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'Putting Democracy and engagement in university research'. Dr Paula Black Director, Nottingham Civic Exchange, Nottingham Trent University. The context. Multiple demands on academic and other staff The University civic mission – to what extent is the organisation a ‘civic university’
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'Putting Democracy and engagement in university research' Dr Paula Black Director, Nottingham Civic Exchange, Nottingham Trent University
The context • Multiple demands on academic and other staff • The University civic mission – to what extent is the organisation a ‘civic university’ • University as an anchor institution in the Place it is located • Multiple incentive and assessment structures – REF, TEF, NSS, Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) • The university has many front doors
The Civic University • What is the Civic University? • Research, teaching and engagement activities enhance each other and are given equal weight
The Civic University • What acts against the civic university? • Silos and accountability regimes which see teaching, research and engagement as separate • The focus on enterprise and business engagement as the only/primary route through which universities engage with the local place • Status or priority given to research and teaching – seen separately to ‘third mission’ activities
What is Nottingham Civic Exchange? • NCE is Nottingham Trent University’s ‘Civic Think Tank’ • NCE supports the role of Nottingham Trent University as an anchor institution in the City and the region. • Established in partnership with the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).
Why we set up Nottingham Civic Exchange • Facilitate the impact of our research on policy and practice. • Address the needs of our local communities. • Linking our observations about our city and county to national policy debates. • Enhance NTU’s civic engagement. • Building connections between our students and staff, and civic agencies. • Provide our students with practical experience of the analysis, dissemination, and impact on policy.
Creating the University of the future • Nottingham Trent University five strategic themes: • Creating Opportunity • Valuing Ideas • Enriching Society • Connecting Globally • Empowering People
Where have we started? Ordinary Working Families, the Just About Managing, the Squeeze Middle.
Ordinary Working Families Just about managing Squeezed middle Alarm clock Britain OWFs: A household where at least one person is working, where there is at least one child and where household earnings after tax and benefits is between £12,000-34,000 pa This does not cover subjective experience of economic insecurity
Why Ordinary Working Families? • The challenges facing people earning low to medium salaries have remained high on the political agenda in recent years. • The debate is not simply about the level of household income. It encompasses practical matters around access to housing and education alongside less immediately tangible concerns, such as financial resilience and feelings of economic insecurity. • A significant proportion of NTU students come from households in the OWF income bracket. • Bringing local voices into the policy arena
Programme – setting the context • Phase 1: To develop an understanding of the population, living in Greater Nottingham, characterised as falling into the OWFs category and to compare this to the national picture. Data and mapping. • Phase 2: To situate the OWFs discussion in a broader policy and academic context – this has focused on economic insecurity. • Phase 3: A research programme with a focus on housing issues; economic insecurity; and lived experience. • For publications and events see: www.ntu.ac.uk/nce
Current activity • A research programme which responds to the challenge ‘how much do we really know about the experience of Ordinary Working Families’? This includes the social, cultural and economic context • Housing affordability • Economic insecurity and precarious work • Inclusive Growth – advising the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership • A series events including launch of RSA report on economic insecurity; live budget response to media bringing academics, students and other citizens together to deliberate and give their views
The context: challenges • Working at different levels - engagement at community level is only one way to achieve change. How to ensure communities are represented across of our work • Fulfilling a range of requirements (funding; student experience; community relationships; impact agenda) • Time and multiple demands • Keeping track of work already going on • Working horizontally across the university, communities and regional governance structures • Need to be entrepreneurs but also ‘intrepreneurs’
The context: what has helped us? • The University strategy • Support of Vice Chancellor and senior colleagues • Good networks into the city, county and region • Building on the groundwork and good will already established though individual relationships and the role NTU has played over previous years • Being core funded – we are around for the long-haul
Paula.black@ntu.ac.uk • @NottsCivicEx • www.ntu.ac.uk/nce
Questions • How do we best engage with communities who are not self-identified and not easy to locate? • What impact does this have on how we conduct research? • This is relevant for our work with ordinary Working families or those experiencing Economic Insecurity but is also relevant for other communities who might not see themselves as such
