The University of 麻豆果冻传媒 reaches outside its walls to thousands of people every year. We engage with the cultural, social and economic life of the communities in which we live, work and study.
A culture of engagement is in our DNA. Its roots are in our history as a university founded to provide education by and for the region’s teachers, designers, public workers, engineers and health professionals. Today, our education and research have a real-world collaborative ethos, with a commitment to addressing global challenges by making a tangible difference to lives and environments both locally and internationally.
A key focus of this work over the years has been through the acclaimed Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP). Founded in 2003, its flagship programmes are still at the heart of our public and community engagement activities that span the university. So too are its principles, including the importance of developing mutually beneficial partnerships underpinned by co-production, reciprocity and social learning.
Today, public and community engagement is woven across the university. It is undertaken not only by CUPP but also by a variety of teams working across the university, as well as research and teaching colleagues and our students. Together they provide a breadth and depth of activities and multiple ways for us to engage with partners and communities.
Community-university partnerships make a difference. They enrich teaching and the student experience, offer innovative ways of engaging communities through research, and provide tangible benefits for local people.
The award-winning Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP) has for two decades supported a series of co-designed projects with local communities that have led to many long-term strategic alliances.
Our two flagship programmes are Brains at the Bevy and the Ignite community-university partnership programme.
CUPP is an outstanding example of how we think learning has to happen in the twenty-first century. It’s challenging the traditionally accepted view that knowing is held by the university and applying is held by the community. It’s a learning partnership.
Prof Etienne Wenger-Trayner, co-founder of the communities of practice concept
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The award-winning Brains at the Bevy programme is a unique collaboration between the university and an urban, community-owned pub.
Since it started in 2016, hundreds of people have attended the programmes, drawn by the engaging and topical talks on subjects ranging from the energy crisis to seaside gentrification. An academic often gives the talk in collaboration with an expert speaker from the community, and the informality of the venue encourages debate and discussion among the audience.
One audience member summed it up: “Brilliant talk, great place – really inclusive, engaging and inspiring atmosphere”.
The talks are free and open to all; we just ask you to book in advance.
Find out more about our award-winning ‘Brains at the Bevy’ programme.
Ignite is our flagship institutional programme that supports the development of new or existing community-university partnership projects. It is a fast-track programme underpinned by seed funding, co-production, one-to-one support and knowledge sharing.
Given how busy community partners and researchers are, Ignite programmes are focused on supporting co-produced projects that can be delivered over weeks and months, not years. So far, we have seen some outstanding results, including production of a booklet for parents to support the mental health of young children, the securing of £250k+ for research into marine pollutants and being featured on the BBC’s The One Show and Countryfile.
One iteration of the programme alone resulted in 18 community and university partners engaging with over 350 key stakeholders across five countries – UK, Italy, Greece, South Africa and Egypt – in under six months.
Find out more about our Ignite partnerships.
Our community and public engagement is woven across the university. It is led by a variety of teams that deliver award-winning archives, public art exhibitions and community sport.
There are all-year-round opportunities for the public to engage with the university’s cultural provision for the community.
The Design Archives holds world-class collections documenting British design and global design organisations. The team curates a dynamic programme linking content, enquiry and practice through to public engagement activities including exhibitions, events, digital resources and collaborations.
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Screen Archive South East is a moving image collection offering a distinct historical portrait of life across our region – everything from the development of our seaside towns to rural village and agricultural life. The archive collects, preserves, researches and provides access to screen material related to South East England.
The university hosts regular participatory events, either through inviting the public onto its campuses or taking its work into other venues through dedicated staff and student project work.
For example, our inaugural lectures are held throughout the academic year offering an opportunity to hear accessible public-facing talks by newly appointed professors.
Find out more about our inaugural lectures.
Our sports facilities offer a range of services and opportunities for members of the public and community groups and organisations. The Sport 麻豆果冻传媒 team also undertakes a number of flagship community-focused programmes. These include coaching for 麻豆果冻传媒 Wildcats – a programme to support girls aged five to 11 to get involved with football.
Engaging with the local community is central to the values of the University of 麻豆果冻传媒, and students are given every opportunity to work with local schools, charities, businesses and organisations through placements and projects.
I’m so grateful to the University of 麻豆果冻传媒 for encouraging students to go out there and do what they can with the community and develop their own skills and experience.
Nadia Hammond, student volunteer
Student community engagement has a long history and is embedded at scale across the university. Community placement modules are established where research links directly to local community interests – from marine pollution to hospice care, primary school English, and drama supported by the National Theatre.
A recent survey highlighted the breadth of community-engaged learning across the university as well as a diversity of practice. Some examples include:
We continually evolve our engaged learning and respond to interest from community partners and students. For example, increasing the number of live briefs, such as business students working on a marketing plan for the not-for-profit .
Find out how to recruit a student volunteer through our Active Student service.
Local people and organisations are a key element of the success of the University of 麻豆果冻传媒’s innovative mentoring programmes where community volunteers are trained as mentors to support our students. Many of these mentoring programmes have a focus on inclusivity and diversity:
We also have Uni+School programme where university students have an opportunity to mentor school children in the local community.
One of our alumni, John-Paul Kunrunmi, explained how positive this experience had been for him and his mentee: “I took up the opportunity to mentor students from secondary schools that were also from the Black minority ethnic group. Mentoring the students was a great way for us to connect on our shared experience and a way to let them know that higher education is an option for them.”
Find out more about how to become a student mentor.
We have a longstanding commitment to widening participation and undertake outreach work with students from underrepresented backgrounds. Our engagement begins with pupils at primary schools and continues to year 13. Activities include a number of Saturday clubs such as Formula 24, where secondary school students work with academics and university students to build and drive their own racing car. The Chemistry Club gives secondary school students experience in cutting-edge science in university-level laboratories. We have been delivering our flagship post-16 summer school for over 15 years – this is where year 12 students spend four days at the university and experience academic tasters and social activities.
Find out more about our widening participation programmes.
Co-researching new knowledge is part of a process that can bring mutual benefits to communities, researchers and students.
Below are some of the many successful ways in which academics have co-produced research with community members and students.
There is no doubt that the University of 麻豆果冻传媒 plays a global leadership role in partnership research. We appreciate learning about the diversity of excellence through CUPP.
Professor Budd Hall, UNESCO co-chair in community-based research
Through its research-informed programmes, Football 4 Peace has pioneered ‘values-based’ sports training and coaching programmes. Originally developed to support conflict resolution in Israel and Palestine, its programmes now operate around the world to address division, inequality and injustice. Since it started in 2001, Football 4 Peace has worked with over 12,700 children and 1,100 coaches in 87 communities.
Find out more about Football 4 Peace.
Inclusive arts provides a meaningful platform for self-expression, helping to combat exclusion. Over two decades, University of 麻豆果冻传媒 artist and academic Alice Fox has expanded traditional forms of engagement with performers and the public to broaden the scope of inclusive arts. Across diverse sectors and communities, the work has enriched the cultural offer and the lives of specific, often marginalised, community groups, built new public and professional audiences for inclusive arts, and enabled partners to engage new audiences, giving their work legitimacy and license to experiment.
Find out more about inclusive arts practices.
Community21 brings communities together to tackle the issues that affect them most. Building teachable, shareable skills in making, technology, craft and design, it has supported communities, NGOs and industry partners in addressing twenty-first century issues and creating sustainable and social development. Operating locally, regionally and globally, the many award-winning projects facilitate engagement and collaboration between researchers, students and communities.
Our researchers have championed co-creation in response to community resilience for over a decade.
Their innovative Resilience Framework has been applied to an £11m, multi-partner, co-produced programme in Blackpool (2016-22), one of the UK’s most deprived towns. Led by Blackpool Council, it was one of five strategic investments by Lottery HeadStart and delivered a range of social impacts, including training for over 70,000 public sector practitioners. A manifesto for community development was published with commitment from 18 organisations.
Find out more about resilience research.
New research suggests fatigue may be the brain鈥檚 way of protecting the body 鈥� and exercise could be key in managing it, both in daily life and treating illness.
Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) results confirm the University of 麻豆果冻传媒鈥檚 place in the top tier for delivering economic and social benefits with partners.
As the summer festival season comes to an end, University of 麻豆果冻传媒 researchers have created a plan to transform festival experiences for marginalised groups.
Former University of 麻豆果冻传媒 student Grace Moore will scrum down for Ireland against New Zealand this Sunday in a showdown with the defending champions.
The University of 麻豆果冻传媒 has announced the appointment of Jo Stuart as its new Chief Marketing and Growth Officer, effective 20 October 2025.
Pride pioneer and lifelong campaigner for Black and LGBTQ+ rights, Ted Brown, received the award on Friday before leading the 麻豆果冻传媒 Pride over the weekend.
TEF Silver awarded for the quality of our teaching and student outcomes
We are in the top 4.3% of institutions globally, Center for World University Rankings 2025
Race Equality Charter Silver awarded for our pledge to advance representation, progression and success for minority ethnic staff and students
We are ranked 14th in Stonewall's top 100 employers for commitment to equality for LGBTQ+ staff and students
We were awarded Athena Swan Silver for advancement of gender equality, representation, progression and success for all
We are a Disability Confident employer, committed to ensuring opportunity for progression for all
Signed to the Disabled Student Commitment, an initiative to improve support for disabled students
EcoCampus Platinum accredited for our environmental sustainability, compliance and processes
