Engagement Day 2022

Engagement Day 2022

We were delighted to welcome over 100 members of the Imperial community on 27 April for Engagement Day 2022, where we focused on the theme Engagement Forward, exploring how to build on current practices to enable a more diverse range of people to get involved with us through participatory methods.  

Speakers and delegates demonstrated how participatory research can make a positive impact on our futures, discussed the role of power when collaborating with others, observed how to approach a range of participatory methods and techniques, and through multiple examples, heard more about how we value the contribution of participants.  

92% of delegates left the day feeling inspired, keen to come along to other events and recommending the day to colleagues. 

• “Brilliant ideas on how to involve people in decisions” 
• “Engagement at Imperial is much larger than I was aware of” 
• “Inspiring!” 
• “The poetry was the most unexpected and beautiful instance of SciCom and improvisation” 

Programme

• Engagement Day 2022 Programme
• Engagement Day 2022 Programme with bios

Deep Dive discussions

Engagement Day offered three deep dive discussions that delegates could choose from. Here are some additional resources and information from the Deep Dive sessions: 

1) Exploring the depths of peer research: building relationships, challenging power dynamics and the role of effective training - Vas Papageorgiou, Jane Bruton, Wezi Thamm and Halle Johnson  

• Public Involvement Resource Hub 
• Peer Research Training Resource  - This training resource aims to support and provide a starting point for academics and public involvement practitioners who want to train people with a lived experience to become co-researchers in qualitative (interview-based) research studies.

2) Breathing together: a collaborative journey in engaging with children under five - Ellen Dowell and Vicky Cave

• www.breathingtogether.co.uk 
• Activity guide

3) Co-designing technology with young people - Joanne Thomas, Stephanie Mellor

We would like it if...

We would like it if we knew why this is happening. We would prefer it 
if we could be part of the why for why this is happening. 
We would like it if you shared your knowledge with us 
but also listened to ours. We would like to feel equal 
because we are equal. We would like it if you believed that 
deeply. We would like it if you came to us. We’re not that far away. 
We want to spend our time usefully. We are so busy 
with the rest of our lives. We would like it if you smiled 
and were pleased to see us. We might be nervous and resistant. 
We like to know you feel like that too, sometimes. We would like it if 
you showed us something cool. We want to be surprised and inspired 
even if we don’t know that we want that yet. We would like it 
if you made evaluation forms less evaluation form-y. We do not know 
why they are useful. We would like it if you made things easy to understand 
but didn’t dumb down. We are no less intelligent than you. We would like it 
if you held us. We would like to trust you. We would like it if we were trusted. 
We would like it if you got to know our lives. We would like to share that with you. 
We would like you to know that sometimes things are messy. 
We would like it if there were tea and biscuits provided. Sandwiches are always good. 
We would like it if we could tell our friends and family that we did something  
a little different today. We like to tell our stories and we like to be heard. 
Not just listened to, but heard. We would like it if you heard us. 
We would like it if you came back. We are still here after you are gone. 

by Dan Simpson

Find out more Dan Simpson through his website, his Twitter and Instagram channels.