Engage Summit 2026
The Engage Summit took place at the Eastside Rooms, Birmingham on 29 & 30 April 2026.
Building on the Engage Conference, it involved those committed to the role of universities in building an inclusive knowledge system.
See the programme listing here to find out more about what happened.
The NCCPE Engage Summit
This year’s Engage Summit was a gathering of people who care deeply about the future of universities and their connection to society. It was more than a conference; it was a chance to come together as a community of practice, united by a shared commitment to change.
Building on a Year of Big Conversations
Over the past 12 months, through our Engaged Futures programme, we’ve been asking big questions: What kind of university sector do we want for the future? How can we create a vision - a North Star - that guides us towards a sustainable, inclusive future? More than 400 participants have joined us in dialogue, exploring what’s working well and where the system is under strain. We’ve celebrated inspiring engagement practice and surfaced the challenges that demand collective action.
Navigating Change Together
These conversations takes place against a backdrop of profound challenges and complexity. Universities and their partners face significant financial pressures. Public confidence in higher education is fragile. Emerging technologies are reshaping how we think about knowledge, while inequality, the climate crisis, and the polarisation of public discourse are accelerating. The Engaged Futures programme offers a new way of navigating this landscape. We believe that only by working across difference—bringing people together to share perspectives and co-create solutions—can we hope to navigate all that is happening.
What happened at the Summit
The Summit offered delegates a chance to take stock of the journey we have travelled—it was a space to connect, reflect, and imagine what comes next. It provided an opportunity to check out how current policies are enabling engaged ways of working to be recognised and resourced, including the impact of the newly launched REF guidance on evidencing supportive cultures for impactful research. We explored how case studies can demonstrate the value of engaged approaches and how institutions can use REF as a lever for positive change. It was also a chance to tune into others’ practice, learn from high-quality work across the UK and internationally, and consider how we can meaningfully align our efforts to stimulate systemic change.