Nick Barker, one of our Fellows and a truly inspiring individual, shares his experiences of working in a primary school serving an area of severe social deprivation in this powerful piece written for the Higher Education Policy Institute.

"What I wish for is that people with the responsibility of deciding the shape and form of our education system might, somehow, be able to see into the lives of children who grow up in one of the many communities such as the one where I work. That their two worlds could somehow, regularly, combine."

Did you miss our recent Festival of Social Science and Science on the Hill events? Well, you can catch up by watching videos of the sessions here.

The Warwick Institute of Engagement (WIE) is working with teams from across the University to put on a public programme of events and activities which will engage varied and diverse communities with our research.

As part of this, we are planning a series of monthly, themed 'roadshow' events which will take place in various locations around Coventry - at community centres, festivals, libraries, pop-ups etc. These roadshow residencies will work with local communities to co-create a series of performances, workshops, discussions, debates, and experiences.

We are currently looking for expressions of interest to work with our curating teams to populate each monthly event with content.

It has never been more important for us to reach out and engage the world around us, especially in an era of national lockdowns and the social disconnect associated with COVID-19.

But what does ‘engagement’ really mean at a higher education level? Engagement is all about universities working with those outside academia to share research, to collaborate on ideas and to make knowledge accessible to all. Through this, both we and our audiences gain valuable interaction and dialogue, working together for a fairer (and arguably better) society.

Professor Michael Scott explores this in our blog piece for HEPI