Skip to content

CIVIC LEARNING

Blog about working with communities and business to promote sustainable development

Tag: Public engagement

Insight into how we are serving our communities in Covid-19

10 May 202013 Mar 2022 Posted in Community, Higher Education, Public engagementLeave a comment

With universities under great scrutiny to demonstrate how they serving their communities during the Covid-19, I thought this would be a good time to talk about the work currently being undertaken at De Montfort University, Leicester. 

Continue reading “Insight into how we are serving our communities in Covid-19”
communityHigher EducationPublic engagement

An unbroken chain of commitment that gives hope to victims of human rights violations

17 Nov 201717 Jun 2019 Posted in Community, Higher Education, Participation, Political participation, Public engagement, Research

I have gone 28-hours without sleep. I was awake through the coldest night of winter so far with many other hardy souls from De Montfort University, Leicester, to demonstrate our solidarity with victims of breaches of human rights worldwide with a 24-hour vigil.  I was willing to deprive myself of sleep and do this is because I believe that being civically and politically engaged is a crucially important attribute all students should learn and develop. Secondly a vigil is really interesting and entertaining, a place where views of different people from a variety of disciplines can come together and pull ideas apart and put them back together again and develop understanding. Finally, I believe that an outdoor vigil that lasts 24-hours is symbolic. It shows an unbroken chain of commitment that gives those suffering violations of human rights hope that there are good people out there who want to make the world a better place. 

Continue reading “An unbroken chain of commitment that gives hope to victims of human rights violations”
Civic ParticipationHigher EducationPolitical engagementPublic engagementstudent activism

Public Engagement Blog: Proaction Cafe creates debate about what Smart City should look like

12 May 201717 Jun 2019 Posted in Community, Higher Education, Participation, Public engagement, Research, Smart City, Uncategorized

Using waste ground coffee to grow mushrooms, create a make-do-and-mend culture and find ways to stimulate a ‘sharing economy’ were at least three ideas for a ‘Smart City’ I didn’t see coming. They were given to me at Leicester’s first Proaction Café at the LCB Deport. I was asked to host a table at the event and seek a solution to my challenge – in my case consulting people on what does Leicester as a Smart City mean to you? It is part of what hopefully be a series of Proaction Café’s in the city led by Leicester Interchange. Billed as ‘Idea Generation’, the event invited people to come to support others to generate ideas on how they can address social issues that affect the lives of Leicester’s residents. Around 30 people joined the session and they were invited to choose which subject they would like to contribute to from the five table hosts at the event.

Continue reading “Public Engagement Blog: Proaction Cafe creates debate about what Smart City should look like”
LeicesterPublic engagementSmart City

Public Engagement blog: The Why, Where, How, When and Who of academic blogging

7 May 201717 Jun 2019 Posted in Higher Education, Participation, PhD experiences, Public engagement, Research

Welcome to this lightning guide to the benefits of blogging at De Montfort University’s Research Conference for Doctoral and Early Career Researchers entitled: Your Research Journey: The challenges of writing. I have a blog that I update when I can. Often it is as a result of doing literature reviews or writing articles and experiences as I pursue my PhD. There is also other stuff on there I like to share – family history, travel and random ideas to get off my chest. As I only have ten minutes I just want to give you some key points about blogging that will hopefully inspire you. I am Head of Public Engagement at DMU so it is important that I encourage all staff and students to deploy a variety of methods of sharing knowledge. Once such was of reaching out and sharing ideas is blogging. Like most engagement, the benefits are usually two-fold for you and the university and your audience. Academic blogging is a valid and useful method of public engagement. It allows you share your work and ideas. Like all forms of public engagement, this can help to build trust and understanding of the work, particularly research, that takes universities, and helps to increase understanding of our relevance to, and impact, on society. That said, there are drawbacks to consider – you may get trolled for your ideas or receive critiques that perhaps you didn’t want to hear. In the main the benefits of blogging outweigh the negatives. Positive outcomes include creating new networks, contacts and building your researcher reputation.

Continue reading “Public Engagement blog: The Why, Where, How, When and Who of academic blogging”
Academic bloggingBlogginggood ideasLearningLeicesterPublic engagementstudent experience

Public Engagement blog: Design your life in an app and define what a Smart City could be…

26 Feb 201717 Jun 2019 Posted in Citizen Science, Participation, Public engagement, Research, Smart City, Uncategorized

What is a Smart City?

Most people don’t know what a ‘Smart City’ is, and let’s face it why would they care? Even the most simplified definition, like this one, taken from Wikipedia, would switch off any man or woman in the street quicker than a dodgy smartphone battery: “A smart city is an urban development vision to integrate multiple information and communication technology (ICT) and Internet of things (IoT) solutions in a secure fashion to manage a city’s assets – the city’s assets include, but are not limited to, local departments’ information systems, schools, libraries, transportation systems, hospitals, power plants, water supply networks, waste management, law enforcement, and other community services.” If you haven’t already blown your own brains out and get the gist of it, you soon realise that this stuff is much bigger than us, so probably wont engage with it. To quote The Smiths: “It says nothing to me about my life…”  I met with my colleague Dr Lee Hadlington who sits with me and on the De Montfort University Smart City Project Board to work out how we can get people more involved in the idea, as we work on a plan to see how Leicester could be a Smart City*.

Continue reading “Public Engagement blog: Design your life in an app and define what a Smart City could be…”
LeicesterPublic engagementSmart City

Public Engagement blog: Is austerity motivating students to volunteer in an era of tuition fees?

15 Jan 201717 Jun 2019 Posted in Community, Higher Education, PhD experiences, Public engagement, Research

Here is a piece of writing that I did recently that ambitiously I was hoping to turn into a research paper and send to an academic journal. My PhD supervisors’ feedback was that the scope was too broad and I should refine it. Since that conversation, I have taken those words on board and I’m currently developing a more focused research plan, which will potentially spin-off a number of pieces of research from this initial idea. I wanted to investigate where students’ awareness of austerity is motivating them to volunteer in the new era of Higher Education tuition fees.I thought I would blog my original writing as it will prove a useful reference point as my ideas and writing develops on this subject area. Obviously I’ve made it blog friendly and cut some details around data gathering and methodology out – oh and there’s no findings! On the other hand, it does present the notion that somewhere within this subject matter, there is an opportunity for further investigation.

Continue reading “Public Engagement blog: Is austerity motivating students to volunteer in an era of tuition fees?”
austerityHigher EducationPublic engagementstudent experiencetuition feesvolunteering

Public Engagement Podcast: Working with refugees in Berlin

23 Sep 201617 Jun 2019 Posted in Podcasts, Public engagement, Uncategorized1 Comment

I was recently with a delegation of De Montfort University (DMU) students researching Berlin’s response to the huge influx of Syrian people to the city – so that we can reinvigorate a programme to help refugees and asylum seekers in Leicester, United Kingdom. During my time in the German capital I recorded the following podcast with two DMU students, Nabs and Ruth, who were interviewed with ex-Syrian refugee, now architecture student, Manar.

#RefugeesWelcomeBerlinPublic engagementRefugeesSyria

Public Engagement Blog: Students learning with Syrian refugees creates a powerful energy

3 Sep 201617 Jun 2019 Posted in Community, Public engagement, Research, Uncategorized3 Comments

In a gloomy, dank school gymnasium in a backstreet of Berlin I got a tiny insight into what life is like for the displaced people of Syria who find themselves trying to settle in Germany. One sports hall in the complex was turned into a makeshift community centre for children and families. Adjacent to this was the living area for up to 150 families who have come to Germany in search of a better life. In my role as Head of Public Engagement at De Montfort University, I was with a delegation of  (DMU) students researching the city’s response to the huge influx of Syrian people – so they can reinvigorate a programme to help refugees and asylum seekers in Leicester,

Continue reading “Public Engagement Blog: Students learning with Syrian refugees creates a powerful energy”
#RefugeesWelcomeBerlinLearningPublic engagementRefugeesSyria

Public engagement blog podcast: Recreating the 1960s cinema experience

11 Jul 2016 Posted in Higher Education, Participation, Podcasts, Public engagement, Research, Uncategorized

There’s nothing like a great piece of music, fashion or a movie to set the scene of the 1960s some of the most exciting and creative times in modern history. Earlier this month I was lucky enough to take part in an event in London where a group of De Montfort University staff and students recreated the 1960s cinema experience from the findings of research of more than 1,000 people sharing their memories. The research project was led by DMU’s Dr Matthew Jones and was brought to life in collaboration with staff and students from DMU’s Drama studies course.For me, it was great to see such an innovative way to disseminate research findings. This podcast was recorded at the event, held at the Picturehouse Cinema in London’s Piccadilly Circus. It features first year DMU Drama Student Sophie Dolling, Senior lecturers in Drama Kelly Jordan and Alissa Clarke and Lecturer in Cinema and Television History, Dr Matthew Jones. Read the full blog about the event here.  I hope you enjoy the podcast, if you have any questions please email me on mcharlton@dmu.ac.uk

1960sCinemaPublic engagementResearch

Innovative public engagement idea shares research recreates 1960s cinema-going experience

11 Jul 201617 Jun 2019 Posted in Higher Education, Public engagement2 Comments

I don’t know if it was the offer of a free sherbert lemon from an usherette or the constant flashing of torches throughout the film, but, on a wet Wednesday in London, the experience of sights, sounds and colour of 1960s movie-going was convincingly brought to life by staff and students of De Montfort University, Leicester. In terms of attention to detail, it couldn’t have looked better. The Picturehouse in Piccadilly Circus, London, still exhorts the splendour of a classic cinema of yesteryear, so it was the ideal location for a group of DMU academics and drama students to take a venue back in time.

Continue reading “Innovative public engagement idea shares research recreates 1960s cinema-going experience”
good ideasPublic engagement

Posts navigation

Previous Posts
  • Home
  • Blog
    • Participation
    • Public engagement
    • Personal stuff
    • Community
    • Research
    • Podcasts
    • Citizen Science
    • PhD experiences
    • Higher Education
    • Other Projects

This blog:

I’m Mark Charlton, Associate Director of Sustainable Development Impact and Net Zero Research Director at De Montfort University (DMU), Leicester, United Kingdom.  I’m passionate about universities working with businesses and communities on ideas to tackle climate change and achieve the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. I am an advocate of Public Engagement in Research and Citizen Science as well as Service-Learning, community-based learning, civic learning, the scholarship of engagement, learning-linked volunteering and all the other ways we describe students sharing their skills and knowledge beyond the campus.  I currently lead the United Nations Academic Impact Initiative Global Academic Hub for SDG 16 at DMU. I am a PhD Scholar, researching the impacts of civic engagement on students’ political participation (SDG16). Contact me via mcharlton@dmu.ac.uk

Tweets by TheNewStatsman
Website Powered by WordPress.com. CIVIC LEARNING
CIVIC LEARNING
Website Powered by WordPress.com.
  • Follow Following
    • CIVIC LEARNING
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • CIVIC LEARNING
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...