Imperial College London's Community Engagement Team coordinated the Imperial Zone at the W12 Festival
Imperial's Community Engagement Team co-ordinated another Imperial Zone at the annual W12 Festival, which too place in Wormholt Park, White City earlier this month. The team once again showcased the breath of societal engagement and research happening across the University at this much loved community celebration.
Led by Farial Missi, who looks after the Community Engagement Team, the zone brought together a wide array of colleagues from the Public Engagement Family Programmes team, the Makerspace Team, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Patient Experience Research Centre (PERC), the Mohn Centre, and the Institute of Global Health Innovation. Each ran interactive stalls, offering activities for all ages and providing an exciting opportunity for local families and adults to engage directly with Imperial's research and engagement programmes.
Farial said: "The W12 Festival is a wonderful bringing together of the local community, including local groups, institutions, and residents. It was fantastic to see our societal engagement teams and researchers working with families and residents, and the mutual learning that comes from this kind of exchange."
Connecting research with public perspectives
The festival also provided valuable opportunities for researchers to connect with the public and learn from their perspectives.
Our mission is to meaningfuly involve people in research that matters most to them. Ruchi Wadhwa Public Involvement and Project Officer
Ruchi Wadhwa, Public Involvement and Project Officer at Imperial's Patient Experience Research Centre, said:
"At PERC, our mission is to meaningfuly involve people in research that matters most to them. As part of the W12 Together Festival, we worked alongside researchers to demonstrate in real time one of the ways this involvement can happen. We had a great response from attendees and used the opportunity to share our mailing list and highlight other projects they might be interested in."
A space for dialogue and discovery
For some, the festival was also a first step into public involvement work. Ellie Butterworth, an NIHR Undergraduate Internship Programme awardee, described her experience:
"As this was my first experience with public involvement, I thought the W12 Festival was an incredible event and a wonderful way to engage with the local community. It was inspiring to speak with parents and carers and gain insights into what aspects of their children's healthcare were most important to them. Their views will help shape the next steps of our project!"
With activities ranging from creative making to health focused conversations, the Imperial Zone created a lively and welcoming space for dialogue and discovery.
