Engaged Research refers to a wide range of rigorous research approaches and methodologies that share a common interest in collaborative engagement with the community and aim to improve, understand or investigate an issue of public interest or concern. Engaged Research and Scholarship refers to collaborative actions with community as opposed to university actions for them.

UL Engage is credited as a ‘key driver’ of the national Engaged Research policy agenda, promoting engaged research nationally with Campus Engage and the Irish Universities Association as well as internationally through collaboration with the UNESCO Knowledge For Change (K4C) consortium and IFWEA.

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UL2030 Training for Engaged Research with Impact

Learn with leading UL experts in Engaged Research! The UL2030 training programme facilitates cross-disciplinary training with peers and mentors, to enable collaborative learning, and to introduce the ways and means to develop more stakeholder engagement in your research.

  • Apply the principles of engaged research to your own research project.
  • Develop your understanding of open research and knowledge translation.
  • Identify and communicate with your research stakeholders.
  • Plan for impact by design.
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UNESCO K4C Hub

UL Engage is a member of the UNESCO sponsored Knowledge for Change (K4C) Global Consortium for Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education providing UL with an international peer network for mentorship and review.

K4C hubs design and conduct educational programs in order to develop research capacities for the co-creation of knowledge through collective action by practitioners, community-based researchers, community groups and academics.

The consortium supports North-South and South-South partnerships that build on and enhance the emerging consensus in knowledge democracy and strengthens recent collaboration between:

  • Higher Education section in UNESCO
  • Global University Network for Innovation (GUNI)
  • Global Alliance on Community University Engagement

and other regional and global networks.