Redefining roles: Building Postgraduate Capacity for Community Engagement

Background:

UK universities face ever-greater pressure to demonstrate their public value. At the same time, research and institutions are critiqued for approaches that don’t benefit communities - and for training that fails to equip postgraduate researchers for the ‘real’ world.

Undisciplined Spaces - a collaboration between the Faculty of Arts & Humanities at King’s College London (KCL) and The Young Foundation, and funded via an Impact Acceleration Account from the Arts & Humanities Research Council - turns traditional models of engagement on their head. Rather than researchers leading the way, the programme fosters collaboration, with community needs guiding topics for exploration to deliver tangible benefits for local people. This reimagines what universities can achieve in local places, nurturing equitable partnerships between institutions, researchers and communities.

Our event:

Our free event will bring together funders, academics and community organisations, sharing the Undisciplined Spaces approach through talks, interactive workshops and networking opportunities.

The event will demonstrate what’s possible when universities step outside their traditional roles and truly engage with the world around them, providing inspiration and provocation.

This is an invitation to:

• see the difference that community-engaged doctoral training can have on the experience of students and communities.
• think about the different ways that community-engaged doctoral training could be achieved
• identify practical next steps to implement community-engaged approaches in postgraduate training
• learn from doctoral students and community groups about the partnerships they developed
• contribute reflections and ideas to a shared charter for community engaged doctoral training, that will be co-produced throughout the day.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
Directions: For directions to the venue, see: https://coinstreet.org/about-us/contact-us

Agenda

9:30 – 10:00, Arrival and registration

10:00 – 10:30, Welcome panel

A welcome to the day.

• Elizabeth Scott-Baumann, Pro-Vice Dean (Research Impact & Knowledge Exchange), King’s College London
• Ed Stevens, Impact & Knowledge Exchange Manager, King’s College London
• Siân Whyte, Co-Director of Research, The Young Foundation
• Rebecca Pericleous, Impact & Knowledge Exchange Coordinator, King’s College London, and Undisciplined Spaces alumni

10:30 – 11:30, Student x community partner workshops

A showcase of the work of three of the student projects delivered as part of the Undisciplined Spaces programme.

• • Anything can be an archive: Creative archiving practices, legacy and memory. Reflections on a collaboration between students and the Arts Network. See this related case study.
  • Working beyond the academy: Lessons from Undisciplined Spaces. A roundtable discussion about co-production with community partners, inspired by the wider Undisciplined Spaces programme.
  • Organized fun: The opportunities and barriers in community-led projects in higher education institutions. A roundtable discussion about the experience of working with DecrimNow to co-produce the ‘Red Light Carnival’. See this related case study.

11:30 – 12:00, Feedback and charter development

Feedback from each of the workshops and an introduction to the co-production of a charter for community engaged doctoral training.

• Emma Libonati, Senior Engagement Officer, King’s College London
• Undisciplined Spaces alumni
• Jack Layton, Place Impact and Evidence Manager, The Young Foundation

12:00 – 13:00, Lunch and networking over music from a classical Cuban guitarist

13:00 – 13:30, Lessons learnt from the Undisciplined Spaces programme

A presentation from The Young Foundation on the lessons learnt from delivering community engaged training for doctoral students.

• Siân Whyte, Co-Director of Research, The Young Foundation
• Jack Layton, Place Impact and Evidence Manager, The Young Foundation

13:30 – 14:30, State of the sector workshops

Three workshops each exploring the state of community engagement in higher education, demonstrating some of the methods utilised in the Undisciplined Spaces programme.

• Fantasy Islands: Designing a better doctoral student journey. A session imagining what is missing, what is needed, and what could be radically altered in doctoral training.
• The Future of Community Engaged Higher Education. A Lego Serious Play session designed to explore how universities might realise their civic potential.
• The Community Ask. A session exploring what community organisations really want from community research partnerships with universities.

14:30 – 15:00, Closing reflections

Reflections on the day and next steps.

• Ed Stevens, Impact & Knowledge Exchange Manager, King’s College London
• Siân Whyte, Co-Director of Research, The Young Foundation
• Rebecca Pericleous, Impact & Knowledge Exchange Coordinator, King’s College London, and Undisciplined Spaces alumni

More information: please contact ahevents@kcl.ac.uk if you have any questions.