Action Research - Academics

The Engaged University: Issues and Action:

A group of senior academics from a diverse range of academic disciplines, including the sciences, social sciences, humanities and the arts, whose work is centrally focussed on issues of engagement and participation.

The starting question for this group is:

What can we learn from our public engagement work about how best to embed public engagement in higher education?

The group has met twice to date, with 1 additional spin off sub-group meeting to take forward a particularly important piece of work.  We look forward to sharing reports from these meetings with you in the coming weeks. Please note, this group is now full.

Next Academics Group meeting: 11 June

To discuss the work of this group, or any aspect of the Action Research Programme, please contact Heather Squires. 

Also in this Section

Members of the AR Academics Group

Biographies

John Annette is Professor of Citizenship and Lifelong Learning and Pro-Vice Master for Lifelong Learning and Engagement at Birkbeck, University of London.  He is currently researching and publishing in the areas of citizenship education in schools and for lifelong learning, community based learning and community partnerships in higher education, and on community leadership and involvement in community development and local governance.   His publications include:  Education for Democratic Citizenship (2005), Lifelong Learning for Active Citizenship Through Community Involvement' in 'Old' and 'New' Worlds of Adult Learning (2006), (ed. with Marjorie Mayo) Active Learning for Active Citizenship (2008). He has been active in working in partnership with local communities in north London and facilitating capacity building for community involvement for many years. He is an advisor to the DfES on youth volunteering, to the Civil Renewal Unit on capacity building for citizenship and community development, and to the DfCFS on youth volunteering and citizenship education. He is on the Executive of the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning (UALL) and Chair of the 'Higher Education Community Partnership' national network.  He is a trustee of Student Volunteer, England. He is a board member of CITIZED and also advises the QCA on the community involvement stand of the national curriculum citizenship education subject.  He is an adviser to the London Civic Forum, is on the steering committee of the London Empowerment Network, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the vinspired students programme of the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE).

Sarah Banks is Professor in the School of Applied Social Sciences, Durham University.  She is Durham theme leader for social justice and inclusion, as part of the North East Beacon for Public Engagement. She is also Co-director of a newly formed Centre for Social Justice and Community Action at Durham and co-edits the journal Ethics and Social Welfare. She has worked in the field of rural community development and has a long-standing involvement with Durham Rural Community Council. She teaches and researches in the fields of professional ethics and values, community development and young people, and is currently experimenting with the use of Socratic dialogue in community engagement and research.

Peter Beresford OBE is Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Centre for Citizen Participation at Brunel University. He is also Chair of Shaping Our Lives, the independent national user controlled organisation and network and a long term user of mental health services. He is a Trustee of the Social Care Institute for Excellence and member of the Advisory Boards of the National Institute for Health Research and Involve, and a member of the Department of Health Ministerial Reference Group on Social Care and Transformation of Adult Social Care Programme Board. He has a longstanding interest in issues of participation and empowerment as writer, researcher, educator and campaigner. He is interested in the development of participatory and emancipatory research approaches as well as the development of inclusive and participatory approaches to change in policy and practice and the development of theory.

Felix Bivens is a DPhil Candidate in the Institute of Development Studies, at the University of Sussex. His research explores the institutional factors within higher education institutions that enable and sustain community engagement and social change programmes. His background is in political organizing, community development and carpentry. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics and the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.

Kevin Burchell is Senior Research Fellow, Kingston University. Kevin is not - yet - an academic public engagement (PE) practitioner.  Rather, he is a sociologically-oriented analyst of PE - particularly in the context of science and technology - as a (still) emerging social, political, cultural and economic phenomenon.  Kevin is the author (with Sarah Franklin and Kerry Holden) of Public Culture as Professional Science (2009), the final report of the Wellcome Trust-funded ScoPE project (Scientists on public engagement: from communication to deliberation), in which the PE agenda is addressed from the perspectives of life scientists.  Kevin has also recently conducted research, with funding from HEIF3/HEFCE, into the relationships between social science and the burgeoning PE with science and technology policy agenda. Following three years as a Research Fellow in BIOS (Centre for the Study of Bioscience, Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Society) at London School of Economics, Kevin recently moved to Kingston University as the Senior Research Fellow on the EPSRC-funded CHARM project, which examines the potential for social norm messages to encourage sustainable behaviours. 

Robert Doubleday is Senior Research Associate, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge.  Robert is currently spending one year at the Government Office for Science as an ESRC Placement Fellow working on activities to strengthen engagement between Government and academia. Back at the University of Cambridge he is the principal investigator (PI) of a Wellcome Trust funded project that explores how academic scientists working on nanotechnologies relate to the wider policy contexts in which they work. Prior to joining the Department of Geography, he was based in the Nanoscience Centre, University of Cambridge carrying out research on social and ethical dimensions of nanotechnologies. Robert has a first degree in Chemistry (Imperial), an MSc in Science Policy (Sussex) and a PhD in Geography and Science & Technology Studies (UCL). 

Hamish Fyfe is Professor of the Arts and Society at the University of Glamorgan’s School of Creative & Cultural Industries. His main areas of teaching are theatre, drama and community arts while his research interests encompass arts and society. In 2003 he was commissioned to prepare a research report for the Welsh Assembly Government called ‘Making Space – Creative Community Building through Inter-Sectoral Activity’. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and was a member of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 1998–2001. Professor Fyfe is also Chairman to the Government Funded Creative Partnerships Programme and author of the recently published report on Arts participation in Wales – 'Hand in Hand' – for the Arts Council of Wales.

Paul Hoggett is Professor of Politics and Director of the Centre for Psycho-Social Studies at the University of the West of England, Bristol. For over twenty years he has worked as a researcher, consultant and trainer to community and voluntary organizations. He was Chair of Trustees of the Bridge Foundation and is a Fellow of OPUS (An Organization for the Promotion of Understanding of Society). He also has had a long involvement in community mental health issues and is a trained and practicing psychotherapist.

Richard Jones is Professor of Physics and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of Sheffield.  His first degree and PhD in Physics both come from Cambridge University, and following postdoctoral work at Cornell University, U.S.A., he was a lecturer at the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory.  In 1998 he moved to the University of Sheffield, and in 2006 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.  He is an experimental polymer physicist who specialises in elucidating the nanoscale structure and properties of polymers and biological macromolecules at interfaces.  Richard was the co-author of a report published by the UK’s ESRC, The Social and Economic Challenges of Nanotechnology (2003).  He chaired the Nanotechnology Engagement Group, a body set up by UK Government to support the development of best practice in public engagement around nanotechnologies, and to ensure that public engagement feeds into policy and decision-making.  He was the Senior Strategic Advisor for Nanotechnology for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council from 2007 to 2009. He is the author of more than 110 research papers, and three books, the most recent of which is Soft Machines: nanotechnology and life, published by Oxford University Press in 2004. 

Margaret Ledwith lives in Lancaster where she is Emeritus Professor of Community Development and Social Justice at the University of Cumbria.  She is also one of the Coordinators of the international Collaborative Action Research Network.   For many years, she was a community worker/educator in a variety of settings in Scotland and North-West England, and it was this experience of working with marginalised communities that forged the foundation of a lifetime commitment to social justice.  She is the author of three books:  Participatory practice: Community-based action for transformative change (2009) (co-authored with Jane Springett); Community Development: A critical approach (2005); and Participating in Transformation: Towards a working model of community empowerment (1997).

Marjorie Mayo is Professor in Community Development at Goldsmiths, University of London. She has worked in the community sector, and local government, and has experience of working internationally.  Publications include: Imagining Tomorrow: Adult Education for Transformation, National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (1997). Cultures, Communities, Identities: Cultural Strategies for Participation and Empowerment, Palgrave (2000). Global Citizens, Zed (2005) and The Dilemmas of Development Work (with Paul Hoggett and Chris Miller), Policy Press (2008)

Peter McOwan is currently a Professor of Computer Science and Director of Outreach in the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at Queen Mary, University of London. His research interests are in visual perception, mathematical models for visual processing, in particular motion, cognitive science and biologically inspired hardware and software. He is also active in science outreach through various projects such as cs4fn (www.cs4fn.org) and Sodarace (www.sodarace.net).   Peter was awarded a National Teaching Fellow in 2008 by the Higher Education Academy

Jo Morrison is based at the Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design, University of the Arts (London) where she develops and directs a college-wide programme focused on the exploration of digital technologies and cross-disciplinary collaborations.  She also supports the adoption of ICT within learning and teaching, research and content creation by staff and students within the college. In addition to her role at CSM, Jo is working to help coordinate the University’s participation in the London 2012 Olympics, Paralympics and Cultural Olympiad. Prior to this, Jo was the founding Creative Director of Futurelab, a leading educational research organisation. She has also worked for a number of years for BBC News and Current Affairs.

Jethro Pettit is a Research Fellow with the Participation, Power and Social Change Team at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.  He designs and facilitates transformative learning processes for social activists and development workers, aid organisations and postgraduate courses. His interests include: methods of participatory action research and reflective practice; participatory communication; rights-based approaches to development; civil society and social movements; and power analysis and experiential learning.  Jethro has worked in the past with international NGOs, including World Neighbours and Oxfam America, and with social movements in the US and the UK.  He is also pursuing action research on teaching and learning with the Centre for Action Research in Professional Practice, University of Bath, UK.

Colin Pulham holds a Chair in High-Pressure Chemistry and is the Director of Teaching in the School of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh.  He is also a member of the Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions (CSEC) at Edinburgh and has research interests in the study of the effects of high pressure on molecular compounds such as pharmaceuticals and energetic materials (explosives, propellants).    Colin has a longstanding interest in public engagement and was awarded the RSC/Royal Institution "Bringing Science to the Public" prize in 1999 and the Royal Society Kohn Award for Excellence in Engaging the Public with Science in 2005.  He is a member of the STFC Science in Society Advisory Panel and the EPSRC Public Engagement Strategic Advisory Team.  In the period 2005-2008 he was heavily involved with the Science in Society Programme organised by the European Commission and served on the jury of the European Union Competition for Young Scientists. With funding from a range of sources including EPSRC and the Wellcome Trust, he has led a team at Edinburgh who have developed and delivered a sustained programme of demonstration lectures and hands-on workshops that encourage public engagement with science and highlight the scientific research being conducted at Edinburgh. He holds an STFC Science in Society Fellowship and is currently leading a public engagement project called "The Big Squeeze" that seeks to highlight the research conducted at CSEC and at ISIS and Diamond.

Ken Skeldon has held research fellowships from the PPARC (now STFC) and Royal Society of Edinburgh, working in the fields of gravitational wave astronomy, optical instrumentation and most recently medical physics at the University of Glasgow. In 2005 he was awarded a NESTA fellowship for science communication. Through his science consultancy, he developed bespoke exhibits and shows for the media, science centres and museums here and abroad. A past holder of the Institute of Physics Communications Fellowship and winner of the first Royal Institution / Nature Niche Prize in Sci-Art, Ken continues to lead innovative engagement within his new role as Development Co-ordinator in the University of Aberdeen's Public Engagement with Science Unit.

Jane Springett is Professor of Health Promotion and Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University where she is the lead for the Health Promotion, Policy and Inequality Network within the Institute for Health Research. She is Visiting Professor at Kristianstad University in Sweden where she recently led the development of the interdisciplinary Forskningsplattformen För Utveckling av Närsjukvård , a research unit based on participatory action research methodology. It was co funded by the Regional Government, six local authorities and the university. She has worked with action research approaches for over 17 years particularly in the evaluation of community based interventions directed at improving health and is known internationally for her expertise in participatory evaluation. The participatory approach to research is consistent with the ecological world view she inherited from her early background as a geographer and the values and philosophy she holds.

Iain Stewart is a geologist and broadcaster who holds a Chair in Geoscience Communication at the University of Plymouth. His broad geological interests on earth hazards and abrupt environmental change have featured in several BBC science series, most notably Earth: The Power of the Planet and Journeys from the Centre of The Earth. Recent programmes have focused on climate change, including Earth: The Climate Wars (BBC2), Climate Catastrophe or Global Conspiracy (BBC4) and Future Earth (BBC1). He is currently filming a major BBC/National Geographic/ZDF co production called How Earth Made Us, due for release in early 2010

Kathy Sykes is Professor of Sciences and Society at the University of Bristol, holding a Chair since 2002. She is a member of the Council for Science and Technology (CST), the UK government's top-level advisory body on science and technology policy issues. She chairs the 'Sciencewise' Strategy Group and Panel, which oversees a government programme aiming to increase and improve public dialogue on science and technology across government departments and agencies, and has sat on strategic panels in public engagement in science for the Royal Society, the Wellcome Trust and the EPSRC. She is a member of the EPSRC’s Societal Impacts Panel, aiming to shift the culture in this funding body, to consider societal and ethical issues in all areas of their business. She co-directs and helped create the Times Cheltenham Festival of Science and NESTA Famelab. She has presented various BBC2 TV series, including Alternative Therapies, Rough Science and Ever Wondered about Food, and was Head of Science for Explore@Bristol, in charge of the team creating the content for the award-winning Hands-on Science Centre. She is a trustee of NESTA and ExploreAtBristol, and has been a trustee for VSO and the Science Museum. She was the recipient of the 2006 Royal Society Kohn Award for Excellence in Engaging the Public with Science. The Guardian named her amongst Britain's top 50 "women to watch". Her PhD is in Physics, and she will be awarded an OBE in 2009. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and the Institute of Physics. She is helping to steer and oversee the National Co-ordinating Centre for Beacons of Public Engagement (NCCPE).