How universities can use civic engagement and collaboration to impact their local communities as well as communicating and sharing knowledge with the public

Outreach and communication

All universities have a responsibility to engage with and support the communities in which they are located. This can be done in many ways but a key tool in any university’s repertoire is its research.So, how can universities shape research projects to ensure benefits are felt by local communities? One way is by inviting community participation in research projects that&nbsp;seek to address key issues or challenges faced by local people and groups.These will vary according to the institution’s&nbsp;remit and its locality. So, the starting point for any university or academic looking to develop such a project must be a thorough understanding of local issues or major challenges faced by local people.Shaping research to community needsUse existing networks: When initiating new community-university research partnerships it can be helpful to draw upon existing research networks that have connections to targeted groups within the community. The Our Health programme, which aims to reduce health inequalities through community-based participatory research, has built upon relationships that have emerged out of associated clinical research grants. Doing this not only reduces the initial workload in terms of seeking out community partners but it almost always leads to a “natural fit”&nbsp;around shared research interests and long-term goals.Clarify the research focus:&nbsp;To effectively&nbsp;shape&nbsp;your&nbsp;research to respond to community needs, it is important to be clear about what, and how, you are seeking to investigate. The Our Health team focuses on research related to health and well-being. We work in partnership with socio-economically disadvantaged communities to improve health literacy through participatory research and empower patient and community groups to take greater control of their own health. By establishing the overall aim of the community engagement and understanding the research methods involved in achieving that aim, you will be better placed to keep the community engagement on track and participants working as a cohesive, strong and motivated research team.Use existing resources: A valuable starting point for any academic or practitioner who seeks to understand community needs around health and well-being would be resources such as the James Lind Alliance (JLA), which has&nbsp;useful guidelines for forming and working in research priority-setting partnerships. The Our Health team were guided by the evidence base the JLA had compiled of health-related research questions posed by the wider public, as well as conducting our own focus groups with local community groups to hear directly what research needs they felt were important and would want to participate in.Make it interdisciplinaryWe have shown through a qualitative case study of the Our Health programme that interdisciplinarity enhances community-based participatory research processes by providing flexibility and more research solutions and options through the range of disciplinary knowledge. When interdisciplinarity crossed a wide range of disciplines from the sciences and social sciences the shared learning environment provided was particularly rich. We would encourage others who are interested in setting up their own community-based participatory research programmes to harness the power of interdisciplinary collaboration. It is possible to facilitate meaningful local change by bringing together teams of researchers and mixed-level students from across the university to work on university-community research partnerships.Embed community research into curriculaStudents participate in these projects because they want rich experiential learning and skills training. They want to make a difference in the communities in which they live and study. We have found that students report gaining&nbsp;confidence in conducting research, in working outside their disciplines and engaging with professionals and the wider public. To offer these experiences to a wide and diverse student body and maximise impact, these opportunities should be embedded within the curriculum with sufficient financial and staffing support. Think long termDeveloping community-university research partnerships takes time. If you want to reap the many benefits that these partnerships offer, you need to think and plan for the long term. The research relationships need to be fostered and respected and this means that all participants need to commit their time and energy to ensuring the relationships remain healthy and productive.The real-world research questions presented by community-based research&nbsp;are complex and often problematic. Unpacking questions of this complexity may take several years but doing so&nbsp;provides potent, long-term learning experiences for community partners and students. The length of time it takes to answer community-posed questions and the length of university programmes means that students come and go from teams. This can be a challenge in terms of building&nbsp;relationships  between community partners and students. To mitigate this, try to ensure there is a constant, core team of academic staff.&nbsp;This will allow a natural student and community partner turnover to occur without disrupting the overall programme.Helen Szoor-McEIhinney is Our Health programme lead, Alette Willis is senior lecturer in Health in Social Science and Liam Gilchrist is Our Health research associate, all at the University of Edinburgh.

Helen Szoor-McElhinney and colleagues describe how academics can shape their research around key community needs and encourage participation from multidisciplinary faculty, students and local people 

Directing research to engage and support local communities  

Universities are builders. Whether a university occupies the status of being the builder of a jobs base as the largest employer in a community;&nbsp;or is the catalyst for commercial or residential development within its fixed neighbourhood;&nbsp;or provides the very infrastructure that fosters the creation and growth of new and emerging businesses, a university, at its core, is designed to build. However, a university’s integration into the bricks and mortar of its locale’s economic growth, its scaffolding into the very life of its neighbours, and its underpinning of a particular community is not a given. It takes deliberate effort, attention to detail and thoughtful relationship-building to create the collaborative infrastructure necessary to start solving societal challenges.Spotlight guide: How to work well with industryCampus podcast: how to achieve research excellence – and protect itCollaboration is a quiet evolution for bold impactUniversities are uniquely poised to collaborate with local people and organisations to address societal challenges. While the precise plans that yield meaningful collaborations will vary based on the given community, these seven guiding principles are cornerstone to being able to work successfully with other partner organisations and individuals:1. Listen-to follow: Given that there is no shortage of problems in need of solving, priorities must be set. There are many ways a community’s priorities could be set, but the most sustainable and impactful way is by listening to those who are most impacted and then preparing to follow their direction. To transform problem-solving from an academic exercise to systemic positive change, it is necessary for a university to be guided by its community and listen with an ear to follow their direction.2. Prepare to collaborate: Collaboration between a university and local people takes preparation. It is important to note that there are stark differences in the perspectives, resources, and respective powers of the two groups. To ensure that these differences do not divide&nbsp;but rather multiply the chances that societal challenges might be met, both the university and local people need to prepare to acknowledge these differences, by asset framing or defining groups by their aspirations and contributions, and account for disparities in resources, influence&nbsp;and power and move forward to solving problems as partners.3. Design to learn: Formal and informal learning should be embedded in the design of any meaningful collaboration between a university and local people and organisations. Thoughtful and intentional reflections should be designed, planned and scheduled as a part of the collaborative process at set intervals. It is important for all parties to recognise that the lessons from a collaborative process are best learned in real time and in an honest and thoughtful manner.4. Plan to iterate: It is often said that plans are made to be changed. At the start of any project, there are naturally many imperfections. One that will persist throughout any collaboration is imperfect knowledge. Both the university and local stakeholders should embrace and pay attention to new information as the project progresses. This newly learned information should not be viewed with disdain, but rather as “problem-solving gold”.5. Invite innovation and an ongoing relationship: As the collaboration progresses and a problem is being addressed, it is important to invite innovation from all parties and engage in such a way that you facilitate relationship-building. Quite often, the winding path of problem-solving may lead to the solving of another problem not anticipated by anyone. Ongoing relationship building and inviting innovation throughout a collaboration will help generate systemic solutions to societal problems.6. Evaluate progress: Embedded in every great collaboration is a method for evaluation. This should be done in way that allows best practices to be scaled and those things that are not working to be concluded or redesigned rapidly.7. Share the blueprint: When successful collaborations are forged and progress is made, universities have an obligation to share those practices with others. Universities have the power to convene all segments of society and sharing useful lessons and insight from meaningful collaborations will help spread knowledge needed to address societal challenges within a particular community and beyond.As stated at the outset, universities are builders but what they build is not a given. Put simply, thoughtful collaborations between universities and local communities provide the critical infrastructure to solve societal challenges in the best way possible, that is, together.Alicia Wilson is vice-president for economic development at Johns Hopkins University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

For universities to extend their impact and community engagement, they need to form strong partnerships with external organisations and individuals. Alicia Wilson shares seven guiding principles that support successful collaboration

How universities can build meaningful collaborations to solve societal challenges 

Civic engagement is deeply rooted in many of our universities, and as we and our localities focus increasingly on recovery from the impact of Covid, the case for the civic agenda across higher education has never been stronger. But what role should our physical spaces play in this, and as the physical and virtual worlds become ever closer, can digital spaces support wider civic engagement?

The pandemic has forced people across the globe to socially distance, pushing many of us into the virtual world of Zoom, and depriving campuses and town centres of the physical interaction that brings them to life.

As this changes, and we increasingly focus on recovery, we have an opportunity not just to design the “new normal” for our core activities, but to rethink our role in supporting social and economic recovery. If we’re to maximise our civic impact, the role and use of our physical spaces must be part of that agenda.

The University of Gloucester’s acquisition of the recently closed local Debenhams store hit the headlines, with the retail space to be repurposed to deliver healthcare tuition and community cultural events. While this model may still be the exception, similar ambitions are driving others to find innovative ways to connect to communities, both physically and digitally.

As universities begin to reimagine their post-Covid campuses and wider engagement, I’ll pose three key questions.

First, how can we use our campuses to deliver wider civic value? 

We can design more “porous” buildings, through social, leisure and well-being spaces. Apart from making space more vibrant, greater footfall can contribute to more sustainable operations. There are already great examples of where campus meets community, such as the new Town House building at Kingston University, which provides a vibrant open space for students, staff and the general public.

External space also matters. Sheffield Hallam’s city campus redevelopment is centred around a new public green space –&nbsp;creating a dynamic and “open for all” environment at the heart of the campus, and at&nbsp;a key city gateway. And simple changes around public signage and route marking can also help overcome what for many may be implicit or explicit physical boundaries.

Higher education has a strong track record of providing space for business start-ups and research collaboration with industry, while&nbsp;also opening facilities for use by community and voluntary groups. A more systematic offer that includes a community booking portal could allow better access to these – reaching beyond well-established users. This is something we are looking at.

All this can help enhance an institution’s&nbsp;civic value, as well as creating opportunities to enrich the student experience through volunteering, placement or consultancy opportunities.

But the reach of our campuses will always be limited. This is partly down to geography, especially for towns with no university presence. But there are wider factors: many within our local populations – particularly those with no personal or family history of involvement with higher education – are still hampered by invisible barriers to engagement.

So, the second question is: how do we reach out directly into our local communities, essentially taking the university out, rather than waiting for people to come to us? 

Partnerships are key, especially at hyperlocal level. Working with schools and colleges enables much of this outreach. But this is not just about widening access to higher education, it is about creating opportunity and supporting community well-being at all levels. So, work with a range of organisations and draw on your own internal talent pool – the students – to support outreach projects where possible.

Through social mobility partnership South Yorkshire Futures, we are working from early years through to post-16, with programmes ranging from a new school-based research nursery through to the groundbreaking GROW scheme, through which student volunteers are mentoring young people across the region who are struggling with the impact of Covid on their learning. Through this, pupils are given bespoke support to help them progress while our student volunteers gain valuable skills and experience for their future studies&nbsp;or employment.

Looking further afield, Cardiff University’s “Community Gateway” partnership with residents and businesses in the Grangetown is making&nbsp; a tangible difference to the community through student projects and consultancy work, while Nottingham Trent University is working in partnership with Vision West Nottinghamshire College, to deliver a new route to higher education in Mansfield, offering finance and career support as well as integrated further and higher education pathways for local people.

But – coming to my third question – can we achieve even greater reach through more imaginative use of digital platforms alongside physical space? 

We’ve seen a previously unimagined transition to online teaching and learning over the last year, and while many students are crying out for a return to campus life, most would agree that there are many digital elements that should be retained longer-term. The scope of innovation and entrepreneurship in this space continues to grow, offering opportunities to expand the reach and impact of a university far beyond geographical boundaries and the student body.

There’s a bigger agenda here as well – around skills and economic recovery. Universities now have a wealth of digital expertise and resources they can share with businesses and individuals to drive competitiveness, innovation and growth.

For many areas, a more integrated approach to identifying and meeting local skills&nbsp;needs will be critical to “levelling up” and economic recovery. If universities are to help lead and deliver this, we need to take our offer beyond the campus, including via digital channels. This could involve shared facilities with partners, such as businesses and charities, providing the kind of drop-in spaces that students expect on campus, supported by digital provision to offer skilling and reskilling, particularly in&nbsp;areas of low participation.

Our Digital Boost collaboration with Barnsley and Sheffield Local Authorities incorporates a digital skills framework that can be used with individuals, communities and employers to assess and then develop digital skills from basic to advanced levels. The programme will connect regional SMEs to academic expertise and world-class facilities at the university and offer support on digital needs including enhanced cybersecurity, improved design, software engineering, data analysis, artificial intelligence, user experience and rapid prototyping. 

Plans for a new Institute of Technology in South Yorkshire also embed digital skills across foundational industries, engineering and construction, to support adoption of new technologies and business growth. This includes clearer curriculum pathways through further and higher education and a more modular and tailored approach to digital provision, targeting those returning to education or reskilling.

There’s more information about the projects I’ve referenced through the Civic University Network, as well as further best practice and a useful toolkit to help develop plans. Any successful civic engagement must reflect local conditions so must start with an understanding of community needs. There is no one size fits all. But there is still much we can learn from asking these key questions and learning from each other’s experience.

Richard Calvert is deputy vice-chancellor (strategy and operations) at Sheffield Hallam University. 

Richard Calvert explores what role universities’ physical spaces should play in civic engagement and how digital technologies can support this 

Open to all? Using our physical and digital spaces to better engage local communities 

Gisela Loehlein on how digital communications can assist in spreading knowledge and awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals, through virtual global events and building connections between experts and institutions all over the world 

Using digital technology to assist the spread of knowledge and ideas about the SDGs 

Covid-19 has accelerated the inevitable digital transformation within academia. With university teaching moved online, academics and educators are being forced to think “digital first”.Yet despite widespread acknowledgement of the importance of leveraging digital tools to engage students, public-facing digital output and impact initiatives are still seen as extra “distractions from more traditional forms of productivity”, as Tristan Grunow of Pacific University argues.He highlights how existing methods of internal and external evaluation, used for hiring decisions and tenure, provide little incentive for scholars to value digital scholarship and public engagement work.I set out to reimagine this relationship by designing an ambitious module that placed public-facing digital output at the centre of the course.The project demonstrated that when approached in an integrated manner, public impact initiatives can be highly effective in reinforcing core pedagogical goals.Here, I outline three examples that provide important insights to help university educators meet the mounting and interconnected challenges of public relevance, inclusive education, community engagement, communicating research to diverse audiences, cross-sector collaboration and student employability.Digital firstAs part of a Literature &amp; Society course exploring Afro-Japanese encounters at Rikkyo University, the first step to going digital was to produce a bilingual introductory video that gave an overview of class content.The students commented on how refreshing it was to be welcomed back to a new semester with an introduction that did not lament the continued need for virtual teaching. Rather, the video explained how the students would be able to develop digital skills and get involved in public engagement. I&nbsp;edited the video to be engaging and appealing to audiences beyond the university, giving the public a snapshot of what we learn via social media.In addition to communicating key messages, the video visualised and brought to life through image and sound frequently hidden Afro-Japanese connections, in line with one of the main class objectives.Resources for fostering creativity in higher educationHow to be a civic university post pandemic&nbsp;Enhance your research through public engagement and collaborationCollaboration outside the academy&nbsp;A collaboration with the British Embassy in Japan to develop a more inclusive cultural diplomacy strategy in response to the Black Lives Matter movement provided the first public engagement opportunity for students.Our class created a package of online content in Japanese to share as part of the embassy’s first ever Black History Month campaign.Students curated a Black History Month Spotify playlist that they thought would appeal to a Japanese audience. Their artist and song selections led to deeper critical class discussions about how Japan has “gazed” at Britain historically and in what forms Japanese people wish to consume “blackness”.We went from passively learning about Afro-Japanese pasts to making history by proactively creating Afro-Japanese futures. This shows how digital platforms offer a crucial vehicle for the humanities to make timely, influential contributions to pressing issues in society.Giving assignments real-world contextsFor the final assignment, students were asked to imagine the future of Afro-Japanese interactions rooted in our class discussions. Led by their personal interests and building on their skills, they produced a series of digital projects that expressed Afro-Japanese futures.Students gave the task rave reviews as one of their most memorable university experiences. It not only offered much-needed respite from the everyday grind of lockdown learning but also enabled them to explore how their individual interests and strengths could be applied to different fields.One student who was interested in the intersection between entertainment and political commentary produced a trap rap video satirising the Japanese government’s response to the pandemic. Another interested in tourism produced a “green book” tourist map of Japan to illustrate how a “black gaze” could reimagine Japan’s tourism industry. A student passionate about dancing invented a new style of movement that merged aesthetics from Afrobeats and traditional Japanese dance.The project was an opportunity for the students to freely discover how they could practically translate their passions and liberal arts education into real-world contexts.Alongside my internal grading, I&nbsp;partnered with an influential creative agency, Melanin Unscripted, to judge and honour the best projects. This academia-industry partnership, linking the curriculum with the workplace and market trends, focused attention on student employability and how humanities training could be applied in innovative ways to business, government policy or other public-private organisations.I partnered with black-owned and local businesses in Tokyo to provide prizes and strengthen the university’s links with the local community.I discovered that a more creative project-based approach was far more inclusive than limiting assessment to traditional essays or exams. This was partly due to varying levels of English fluency within our class but also because some students’ strengths lie elsewhere.All the projects will be publicly available to view from anywhere in the world via our class’s virtual reality gallery, with written explanations via an online Medium publication, from 15&nbsp;February 2021.Using the practical to reinforce the theoreticalA key barrier to greater public-facing digital output in academia is the perception that the “practical” distracts or detracts from the theory.However, this initiative to create future Afro-Japanese encounters and exhibit them to the public in a virtual space was informed by and reinforced core theoretical lessons of our course.It helped students probe more deeply into questions related to space and time that our course seeks to critically engage with: in what spaces, imaginary or real, have Afro-Japanese encounters taken place? Is it possible to imagine futures without a past?I hope projects like these will support the promotion of digital scholarship for public engagement from its minor status as an “add-on” to a valuable tool that can be creatively leveraged to enhance learning and achieve major goals within higher education.Warren Stanislaus is an associate lecturer in the Global Liberal Arts programme at Rikkyo University and a PhD candidate in modern Japanese history at the University of Oxford.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Having been pushed to the sidelines of academia for too long, public engagement projects can take a central role in digital courses, furthering students’ learning and reaching wider audiences, explains Warren Stanislaus

Outreach and communication

Directing research to engage and support local communities

How universities can build meaningful collaborations to solve societal challenges

Open to all? Using our physical and digital spaces to better engage local communities

Using digital technology to assist the spread of knowledge and ideas about the SDGs

Using digital scholarship to enhance public engagement

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