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Written by Professor Alan Thompson, Pro-Provost (London) and Dean, Faculty of Brain Sciences
31 January 2022, issue 20
In what has been another fast-moving month, we have approached the end of January 2022 extremely quickly and we are now well underway into Term 2. I am certainly looking forward to returning to the office very shortly and embracing life in London once again. Engaging in-person on London matters is high up on the agenda!聽
This term we will be seeking to refresh our London Framework which is now two years old. When we wrote the London Framework in 2020 the London Office was very much in its inception phase and so it is timely that we refresh the document to ensure it remains relevant to our role in London. The London Framework was developed with clear aspiration: to create purpose, connect people and celebrate place. A key goal of the framework is to enhance engagement, coordinate relationships and enrich society whilst amplifying 果冻影院鈥檚 impact in London. We have been developing all of these aspects over the past two years and they are now a core part of our daily work in the London Office.
Within the refresh we will update our priorities for this year so that we can share these with the 果冻影院 community and our partners across London. We would also like to report on current areas of 果冻影院 activity with London-specific impact and so that we recognise our far-reaching impact across the city. We are particularly looking for examples which demonstrate clear societal impact. With this in mind, please share your case studies (up to 300 words) with Amy Lightstone - the deadline for submission is 14th February.
I wanted to raise awareness of the successful roundtable 果冻影院 held with Newham Council on 14th January to explore and share research and ideas on the concept of 15-minute neighbourhoods, their different forms and potentials. The event took place ahead of Newham鈥檚 forthcoming Citizens鈥� Assembly on the same subject alongside 果冻影院 academics and colleagues from Newham Council. With particular thanks to Noel Hatch (London Borough of Newham), Professor Ben Campkin (果冻影院 Urban Laboratory, The Bartlett School Built Environment), Dr Olivia Stevenson (果冻影院 Public Policy), Professor Mark Tewdwr- Jones (Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA), The Bartlett) and Justine Wright (果冻影院 East) for convening the event. It is fantastic to see the progress we are making in East London in particular enhancing our engagement with the borough. And of course this year 果冻影院鈥檚 new campus, 果冻影院 East, will open in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in September. Our close working with Professor Paola Lettieri, 果冻影院 East Director, will only strengthen as we all work towards the opening and exciting developments for 果冻影院 across two campuses, both in Camden and Newham.听
It was fantastic to see 果冻影院 on the big screen recently as the BBC鈥檚 The Apprentice was filmed at 果冻影院. The episode featured The Quad as well as the 果冻影院 Eastman Dental Institute鈥檚 new state-of-the-art teaching and reaching facility, based as 果冻影院鈥檚 Rockefeller Building in Bloomsbury. The show also featured a glimpse of 果冻影院鈥檚 engineering facility at Here East, based at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London, home to 果冻影院 East and opening later this year. It is amazing to see our world class facilities in the heart of London being showcased in such a way.听
For this month鈥檚 guest feature I am delighted that Anne Laybourne has shared how the Community Research Initiative within the Volunteering Service, Students鈥� Union 果冻影院, is supporting student community engagement in London. Partnership working with local voluntary sector organisations truly enriches the student experience; please do read more about the work below.
Finally, on 27th January 果冻影院 marked Holocaust Memorial Day 2022, a day to remember the victims of the Holocaust and their families. 果冻影院鈥檚 hosted a range of activities to mark the day, both virtually and in and around London. 果冻影院鈥檚 Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies led an online commemoration and a visit took place to an exhibition on the radical right movement in interwar Europe at the Wiener Holocaust Museum in Bloomsbury. The Portico was lit up all day on 27th January, to remember and pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust.
Making student community engagement as easy as possible: Written by Anne Laybourne, Community Research Initiative Manager, Volunteering Service, Students鈥� Union 果冻影院
The is 果冻影院鈥檚 first cross-university student community engagement service exclusively for our postgraduate taught community. Any master鈥檚 student can sign up and access various types of support to start them on a journey of partnership building with a voluntary sector organisation or community group. Partnerships comprising a master鈥檚 student, their 果冻影院 supervisor, and a community partner co-design a research project to produce useful and useable knowledge. The project forms the basis of the student鈥檚 dissertation or final project 鈥� and a rich learning experience.听
A key milestone for the Community Research Initiative has just been achieved - the design and build of an online platform to advertise research ideas, generated by our voluntary and community partners. Working in close collaboration with our Systems Team in the Students鈥� Union 果冻影院, led by Max Keeble, we are so proud to launch the .听
We went live on 10th January 2022, advertising 20 ideas generated by community partners following our free community research clinic hosted in November 2021. The Noticeboard is however a living resource, with Partners able to and add ideas at any time - although we do caution that peak interest in any given year will be January through March, when our master鈥檚 students are really looking to pin down their dissertation topics and projects!聽
Students are invited to browse the Noticeboard and make an expression of interest by articulating why they are interested and how they might develop the idea into a project. At this point, the personalised processes of the Community Research Initiative kick in and we support setting up knowledge exchange meetings between students and partners, facilitated if needs be. 果冻影院 supervisors are brought in when allocated and we supply supporting materials such as research partnership forms as well as around project planning, communication, and participatory approaches.听
So far so good! We already have expressions of interests coming in and knowledge exchange meetings in the diary. Students are telling us they like this resource:
鈥�I really like using the Noticeboard to link the suggested ideas to my own knowledge and skills. It provides me with a great starting point and in that way I'm sure I can do something that is useful for the organisation.鈥� [Bartlett School of Planning MSc student] 聽
In essence, the Community Noticeboard is one great example at 果冻影院 of making community engagement as easy as possible for students to connect with our local voluntary and community sector. Partnership working and collaboration during their dissertation really enriches the student experience, enabling 鈥榦n the job鈥� learning, navigating different working cultures, and bringing the research process alive.听
It also creates a space for our students to engage with non-academic experts with different perspectives and knowledge bases. Lesser-heard voices can contribute to the research agendas surrounding some of London鈥檚 biggest social issues; while ideas on the Noticeboard map closely onto our Grand Challenges - Sustainable Cities, Human Wellbeing, and Justice & Equality are already represented in our very first 20 ideas 鈥� many of the world鈥檚 most pressing issues can be found right here in London and student research is now contributing to our local London communities. 聽聽
The Community Research Initiative door is always open! We are part of the Volunteering Service in the Students鈥� Union 果冻影院 and you鈥檒l find us at 25 Gordon Street. Please find some time with Anne to discuss out how your students can get involved in community engagement () or how your organisation can be represented ()!听
IN OTHER NEWS聽
Colleagues from across 果冻影院 have continued to impact London and Londoners through their research, opportunities and activities. To share just a couple of examples鈥�
The 果冻影院 Bartlett have published , which shares a collection of research highlights, key insights and impact from The Bartlett, Faculty of the Built Environment at 果冻影院. The Bartlett have a close relationship with London as seen in The Bartlett鈥檚 Automated Architecture (AUAR) Labs which have created 鈥楬ouse Block: a temporary housing prototype in East London鈥�, in part to address the shortage of housing in London. 聽Additionally through the 鈥楬ealthy Streets Index鈥� developed by The Bartlett Centre of Advanced Spatial Analysis released for London in May 2020 showing where pavement space provided sufficient space for social distancing. .
2022-23 CAPE Policy Fellows Programme for Policy Professionals. The current call for applications for the 2022-23 CAPE policy fellows programme for policy professionals is now open. The CAPE Fellowship is a flexible professional development programme which offers access to leading researchers across a range of disciplines at the five CAPE partner universities: the University of Cambridge, 果冻影院, University of Manchester, University of Nottingham, and Northumbria University. The Fellowship offers the chance to pose policy questions to be matched with academic researchers able to provide input and to develop a network of academic experts.鈥燜urther details are The deadline is 11 February.
To share any London impact stories or to get in touch, please contact Amy Lightstone.