MAKING COLLABORATIONS BETTER
Annual Review 2023-2024
Aberystwyth University Dialogue Centre
The Dialogue Centre at Aberystwyth University was launched in November 2022 to create new and innovative opportunities for collaborations between researchers, businesses, policy makers and other sectors. Since then, we’ve been involved in dozens of different events, bringing together people from within and beyond the University. Our review of the 2023-2024 academic year marks the first full year of Dialogue Centre activity. During this period, we focused on developing new and existing knowledge exchange activities as well as running collaborative research pilot projects and establishing Tŷ Trafod, our flagship research dialogue hub on the University’s main campus.
Tŷ Trafod
The opening of our Tŷ Trafod Ymchwil in August 2023 was one of the highlights of the 2023-24 academic year, supporting not only Dialogue Centre activities but also the University’s wider aim of transforming ways of working across the institution.
In no time at all, this flexible, contemporary meeting space in the heart of Penglais Campus has become a lively hub for hosting research dialogue and other collaborative sessions – from seminars and hackathons to facilitation training, a marginalised writers’ takeover day and a research commercialisation bootcamp.
Feedback from academics who have used Tŷ Trafod shows how the space lends itself well to participatory problem-solving, co-creation and collaborative research projects.
This is my 11th year at Aberystwyth, and I can honestly say, the Dialogues Centre has been one of the most effective new developments in terms of generating a genuinely innovative research environment with a focus on knowledge exchange. The physical space itself is a hugely welcome and important provision. I have heard many colleagues talk positively about the space and comment on how significant it is to have a shared space that is fit for purpose. Just as important, have been the kind of events and programmes that you have spearheaded, from AberCollab to today’s facilitation event designed to support researchers in developing patient and public involvement in healthcare research. These events have managed to build significant momentum across the University, facilitating introductions to colleagues that we may otherwise struggle to connect with and developing vital skills in facilitation and knowledge exchange that are central to high quality research. More personally, they have provided a vital catalyst to my own developing research plans and I look forward to participating in many more over the coming years. 
Just a sincere word of thanks from a member of the team on your highly unusual but exceptional and engaging course today. You “absolutely nailed it” as they would say! it was delightful to see younger members of staff gaining so much confidence from the experience. I have much past experience and training in this area but was so delighted to be given the opportunity to attend and be able to refresh and learn in an entirely new way. I embraced entirely and learnt and reflected so much from that new experience. I will say that I have never left a room after an event or meeting knowing everyone’s names, what makes them function and what they represent. That was smart – very well done!
Festival of Research
The Dialogue Centre led the planning and delivery of the University’s Festival of Research in 2023. A six-day, cross-disciplinary programme offered a blend of keynote speakers, talks, discussion panels and research project exhibits on the theme of Pursuit of Peace. Twenty events were held in a variety of locations, attracting total audiences of more than 600 including staff, students and local communities. We worked in partnership with the National Library of Wales and used some of their iconic spaces to host events and displays as well as provide a milling area for community organisations.
Other local partners included Ceredigion Museum where we held our Sustainable Ceredigion event, bringing together researchers, local organisations, community members, and graduate students in conversations around climate change and peace initiatives.
Our Peace for Lunch session invited researchers working across different disciplines to discuss how their work at Aberystwyth University could help advance peace and resolve conflicts from a local to a global scale, and identify potential collaborative projects.
I very much enjoyed the Sustainable Ceredigion peace and climate change cafe, particularly as it drew together people from such mixed backgrounds. It felt as if it should be the beginning of something, but what? Some of those conversations could be continued to support individuals in making real change.
The cross-disciplinary discussions were particularly useful, and the atmosphere was extremely effective and positive in creating a space to share views and stories. Good arrangements were made for the inclusion of the Welsh language in the event.
BBC Climate Change Lecture
In March 2024, we hosted a sell-out event with the BBC’s Climate Change Editor Justin Rowlatt. As well as reflecting on his experiences of reporting on climate change, Rowlatt also engaged our 200-strong audience in discussions around public perceptions and efforts to address climate change in the UK and globally. Connections made during the visit by Rowlatt and other members of the BBC’s environment team to Aberystwyth led to high-profile coverage of several of the University’s research projects, coordinated by the Department of Communications and Public Affairs.
Visiting Facilitator Programme
Exchanging new knowledge, expertise and best practice is incredibly important to us as a Dialogue Centre. It’s one of the reasons we launched our Visiting Facilitators Programme in March 2024. Our first guest was Mary Robson from Durham University, one of the UK’s leading creative facilitators for interdisciplinary research projects. In addition to holding briefings and meetings, Mary led two workshops with researchers. The former focused on building and facilitating strong and caring research teams while the latter explored best practice for engaging patient and public involvement in medical research.
Hay Festival
This year’s Hay Festival saw the launch of our unique toolkit showing how the creative process of collage can help people deliberate important issues.
A Collage of Dialogue: A Creative Method for Setting Up Deliberative Conversations offers a step-by-step guide for running a two-hour workshop where collage making is used as a way of exploring political, social and economic challenges.
Co-created with Dr Anwen Elias from the Department of International Politics, the toolkit built on her work with the Independent Commission for the Constitutional Future of Wales where collage was used as a method of encouraging discussion on complex questions. Copies of the toolkit were snapped up at the packed event at Hay and can be downloaded from our website.
We also led the planning of two other events at Hay highlighting the work of Aberystwyth University researchers, including the centenary of the Welsh Women’s Peace Appeal and exploring uncomfortable questions around biodiversity conservation.
Royal Welsh Show
Held annually at Llanelwedd in Powys, the Royal Welsh is the premier showcase for all things agriculture – attracting more than 250,000 visitors from 40 different countries over four days in July. It’s an important place to hold conversations about how our research can help improve rural lives and as a Dialogue Centre, we helped to shape a strategic research focus to the University’s activities on the showground during the week, which included events engaging Welsh Government and other key stakeholder sectors.
AberCollab
One of the key targets of the University’s Innovation and Knowledge Exchange Strategy is to increase collaborations between academics, businesses, policy makers and other sectors – helping to ensure the impact of our research leads to positive real-world change. In March 2024 we launched AberCollab, a pilot programme providing training and seed corn funding to support researchers in building and strengthening external networks, develop skills for leading collaborative workshops and maximised impact and innovation.
Thirteen pilot projects were supported, ranging from developing next-generation nanotechnology to establishing a network for marginalised writers and identifying trends and challenges in the holiday-let market in rural Wales. The range of interdisciplinary activities engaged other academic institutions as well as government, non-government organisations, industry, and participants from related communities within Wales and Europe. Many of these pilot projects will build on collaborations made to consolidate and create further impact in subsequent years. You can read more here: https://dialogue.aber.ac.uk/activities/research/abercollab/abercollab-report
Partnerships
As well as fostering research collaborations, the Dialogue Centre also provides training sessions for academic staff, builds direct relationships with key external stakeholders and offers fee-paying consultancy services on dialogic and democratic engagement initiatives. During 2023-2024, these have included:
- Organising training sessions for academics in knowledge exchange, collaboration, communication and Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) in medical research
- Working with the Institute for Welsh Affairs to identify options for greater democratic innovations in Wales
- Creating content for democratic engagement on the Aberystwyth App
- Leading a session on democratic engagement with Aberystwyth Town Council
- Providing 210 one-on-one coaching hours with staff at all levels, including academics, professional services, managers and senior leaders.
To further support innovative research within the University, the Dialogue Centre was part of two successful funding bids during 2023-24 and will be contributing its expertise over the duration of the two projects.
1. Cymru Wledig LPIP Rural Wales is a five-year, £5m UKRI-funded project connecting researchers, communities, and policymakers to support inclusive, sustainable development. Researchers and policymakers will work with communities from across rural Wales to explore innovative solutions to a range of major challenges faced by rural communities
2. COAST-R network is a four-year project aimed at improving the resilience of UK coasts. In Wales, the research will focus on the coastlines of north Ceredigion and Gwynedd, looking at how climate change and sea level rise interact as well as nature conservation, rural challenges, economic development, questions of language and culture, and emotional wellbeing.
Looking Ahead
As we embark on a new academic year, we will continue to build on the Dialogue Centre’s civic mission and engagement activities as well as grow a sustainable model of skills provision, consultation services and business development support that promotes economic growth. Our plans include launching a formal community of practice to support and further develop the skills of the 40 academic and professional services staff who took part in Dialogue Centre facilitation training during 2023-24. We are also excited to be working on fundraising and pinning down the details of the Dialogue Centre’s future home, which is starting to take shape as part of the refurbishment of the Old College on Aberystwyth promenade and is due for completion in 2026.
Fostering collaborations between academics, businesses, policy makers and other sectors is key to our mission as a Dialogue Centre. We do it because we know that working collaboratively can strengthen research outcomes, promote valuable knowledge exchange and make a positive difference to society.
Dr Jennifer Wolowic, Principal Lead, Aberystwyth University Dialogue Centre
