Case study detail
Welsh Higher Education staff, students and researchers responding to the knowledge needs of Welsh civil society
Science Shops Wales
Contributed by:
Angharad Dalton
Organisation:
Science Shops Wales
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Welsh Higher Education staff, students and researchers responding to the knowledge needs of Welsh civil society
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Overview
The Science Shops movement is an international network of research centres which share the common aim of providing their local communities and non-governmental organisations with research support at low or no cost. Science Shops work from a very broad definition of the term ‘science’, undertaking projects in almost any area that requires systematic research expertise - from nature and the environment to social issues and areas such as history or law.
Science Shops Wales (SSW) is an innovative pan-Wales community based research project. Since 2006 the Higher Education Funding Council of Wales (HEFCW) has funded the University of Glamorgan and University of Wales, Newport to run Science Shops Wales. The central 'hub' is located at the University of Glamorgan.
SSW aims to support partnership working between Welsh Universities and civil society organisations in order to build equitable, democratic and sustainable responses to the challenges facing Wales in the 21st Century. SSW is grounded in the socio-political context of a post-devolution Wales, and is particularly oriented towards the Assembly Government’s commitment to tackling climate change, and supporting sustainable development.
Research is undertaken through collaborations between dedicated Science Shop researchers, students and academics, and members of community groups that are trained, equipped and supported appropriately. By encouraging community organisations to identify and meet their own research needs Science Shops Wales is a valuable partner in attempts to resolve problems experienced by Welsh communities. By opening up the resources of higher education to the communities which sustain them, Science Shops also aim to enable University students and staff to strengthen their links with the community while developing research with real local relevance.
Science Shops Wales works in a number of ways:
* By supporting implementation of HE policy by linking together the three missions of a modern university; teaching, research, and “third mission”, i.e. knowledge co-creation and engagement with civil society
* By assisting in alignment of universities and third sector organisations to the longer-term strategic aims of the Welsh Assembly Government and the Welsh Higher Education sector
* Through various activities, assisting in the development and delivery of policies and programmes to help communities adapt to climate change
* Supporting universities to align to UK and EU policy on public engagement with science, technology and the knowledge economy
* Assisting in the implementation of a number of cross cutting WAG policies including inter-University collaborations, sustainable development, One Wales, Widening Access, Lifelong Learning, and others
* Through the Student Research Service, providing an enriched experience of higher education for students by supporting opportunities to develop transferable skills through accredited participation in community based projects
* By working with a range of civil society organisations such as regeneration and land trusts, schools, charities and NGOs, and smaller informal networks based within a given locality or around a community of interest.
Key features
education
policy/framework initiative
Key data
Completion Date: 31/08/2010
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