King's College Impact & Community Engagement Summer School 

Overview  

The 2023 King’s Impact & Community Engagement Summer School is a free, online initiative for academics, professional services/research support staff, and PhD students at King’s to develop their experience of research impact, knowledge exchange and community engagement activities. The school will support up to 40 participants to develop their impact and engagement skills through a series of interactive sessions. Through presentations, workshops, and critical dialogue, participants will learn to plan and conduct ethical and sustainable community-university research and to mobilise knowledge to achieve meaningful social change.  

The convenors of the school will be the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI) at the University of Guelph, Canada. For over a decade, CESI has brought together community and campus skills and resources to advance community-identified research goals. CESI’s work spans community engaged teaching and learning, knowledge exchange and critical community engaged scholarship (CCES). CCES is a form of research that addresses community research priorities and seeks to address systemic injustice, and is analogous to participatory research here in the UK. In the 2022 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, the University of Guelph was ranked 16th in the world for social and environmental impact.    

The Summer School is open to academics, professional services/research support staff and PhD students from across King’s and is an opportunity for cross-disciplinary learning. It is part of a wider programme of activities supporting participatory research at King’s, including training, funding and networking events taking place throughout 2023 and 2024. For more information please contact melanie.davies@kcl.ac.uk and/or sign up to the King’s Engaged Researcher Network’s monthly newsletter.   

Please note that this School will support researchers to develop broad impact and engagement literacy. It is not designed to deliver a crash course on the Research Excellence Framework (REF) although the skills that it engenders will undoubtedly be useful for future REF exercises.  

Goals  

• Develop your knowledge of the core principles and practices of planning and doing impactful critical community engaged research and knowledge exchange activities   

• Increase your understanding and capacity to plan and conduct ethical, rigorous and impactful community engaged scholarship while reflecting on and integrating anti-oppressive and decolonising approaches  

• Learn about teams and funding opportunities across King’s to support your impact and community engagement activities  

Who Can Apply?  

Academics, professional services staff, and research support staff employed at King’s and King’s PhD students.   

Content and Delivery  

The King’s Summer School will be delivered during the week commencing 19 June 2023. Registration is free of charge but those who apply are expected to commit to all five compulsory sessions that will run online in the afternoons, alongside indicating if they wish to attend the optional morning session. Session formats include presentations with Q&A and participatory workshops.  

Core Online Sessions  

Five sessions form the core curriculum of the Summer School and build from the key principles of CESI’s approach to Critical Community Engaged Scholarship. The sessions explore ways of ‘doing’ and ‘planning’ impactful research. Attendees must enrol in and attend all five core sessions.  

Critical Community Engaged Scholarship (CCES)  

The first session will introduce and explore the concept of critical community engaged scholarship. In this session, participants will define CCES, learn about how CCES principles can inform ethical, collaborative research processes, and gain insights through practical examples and stories of CCES partnerships. Navigating institutional and community ethics processes will also be discussed.  

Anti-Oppressive Practice and Critical Community Engaged Scholarship  

This session will take a deep dive into anti-oppression approaches for researchers interested in shifting the quality of the conversations toward greater authenticity and inclusive practice. Through self-reflection, group discussion, and skills-based practice, participants will learn to:  

• Create a brave space to engage in critical conversations  

• Uncover and speak about social location, power, and privilege  

• Identify the varied forms of oppression in the community and learning environments  

• Interrupt oppressive behaviour 

Integrated Knowledge Exchange and Community Engagement 

This session will discuss the concept of integrated knowledge exchange and explore links between knowledge exchange, community engagement processes, and CCES. Participants will learn about integrated knowledge exchange as a framework for engaging collaborators throughout the research process, ultimately leading to more relevant and impactful research and action.  

Creating Knowledge Exchange Strategies  

This session will guide participants through the creation of knowledge exchange strategies as tools to increase the societal impact of research. With attention to the principles of CCES to ensure more equitable co-creation of knowledge and shared benefits of research, participants will review key components of effective knowledge exchange plans and reflect on best practices and considerations when identifying audiences, choosing appropriate activities, and defining intended impact. They will apply theory to practice by working on case studies and research scenarios.  

The Power of Arts-Based Methods   

This session introduces arts-based research methods, sharing examples of projects to identify key processes, outputs, and impacts. Storytelling is introduced as a powerful method of research, advocacy, and knowledge sharing. The session discusses the linkages between arts-based methods and the core principles, practices and challenges of Critical Community Engaged Scholarship.   

Close & Reflect  

Join us for a short closing event of the 2023 Summer School. Connect with peers to share key takeaways from the week, reflect on how your experience will inform your practice moving forward, and identify ongoing questions, tensions and gaps to explore.  

Optional In Person Session  

This is your chance to meet and connect with fellow Summer School participants in person at Science Gallery London.  Share insights from your own experiences of working with communities over a cup of coffee, and hear about the support, funding and opportunities that exist across King’s for doing participatory research and community engagement activities,    

To Register  

Complete the online registration form available here by 5pm Wednesday 7 June, 2023. We will confirm your place on the school or otherwise by Friday 9 June at the latest but in the meantime, please ensure you keep space free in your diary for the school.