Post-Conference ‘Fringe’ Event

Planning to change the world? Developing alternative approaches to engaged urban education

This fringe meeting organized to coincide with end of the conference aims to create an extended space for discussing the development of alternative approaches to engaged urban education. The session is intended as an opportunity for community members, students and academics from a variety of urban disciplines to come together to discuss whether and how the resources of universities can be mobilized to promote social justice.

It aims to:

· Generate debate about the potential roles and responsibilities of universities in addressing the injustices and inequalities that surround them

· Reflect on the challenges of conducting engaged work within the neoliberal university

· Exchange experiences and ideas to develop urban education that engages with people and the ‘real world’ challenges they face

· Consider the possibility of forming a new network to support the development of engaged urban education

The session will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday, the 5^th of September from 14.30-17.00 in the newly opened Woodbourn Community Innovation Hub in the Darnall area of Sheffield. Making use of a former school building, the Hub seeks to bring the University out to communities in the east end of Sheffield and provide a physical base for the establishment of long-term, mutually-beneficial relationships with those communities. Drawing on the rich heritage of the settlement house movement and the 1970s Urban Studies Centres, the Hub will provide an off-campus space for engaged learning and teaching, outreach, widening participation, student volunteering and collaborative, problem-focused research, bringing together community and university expertise and resources to promote social justice.

Attendance is free but places are limited. To register please email prc2018@sheffield.ac.uk.