Children and Young People: Engagement Series Impact Explorer event

Want to find out how academic research could support your work?

Or maybe influence future research to better fit your needs?

Perhaps you would just like the opportunity to talk with like-minded people about your areas of interest…

The IAA Engagement Series is about all of the above - bringing people together around key topics to see how we could all share our skills and knowledge for mutual benefit and to have a greater impact on the challenges facing society today.

If that sounds interesting, we’d love to see you at the launch of the IAA Engagement Series on Monday 14th March 2016, 13:30-17:00. This will be the first of our Impact Explorer events looking at connecting real-world practice with academic research to increase the impact that research can have on services and products and to allow practitioners, businesses and social entrepreneurs to influence the direction of future research projects to better meet their needs and those of their service users/clients.

Children & Young People

This first series of events will be looking at the theme of “Children and Young People”. This is a wide ranging topic and we will be encouraging attendees to share in advance any specific issues or priorities that you would like to see discussed. To a large degree, the exact topics and themes will be shaped by the participants at the event, so we can ensure that it focusses on areas of interest and relevance.

Not just a talking shop…!

These events are partly about exploring topics of interest and making connections with others interested in that field, but they are also about finding tangible areas for collaboration and co-production of knowledge or co-delivery of projects. The themes or projects identified at the initial Impact Explorer events will be taken forward for development in subsequent facilitated workshops and will also have the opportunity to bid for funding from one of the two IAA funding streams to support their project.

So, what’s the IAA?

The IAA (“Impact Acceleration Account”) is a four-year programme being run by the University of York to connect research with practice and enable greater collaboration across sectors and disciplines to enable research to be better aligned with its potential uses outside academia. This should enable research to be of greater benefit to non-academics and ultimately have more beneficial impacts on society as a whole.

How do these events fit in?

The IAA Engagement Series is a new series of free-to-attend events, designed to support the IAA programme aims by increasing the connections and interaction between research and potential users of that research in a very practical way. This is not just about one “using” the other but about meaningful dialogue and collaboration leading to better outcomes for all.

The Engagement Series will look at a number of different themes over the lifetime of the IAA, starting in spring 2016 with the first Series on the theme of “Children and Young People”. The events themselves will be a combination of interactive events and workshops where you will have the opportunity to:

• meet other people interested in a theme;

• get to understand research practices;

• explore how research findings could be applied in your work context;

• influence future research projects to align them with your needs or those of your service users/clients;

• create new connections and relationships; and

• identify potential collaborations and projects to help achieve more direct societal and economic benefits from University research.

Who should attend?

There are no specific requirements for attending, other than a willingness to learn and understand others and offer your own experience and knowledge. There will be the opportunity to identify potential partners for future work and to begin to develop new project ideas as well as to look at how existing projects and research could be connected. Projects arising from the Engagement Series may also have the opportunity to bid for funding from the IAA Programme.

I want more information…

Information about the IAA in general can be found at: https://www.york.ac.uk/social-science/esrc-iaa/

Impact Acceleration Account Engagement Series: More Information

The Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) for social sciences was awarded to the University of York in 2014, initiating a four-year programme to increase the beneficial effects of academic research outside the field of academia and higher education. The aim is to enable the University’s social science research to have greater impact, benefitting society and the economy, through engaging and working with partners and other external organisations. This will bring mutual benefit - helping people to access and use the university to inform, support and evaluate projects and connecting the university more solidly with day-to-day practice.

The IAA Engagement Series is a new concept, designed to support IAA programme aims by increasing the connections and interaction between research and potential users of that research in a very practical way. This is not about one “using” the other but about meaningful collaboration leading to better outcomes for all.

The Engagement Series is a set of specific interactive events and workshops to increase understanding of research practices, explore how research findings can be better applied outside academia, align future research projects with tangible needs, create new connections and relationships, and identify potential collaborations and projects to help achieve more direct societal and economic benefits from University research.

This will include connecting both emerging research areas and existing research groups with policy makers, service providers, businesses and third sector to name but a few. The range and type of stakeholders who might be interested is open and varied. This in turn allows research to be applied more directly, by initiating local or regional pilot projects or deployment through existing services or businesses. It also enables proposed research to be informed by those who could ultimately make use of the research outcomes, by their being able to shape proposals at an earlier stage. The Engagement Series will look at a number of different themes over the lifetime of the IAA, starting in spring 2016 with the first Series on the theme of “Children and Young People”.

Each Series will consist of a half-day Impact Explorer launch event and around four (shorter) Accelerator Workshops over the following weeks and months. The Impact Explorer events bring together a range of people, including academics, policy makers, service providers, businesses, third sector and social entrepreneurs. In short, anyone who might benefit from having greater links to research or who may is conducting research that is of benefit to those outside academia. Key areas or projects will be identified and developed during the event and then taken into the Accelerator Workshops to develop into proposals or pilot projects, which have the potential to receive seed-funding from the York IAA.