UCL celebrates 10 years of the Public Engagement Unit

An opportunity to reflect and to act.

2018 marks the tenth anniversary of the UCL Public Engagement Unit (now UCL Engagement). As Head of Public Engagement, Laura Cream, wrote at the start of the year, the tin anniversary evokes some interesting images. Last year marked the publication of a new UCL Public Engagement Strategy, which was consulted on at UCL and beyond.

The Public Engagement Unit is part of UCL Culture, a department with engagement at its heart. The UCL Museums (the Petrie, the Grant and the Art museums) have been bastions of best practice engagement for years, and the Bloomsbury Theatre offers opportunities for staff and students to weave performance into their engagement practice.

Our anniversary is not only a celebration, but also a chance to reflect and to ask where we should be in another ten years' time. We'd love to hear what you think, whatever your relationship to UCL. To find out more, we are asking for contributions from across the UCL community and from the external partners who have engaged with UCL over the years. We're not sure what responses we'll receive, but we're hoping to share what you think as guest posts or conversation-pieces on our blog, perhaps with associated twitter chats to generate discussion and ideas. We also plan to explore the questions and thoughts that emerge at one of our Public Engagement Network meetings in autumn term. At the end of this anniversary year, we'll bring together what you tell us, share it, respond to suggestions and set some actions for 2019 and beyond.

If you'd like to help us explore where we are now, how we got here, and where we should go next, please do drop us a line at publicengagement@ucl.ac.uk, and we'll tell you more about what we're looking for.

During the year, we'll be updating this page with events, activities and projects that mark the anniversary.

If you have any questions or thoughts about 10th anniversary activities in 2018, don't hesitate to get in touch.

Public engagement at UCL: Stepping stones to the future

12.30 - 3pm, 20th June

For this special Public Engagement Network meeting, we invite you to come and challenge us with your ideas on how UCL can continue to embed, innovate and champion public engagement, where you think we need to be by 2028 and what the stepping stones might be to get there.