26th May 2021

In this seminar we hear from three speakers involved exciting and innovative public engagement activities within the arts.

Bethan James, Project Coordinator at The Royal Mint Museum. The Royal Mint Museum has created a reminiscence session in the form of a ‘museum in a box’ to contribute to the wellbeing of care home residents during the pandemic. Participants are invited to handle objects fitted with micro-chips, allowing them to access audio content designed to promote wellness and encourage social interaction through reminiscence.

Sylvan Baker is an arts practitioner and researcher. He is Co-Investigator for The Verbatim Formula, which is a People’s Palace Project based at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). He is also a Lecturer in Community Performance and Applied Theatre at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (RCSSD), an Education and Creative Learning associate at the Royal Society of Arts; and Artistic Fellow at QMUL. He can be heard on episode five of the BBC’s Small Axe podcast, speaking about the experiences of Black children in care.

David Harradine is an artist and researcher. He is Professor of Interdisciplinary Practice at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (RCSSD), and co-Artistic Director of Fevered Sleep, whose projects include the critically acclaimed Men and Girls Dance (2015-Present) and This Grief Thing.

17th February 2021

Sarah Allan The Involve Foundation

In this seminar we’ll hear from Sarah Allan, Head of Engagement at The Involve Foundation (‘Involve’). Sarah will be talking about Climate Assembly UK: the path to net zero held between January and May 2020. This first ever UK-wide citizens’ assembly on climate change was jointly commissioned by six select committees of the House of Commons. Involve led the external team which delivered it.

This interactive seminar will address the development of the assembly, how was delivered, the impact on parliament and others, and future implications. Sarah will be joined by speakers from the UK Parliament and the Climate Change Committee who were involved in different ways with the assembly’s work.

16th December 2020

Nicole Nisbett University of Leeds

In this seminar, Nicole will present an application developed in collaboration with the UK House of Commons to analyse large volumes of text data from digital engagement activities. 

18th November 2020

Gillian Baxendine & Sally Coyne Scottish Parliament

In this interactive seminar, Gillian and Sally will present a change model and give examples of how they have used it in relation to parliamentary engagement.

21st October 2020

Dr Alex Prior University of East Anglia

28th July 2020

Dr Sarah Moulds Senior Lecturer in Law, University of South Australia

This Seminar aims to open a discussion about the challenges associated with measuring the impact of parliamentary engagement on the process of law-making and on the content of the law itself. 

Drawing upon Sarah’s PhD research into the role parliamentary committees play in rights protection in Australia (which has recently been published in book form Committees of Influence (Springer 2020)), this seminar aims to confront the methodological challenges associated with seeking to measure the value or impact of community engagement with parliamentary law making in Westminster-inspired Parliaments. 

It introduces a three-tiered approach measuring impact, and is designed to encourage participants to share their own experiences with a view to identifying some common features of best practice and/or pitfalls to avoid.

14th July 2020

Andreas Nitsche Co-Founder of LiquidFeedback

The success of an online participation system depends not only on the functionality of the software, but also on the overall participation process including its proper embedding into administrative processes. Andreas will introduce the online platform LiquidFeedback, which helps develop credible propositions in an integrated deliberation and voting process. He will give his take on typical challenges of civic participation, and provide examples of how lawmakers and/or an administration can address these in creative ways to establish widely accepted participation infrastructures.

1st July 2020

In this inaugural seminar we will hear from officials in the UK Parliament, Brazilian Senate, and Welsh Parliament, each with their own experiences of working with the public during the pandemic and from different types of parliamentary services.

Speakers

Emma McIntosh Select Committee for Petitions, UK House of Commons

Alisson Bruno Dias de Queiroz e-Cidadania Programme Coordinator, Brazilian Senate

Kevin Davies Head of Public Engagement, Welsh Parliament

Steven Williams Education and Engagement Team, UK Parliament