Abbie and Emily attended the first day of the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) Engage Summit in Birmingham on 29 April, representing Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) Somerset.
The event brought together people from across and beyond higher education who care about how universities work with and support society. It provided a space to share ideas, learn from others, and explore how universities and communities can work together to create positive, long-term change.
Emily said:
“I really liked the strong message throughout the event that universities shouldn’t be seen as the only holders of knowledge. Communities and local organisations have a wealth of knowledge too, and higher education needs to do more to listen to, respect, and work together with communities.”
Abbie added:
“I enjoyed talking with public engagement professionals about our work, including how we’ve involved community members and people with lived experience to help shape and steer our projects. It was also great to hear about others’ experiences working in this space.”
Alongside attending workshops, Abbie and Emily presented a poster titled ‘Supporting community members and organisations to co-produce and lead research’. This showcased the work of the community participation team and wider Somerset HDRC.
The poster highlighted practical ways the team works with communities to address health inequalities and create space for community voices, including people with lived experience, to be heard in decision-making.
Emily and Abbie said:
“It was exciting to speak with delegates who were interested in using similar approaches in their own work. We had really positive feedback on both the content and design of the poster. We would also like to thank the communications and design team for helping bring our idea to life.”
