See the programme

1.1 Welcome and panel discussion (+livestream): Putting Hope into Action

Welcome

• Heather Viles, Associate Head (Research), Social Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Chair of the Oxford ESRC IAA and Professor of Biogeomorphology and Heritage Conservation.

Panel discussion: What role do the social sciences have in creating hope in these difficult times and what are the key success factors in turning hope into action?

• Heather Viles, Panel Chair, University of Oxford
• Mel Knetsch, Deputy Director, Innovation and Impact, Economic and Social Research Council
• Tim Vorley, Pro Vice-Chancellor & Dean Oxford Brookes Business School, Oxford Brookes University and Director of the Innovation Caucus
• Sravya Rao, Deputy Director, Economy & Strategic Analysis, UK Government Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 

1.2.1 Panel session: Delivering impact in low- and middle-income countries and the global south (+livestream)

In this panel, we will hear from three teams working on highly participatory projects in Rwanda, Kenya and Colombia (and beyond). Whether developing an approach to support smallholder farmers that has been picked up by 20 countries, creating a locally based spin-out with an associated education programme, or a social lab for neighbourhoods which is making national waves, these researchers are putting international communities dealing with complex challenges at the heart of their approach.

• Peter Dorward, University of Reading: Integrating climate services in a participatory extension approach.
• Penny Fraser, Education and Training Africa and Patrick Thomson, University of Oxford: Schools clubs and social enterprises: two routes to impact from water research in Kenya 
• Carlos López-Galviz, Lancaster University: Equitable urban futures in areas of transition

1.2.2 Case Study: From theory to policy: Building an evidence community around outcomes-based commissioning

When it comes to developing more robust evidence-based policymaking, researchers and practitioners can tend to operate under a different set of expectations, incentives and rules. Despite a growth in academic literature on methods to bridge the gap between camps, there remains a need to look more closely at the practices that help facilitate knowledge exchange. Since 2016, the Government Outcomes Lab (GO Lab) at the University of Oxford has specialised in the study of outcomes-based commissioning, a tool adopted by a number of public authorities in pursuit of efficient cross-sector partnerships to tackle social problems.

• Andreea Anastasiu and Juliana Outes Velarde, GO Lab, University of Oxford

1.2.3 Panel session: Impact over the life course: responding to challenges that transitional life stages bring

Research partnerships that benefit from the social sciences can provide important support for key moments in peoples’ lives. In this session, we explore three projects engaging with different groups at transitional life stages, and the co-produced work which seeks to improve how many more people can be understood and supported in the future as a result.

• Antonia MacKay, Oxford Brookes University: Birth, Motherhood and the Home during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Carol Fuller, University of Reading: ‘Enriching Lives’: Supporting women out of the criminal justice system
• Manik Deepak Gobinath and Mahera Ruby, The Open University; Leena Khan, Bangla Housing Association; Shahana Begum, Farjana Islam and Aminur Rahman, Bangla Research Advisory Group:  ‘Amar Bari, Amar Jibon (My home, My Life)’ Co-producing research – Finding common ground to build community-academic research partnerships.

1.2.4  Case study: The Immersive Experience Network (IEN): a data-driven approach to building a collaborative creative community

This session looks at approaches to data and what shifts away from traditional data-gathering approaches might mean in terms of positive change. A collaboration between the University of Birmingham and Immersive Experience Network (IEN), funded by the ESRC IAA, has co-designed data-collection to understand the nature and scope of practice in the live immersive sector. Social science methods have helped identify ways to expand and accelerate its commercial potential and contribution to the economy; looking at ways data-rich research can facilitate the sustainable development of commercial strategy and resource for the live immersive sector. Presenters will describe how this collaboration continues to develop the sector as a visible, credible, sustainable and accessible area of cultural practice in the UK.  

• Joanna Bucknall, University of Birmingham and Nicole Jacobus, Immersive Experience Network

1.2.5  Workshop: Creating an impact strategy

As research projects become ever more collaborative, whether between disciplines, departments or institutions, planning for and maximising impact has become increasingly challenging. This workshop is led by two teams who have worked to develop and implement impact strategies; one across a department, the other in a cross-university project. They will explore the challenges they have faced but also practical guidance and skills that delegates can benefit from in their own impact planning.

• Irina Rets, Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, and Elizabeth FitzGerald, The Open University: On the journey to impact: developing an impact strategy plan for the PRIME project
• Samantha Harper, James Robson, and Ian Thompson, University of Oxford: Developing an impact strategy at project, departmental and institutional levels

1.3.1 Panel session: Learning from children and young people as researchers (+livestream)

Young people embody hope for the future and yet are often overlooked as a group that can meaningfully contribute to the research that their lives could be shaped by. These three projects examine how to take children seriously – whether in relation to their life experiences, as a key group that have a right to be engaged about issues that affect their generation, or as partners in research engagement activity in their own right. 

• Cath Hill, Lancaster University; Mhairi Sharp, National Emergencies Trust; Jake Hill, Alicia Taylor, Ellie Taylor and Ava Turner: Bee The Difference Project: Collaborating with young Manchester Arena survivors to create change
• Michaela James, Swansea University: CORDS: Co-production of research direction and strategy with children and young people
• Helen Wadham, Louise Platt and Christina McRae, Manchester Metropolitan University: Big world, small world: Animals, the city and me

1.3.2    Case study: Insights and opportunities for social scientists in Oxford space sector initiatives

This session introduces the Oxford Space Initiative (OxSI), an interdisciplinary research group giving social sciences perspectives on the space sector – the aim is to contribute to the development of a responsible and inclusive sector exploring ‘space for space’ and ‘space for earth’. Through research, stakeholder engagement, an MBA elective and communications, the team is building a strong network of relevant agencies and stakeholders – from start-ups and businesses to the European Space Agency and the Satellite Applications Catapult. In this session, the OxSI will share the insights and opportunities afforded by the ESRC IAA, and other institutional support to develop new areas of research, with impact and engagement built in from the start, sharing the core lessons learned so far. 

• Marc Ventresca, University of Oxford; Ke Wang [online], Karman Project; Michele Scataglini [online], University of Oxford.

1.3.3    Panel session: Patient and professional perspectives: improving healthcare experiences

Whilst the relationship between patient and doctor might be confidential, networks of those who influence or are influenced by patients’ experiences go much further: whether caught between professional and political tensions, cultural sensitivities or stigma, or because the care that others receive also has implications for their nearest and dearest. This panel showcases three projects that have addressed these issues head on, together with healthcare staff and policymakers.

• Loua Khalil and Bernd Vogel, University of Reading; Elizabeth Flannery, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust: Excellence in end of life – making better memories
• Sabrina Keating [online], Abigail McNiven, University of Oxford; and Francine Toye [online] Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust : Challenging silence and stigma through patient experience: reflections from the PURSUE study
• Martha Nicholson, The Open University (online): Engaging public policy in my PhD research: How nurses and midwives learn about abortion care in Northern Ireland

1.3.4    Panel session: Mobilising research for change: researchers as activists

The passion that researchers bring to their discipline often links back to their own personal experiences, or to causes that are close to their hearts. Yet it also often leads to a lot of self-reflection about where the boundaries lie, and how one can be both without making too many compromises. This session hears from a panel who will reflect on the roles researchers can play in grassroots work, where and how they can lift up others, and how to keep their grounding in research evidence.  

• Steph Hanlon, University College Dublin: Enabling praxis in practice: The role of academics in educating, agitating and mobilising for social and political change
• Jessica Hewkin, University of Edinburgh: The Academic-Activist Gap: Mental health in migrant communities
• Velda Elliott, University of Oxford: Maximising activism, research and impact: what I learned from Lit in Colour

1.3.5    Case study: Getting creative with impact: arts-based methods 

Many researchers have used engagement with partners to communicate their research effectively with different audiences. But what if it is the arts-intervention that could inform the research? And what about using a suite of creative methods and partnerships (online and museum spaces, plus storybooks) and rather than limiting to one approach?  We’ll hear from two projects that have done exactly that. 

• Indrani Lahiri, Jayanta Ray, Jethro Shell, De Montfort University and Anthony Woodward, Twin Planets: Building resilience in children: why we need to think deeper 
• Milly Farrell, University of Oxford: Time travelling with Frankenstein; assessing the impact of arts-based engagement

1.3.6    Case study: Safeguarding children from sexual exploitation and abuse in conflict and crisis zones

The Safeguarding Children in Conflict and Crisis Zones project began as a collaboration between Keeping Children Safe and University of Reading in 2016. The project has received funding from AHRC, British Academy, the UK FCDO, amongst others. Together the team have conducted field research in peacekeeping operations, consulted and worked with the United Nations, national governments, diplomats, peacekeeping training centres, national militaries, and civil society organisations. This session outlines how the collaboration developed and worked, the types of activities and research they have conducted, and the ongoing impact of their work.

• Rosa Freedman, University of Reading

1.4.1 Achieving impact through public policy: what is the role and value of social sciences research to policymakers? (+livestream)

Chaired by James Canton, ESRC, this roundtable will pose questions to a diverse panel representing researchers involved in policy engagement as well as different public policy stakeholders. What is the value of social sciences to policymakers? How can researchers achieve impact through public policy at different levels? 

• James Canton, Deputy Director Public Policy and Engagement, ESRC
• Arlene Holmes-Henderson, University of Oxford and Durham University, experienced policy engaged researcher
• Syahirah Abdul Rahman, Oxford Brookes University and Innovation Caucus, co-editor of book "How to Engage Policy Makers with Your Research" 
• Rich Pickford, Nottingham Civic Exchange, managing national and local engagement and impact initiative
• Carrie Heitmeyer, Head of Social Sciences, Government Office for Science

1.4.2   Case study:  Business, impact and the Sustainable Development Goals: The experience of the Oxford SDG Impact Lab

The session introduces the work of the Oxford Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Impact Lab, hearing from one of the founders, a major corporate partner, BMW Group (UK) and one of the Lab fellows. The Lab’s student Fellows work directly with business and other non-academic organisations in order to design and deliver research-based solutions that advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Learn about the training and learning opportunities provided through the lab and the transformational changes delivered. 

• Alexander Betts, Oxford SDG Impact Lab
• Andreas Kindler, BMW Group (UK)
• Sekoah Kwon-Salkin, The Conservative Collection and former Lab Fellow

1.4.3 Workshop:  What is all the FoSS about? Creative engagement and impact with public audiences

FoSS, or the ESRC Festival of Social Sciences, is an annual celebration of the excellent research that social scientists provide, and every year, researchers and professional staff come up with ever more creative ways to showcase this work to and with public audiences. If you’re looking to be inspired by a smörgåsbord of dynamic public engagement with research projects from across the UK, this is the session for you!

• Victoria Edwards and Poppy Hodkinson, Cardiff University
• Maarja Kaaristo and Katherine Roycroft, Manchester Metropolitan University
• Karen Reid, Ulster University

1.4.4 Panel session: Impact in education

Join three research teams to reflect on engaging with parents, teachers, policymakers, professional bodies and beyond. They will share their learnings about collaboration in a way that will not just be useful to educators, but to anyone learning about the value of different scales of collaboration, putting forward positive models of engaging around sensitive topics, or how to navigate a difficult next step together with your partners.

• Teresa Cremin, The Open University:  From ‘Little C’ to ‘Bigger C’ collaborations: Reflections on a volitional reading impact journey
• Richard Harris, University of Reading: Working with primary school teachers and parents to develop approaches to normalising LGBTQ+ conversations
• Alice Tawell and Hilary Emery, University of Oxford: Stepping stones to impact: Reflections from the Excluded Lives project and related research and public policy partnership on reducing school exclusions

1.4.5 Workshop: Navigating Ethics and Responsibility in Knowledge Exchange and Impact

This interactive session looks at the ethical challenges of Knowledge Exchange, Engagement and Impact (KEEI), in particular the ethics surrounding impact. This is a discussion-led workshop which invites participants to share their experiences and thoughts about supporting ethical KEEI work and mitigating negative impact (“Grimpact”) whilst meeting other priorities at the same time.

• Aileen Marshall-Brown and Juliet Scott-Barrett, University of Oxford
• Victoria Schuppert, Brunel University London
• Diane Smith, London Metropolitan University

1.4.6 Panel session: Women’s health in the workplace: breaking the silence

Women’s reproductive health still remains a topic that is largely undiscussed and under- supported by many workplaces today, leaving many women facing physical and mental strain with little acknowledgement. In this session, we will hear from two projects that have sought to address this via co-produced reports, toolkits, consultancy and workshops for employers, to provide practical guidance and mentoring to improve workplace cultures.

• Krystal Wilkinson, Manchester Metropolitan University (online): Women's health in the workplace: impact journey and reflections
• Katy Schnitzler, The Open University (online): Pregnancy Loss at Work: Creating Impact and Change Beyond Academia

Keynote speech (+livestream) : Mobilising research for social good

Julia Black, President of the British Academy; Strategic Director of Innovation, London School of Economics and Political Science; External Member of the Prudential Regulation Committee of the Bank of England.

Introduced by Heather Viles, University of Oxford.

Following the day’s sessions, guests were invited to the Ruth Deech Building for a variety of social activities, informal networking, and the chance to explore the exhibition.

The afternoon activities included:

• ASPECT, who hosted a series of activities exploring innovation and commercialisation in SHAPE throughout the afternoon in the Recharge Lounge.
• OxCo, who hosted a film showing in the Tsuzuki lecture theatre, demonstrating how they help bring social sciences research and impact to life through film.
• The Confucius Institute from Oxford Brookes University, who offered lessons on how to make an origami jumping frog.
• The Brick People, bringing research to life with LEGO.
• The University of Oxford Immersive Digital Services and LEVRA, who hosted a demonstration exploring the use of virtual reality as a training mechanism to build confidence and capabilities in the workplace.
• Scriberia, our talented live scribes, who showcased their expertise in illustration, animation, projection mapping and more. Watch their live map grow, and talk to them about how they can make research accessible for a variety of audiences.

A drinks reception for pre-booked dinner guests was hosted in the Ruth Deech Building lower ground floor from 18:00. 

Dinner guests were invited to make their way to the Dining Room for 19:00.