Civic Engagement Network for Universities, Colleges and Schools

The Civic Engagement Network (CEN) seeks to advance the education of young people and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The main aim is to develop a shared space in which universities, colleges, schools, young people and local communities can work together to create positive change within their own civic engagement ecosystems. In doing so, the network seeks to support change through the empowerment of young people, real world learning and by increasing opportunities for engagement and partnerships between different educational institutions and a diverse set of stakeholders.

The Civic Engagement Network for Universities, Colleges and Schools.

The CEN was established in 2021 by a core group of universities, The University of Manchester, Newcastle University, University of Strathclyde and Lancaster University, with support from the Edge Foundation.

The network aims to support the development of ecosystems of civic engagement and social change aligned with the United Nation’s Sustainable SDGs. Through practices and partnerships, these ecosystems will support young people and educational institutions to work with local communities to create social change in collaborative, inclusive and equitable ways.

To expand the network and develop a wider ecosystem of collaboration and support, the CEN has joined forces with the Civic University Network (CUN). Under the umbrella of the CUN, additional support will be provided to connect different education sectors involved in civic engagement. The aim is to expand the CEN pathway (within the CUN) to enable these different educational institutions to collaborate, share good practice and support the development of place based educational community of civic engagement through their work with local communities.

The Civic Engagement Network is currently focusing on two key questions:

These conversations are focusing on a key questions:

How can we build a Civic Engagement Ecosystem of Social Change?

How can the CEN cultivate a collaborative culture of civic engagement across universities, colleges and schools?

The recent report, Civic Engagement Network for Universities, Colleges and Schools, considers these questions and explores several current civic engagement initiatives.

The Civic Engagement Network currently has members from the University of Manchester, UCL, Newcastle University, The London Interdisciplinary School, University of Strathclyde, Lancaster University, The Brilliant Club, and The Edge Foundation. Among our member institutions, several civic engagement initiatives are already underway that the CEN hopes to bring to light and build upon.

We are seeking to assemble some short case studies that highlight the good practice you and your institutions are creating or have already developed. The aim is to promote these case studies on the Civic University Network webpage, as examples of good practice connected to this network. These case studies will provide others with insights into what has worked and how, as well as any obstacles or issues you may have experienced when implementing certain practices or ideas. If you would like to share any examples please complete our case study form .

Details of how to sign up to the CEN coming soon.

Examples of CEN member initiatives:

We would love to hear from you!
We are seeking to assemble some short case studies that highlight good practice.
Download our report here:

Schools, colleges and universities are uniquely positioned to help drive positive change by deepening their civic connections and becoming communal hubs. This is because places of learning reach millions of people each year, play central roles in many communities, are hubs of resources, and can influence how entire generations think and act in the world.

For the academic year of 2020/21, 8.9 million young people attended schools in England alone (UK GOV, 2021) and a further 2.66 million students were enrolled at UK higher education institutions (Bolton, 2022). When educational staff and family members are added to this calculation, the influence of EIs expands to at least a quarter of the UK’s population for that year.

With the CEN and CUN joining forces, a fantastic space has been created to share the wonderful and inspirational work across education. Universities, schools and colleges are working together to develop new ideas, projects and innovative curriculum design linked to deeper learning and the UN SDGs. The CEN not only seeks to convene a space to share the excellent practice across educational institutions and civic engagement ecosystems, but also support the development of new projects and creative thinking in this area.

Dr Christine McLean, Senior Lecturer at the Alliance Manchester Business School The University of Manchester

We focus on supporting schools to use community resources (people, places, issues, data, equipment, expertise) to inform challenging, well planned inter-disciplinary projects – a process we term ‘Community Curriculum Making’ with the tagline ‘Going Places, Meeting People, and Doing and Making Things’.

Professor David Leat, Professor of Curriculum Innovation of Newcastle University

Get involved

Is your institution developing innovative civic approaches with universities, colleges and schools? If so, we’d love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us a case study.

We would love to hear from you. You can submit a case study using the form below.

We are seeking to assemble some short case studies that highlight the good practice you and your institutions are creating or have already developed. The aim is to promote these case studies on the Civic University Network webpage, as examples of good practice connected to this network. These case studies will provide others with insights into what has worked and how, as well as any obstacles or issues you may have experienced when implementing certain practices or ideas.

These case studies should summarise the key features of an approach, practice or project in enough detail for others to explore the possibilities for replicating it. Please feel free to link to other information and documentation within the case studies summary so that others can access additional details about your work. If you have several different examples of good practice, feel free to produce multiple case studies (one case study per example).

Taking inspiration from the structure below, please create a summary of your (and/or your institution’s) work pertaining to the network’s key goals.

Civic Engagement Network - Universities, Colleges & Schools (CEN) network aims:

  • To support community action and social change in the spirit of the United Nations’ SDGs.
  • To enhance pupil and community empowerment, agency and engagement in driving change.
  • To support curriculum-based approaches that enable positive social change and improve learning outcomes.

The CEN seeks to achieve these aims through the following goals:

  1. Collaboration: We want to turn the dial towards a more collaborative paradigm that can nurture a robust, densely connected educational landscape to take root.
  2. Community Hubs: We wish to support schools, colleges and universities to become hubs of civic engagement, exposing students to more opportunities in a way that brings their communities along with them and provides more young people with opportunities to build their social, cultural and professional capital.
  3. Equity and Inclusivity: There is an unequal distribution of resources and empowerment across UK schools (Pells, 2017), young people and communities. We want to help equalise access across all pupils through developing EI ecosystems that share resources and support positive engagement.
  4. Authentic learning: Increasingly, education and admission to different stages is becoming more exam focused. This limits the young person's exposure to forms of learning that are more authentic, transformative and interdisciplinary. The CEN supports the development of real-world, enquiry-based, project-based, change maker education and place-based learning to help broaden and enrich outcomes for young learners.
  5. Employment: Employers and young people can experience a substantial leap from studying to working. This has prompted calls for schools, FEIs and HEIs to develop pupils’ employability skills, attitudes and knowledge in order to prepare young people for their future lives and careers. We want to support EIs to prepare young people to enter the world of work through supporting school-employer partnerships, school-community collaborations and EPBL methods in the classroom. We also need to reflect on the admission criteria at different educational stages to ensure that these reflect a wider set of knowledge, skills and values and support better futures for young people and their contributions to society.
  6. Environmental and social justice education: Global ecological and climate crises.

Note, you do not have to complete all the prompts; the fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required. Please keep your case study within 1000 words.

Please provide your case study below:

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