Tagged / community engagement

The University and Community Engagement

A report from ESRC funded research has found that university-community engagement is marginal to the funding, organisation, management and strategic control of universities and this means that universities are missing out on the chance to help develop ‘social capital’ in their local communities. 

The research team advised a 3 step approach to engage more effectively with community groups and have greater impact:

  1. Create small-scale learning communities, linking academics with community groups
  2. Link the activities of these communities temporarily to core university teaching and research to allow the activities to professionalise and grow.
  3. ‘Spin out’ these activities into the deprived communities to develop further, allowing them to address particular symptoms arising from social exclusion.

BU’s student services team have developed excellent relationships with local residents associations.  If research staff would like to publicise any community-related initiatives through these links, or go a step further and develop any initiatives with these groups please email Mandi Barron, Head of Student Services, who can help with suitable contacts.

Further information on the ESRC-funded research can be found here.

Universities Week – What’s the Big Idea?

Universities Week What's the Big Idea? 13-19 June 2011

This week is Universities Week 2011, a national campaign demonstrating the benefits of universities within UK society.  The campaign highlights the impact universities in the UK have on the individual, the local community, its businesses, and the future of the UK, just to name a few.  Each day of ‘Universities Week’ has a theme which highlights a unique aspect of the country’s universities and their influence on the economy, culture, society, and the future.

A number of events will be taking place throughout the week around the country and case studies of research projects with the potential to have a huge impact will be highlighted on the website.

Sharing Big Ideas

Monday’s theme highlights the extensive knowledge that universities hold and how it influences UK society. 

Universities have been asked to submit a selection of ‘facts’ they teach in their courses from history to zoology and the most engaging have been compiled into an online application called ‘FactShare’.  Generate your own factoid from the website.