Meeting date:
4 July, 2023 (5pm-6.50pm)
Attendees:
Weining Ning and Shuo Liu (organisors) + 3 intited speakers + 25 other participants
Meeting agenda:
- 10.00-10.05 Welcome
- 10.05- 10.35 Talk 1: Prof Justin Fisher — Understanding the UK’s policymaking and implementation
- 10.35- 10.55 Talk 2: Prof William Watkin — How to influence policy using the arts and humanities
- 10.55-11.25 Talk 3: Dr Stuart Andrews — Towards Creative Collaboration: Performance Perspectives, Practices, and Strategies
- 11.25-11.45 Q&A, Panel discussion
- 11.45-11.50 Closing
Meeting notes:
- Policy group co-lead Weining Ning welcomed the speakers and the audience, providing a brief introduction to the SEED project and the Policy working group.
- The event theme was “Make and Influence Policies in the UK: the Creative Industry’s Perspective.” Three speakers were invited to share their expertise in related fields, and the talks were hosted by co-lead Shuo Liu.
- The first speaker, Prof Justin Fisher, presented on the topic “Understanding the UK’s policymaking and implementation”. His talk introduced the eco-system of UK policy-making, including the issues of:
- The policy-making environment in the UK,
- The policy makers in the UK,
- Comparing policy-making theory with practice, and
- Identifying influential ideas.
- The second speaker, Prof William Watkin, shared his experience on how Arts and Humanity researchers can influence policy-making. His talks covered::
- The working approaches to influence government policy,
- The knowledge gap between A&H researchers and policy-makers,
- The challenges and opportunities of influencing policy-making.
- The third speaker, Dr. Stuart Andrews, used some of his research projects as case studies and shared strategies and practical ways to establish successful creative collaborations.
- The talks were followed with an Q&A session.
- The speakers offered suggestions and shared their experiences in influencing policy-making in the discussion session, including:
- Starting with small projects to build evidence and a track record.
- Creating agenda points that drive action.
- Learning to use the language of policy-makers effectively.
- Leveraging A&H expertise to improve policy-makers’ engagement, such as using design and video to complement data and figures.
- The co-leads concluded the event by promoting the Policy working group and providing their contact information for those interested in joining the group.
Appendix
The event was recorded. Recordings can be accessed through the following link:
Passcode: ZVyE5V2*
Titles of the talks with speakers’ information:
Understanding the UK’s policymaking and implementation
Prof Justin Fisher , Brunel University London
Director of Policy Unit
Professor of Political Science
How to influence policy using the arts and humanities
Prof William Watkin, Brunel University London
Professor of Contemporary Literature and Philosophy
Director or Research at Department of Arts and Humanities Brunel University London
Towards Creative Collaboration: Performance Perspectives, Practices, and Strategies
Dr Stuart Andrews, Brunel University London
Senior Lecturer in Theatre, Co-lead for Research Impact at Department of Arts and Humanities, Brunel University London