Our second Research Culture Seminar took place on 27th May 12.30-14.00, King’s Gate 1.18 and online.

We were delighted to be joined by Dr Karen Laing , Professor Daniel Siemens, and Dr Elie Chahda for this discussion.

Participation - and related terms like co-creation and engagement - are some of the most frequently invoked, and least examined, ideas in contemporary university life. Colleagues are routinely invited to ‘engage’ and ‘contribute,’ in many forms, including listening sessions, town halls, surveys, and consultations. Yet the ways participation is structured often fall short of its own aspirations and can end up generating frustration on both sides. Meanwhile, Research Culture itself can sometimes feel like a centralised and external function-- someone else’s project rather than a shared undertaking. 

This session considers what forms and models of participation we might learn from. What do ‘thicker’ conceptions of participation actually look like, drawing from democratic theory, international and historical precedent, and practice in other sectors and fields? How does it change what’s possible if we think in terms of engagement, co-creation, or democratic governance rather than simply participation? And what are the material, structural and political conditions under which colleagues can be genuinely empowered with both resources and a role in decision-making to shape the cultures they work within?