Wednesday 4 February 12.30pm – 1.40pm 2.220 University Place, Oxford Road (in-person)

A community of practice: share, learn, connect

Are you interested in public engagement? Would you like to hear and share some inspiring ideas and practice? Do you want to network with other like-minded engaging people? Then come along to this series of informal sessions exploring different aspects of public engagement.

Open to: All University staff, students and community partners.

We are keen to encourage new people to take their first steps in public engagement, as well as support those with more experience.

In this shared practice session, we’ll explore creative practices or creative ways to engage audiences through a series of short case studies and talks sharing practice from recent projects, a Q&A and time to connect with other attendees.  You can also find out more forthcoming public engagement opportunities.

Our speakers/projects include:

• Laura Pottinger who will join us to talk about ‘Moss Stitch’, a creative workshop organised as part of the UMRI funded MossWorlds project, and considers the wider potential of textile making for facilitating novel forms of attention, conversation and public engagement. ‘Moss Stitch’ invited interdisciplinary academics and artists to create hand-stitched textile representations of mosses – plants which, historically, have been overlooked and understudied – and has been exhibited at the Firs Botanical Grounds, UoM, and National Trust Castlefield Viaduct.
• Lindsay Pressdee will join us to talk about Game Changers, a community-engaged sustainability project that tackles textile waste by transforming surplus sportswear into new products through hands-on upcycling workshops. By bringing together students, educators and local communities, the project combines creativity, learning and circular design to inspire more responsible relationships with clothing and materials.

We will supply tea/coffee and cake, and you are welcome to bring your lunch along to the session.

Please let us know if you are coming by signing up for the session.