ISBE Engaged Scholarship COI: The Distinctive Value of Human Researchers

This Professional Development Workshop invites our academic community to consider the distinctive contribution of human researchers: their capacity to build trust, exercise contextual and ethical judgement, co-create meaningful questions, and generate knowledge with communities partners. The event will explore the place of participatory and engaged approaches in the current research landscape and consider how these approaches enable communities to recognise, shape, own and act upon research, contributing to meaningful impact.

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The afternoon will feature contributions from Dr Deema Refai and Professor Pablo Muñoz, experts in impactful participatory research at the University of Leeds. Dr Refai will draw on her work with under-represented groups to explore how trust, ethical judgement and shared ownership can strengthen participatory research, while Professor Muñoz will introduce Prospective Inquiry in Practice, a co-creative approach that brings researchers and practitioners together to generate sustainable and scalable practical outcomes alongside academic contributions. Following their presentations, attendees will be presented with some methodological provocations and participate in facilitated roundtable discussions. You will be invited to share experiences, surface practical and ethical tensions, and contribute to a collective discussion about the value, tactics and future of participatory and engaged research.

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Event timings and agenda are below:

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The event is hosted by the Engaged Scholarship COI of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship and Loughborough Business School and is free to attend. Please note, this is an in person only event.

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Date: Friday 18th September 2026 Time: 12.00–4.30pm

Venue: Loughborough Business School

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Please complete the form by September 4th 2026 to register. Places are limited.

Registration link: ISBE Engaged Scholarship COI: The Distinctive Value of Human Researchers (PDW) – Fill in form

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Agenda
12.00-12.30 – Registration opens
12.30 – 1.15 – Networking Lunch
1.30–2.30 — Featured presentations by Dr Deema Refai and Professor Pablo Muñoz, followed by audience Q&A
2.45 –3.00 — Coffee Break
3.00 – 4.00 — Participatory Scholarship Provocations and Roundtables
4.00 – 4.30 — Summary and Close