International
A new research centre had its international launch at Keele University on October 14-15th,
2015. The launch of the Community Animation and Social Innovation Centre - CASIC -
attracted over 150 participants, both academics and community members from the UK and
abroad. The event opened with an address by Keele's Vice Chancellor, Professor Trevor
McMillan who, stressing the strategic importance of the relationship between Keele
University and its wider community, emphasised the central role CASIC plays in building
capacity for community-centered solutions to local and global issues. CASIC's main
ambition is to expand the co-production of knowledge with community members in order to
facilitate social innovation and bring about democratic changes in society.
The ground-breaking work undertaken by CASIC was recognised by a number of high profile
speakers including AHRC Associate Director Gary Grubb who shared his vision about
CASIC's future prospects for creative, cross-disciplinary, and community co-produced
research. The Connected Communities Leadership Fellow, Professor Keri Facer from Bristol
University praised the uniqueness of CASIC in the academic world, inviting the audience to
rethink research in the age of collaboration, interdisciplinarity and precarity, while Professor
Kate Pahl from Sheffield University shared her views on why centres such as CASIC are key
to improving the social conditions of individuals and their communities through the
application of co-created knowledge.
The Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the New Vic Theatre, Staffordshire, a founding
partner of CASIC, gave a completing talk about the history of the New Vic and its
relationships with the local community and the university. The audience then participated in a
panel discussion with practitioners from the National Council of Voluntary Organisations
(NCVO), the National Association of Neighbourhood Management and Jericho Road
Solutions. The debate focused on the expectations that communities have of academic
research and from universities in general.
The first day closed with two inspiring addresses: the first from Dr. Lai Yong Tan, director of
outreach and community engagement at the College of Alice and Peter Tan, NUS. He
mesmerised the audience with his stories about community engagement in the Yunnan
Province, where he spent 15 years, training and educating community doctors in very remote
villages. In the final talk, Dr. Aki Koponen, Director of the Finnish Centre for Collaborative
Research at the University of Turku stressed the significance of the relationship between his
centre and CASIC.
Professional Practitioners
2015
Dissemination Output
https://www.keele.ac.uk/casic/theinternationallaunchofcasic/
CASIC International Summit, Keele, October 14-15, 2015