exchange and public engagement means for us at Edge Hill.
Further information:
National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement:
www.publicengagement.ac.uk
www.publicengagement.ac.uk/what-public-engagement
SOLAR Research Centre, The University of West of England, Bristol:
www.publicengagement.ac.uk/our-research/action-research
Stuart Speeden /Angie Daly
Centre for Local Policy Studies
http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/clps
Wider participation in knowledge exchange partnerships: Communicating Climate Change
Wider participation in knowledge exchange partnerships: Communicating Climate Change
A knowledge exchange seminar organised by the Widening Participation Research Centre and Natural Geographical and Applied Sciences.
Thursday 25th June 2009, Edge Hill University.
Speakers included:
1. Inderdeep Cheema the British Council Climate Change Young Champion for the West Midlands
2. Graham Lymbery of Coastal Defence, Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council
3. Laura Grant researcher on the British Council Zero Carbon City Campaign
4. Annie Worsley, coastal researcher from Edge Hill University
Knowledge Exchange Seminars
Social Class, Equality and Education
Thursday 12th March 2009
The Centre hosted a series of Knowledge Exchange Seminars. The first of these discussed was 'Social class, equality and higher education' with a view to considering these issues in relation to future widening participation, access and equality focussed research.
- Social Class, Equality and Education Flyer [PDF]
- Equality, Legislation and Higher Education [PDF]
- Ethnicity and Class [PDF]
- Regional Accents and Social Class [PDF]
- Research on International Definitions of Class [PDF]
Widening Participation Research Centre Seminar
The Widening Participation Research Centre hosted a series of three research seminars during the academic year 2008-2009 at Edge Hill University. The aim was to exchange and discuss research projects conducted on widening participation and education and equality themes conducted by academics and widening participation and education practitioner researchers.
Monday 12th January 2009
Themes: ‘Project evidence and evaluation’ and ‘Educational journeys’
Programme of Abstracts [PDF]
Seminar Speakers and presentations:
- An Evaluation of a Mentoring Model [PDF]
- Are Pre-entry Activities Crucial to Retention? [PDF]
- Resistance or Accommodation? [PDF]
- Researching Retention in Higher Education [PDF]
Friday 4th April 2008. Research Seminar - Guest Speaker: Dr Derek Bland
Dr Derek Bland from Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia presented research on aspiration to tertiary education from a policy and practice perspective and shared his work with young researchers.
Derek Bland Seminar [PDF]
Derek Bland Presentation [PDF]
