Terms of Community Engagement

What are terms of engagement?

Engaging with the public and our local communities is a central element of building quality, excellence, and impact into Imperial research. One way we support engagement is by fostering equitable relationships between Imperial and our public and community partners, that provide mutual benefit to all involved.

This page outlines Imperial’s Terms of Community Engagement. It has been produced by the Public and Community Engagement team with staff from across Imperial as well as with community partners who have collaborated on Imperial research and engaged with our programmes. It outlines how we aim to think and act in our engagement work as well as how the Public and Community Engagement team can support this to happen. These are terms we recommend you use in all your engagement work.

If you have any questions about these terms or engagement, or any suggestions for improvement, please contact the Public and Community Engagement team.

Our values

The following values were developed initially by the P&CE team, building on Imperial’s five core values by reflecting specifically on our engagement work. They were then revisited and refined collaboratively with a co-production team of 20 people made up of Imperial staff and our community partners.

• Engagement partnerships aim to build shared knowledge, impact and legacy.
  We are wary of top-down, extractive relationships and language. This is our route to excellence and building quality into everything we do.  
• Our focus is on equity, accessibility, and mutuality.
  We aim to be collaborative but purposeful and pragmatic. It is ok for some people to lead but we must make sure that different kinds of expertise are supported and valued equally - alongside diverse perspectives, backgrounds and experiences - as important contributions to an inclusive Imperial community.
• We aim to build connection, but we need to be able to disagree with each other.
  Experiencing disagreement can be useful and something we can learn from as long as we treat each other fairly and appropriately, with kindness and respect. Collaboration is a two-way conversation. We need to be both vocal and active listeners, creating space for everyone to do both and develop together.  
• We embrace uncertainty and the benefits of this.
  We can’t control everything, but we become inspired by possibilities, venturing into the unknown with open minds and having the courage to embrace change. 
• We are honest, upfront, and transparent.
  We act in a principled way, being open about the limitations of resources as well as the constraints of systems and institutions. We can never assume we are working in line with our values. So, we check in, challenge and, where necessary, change our practices and behaviours. 

Our terms of engagement for community partnerships

Our terms of engagement have been developed in dialogue and consultation with Imperial staff and community partners. This has included working with the Collaboration Kickstarter’s co-production team as well as workshopping the terms at Imperial’s Engagement Day in 2024 and, finally, piloting and reviewing the terms with our first cohort of Collaboration Kickstarter teams.

The terms lay out how we expect all partners to work together and should be made clear and available to everyone engaging with an Imperial project or activity at the beginning of your time working together.

• Make sure everyone understands the context for your work together and what will happen next.
  It is important for everyone to know why the work is happening, what will happen with their contributions, and how this will influence work going forward. Take time to explain this at the start of an engagement and/or ensure written information is made available both before you start work together and on the day.
• Share a complete timeline for your work together.
  It should be clear how long your project or activity will last. This should include time to reflect on your work together, celebrate, and discuss collaboratively what could happen next.
• Ask how you can support each other to participate.
  Thinking about who is involved and asking what steps you can all take to support one another to contribute will ensure your work is as accessible and as equitable possible. Consider whether your work deals with sensitive or controversial topics and plan how you will signpost and support those participating where necessary.
• Make sure everyone knows who the project lead is and how to get in touch with them.
  People may have questions, need to raise issues, or want to request additional support to participate in an activity.
• Recognise and value everyone’s contribution and time.
  Community members should be paid for their contributions. If this is not possible, transparency is important. Be clear around payment and expenses and consider how you will recognise everyone’s contributions. This should include sharing the budget and planned spend for a project, highlighting payments to partners, reimbursement and any benefits they will receive.