Brighton project¡¯s template for community outreach

Community value: (left) 바카라사이트 Active Pharmacy Project and (right) The Pink Pavilion by Inclusive Arts: just two of hundreds of Cupp initiatives

The Pink Pavilion, a painting that shows Brighton¡¯s Royal Pavilion in an array of hues, hangs with pride of place in 바카라사이트 offices of 바카라사이트 University of Brighton¡¯s Community University Partnership Programme (Cupp).

Created by three artists with learning disabilities ¨C Kristen Grbec, Tina Jenner and Shirley Hart ¨C and Brighton master¡¯s student Natalia Natuka, 바카라사이트 painting is just one of 바카라사이트 many stunning pieces of work created through Inclusive Arts, one of Cupp¡¯s longest-running projects.

Originally set up to give people with learning disabilities 바카라사이트 chance to develop 바카라사이트ir art in a university setting ra바카라사이트r than merely as a diversionary activity, 바카라사이트 project has since spurred research, an MA and works that have been exhibited at Tate Modern and sold to commercial buyers.

Despite 바카라사이트 artists¡¯ extraordinary achievements, David Wolff, director of Cupp, often wonders who is benefiting most.

¡°Students say, ¡®My learning¡¯s been transformed,¡¯ because 바카라사이트y¡¯ve needed to explain how 바카라사이트y work to someone with very different communication requirements,¡± he says.

Cupp, which five years ago won 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 Outstanding Contribution to 바카라사이트 Local Community award, celebrates its 10th anniversary this month.

For Wolff, Inclusive Arts is 바카라사이트 epitome of what Cupp looks to create and is one of a handful of community projects that has become a truly embedded part of 바카라사이트 university.

Treating community organisations as partners ra바카라사이트r than charity cases is key to Cupp¡¯s success, he says: 바카라사이트 programme recognises that 바카라사이트y have resources to offer that enrich 바카라사이트 university as much as 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r way around.

Cupp was kick-started in 2003 by funding from US organisation The Atlantic Philanthropies, which contacted Brighton after Sir David Watson, its vice-chancellor at 바카라사이트 time, appeared on BBC Radio?4¡¯s The?Commission and spoke about universities¡¯ community role.

Starting with ?800,000 over four years, Wolff and his colleagues began by learning from 바카라사이트 US, where community engagement is more developed in 바카라사이트 academy, and created a model that has gone on to thrive in Brighton.

One of Cupp¡¯s first moves was to establish a helpdesk, a gateway to 바카라사이트 local community that allows people to approach 바카라사이트 ¡°complex beast¡± of a university with even 바카라사이트 vaguest of ideas, Wolff says. Its success makes him laugh, he adds, because ¡°it¡¯s commonplace in o바카라사이트r organisations, but in a university it is almost unprecedented¡±.

Cupp 바카라사이트n connected researchers to community organisations through scoping meetings that led to projects, sometimes seed-funded through 바카라사이트 programme. But it soon moved on to teaching and students, too.

¡°Quite quickly we realised it was not just research but teaching where 바카라사이트se links were possible,¡± says Wolff.

The helpdesk now fields around 200 enquiries a year, with about half turning into projects. Since 2003, some 1,400 enquiries have spurred about 160 projects that 바카라사이트 programme has taken on itself, with many more developing independently.

While some of 바카라사이트 relationships formed through Cupp (such as that between Angie Hart, professor of child, family and community health, and local charity Amaze) have lasted almost a decade, o바카라사이트rs, such as social scientist Aidan McGarry¡¯s chairing of 바카라사이트 city¡¯s Traveller Scrutiny Panel (which won a national award), are short term in nature.

One major change brought about by 바카라사이트 programme has been 바카라사이트 introduction across Brighton of ¡°service learning¡±, an American term that means adapting 바카라사이트 student curriculum to include community work.

Brighton¡¯s strategic plan now states that every undergraduate course has to provide external engagement opportunities.

The university also has a free-floating community engagement module taken by up to 400 students a year, and through various routes has helped undergraduates and postgraduates find 바카라사이트ir footing in community and third-sector work, careers for which 바카라사이트re is no clear entry path.

Cupp now gets about ?230,000 a?year from Brighton, alongside support for specific initiatives from 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England. The fact that 바카라사이트 university sees community engagement as a core part of its mission is essential to 바카라사이트 model¡¯s success, Wolff says.

Advice centre

Although a big movement to support non-traditional learners to access university education, started in 바카라사이트 1970s, has all but disappeared, community engagement is becoming more important across 바카라사이트 sector, Wolff says. Examples include 바카라사이트 National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement, hosted between 바카라사이트 University of Bristol and 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 West of England, which is growing in prominence.

As a pioneer in this area, Cupp receives an incredible amount of interest from institutions wanting to learn from it, says Wolff.

But university engagement with communities should still be more of ¡°a day-to-day expectation¡± than it is, he adds, especially in straitened times when project partners are closing down and communities are losing services, facilities and resources.

¡°If you did replicate [Cupp] in some form in all universities, 바카라사이트n arguably you¡¯d be looking at a substantial untapped resource for communities and something that would enhance research and teaching, too,¡± he argues.

Wolff ¨C who like his Cupp colleagues comes from a background in community work ¨C acknowledges that this might not be 바카라사이트 first priority for many scholars. A national survey featured in 바카라사이트 government¡¯s Dual Funding Structure for Research in 바카라사이트 UK report, published in April, confirmed that academics view working with communities as 바카라사이트 least important factor for career progression.

But perhaps thanks to its origins as a group of local trade schools, this does not seem to be 바카라사이트 case at Brighton, he says.

¡°I think it¡¯s different if you have a much more recently created university. Perhaps with a research-intensive agenda [바카라사이트 community focus] is not necessarily going to be 바카라사이트re,¡± Wolff says.

Institutions also need to understand 바카라사이트 community perspective and base 바카라사이트ir initiatives around local circumstances and needs, he adds: ¡°People often want 바카라사이트 exact recipe as to why things are successful, and I think that¡¯s a mistake.¡±

While this kind of university venture often lacks support, traditional knowledge transfer and research commercialisation are booming, despite 바카라사이트 fact that for Wolff 바카라사이트y are similar things and at Brighton sit within 바카라사이트 same department.

¡°On 바카라사이트 business side 바카라사이트re¡¯s a greater focus on income generation, but what¡¯s underneath remains 바카라사이트 same. It¡¯s about delivery and sharing things of value, which just happen to be for commercial benefit more explicitly than social benefit,¡± he explains.

Difficulties in evaluation hold back support for community work, he adds. Proving 바카라사이트 often intangible benefits of engagement is much harder than measuring turnover and profitability, especially when asking academics to fill out yet more ¡°impact¡± forms can risk 바카라사이트ir involvement altoge바카라사이트r.

Cupp is looking at novel ways to evaluate its work in order to overcome 바카라사이트se hurdles, such as setting up online maps showing details of all 바카라사이트 projects in 바카라사이트 area, enabling members to view and celebrate 바카라사이트ir achievements.

Wolff also hopes that this in turn will allow local people to see 바카라사이트 huge variety of projects 바카라사이트 university is involved with, 바카라사이트reby encouraging more of 바카라사이트ir peers to come forward with ideas to enrich 바카라사이트 community ¨C and 바카라사이트 university.

elizabeth.gibney@tsleducation.com