A new Societal Engagement Framework, launched last week, sets out the College's public engagement ambitions.

From making a positive impact in our local communities to engagement with patients, the Framework has been developed to realise the College’s commitment in the 2015-20 Strategy to share the wonder and importance of what we do.  

Staff gathered last Tuesday to mark the launch of the Framework at a thank you party for those who had contributed and for volunteers from the 2016 Imperial Festival.  

Championing engagement activities is part of Professor Maggie Dallman’s role as Associate Provost (Academic Partnerships), and she has led the development of the Framework for Societal Engagement over the past year. Thanking staff for their contributions to societal engagement and the development of the Framework, Professor Dallman said:

“Societal engagement is central to our institutional mission to achieve enduring excellence in research and education in science, engineering, medicine and business and its translation for the benefit of society.

“I have been incredibly impressed by our staff and students’ dedication to this important area of work, and there are many examples of inspirational societal engagement right across the College.”

The Framework is supported by an action plan to enable the College to prioritise activities and build on existing work and successes.

REWARDING WORK

At the event, Professor Dallman also announced the launch of a new set of awards – the Framework commits the College to supporting its staff, making sure that the right support, recognition and rewards are in place for outreach and public engagement.

Professor Dallman with Imperial's President, Professor Alice Gast

The new President’s Awards for Excellence in Societal Engagement will recognise and reward staff, students and community partners who have delivered excellence in schools engagement, community engagement, engagement with research and/or patient engagement.

Nominations are now open, and staff are invited to submit nominations before the 9 August deadline. 

WHITE CITY PARTNERS

Professor Dallman talked about the importance of working with local communities as part of Imperial’s societal engagement plans. She said:

“Our new campus at White City offers us an opportunity to support and engage with a local community in a new way and I am delighted to announce that we will be opening a new engagement and creativity hub on this campus, which we will be using as a base for our local community engagement.”