Annual Conference of the Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British Geographers, London, Tuesday 30 August to Friday 2 September 2016

Call for participation

From nexus thinking to ‘next to us’ thinking and doing: universities working with local communities to promote social justice

Sponsored by the Geographies of Justice Research Group

Convened by Lee Crookes (University of Sheffield) and Sally Lloyd-Evans (University of Reading)

If nexus thinking is about crossing boundaries and making connections then universities could begin by turning their attention towards the communities of which they are a part and work to break down the traditional silos of town and gown, research and teaching and academic and local knowledge.   To some extent, universities do already engage with their surrounding communities in various, positive ways as employers, as the users and purchasers of local services and through service learning activities, student volunteering and a variety of other events and outreach initiatives.  Of course, some research may have a direct or indirect impact on the locality and student spending makes a significant contribution to local economies.  But, in the current context of austerity, where the straitened financial circumstances of many local authorities, third sector organisations, communities and households mean that the world which abuts the campus is faced with an ever more challenging, complex and pressing set of issues, most universities could probably do more to mobilise the staff, students, buildings, facilities, knowledge and influence that they have in order to work towards a more efficient, equitable and sustainable use and distribution of resources.   Often overlooked in universities’ ambitions for global excellence and world-leading research, working with those communities next to us might help us to develop a more grounded understanding and application of the value of nexus thinking and potentially nurture transformative long-term impacts.  

With this in mind, this panel session focuses on recent university engagements with local communities that are receiving funding under the Big Lottery-funded programme, Big Local.  Big Local (http://localtrust.org.uk/) is a ten year programme of community-led regeneration that is being implemented in 150 low-income communities across England, with each community being awarded £1m to invest in initiatives that seek to respond to the needs identified by local residents.  With few restrictions on how the funding should be invested, the programme aims to provide local people with an opportunity to come together and build the capacity to make a positive and lasting difference in their community.   This will not be a straightforward task, however, as each area faces a different set of difficult circumstances ranging from unemployment, debt, fuel poverty and food poverty to issues around transport, housing, health, education, crime and environmental degradation.   Some universities are already working with Big Local areas to address these issues and the panel will reflect on the challenges, achievements and failures of this existing collaborative work.  Equally, however, the panel also seeks to explore the scope for developing new community-university partnerships in other Big Local areas and to identify the ethical and collaborative practices that are essential to the development of mutually beneficial, progressive partnerships that serve to ground nexus thinking and doing in ways that promote social justice.

We would welcome talks on a range of topics, including but not limited to:

•	The experience of academics and students who are working with Big Local areas 
•	Residents’ experiences of working with a university
•	The ethics of community-university collaboration
•	The challenges of long-term university-community engagement
•	Identifying partners in universities and communities

Just to emphasise, although the main focus of the Panel session will be on examples where universities are working with Big Local communities, the session is open to academics, community representatives and students who are involved in any university-community partnership that is dealing with any or all of the issues outlined above.  

Format: A panel session consisting of 6 x 10 minute talks. This will allow space for time at the end for 40 minutes of discussion. 

Proposals for talks, with a title, a short outline of up to 250 words and your full contact details, should be sent to Lee Crookes ([log in to unmask]) by Wednesday 17th February