2024-25 Blog Posts
Top Tips for your Being Human Festival Application
26 March 2025
The CPE’s new Public Engagement Manager, Rose, shares some insights on Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities. Rose joins Queen Mary from the School of Advanced Study, University of London, where she worked on Being Human for several years.
Learning from Bengali speakers about language barriers in cancer care
11 March 2025
Language barriers significantly impact patient care, trust, and outcomes, especially in diverse regions like East London. The Translate Myeloma project, supported by a small grant from the Centre for Public Engagement (CPE) last academic year, aims to improve cancer care by enhancing the quality and availability of translated medical documentation for Bengali-speaking patients. Led by Dr. Stephen Peter Hibbs, the initiative evaluates how inadequate translations affect patient understanding and trust.
Breaking down the barriers to accessing mental health care experienced by neurodivergent young people: a participatory approach
18 February 2025
Previous research shows that most young people who are neurodivergent, with diagnoses such as autism, ADHD or dyslexia, experience significant mental health challenges, particularly depression and anxiety. However, in the real world, these issues in neurodivergent young people are often not recognised early enough, or are even missed entirely, as highlighted by the Embracing Complexity charity coalition. This lack of recognition means that neurodivergent young people are more likely to miss out on early mental health support than other young people. These issues can be even more acute for neurodivergent young people from ethnic minority backgrounds, due to cultural differences and bias.
Creating personalised engagement with sea turtle conservation on Zakynthos Island, Greece
23 January 2025
With support from a 2024 Public Engagement Small Grant Scheme, Dr. Papafitsoros (SMS) and his team scaled up the outreach of the “Zakynthos Turtles” project, a unique interactive web-platform actively engaging visitors and tour operators with responsible sea turtle conservation, in Zakynthos Island, Greece. Through this platform, visitors upload images of unique turtles that they have observed for individual photo-identification and receive information about them in real time e.g., including their behaviours, interesting stories, and quantification of the human pressure that their observed turtle is subject to, as simplified dissemination of Dr. Papafitsoros’ research. The platform results to creation of targeted and personalised awareness as well as engagement with sea turtle conservation to both tourists and tour operators by perceiving the sea turtles as unique individuals, with their own life history and habits. During the 2024 summer season, 590 sea turtle photos were received, an increase of over 260%(!) compared to the inaugural year of the project in 2023. This resulted in 268 identified turtles whose unique stories were sent to the people who observed them.
Engaging and involving people living with diabetes in designing a study about dental implants to replace missing teeth
18 December 2024
With the support of a PPI Small Grant, Dr. Ammar Ahmed Zaki’s project aimed to engage people living with diabetes in exploring the connection between diabetes, gum disease, and dental health. From creating accessible recruitment posters to developing a lay-language questionnaire, Dr. Zaki ensured the project was inclusive and patient-centered. This PPI project not only brought essential patient voices into diabetes research but also highlighted the importance of clear communication and thoughtful logistics to make research more relevant and impactful.
Runa Kawsay Raymikuna: Cosmic celebrations of life’
11 December 2024
With support from the Public Engagement Small Grant Scheme, Runa Kawsay Raymikuna (Kichwa for “Cosmic Celebrations for Life”) brought the ancient agricultural festivities of Ecuador’s Kichwa people to life in a public photography exhibition. Held on July 26, 2024, at Cotacachi’s Casa de la Cultura, the exhibition spotlighted the spiritual and philosophical foundations of Kichwa traditions, challenging modern ideas about development, consumption, and individualism. Led by Kinti Orellana Matute, a PhD student with Kichwa heritage, the project invited the public to experience the Kichwa’s deep connection to the cosmos, honoring the cycles of corn cultivation through vivid photographs and community stories. This event, supported by local indigenous authorities, marked a significant cultural moment for Cotacachi, celebrating the Kichwa people’s worldview and inspiring a renewed appreciation for their rich heritage.
AI-MULTIPLY: Community Art Exhibition
4 December 2024
In May 2024, with support from our Community Engagement Small Grant, AI-MULTIPLY’s community art exhibition opened at Oxford House in Bethnal Green. The exhibit showcased powerful artwork by local participants, sharing their experiences of managing multiple long-term health conditions. Through creative workshops—using ceramics, collage, and AI-generated art—the artists explored health, community, and resilience, sparking important conversations and connecting the public with the AI-MULTIPLY study’s mission.
Engaging families in East London with research, advocacy and support around child growth
27 November 2024
In July this year, a group of researchers based in the Blizard Institute were able to host an event for study participants after winning a Public Engagement grant from The Centre for Public Engagement. The team had recently completed a study called Child Growth and Development in East London (CGDEL), which involved local children from Tower Hamlets.
Involving Women in the Development of a Grant Application to Reduce Inequalities in Antenatal Care
20 November 2024
In this post, we’re thrilled to feature Christina Derksen’s work, supported by last year’s Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) Small Grant. Through this project, Christina connected with women from diverse communities who had recently given birth to explore ways to make maternity experiences fairer and more inclusive. A key focus of her project was on improving communication, especially for women from minority backgrounds who often face communication barriers and inequities in maternity care.
Reflections on a Participatory Research Practice-Sharing Event
19 November 2024
Bonus Blog Post! On 30 October 2024, the Centre for Public Engagement hosted a dynamic practice-sharing event on participatory research, co-led by Dr. Aoife Sadlier (QMUL) and Chelsea McDonagh (Young Foundation). Drawing on insights from lived experiences and the principles of participatory research, attendees explored successes, failures, and the realities of co-creating knowledge.
Locating communities in community-based learning: empowering local community groups in university-community partnerships.
13 November 2024
Welcome to the first post of our Engagement Blog for the 2024-25 academic year! We’re excited to start with insights from Dr. Rehan Shah and Dr. David Geiringer, whose project received support through a CPE Small Community Grant. The project, titled Locating Communities in Community-Based Learning: Empowering Local Community Groups in University-Community Partnerships, exemplifies our commitment to fostering collaborative learning experiences that bridge academic and community goals. We hope Dr Shah’s reflections inspire further engagement and ideas for making a positive impact together.