Launch of Engaged Research Report

The launch of the report into Engaged Research: Society & Higher Education took place on Friday, January 13, 2017. The report was produced by Campus Engage (a network led by the 7 Irish universities and Dublin Institute of Technology) with funding from the Irish Research Council. Engaged Research is a response to the European Commission’s research and innovation programme Horizon 2020, which has signalled a shift from ‘pure’ research to research and innovation, requiring academic researchers to consider explicitly the implications of their research with regard to societal challenges and issues of public concern. Thus, engagement between third-level researchers and community stakeholders is of growing importance.

The Engaged Research report finds that a great deal of research undertaken with community partners rather than for them – that is, engaged research – is already taking place in Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). However, such research remains uncoordinated and lacks a strategic underpinning. In order to develop a more coherent nationwide approach to the promotion of engaged research, the report offers three sets of recommendations: one set for HEIs; one set for policy-making bodies; and one for funding bodies. For HEIs, it is suggested that specific training be provided on good practice for engaged research (to be developed in partnership with civic and civil society partners); that dedicated staff be assigned to institution-community partnerships; that local communication and information systems be created to link HEIs to capture past and ongoing projects and promote mutual learning; among other recommendations.

Much of what is called for in the Engaged Research report in a specifically Irish context is complementary to a European project involving HERC.  The UNIBILITY project (universities meets social responsibility) involves  partner universities from Austria, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Romania and Slovenia, as well as eucen (European Continuing Education Network). UNIBILITY aims to promote and develop ‘social responsibility’ activities, including engaged research, among partner universities, and has already provided training sessions aimed at academic and support staff as well as student workshops. UNIBILITY has also developed a toolkit of good practices (available to download at the project website), similar to the “methods toolbox” called for in Engaged Research. The move towards greater research engagement, and the development of a strategic vision informing it, is set to be a feature of the universities of the near future, and Irish HEIs would benefit not only from greater cooperation with each other, but also from increased familiarity with innovative practice internationally.

HERC will be hosting a series of events associated with the UNIBILITY project in the near future. If interested in learning more, please contact me on: mark.wallace@dcu.ie