Partnering to Support InclusionProf Lesley McAra (Assistant Principal Community Relations)

The University and the City

Strategic imperatives• Delivering impact for society

• Contributing locally as one of four development themes

• Putting our research and teaching in the service of the local community

• Building and strengthening relationships with the City region and its communities

What ‘contributing locally’ means for the University and its communities: examples

For the community• University co-produces research/services which solve real-life problems in community • Communities can access information about services provided (in-reach)

For the University• Student experience: creates a stronger sense of identity and common purpose• Research: creates stronger and clearer pathways to research impact, the City-Region

provides a living context for co-produced research projects that seek to be genuinely transformative

• Learning and teaching: creates opportunities to build experiential learning into the curriculum

• Alumni relations : opportunities to engage alumni and encourage sponsorship

What are the problems to be solved?

Edinburgh City: spatial distribution of social

deprivation

Based on Census data: score derived from 6 indicators of social and economic stress: population turnover; %

households lone parents and children; % households overcrowded; % population aged 10 -24; % households live in

local authority housing; % population unemployed

Based on Census data: score derived from 6 indicators of social and economic stress: population turnover; % households lone parents and children; % households overcrowded; % population aged 10 -24;% households live in local authority housing; % population unemployed

Police recorded violent crimePolice-recorded violent crime

Incivilities observed by cohort

School exclusion across Edinburgh

Top 10 excluding schools

Detention across Edinburgh

Find out more about the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime at: http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/research/making_a_difference/esytc

The challengesPartnering to promote ‘inclusive growth’ which transforms the lives of the many, not the few

• Future-scoping

• Engaging and mobilising hard-to-reach groups

• Transforming the academic role from ‘pedagogy’ to co-production

And what are the solutions?The contribution of the community engagement strategy to promoting inclusive growth and community benefit

Infrastructure, projects and events• New ‘Local’ component of University website (launch Sept 2017)

• Mapping extant relationships and outreach activity and social impact survey (on-going)

• Community of practice (experiential learning) (launch Feb 2018)

• Co-curricular pathways linked to social responsibility and sustainability (soft launch Sept 2017)

• First set of Social Impact Pledges delivered (Oct 2017)

• Community events on critical issues

- Brexit and You

- What does Donald Trump Mean?

• City council events in support of community planning and the city vision for 2050

- Capacities (of city and its communities to absorb more business, tourists, students etc)

-Mobilities (accessibility, transport, population flows, the dynamics of public space)

-Health inequalities

-Education exclusion

• Flagship projects…..

Characteristics of flagship projects• Integrate research and teaching

• Involve external partnerships (with locally-based individuals, groups, institutions)

• Have transformative impact on the community

• Have transformative impact on the student experience

• Have spin-off potential for research grant applications

• Are evaluated and learning used to up-scale

• What does a 21st century student look like?

- Core (subject) discipline

- A student of all the talents

- Students as agents of social change

Presentations

(i) Homeless Health and Inclusion Centre Dr Fiona Cuthill, (School of Health in Social Science)

(ii) The Edinburgh Gateway Project Professor Remo Pedreschi (Edinburgh College of Art)

(iii) The Mastercard Foundation Scholars ProgrammeJohanna Holtan (Programme Manager) and Porai Gwendere (Student Representative)

(iv) The Hunter Square ProjectVivian Ho, Emma Martin, Lara Pedreschi (Student Representatives)

(v) Building Local Innovation Hubs, Ecosystems and PlatformsProfessor Andy Kerr (Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation)

Homeless Health and Inclusion CentreDr Fiona Cuthill (School of Health in Social Science)

School Health in Social Science

Learning and Teaching

Free legal advice

Critical Literacy

Digital ambassadors

Counselling services

Art therapy

Health and social care

placements

Research

Delivering quality health and social care services

Health improvement

Learning for health and social care professionals

Student and Staff

Volunteering

Student Social Enterprise for health and wellbeing

Edinburgh Access GP Practice

[focus around Service Users]

International Partnerships

Toronto Global City Region

Centre for Urban Health

Solutions

Edinburgh Global City Region

Singapore Global City RegionUrban Health: National University of

Singapore

Edinburgh Global Change Forum

Health and Digital Science

The Edinburgh Gateway Project Professor Remo Pedreschi (Edinburgh College of Art)

The Edinburgh Gateway Project: Background

ESALA: research in novel ways to produce concreteDisruptive – Uses flexible formworks

Changes perception of materialProduces better concreteMore efficient/complex formsEmbedded in teaching

The Edinburgh Gateway ProjectOther projects:Castleview Primary School, CraigmillarRHS Chelsea Flower Show Whitburn HousingDorrator Bridge Falkirk

The Edinburgh Gateway ProjectA new transport hub. Opened December 2016Installations based on themes of Urban Biodiversity and Place Inverkeithing High School, South QueensferryCommunity High School, Network Rail, Balfour Beatty, Concrete Scotland, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

https://vimeo.com/195317594

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars ProgrammeJohanna Holtan (Programme Manager) and Porai Gwendere (Student Representative)

The Hunter Square ProjectVivian Ho, Emma Martin, Lara Pedreschi (Student Representatives)

Hunter Square

“What attracts people most to squares, it would appear, is other

people” – William H Whyte

Problems

Power dynamics

Dirty/smelly

Hidden areas

Redundant toilets

Redundant phone boxes

Anti-social behaviour

Drug misuse

Challenges to considerMany of those causing problems are residents Ban will move the problem somewhere elseSanitizing city space can increase intolerance

Building Local Innovation Hubs, Ecosystems and PlatformsProfessor Andy Kerr (Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation)

Edinburgh City Vision

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwa2B5zN4l4

“University to play pivotal role in creating Data Capital

of Europe”

DEAL AIM: Jobs / Economic Growth (GVA)

Challenges• Co-production model challenges

academic cultures; very different from tech transfer / IP or “expert knows best” model

• Too often transactional – via individual projects – rather than relational – over time, so difficult to embed in core business

• Professional KE staff have limited career paths available to them

BUT…MAJOR OPPORTUNITIES AS

• LOTS of large £/€ funds around for innovation ecosystems (EIT-KICs, UKRI, SFC ICs, etc); positive impact on locality and on students/staff

Value of innovation ecosystems?

We must…to secure future research funds

We want to…to have a positive impact on the world (mission); it forces cross-sector, cross-disciplinary system thinking

We want to…as our students benefit from access to future employers; working on challenging “real” problems; shaping our/their world.

Questions for Discussion

Key questions

• What opportunities are presented by the community engagement strategy to enhance the student experience (including skills development) and sense of belonging (building community) via curricular reform, modes of pedagogy and research-infused teaching?

• What are the challenges involved in evaluating our community engagement activities with a view to up-scaling, sustaining and measuring their impact?

• How do we practically embed the concept of co-production into our core business, by empowering rather than overwhelming local community groups?

• How can we better engage alumni in these new and exciting opportunities?

Re-imagining the civic university

The task that awaits us is to help the University rise to the challenges it

faces so that we can succeed in making the fullest use of our

exceptional resources for the benefit of all of humankind.

Professor Derek Bok

Interlude: Three Minute Thesis Competition WinnerEuan Doidge (Highly Commended Award, Universitas 21 Three Minute Thesis competition; PhD Student of Inorganic Chemistry)

waste electrical & electronic equipment

Au

Pt

Fe

Au

Au

OIL

WATER

GOLD

OIL

WATER

SOLVENT EXTRACTION

Pt

Fe

Exhibition of student work

• Hunter Square• MasterCard Foundation Students• The Edinburgh Gateway project• The Outreach Project • Student-Led Individually Created Courses• Digital Ambassadors • Student Social Enterprise

/ Enactus

/ Our Speakeasy

/ E Health and Fitness

/ ELPIS