Institutional Context
Summary
The University of Worcester is a modern, civic University, with four campuses across the city and its immediate environs, each open to the community. The University is vital to the city and the region and is at the heart of strategies for local growth and regeneration and for the development of health and care across Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. It is committed to working in partnership with local authorities, health bodies, schools, businesses and other HEIs.
It delivers teaching, research and knowledge exchange across Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Health and Life sciences, but is most noted for its education of teachers and health professionals and for its research on pollen dispersion, sustainable dementia care and mental health.
Institutional context
The University of Worcester was founded in 1946 as a teacher training college. We have grown exponentially over the last 20 years, gaining University title in 2005 and Research Degree Awarding Powers in 2010. We now have almost 10,000 students and employ 2,000 staff. We have, over this same period, physically expanded our estate from a single campus on the edge of the city of Worcester to four campuses (St Johns, City, Severn and Lakeside), with two in the heart of the city. However, we remain true to our founding values and culture. Now, as then, we are a close-knit and high-achieving community, committed to knowledge generation and exchange that benefits the wider world.
We are a community-engaged University with a strong local and regional focus; the Hive, our integrated University and Public library, is indicative of this. However, our reach extends nationally and globally in key areas of research and knowledge exchange. Our work is underpinned by partnerships with local authorities, health bodies, criminal justice organisations, schools, community organisations, businesses and other HEIs, national and international.
We are driven by a commitment to social inclusion in all that we do – in our teaching, our research, our knowledge exchange, and our estate. We are also committed to working sustainably; our success in doing so reflected in our performance in various green and sustainability “league tables” and in our EcoCampus Platinum status.
Our core business is undergraduate education, but our postgraduate numbers (taught and research) are growing. Reflecting our origins, Teacher Education is a core aspect of our offer, as is the education of health professionals (nursing, midwifery, allied health professions). We have recently received final approval from the GMC for a new postgraduate Medical School and will receive our first cohort of medical students in September 2023. We have expanded the portfolio of courses we offer in the Life Sciences over the last 10 years; most notably to include Biomedical Science. We deliver courses across the Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities with longstanding programmes in areas such as Psychology, Geography, History, English Literature, Fine Art, Drama, Business & Management and Sport & Exercise Science; more recently we have developed areas such as Law, Criminology and Policing.
Research is increasingly fundamental to the University’s mission, underpinning our Learning & Teaching but also our wider impact and engagement work. We have well established areas of research excellence in Aerobiology (20+ years) and Dementia Care (10+ years), with an increasing focus on community-based and technological solutions to the health and care crisis. In these areas, the focus has been (and remains) on strong fundamental research which has application in the real world. This approach has underpinned the development of new areas of excellence in: Mental Health research, in particular severe adult mental illness and trauma; molecular plant diagnostics, looking at plant-pathogen interactions; and eco-system services, finding environmentally sustainable solutions to increasing productivity and crop protection.
For further information, please send queries to KEF@worc.ac.uk
Local Growth and Regeneration
Summary of approach
The University is committed to the growth and regeneration of the city of Worcester and the counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire, and Gloucestershire, but our reach and impact extends to the wider West Midlands and into the South-West of England. Within the city, we have focused on regeneration and renewal through a long-term strategy of developing brownfield sites in partnership with local authorities. Many of these sites, in particular the Hive library, are community-facing, and thus have become an integral part of the socio-cultural life of the city. Our work in skills development, particularly in the areas of teacher and health education and enterprise support, has a wider reach and has had real impacts on target communities.
Aspect 1: Strategy
As a signatory of the UPP Foundation’s Civic University Agreements, the University of Worcester commits to delivering “opportunity and prosperity to the people and communities with whom we share our place”. For the University, the communities who “share our place” are, first and foremost, the people of the city of Worcester and of the counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire; however, key aspects of our strategy extend “our place” beyond this, through our educational and other partnerships, into the wider West Midlands, in particular through a growing partnership with Dudley College of Technology, and into the South West, not least through our partnership with the Learning Institute who deliver educational programmes in health and education at venues in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset.
Worcestershire is predominantly rural, as are its neighbours, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. Businesses in the region are mostly SMEs. The region is largely in line with the national picture in terms of the proportion of businesses by sector, with some exceptions: a smaller proportion are in the “Professional, scientific & technical” and “Information & communication” sectors and a higher proportion in the “Agriculture, forestry & fishing” sector reflecting the rurality of the region.
Although the University does not have a discrete Local Growth and Regeneration (LGR) strategy, its mission in this area is articulated in its current (and indeed past) Strategic Plans, and flows through into its Research and Knowledge Exchange (RKE) Strategy and its Learning and Teaching (LT) Strategy.
The University’s strategic approach to LG&R is focused on the following key areas:
Urban regeneration and renewal, primarily of the city of Worcester, but also further afield. Over the last 15 years, the University’s estate strategy has had a profound impact on the city of Worcester. It has developed several brownfield sites to create a new City Campus (opened in 2010 on the site of the Victorian Infirmary); an integrated University and Public Library, the Hive (opened in 2010 on a derelict city centre site); and the Worcester Arena, a sports facility designed to be accessible and inclusive (opened in 2013 on the site of an abandoned produce market). In 2018, it opened the Art House, an open studio, workshop and exhibition space for our students and the community, on the site of an iconic city building that had been functioning as a carpet warehouse.
The creation of spaces for public and communities, developed through consultation and in partnership with key stakeholders, which have maximum impact on local place making and which bring economic, social and cultural benefits. The obvious embodiment of this is the Hive, a shared public and university library, history and archaeology archive, and community service hub in the heart of the city. It was developed at a cost of £60m with ongoing investment and managed in partnership by the County Council and the University. It attracts on average over 500,000 visitors per year (see P&CE narrative).
Skills development that meets “local” needs through, for example: curriculum development; delivery of apprenticeships in health; and CPD, particularly for teachers and health professionals.
Enterprise support through the Business School’s Worcester Enterprise offer.
Addressing significant local socio-economic needs through our research and knowledge exchange.
Our RKE Strategy 2020-25 articulates five Areas of Challenge around which the University focuses its RKE activity: Health & Wellbeing; Sustainable Futures; Digital Innovation; Social Exclusion; Professional Education. These challenges are national and indeed global but have significant local and regional dimensions. Our response to these challenges is closely aligned with local and regional priorities. To give an example of this: data shows that Worcestershire has a rapidly ageing population, a consequence of which is a rapid, unsustainable rise in the costs associated with health and social care. It also has low rates of dementia diagnosis, which has exacerbated this problem. The University’s dementia care research centre, the Association for Dementia Studies, has consequently worked closely with Worcestershire County Council to implement a model of community-based support for those recently post-diagnosis of dementia across the county (see below).
Our LT Strategy 2020-25 places a strong emphasis on the role of employers in the co-creation of our curriculum. This is both in the overall design of the course and its constituent modules to ensure that students have every opportunity for the effective application of practical skills but also through wider engagement with employers through placements and project opportunities. The positive impact of consultation with local employers was an area highlighted as a strength in our most recent TEF outcomes.
It can thus be seen how the University’s approach to LG&R both is reflected in but also supports our RKE and LT objectives.
The University’s approach to LG&R is fundamentally underpinned by its active engagement with the Worcestershire LEP (WLEP), Worcestershire County Council (WCC), Worcester City Council, a range of other civic and cultural organisations/networks and with the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board, as well regional NHS Trusts and other health bodies:
The University’s Pro Vice Chancellor Communications and External Affairs is a member of the WLEP Board and in this capacity has been involved in the development of WLEP strategy including its Plan for Growth 2020-2040. The University is also represented on the WLEP’s Employment and Skills Board and the Worcestershire Growth Hub by its Director of Apprenticeships and Employer Engagement, ensuring the University is active in developing the county’s strategy for skills and workforce development.
The University has well-established partnerships with Worcestershire County and Worcester City Councils, demonstrated by significant infrastructure and research projects (see below).
The University has close links with the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce and Worcester Business Central through our Business School.
We are partners in Worcestershire Innovation (WINN) and the Worcester Business Improvement District (BID), with representation on the Board of the latter.
The University has significant links with the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board. Our PVC Heath and Science is the chair of its newly formed Academy Steering Group which has oversight of seven faculties (Nursing, Allied Health, Pharmacy, Healthcare Science, Medicine, Voluntary Sector and Social Care) which drive the education and workforce business for the board. The academy reports directly to the People Board, of which the PVC is a member. We also have well-established links with regional NHS Trusts: our PVC Health and Science is Associate Non-Executive Director at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; our Director of Simulation, Practice and Interprofessional Education is an Associate Non- Executive Director at Hereford NHS Trust; our Director of RKE for the College of Health and Science is Associate Director of Research and Innovation for the Midlands NHS Partnership and represents the University on research forums and committees for Worcester Acute NHS Hospitals Trust and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust.
University representatives have been invited to sit on the Board for a number of major “local” projects – e.g. Worcestershire 5G project.
Aspect 2: Activity
Urban regeneration and renewal
The latest strand in the University’s urban regeneration strategy is the development of a Health and Wellbeing Campus on the site of an industrial estate beside the River Severn (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Plan of Health and Wellbeing Campus
The programme supports: renovation of an old print works into a state-of-the-art teaching facility for health professional students studying nursing, midwifery, medicine, paramedicine, physiotherapy, sports therapy and occupational therapy (Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Building, EGA); refurbishment of another building to create a bespoke space for paramedicine students (Elizabeth Casson); creation of a new build for teaching and research across Health and Wellbeing; a putative inclusive cricket centre (IICEC). It will also create an associated infrastructure, including vehicle charging points, a cycle way better connecting West Worcester to the national cycle path network, and a wellbeing walking route.
The programme is funded through several grants including:
£3m from the Get Building Fund administered by the WLEP and match-funded by the University for the financial years 2020/21 and 2021/22.
£2.475m for the development of the EGA building funded through the Worcester Town Investment Plan for the period February 2022 to March 2026.
The University is also the academic partner on another programme of urban renewal within its region. It will work with Dudley College of Technology in the delivery of a £36m Higher Education complex supported by a successful £25m bid to the Dudley Town’s Fund.
Public Spaces
A further example of the University’s commitment to urban regeneration but also of its approach to creating open public spaces for engagement is the “Worcester Arches Project”, a partnership between the University, Worcester City Council, Worcestershire County Council, Severn Arts, Network Rail, the Worcestershire Arts Partnership and a number of local businesses. The project has led to the renovation of five Victorian railway arches into affordable studio space (see Figure 2) and created a new public gateway for the city from the main rail station to the River Severn via the Hive. The project, which received £3m funding from the DCMS Cultural Development Fund, matched by the partners, has established a rich new cultural hub for the city, encouraging business development and creating jobs, particularly in the arts and hospitality sectors.
Figure 2: The Arches after renovation
Skills development
Apprenticeships
The University delivers apprenticeships in Teaching, Health Education and Business. For example:
In 2019, the University won a three-year contract with Herefordshire and Worcestershire NHS partners, to deliver Nursing Associate Apprenticeships building on the University’s outstanding reputation for educating the health professionals who work in our local hospitals and communities.
Professional Development
The University delivers a range of development programmes for teachers and health professionals. For example:
A core area of work relates to STEM teaching. Our School of Education hosts the West Midlands STEM Ambassador Hub (funded through a now 6-year £500k contract with STEM Learning), which aims, through a combination of CPD, mentoring and other support, to enhance the quality of STEM teaching in the wider West Midlands region, encourage more young people into STEM careers, improve STEM teacher retention and reduce disadvantage through STEM learning. These aims are closely aligned with strand 4 (Talent and Skills) in the government’s new Science and Technology Framework.
Enterprise support.
The University has provided support for businesses including: an incubator space; an annual #Worcesterpreneur programme of events hosted by the University of Worcester, which aims to get students, local business start-ups and community members together to learn more about business and do business effectively; and a weekly business ideas clinic run by local entrepreneurs, available to anyone who is keen to receive support to develop a business idea in the local area.
It has also worked with WCC on an EDRF funded project “Enterprising Worcestershire Start-Up and High Growth Start-Up Support Programme” (£1.076m). Specifically, the Business School has run a pre-start up business programme, EnRich, from summer 2021 to 2023, focused on young people in Worcestershire who want to start a business or are self-employed. Attendees are recruited from the local FE and Sixth form Colleges, universities, job centres and charities. The course is delivered by experts who run their own SMEs and provides 12 hours of free training to develop skills and knowledge prior to starting a business. Areas covered include planning a viable business, legal structures, funding, sales and marketing, and developing an entrepreneurial mindset. Forty-eight pre-start individuals were supported through the programme over the 2-year period.
Addressing significant local socio-economic needs through research.
Examples of this approach include:
West Mercia Rural 5G project (2019-2021), which received £3.2 million funding from DCMS, was led by WCC in partnership with regional NHS organisations, tech partners, Shropshire Council, the University of Worcester, University Centre Shrewsbury, and the Academic Health Science Network. Operating in the rural area where the counties of Shropshire and Worcestershire meet, the project explored infrastructure challenges when planning, building and operating a rural 5G network and looked at how 5G can enhance health and social care services for rural communities through digital applications. The University brought its expertise in health and social care and specifically around digital health solutions for older people.
Dementia Meeting Centres (DMCs) are a community-based intervention to support people and families affected by dementia to adjust to living with the change that a dementia diagnosis can bring. Building on research funded by the ESRC which demonstrated the effectiveness of the DMC model, the team have been supported by a £500k Big Lottery grant (2018-2023) to deliver 15-20 new DMCs nationally and by a £540k grant from Worcestershire County Council to establish 9 DMCs across the county (2020-23).
Aspect 3: Results
Figure 3: location of current and potential Dementia meeting Centres
The overarching impact of the University’s estates strategy on the city of Worcester is clear. Our initial regeneration programme saw the City Council re-articulate its strategy to “be recognised and promoted as a first rank university and cathedral city”. The Council’s City Plan 2022-27 extends these ambitions to Worcester “becoming even more firmly recognised as a growing cosmopolitan cathedral and university city with a dynamic sporting and cultural heritage, where people are welcome from all communities and are given the opportunity to achieve the best possible lives for themselves and their families”. It also places emphasis on the role of the new Health and Wellbeing campus in creating a healthy and active population.
There is clear evidence of the impact of specific programmes and projects as follows:
The development of the EGA Building has brought significant economic and social value to the local economy as highlighted in the Project Social Value Performance report from the constructors. This includes £2.3m into the local supply chain (representing over 65% of the total spend on the project), significant local employment opportunities and opportunities for student placement, skills development for employees and significant decarbonisation beyond that promised in the initial contract.
The Arches project has been described by the Arts Council as a “flagship” of the DCMS’s Cultural Development Fund. It has delivered on its core objectives. Further, the City Council has further invested £20k in the project to ensure the legacy of the festival strand of the programme.
STEM Ambassador Hub – national data on the impact of these hubs shows that 80% of teachers who work with these hubs improve the quality of their STEM teaching, more young people pursue a STEM career because of their input, disadvantaged students benefit more from this support and science teachers are 160% more likely to remain in the profession.
Our work around Dementia Meeting Centres was the basis of a REF 2021 Impact Case Study, identified as 3* (very considerable impact). The ongoing spread of Dementia Meeting Centres across the UK is shown in Figure 3.
Public & Community Engagement
Summary of approach
Public and community engagement is a core activity for the University of Worcester. It is what we do as a community-engaged university and as a good neighbour. For us, P&CE presents opportunities to facilitate the development of a culture of caring and living well. The University works together with a range of communities, groups, and individuals to make life experiences better. We recognise and strategically support the need for our staff to be present in local, regional, national, and international communities, and to focus on supporting a wide range of needs and requirements. Our P&CE priorities are focused on improving health and wellbeing; creating sustainable futures, increasing social inclusion, enhancing professional education, and digital innovation.
Aspect 1: Strategy
The University of Worcester has a deep-seated commitment to Public and Community Engagement. In our current Strategic Plan, we set out our ambition to become an “exemplar of a community-engaged university”. This is an ambition built on strong, sustainable and mutually beneficial relationships with a wide range of partners and a belief that our estates and facilities, our research and our curriculum is best shaped through these partnerships and through engagement with the general public. We believe we have gone some considerable way to achieving this ambition.
Our approach to P&CE flows through our core strategies. It is demonstrated in our longstanding estates’ strategy which has led to the development of buildings which are public by design and open to the community. This is manifest in the multi-award winning Hive, the UK’s only fully integrated University-Public library. Developed in partnership with Worcestershire County Council (WCC) in 2012, it is an exemplar of the University’s successful partnership working, having thrived over a 10-year period (see Figure 1 below). It is a primary location for our staff and students to present their research to the public through public lectures, exhibitions and other events, housing as it does lecture theatres, an open exhibition space and facilities suitable for conferences, science fairs and film screenings.
Other of our distinctive facilities also function as key locations for our P&CE:
the Worcester Arena, a sport’s facility designed to cater for disabled people, is at the heart of our research-informed approach to increasing access to sport, exercise and physical activity.
the Art House provides an open studio, workshop and exhibition space for our staff, students and the community.
the Infirmary Museum is an interactive exhibition exploring the medical stories of one of England’s oldest infirmaries.
Figure 1: The Hive At 10
Our approach to P&CE is elaborated in our RKE Strategy 2020-25, where engagement is one of the five delivery pillars of the strategy. It also identifies five “Areas of Challenge” on which our RKE will primarily focus: Human Health and Wellbeing; Sustainable Futures; Culture, Identity and Social Exclusion; Professional Education; and Digital Innovation. It is around these five areas that our P&CE is organised.
In developing our P&CE, we work closely with a wide range of public, private and third sector partners, co-creating activities and events to meet the needs of our partners and the communities they serve. Our programmes engage first and foremost with the city and our wider region (see LG&R narrative), reflecting the specific challenges within this area and engaging with significant local and regional communities.
Our P&CE Working Group has mapped out our key stakeholders and research users and this is set out in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Stakeholder Map
Our new EDI Framework (2022-27) commits to embedding EDI in the design and delivery of our P&CE (Commitment 1). More than this, “Influencing the wider community” is one of six themes around which we will focus our EDI work, recognising the University is an integral part of the city of Worcester and the wider region and is well-placed to influence EDI policy, practice and behaviours across this area.
The Vice Chancellor has overall responsibility for our P&CE but devolves responsibility for key elements of the strategy to: the PVC Communications and External Affairs (events), the PVC Partnerships (partnership building), the PVC Education, Culture and Society (arts and cultural engagement) and the Deputy PVC Research (training, reporting, evaluation and impact). This ensures that P&CE is woven into our wider work and is a core focus for senior management.
The University established a Public and Community Engagement Working Group in 2020 to lead on coordinating and strategically developing our P&CE programmes. The group is chaired by a College Director of RKE and includes cross-University academic representation, senior representation from our Library Services and Communications department, and representation from Worcestershire County Council.
Aspect 2: Support
University P&CE events are coordinated and supported by our Communications and Participation department. The Hive has its own bespoke events team which provides support (including external publicity) for lectures, exhibitions, fairs, and other events taking place in the Hive and a programming group with representation from WCC and the University which drives the Hive’s P&CE programmes. Support for School-level events is devolved to Professional Academic Services within the Schools. Our Research School, which has oversight of our research degree programmes and coordinates researcher and research student development, also delivers a P&CE programme in collaboration with and for our doctoral students and ECRs, including events like Images of Research and Pint of Science.
Our doctoral students must undertake a compulsory module within their programme entitled Dissemination, Engagement and Impact. As part of the assessment for the module, students must design an engagement activity based on their own research. The Research School also provides a cluster of workshops focused on Impact and Engagement within its wider researcher development programme. The cluster is led by the Chair of the P&CE Working Group, and the group feeds into its content, ensuring it is up-to-date and relevant across disciplines. The workshops are delivered by our own academics with experience and knowledge of engagement work but also, where appropriate, external trainers such as Science Made Simple.
Both our promotion and our reward schemes for academic staff explicitly identify P&CE as one of the core activities expected of staff under the “Research and Scholarship” criterion.
The University has several well-established user groups who can be consulted with on the development of P&CE, particularly in the area of health and wellbeing. For example:
IMPACT is a service user and carer involvement group with around 40 members with lived experiences of health and social care services, including care-leavers, survivors of mental illness, survivors of domestic violence, carers, physically disabled and older people. IMPACT members provide input to the development of curriculum, research and P&CE, through sitting on panels and advisory groups, role-plays, classroom and event delivery.
Bipolar Disorder Research Network is a network of 7,500 people in the UK with bipolar disorder and related mood disorders who have taken part in research undertaken in collaboration between Worcester and Cardiff University and thus acts as the primary mechanism through which the University engages with this specific community.
Housing and Dementia Research Consortium brings together the University’s dementia care research centre, leading Housing with Care providers, policymakers and third sector organisations to shape the agenda of research into housing and care and to ensure its relevance and usefulness to housing and care providers, people with dementia, their families, carers and advocates, and to inform policy, funding and practice in relation to accommodation and care in the UK.
Aspect 3: Activity
The University provides a central programme of P&CE. The Hive is the principal location for these activities offering a co-produced cultural programme, although University events are also delivered at the Arena, the Art House and across our campuses. The Hive Cultural Programme saw 22,000 adults and children attend community events in 2019/20 (UW Financial Report 2020, p.19) and although these numbers fell during 2020/21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they had risen again to 24,000 attending community events in 2021/22 (UW Financial Report 2022, p.16).
Whilst our campus facilities are central to our P&CE, our staff and students also deliver engagement activities across the city of Worcester (e.g. Pint of Science), across the wider region (e.g. Slow Cooked Stories, Malvern Cube, May 2022), and across the UK (e.g. Pandemic Film Screening, Science Museum, London, April 2022) and internationally (e.g. Migrations Exhibition, International Youth Library, Munich, Feb-Oct 2021), as well as delivering virtually through webinars and podcasts (e.g. Best practice in running intergenerational programmes, Jan 2021).
We set out below more detailed examples of our P&CE activities:
Disability in Gypsy, Roma, Traveller (GRT) Communities
Researchers in our School of Allied Health and Community engaged in a project in 2019/20 funded by DRILL to explore the experiences of disabled people living in GRT communities. Working closely with Shaping Our Lives, a Service User and Disability Network, led by the users, and people within GRT communities, the study findings highlighted the stigma of disability in GRT communities. It also highlighted the potential role of disabled people’s organisations in supporting disabled people from GRT communities to have a louder voice in policy development on disability issues. To ensure the effective dissemination of the study findings to the GRT community, the project team worked with various bodies including the Traveller Times to develop fully accessible videos presenting the key findings.
This project is an exemplar of our approach to P&CE. It is focused on two of our areas of challenge and on a significant population within the region. It is co-produced by the communities themselves and its outputs are inclusive by design and seek to maximise reach within the target communities.
Sport, Physical Activity and Wellbeing
The University has a significant focus on increasing access to sport and physical activity across the lifespan to enhance health and wellbeing. For example, our School of Sport and Exercise Science provides a Senior Physical Activity & Adapted Sport (SPAAS) programme in partnership with Active Herefordshire and Worcestershire and other partners including Age UK, University of the Third Age and WCC. The programme provides weekly adapted exercise, sport and physical activity sessions underpinned by the University’s expertise in inclusive sport and physical activity and attracts around 350 participants per week The sessions are designed to impact positively on disease prevention, improve mental and social health, improve cognitive function, and reduce risk of falls. Through this partnership the University also contributes to the International Council on Active Ageing Active Ageing Week.
Dementia Care
ADS provides a rich programme of P&CE focused on people living with dementia and their families and carers and organisations involved in dementia care, such as housing bodies and care homes. This includes a range of online and in person events, for example:
Support for Dementia Meeting Centres (see LG&R narrative);
Developing online dementia communities during the Covid-19 pandemic;
Collaborating with NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care Trust and a range of cultural partners on H&W Life Stories project, which sets out to enhance people’s wellbeing through development of a platform where they can create their individualised life stories.
Mental Health
The University has significant expertise around aspects of severe adult mental illness, in particular Bipolar and other mood disorders and student suicide. We deliver a rich programme of P&CE in these areas, targeted at users and stakeholders:
Our researchers have delivered online webinars through the UK Bipolar Disorder Research Network focused on key themes such as mood monitoring, remote illness management (particularly important during the pandemic) and postpartum psychosis. These webinars are designed to provide users with up-to-date information about research and direct them to psychosocial education packages which can improve their health and wellbeing.
Staff delivered a lecture at the 2022 Hay Festival on Preventing and Responding to Student Suicide. This presented findings of research designed to support education providers to put in place mechanisms to reduce the possibility of student suicide but also to support staff and students should the very worst happen.
Using illustration to increase understanding of key social issues
Our International Centre for the Picture Book in Society is focused on the making and study of the picture book in its broadest form and how these books engage with society, with a particular focus on their role in promoting multi-culturalism, inclusivity of all minorities and socially disenfranchised people.
Figure 3: Cover of Migrations book
Migrations invited illustrators from all over the world to submit original images and personal messages, in postcard form, for an exhibition on the experience of refugees and migrants. The postcards have been exhibited in the UK and internationally from 2017-2022 (the Hive, Worcester; Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye; BIBIANA International House of Art for Children, Bratislava, Slovakia; Nami Island, Seoul, South Korea; Woordfees, Stellenbosch, South Africa; International Youth Library, Munich, Germany), They have also been collected into a picture book, Migrations: Open Hearts Open Borders, Otter-Barry Books, 2019 (see Figure 3). The impact of this activity is articulated in a REF 2021 Impact Case Study, as enhancing knowledge and understanding of issues around migration, and providing new opportunities, activities and learning processes, especially for children, nationally and internationally and enriching artists’ creative practice and knowledge, incorporating them into new artistic communities, and providing them with new cultural opportunities.
Aspect 4: Enhancing practice
The University’s Research Office and Communications department are together responsible for collecting and collating data on our P&CE activity. This includes data collection from individual staff as well as from the Hive, Arena, Art House, Infirmary and other community-facing facilities. We collect details of the events, including date, location, target audiences, attendance/user data. There have been particular challenges in capturing data for live online events which increased in number due to the pandemic and there is work to do here in developing a meaningful dataset for such events.
Most of our events are subject to standard post-event evaluation which informs future iterations. There is opportunity to collect more in-depth data here, and steps have been taken to improve this work through the P&CE Working Group. The Group monitors and supports P&CE activities across the University, allowing us to be strategic in identifying our P&CE priorities and event planning. One of the Group’s key roles is to develop enhanced support for the evaluation of events drawing on best practice. To this end, the Group has worked with NCPPE in developing our approach to evaluation.
In 2022/23, the University launched a new Impact and Engagement support programme. The programme is designed to provide bespoke support for selected academics to deliver enhanced engagement with and impact of their research. This will include training and development, support for engagement activities and support for the evaluation of these activities through a new Impact and Evaluation Advisory Group. This group consists of senior researchers with experience of evaluating P&CE specifically but also those with expertise in diverse evaluation methodologies from arts and humanities, social sciences and behavioural sciences.
Aspect 5: Building on success
It is the role of the University’s RKE Committee to monitor performance against its overarching RKE strategy and, flowing from this, its approach to P&CE. It has devolved key aspects of this monitoring to the P&CE Working Group described above. This group reports regularly to the RKE Committee on activities and key developments in P&CE support. It has presented recommendations which have fed into more meaningful coordination of P&CE activities, improved data collection and reporting at School, College and University level, an enhanced programme of researcher development for P&CE, and evaluation support. However, the University recognises that it still has work to do to measure the impact of its engagement work and this is a strategic priority going forward.
The primary means by which the University communicates the impacts of its P&CE activity is via the Public Benefit statement that forms part of our annual Financial Reports (2020, 2021, 2022). This report provides wide-ranging examples of our P&CE activity and its impact. The statement is approved by our Board of Governors and is public-facing document, available on our website.
Note You are currently viewing the latest version of this narrative statement. View the previous version as published in previous iterations of the KEF (KEF1 and KEF2)