Engagement Week
Engagement Week is an opportunity for staff from across the College to share knowledge and experiences related to societal engagement. Featuring insightful workshops, panels, and talks, our debut event was a great success in 2018 leading to its return in 2020. This year, we're having to do things a little differently so we're bringing you an exciting extended programme to share learning and inspire high-quality engagement after a challenging year.
"[It was] super inspiring to see the great variety of innovative engagement within different teams."
Engagement Week 2021
Engaging society in times of change
After a year like no other, one where science and research have been in the spotlight, we're bringing you an extended programme of online talks and workshops. Join us 20-22 April as we share learnings for engaging society in times of change and crisis.
Keynote
Fozia Irfan - Director of Children and Young People, BBC Children in Need
Fozia is responsible for grant-making at Children in Need, ensuring that donations to the charity have the greatest impact for children and young people in the UK who need it most. She is also the founder of the DEI Coalition, a network of philanthropic funders committed to diversity and inclusion.
Other highlights
We'll be bringing you top speakers from cultural, engagement and communication professions including:
- Rachel Mackay - Manager, Historic Royal Palaces, Kew and founder of the Recovery Room
Rachel's research, alongside her 20-year career in the cultural sector, has made her an expert in helping attractions bounce back from crises. Tune in to hear about resilience in culture and engagement. - Andy Ridgway - Science Communication Lecturer, University of the West of England
Andy has a background in journalism, working with the BBC, New Scientist and The Economist. He will share insights into how people make sense of information during COVID-19 and what that means for our communications. - Dr Nicola Lang - Director of Public Health, Hammersmith and Fulham Council
Nicola is at the forefront of the pandemic response in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. She graduated in Medicine from Imperial and later specialised in public health, with a particular focus on marginalised groups.
Take your pick of our interactive workshops exploring some of the skills, ideas and understandings we have developed in the last year. Workshops include:
- ADAPT: Rethinking how we plan engagement activities in times of change and uncertainty
- COMMUNICATE: Interacting, presenting and collaborating online*
- CELEBRATE: Sharing our successes in public engagement and beyond
- ACTIVATE: Finding time and motivation for engagement work
- GOING OFFLINE: Digital exclusion and working with community groups
Discover the full programme below and book your place now!
*Please note, this workshop is now fully booked
Engagement Week full programme
Tuesday 20 April | |
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Welcome 9.45-10.00 |
Maggie is Vice President (International), Associate Provost (Academic Partnerships) and Professor of Immunology. She leads on Imperial's Societal Engagement strategy. |
Keynote 10.00 - 11.00 |
Fozia is the Director for Children and Young People at BBC Children in Need. She is responsible for ensuring that all donations to Children in Need are distributed effectively and equitably with the greatest impact for children and young people in the UK. She has a background leading community foundations and created the DEI Coalition - a network of philanthropic funders committed to diversity and inclusion. She is also working with the Health Foundation on the impacts of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable in our society. |
Break | |
Lightning talks 11.30-12.30 |
Hear how Imperial colleagues have engaged with the public in innovative ways throughout the pandemic. Speakers from across the College will have 5 minutes to share their creative approaches to engagement. |
Creative lunch Public engagement requires creativity! So grab your sandwiches and join us to have a go at something different. You never know what ideas it may spark. |
Illustrated lettering | 12.30-13.10 Quick-fire poetry | 13.00-13.30 |
Wednesday 21 April | |
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Creative lunch Public engagement requires creativity! So grab your sandwiches and join us to have a go at something different. You never know what ideas it may spark. |
Illustrated lettering | 12.30-13.10 Quick-fire poetry | 13.00-13.30 |
In conversation: Resilience and crises in culture and engagement 13.30-14.30 |
With 20 years' experience in the cultural sector and a passion for enabling attractions to provide great visitor experiences, Rachel has a wealth of knowledge to share from her learnings over the past year. Not only is she the Manager of the Historic Royal Palaces, Kew, she is also the Founder of The Recovery Room - a platform that's helping heritage charities rebuild and recover after the COVID-19 shutdowns. Rachel has also recently completed a research project analysing how museums and heritage organisations have responded to the pandemic from a crisis management perspective. |
Break | |
Workshops 15.00-16.30 |
ADAPT: Rethinking how we plan engagement activities in times of change and uncertainty [FULLY BOOKED] COMMUNICATE: Interacting, presenting and collaborating online CELEBRATE: Sharing our successes in public engagement and beyond* *This workshop is repeated on Thursday. |
Thursday 22 April | |
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Workshops 10.00-11.30 |
ACTIVATE: Finding time and motivation for engagement GOING OFFLINE: Digital exclusion and working with community groups CELEBRATE: Sharing our successes in public engagement and beyond |
Break | |
In conversation: Communicating science during a pandemic 12.00-13.15 |
A journalist for over 20 years, Andy has worked with the BBC, New Scientist and The Economist, including as Deputy Editor for BBC Focus. Andy is a Senior Lecturer in Science Communication at the University of the West of England. His latest work - part of a large European project, RETHINK, exploring digital science communication - is looking at how people make sense of the information they receive about COVID-19 from varied sources. As the Director of Public Health in Hammersmith and Fulham, Nicola has been leading the response to the pandemic in the borough alongside other public health initiatives. She graduated from Imperial in 2000 with a degree in medicine and completed specialist public health training in South West London and the Department of Health in 2011. Nicola is dedicated to improving the health of marginalised groups including people in contact with the criminal justice system, looked after children, homeless persons, and people with mental health or substance misuse issues. Felicity is a Senior Lecturer and Course Director for Imperial's Science Communication MSc. She specialises in the media representation of science. Her research projects have included a content analysis of the impartiality of the BBC's science coverage. |
Closing remarks 13.15-13.30 |
Maggie is Vice President (International), Associate Provost (Academic Partnerships) and Professor of Immunology. She leads on Imperial's Societal Engagement strategy. |