Catalyst Group Homepage
This page hosts all Engaged Futures catalyst updates, reports, session recordings, resources, and opportunities.
Please do not share the URL for this page with anyone who is not already a catalyst. You could also save it in favourites bar on your browser so you can find it easily.
Welcome to new Catalysts!
We invite new Catalyst Group members to have a look at the Catalyst Welcome page. This hosts all the background information you'll need to understand the project:
- What is your role as a catalyst?
- Catalyst briefing webinar which tells you about your role in the project
- A short video about the '3 Horizons' framework
- The Engaged Futures project timeline
- A description of the four phases of the project
- How to bring others into the catalyst group
Project Timeline
We are in Phase 3
We are in full swing of Phase 3 of our Engaged Futures project. This means that we are well on our way towards developing an action plan for an inclusive and engaged future for the UK higher education (HE) sector.
Thank you to all catalysts who, in Phase 2, helped to identify challenges in the current UK higher education sector, exploring your aspirations for the future and driving consultations with groups within your own networks.
We have now recruited over 250 Catalysts, hosted 14 workshops and supported 13 catalyst-led conversations. All data has been integrated into an H1 and H3 map. We also identified 160 H2+ actors who are already working to create systematic change towards our vision.
The NCCPE are overwhelmingly grateful for your commitment to date. Phase 3 is the exciting phase where together we will identify concrete actions within 'Domains of Action'. These will be our focus for creating systems change.
Phase 2 Outputs
H1 and H3 Comparison
Please follow the link below to see a summary of key Horizon 1 (where we are now) and Horizon 3 (where we hope to get to) insights.
Value Contrasts
We shared a key values and principles that catalysts identified as underpinning Horizon 1 and Horizon 3 . Engaged Futures group members felt this was a brilliant ‘compass’ to keep in our minds as we progressed through the work.
Catalyst-Led Conversations
13 of our Catalyst Group members rallied amongst their own networks to host conversations about the future of Higher Education, and focused the conversations using the themes which emerged from Phase 1. The conversations took a variety of forms including nationwide online conversations, in-person design-led workshops and more intimate chats over food.
Please visit our blog, "Catalyst Conversations: Reimagining Higher Education for 2045" below, to find out more about the outcomes of these conversations, and the overarching trends we uncovered.
Domains of Action
In November Engaged Futures Group members met to think about where in the system there is potential for alignment towards shared impact. They looked through a shortlist of H2+ actors identified by catalysts. These are organisations and initiatives that are disrupting and innovating within our higher education system, pushing it towards changes that we hope to see.
Group members clustered these H2+ actors where they saw the potential for alignment. These clusters have been named and are our ‘Domains of Action’:
- Transformational inclusion
- Spaces and Places for All
- Building a Movement
- Creating Living Knowledge
- Stewarding the System
You can read more about each Domain of Action via the link below.
Building an Agenda for Change
In November 2025 we held an in-person event to begin to develop an Agenda for Change. This was an opportunity for some of our Catalysts to meet with our Engaged Futures group members and others interested in Engaged Futures and building momentum towards systems change.
Attendees explored the five domains of action that have emerged from efforts over Phase 1 and Phase 2. From here, we outlined the beginnings of an ‘Agenda for Change’, a tangible set of actions and activities that Engaged Futures members can work on as a movement of committed individuals and organisations.
Ways to Get Involved
Engaged Futures is a collective movement for change. We hope you will continue to be involved and contribute your ideas and actions.
Upcoming event dates and times will be posted here. Please also check your inbox for catalyst news.
Up-Coming Events
- Engaged Futures: Progress on building an agenda for change (Tuesday 16 December from 16:00-17:00)
We hope you will join us for an update on the Engaged Futures Project and to find out more about the Domains of Action and the emerging Agenda for Change.
Our next phase of work will be launched in early 2026 and will include opportunities for Catalysts to join ‘Action Development Groups’ focused on deepening our understanding or creating tools that will support the Agenda for Change. This agenda will be a dynamic and living thing that will develop over time, as we learn more about levers in the system, pathways to effecting change, and begin to see systemic shifts.
How to join? This event will be on Zoom, we will send a calendar invite and email with all the details to all new and existing Catalysts.
Connect with others in the group on LinkedIn
We know that there is an appetite amongst Catalysts to network and share ideas. We also need your help to build this movement and arrive at concrete actions that Catalysts and others in the system can take on.Use the link below to join our Engaged Futures Catalysts LinkedIn group to make connections and continue sharing your thoughts.
We will continue to send formal communications through our email mailing list, but we hope that LinkedIn will become a place for catalysts to engage with one another, and that is catalyst-owned and nurtured.When you join, please introduce yourself to others and share your hopes for Engaged Futures, whether it be an ambition for the programme itself, something you hope to see in the future, or someone’s existing work that you feel is moving us towards the futures we hope for and ought to be championed.
Identify New Catalysts
We are recruiting Catalysts throughout this project.
As we think about the 'Domains of Action', new people and groups may start to feel relevant to Engaged Futures. And so we are renewing our drive for new catalysts.
We want to build a diverse movement of representatives from the variety of professions and communities that work within, with and alongside HE. This might be in publishing, community activism, local government, educational, or research organisation.
Please help us and share this link with anyone you think will be interested.
Finally, Thank You!
Thank you for all the hard work that you put into phases 1, 2 and 3 so far. We would have arrived at this point without your involvement and support.
We look forward to working with you in phase 4 of Engaged Futures!