We design and deliver bespoke leadership programmes for people leading public engagement within a university or research setting. Our approach aims to help people respond to the complex, ambiguous, and dynamic nature of university priorities, which requires developing an understanding of the bigger picture, beyond their department/faculty/institution, reframing to align with others’ priorities, working with allies, and being curious and comfortable to learn where they are not the expert.
We develop leaders who are curious, reflective and relational in how they work, skills useful beyond outreach and public engagement.
“From working with my mentor, I am also more confident in my approach and my instincts; they helped me to internalise that it is not on me alone to change the world, and success is not binary but a spectrum of change”
“It has given me the power to continue the push within a supportive network and framework”.
“The discussions were interesting and meaningful, the teachers stirred the dialogue, but in an organic way throughout the course. The diversity of the attendees’ career stages/disciplines and backgrounds was fantastic!”
Previous participants have included early career researchers through to heads of departments and senior leaders. We have worked with people in academic or professional support roles, working in these ‘in-between spaces’ as knowledge mobilisers or public engagement managers.
Our core programme content.
We offer a diversity of different programme types, ranging from three months to eighteen months, delivered through workshops, peer groups, mentoring and coaching. Programme length ranges from three to eighteen months. Participants are invited to bring a core challenge or problem to solve during our programmes. Alongside this experiential element, our core programme content includes:
Setting and maintaining boundaries
Facilitating inclusive spaces
Creating alignment
Developing strategic documents
Securing funding
Advocating for activity at a senior department level
Building inclusive research cultures
Being strategic about what you say yes and no to
Leading through evaluation
Taking part in the programmes has been groundbreaking for some participants.
Where possible, we seek to offer participants mentors who can work directly with them on their goals throughout the programme. Mentors bridge the gap between the course content and that practical reality.
They bring their own experiences of leadership, inclusivity, research culture and engagement and get to know participants’ research contexts. While having mentors may not suit all leadership programmes, when they are there, they provide additional key impacts and value to the programme.
“The mentoring I've had through this programme has been eye-opening and has shown me what great mentoring can look like. I've learned huge amounts about myself, and grown in terms of critical self-reflection and constructively overcoming challenges”
“The course was one of the things I showcased in my promotion, and I think, thelanguage I learned that was quite helpful”
“This programme transformed my thinking around the potential for becoming a more impactful, inclusive, educated and intrepid researcher”.
Facilitators, mentors, and trainers on the programmes all bring an extensive track record of supporting others in developing their outreach and public engagement strategies alongside supporting change across the UK Higher Education System.
Helen Featherstone (she/her), PhD, Independent Consultant and Head of Public Engagement at the University of Bath
Helen has been leading on Public Engagement in Higher Education since 2012 and has been working in the public engagement and science communication sector for over 20 years. Helen is known for her excellent training and professional development interventions – with participants particularly valuing the expertly facilitated opportunities to learn together, to bring new ideas to their practice, and to hear real-life examples drawn from Helen’s own experiences.
Dr Dom Galliano (he\they), Independent Consultant
Dom Galliano is a freelance consultant working towards an open, transparent, and equitable research community. Dom works with academics, professional service staff, national funders, and other organisations to challenge the systems thatinhibit culture change across the academic ecosystem.
Dom brings over a decade of experience from leading successful (and not so successful) programmes, structures and projects from their previous roles, which include Head of Public Engagement at UCL, Director of Outreach and Public Engagement at the Southeast Physics Network and managing Physics in Society programme for the Institute of Physics. They are an experienced mentor, having worked with over thirty academics and engagement professionals to reflect on their careers and help them through problematic projects.
Charlotte Thorley (she/her), Independent Consultant
Dr Charlotte Thorley is a freelance science communication and public engagement professional based in the West Midlands of England but working internationally. Charlotte works with charities, universities, funding agencies and researchers to create structures and strategies that value diverse voices within research, reaching new audiences and maximising impact.
Dr Lesley Paterson, Director of Mesh Associates
Lesley has over 20 years’ experience in public and community engagement, knowledge exchange and research impact. Based in Oxfordshire, she works with universities and research teams across the UK and internationally. She previously served as the University of Oxford’s inaugural Head of Public Engagement with Research (2015–2021), spearheading a transformative approach to enabling and supporting engaged research.
She has significant experience in supporting the development of others in engaged research through the design and delivery of capacity-building initiatives, fellowship schemes, and tailored mentoring and coaching, enabling researchers and practitioners to fulfil their potential in areas including strategy, leadership, management, evaluation and research impact.
Lesley was a joint sub-panel Impact Assessor for REF 2021, is an Honorary Research Associate at UCL, and has served on numerous high-level advisory groups and funding panels.
Furaha Asani, (she\her) Independent Consultant
Dr. Furaha Asani is an interdisciplinary public scholar, participatory action researcher, creative evaluation methods practitioner, public health equity advocate, writer, and award-winning teacher and speaker. Her praxis is centred in Black Feminism, anti-racism, anti-coloniality, gender expansiveness, migrants rights, and disability inclusion- which are embedded through her research and production methodologies, rather than being add-ons.
A 12-week leadership training course for researchers committed to public engagement with environmental science research.
A leadership programme funded by The Ogden Trust and STFC
Contact David Owen, a director at Gurukula.
David is a freelance consultant, facilitator and researcher based in the UK and Denmark.
