Exploring Public Engagement at the National Justice Museum

On Thursday 23 January, the Civic Impact Champions Programme (CICP) went off campus to the Justice Museum in Nottingham city centre for their third Institute Academy Programme (IAP) training session.

The cohort was also joined by the newly appointed Public Engagement Ambassadors. The ambassadors are current PhD students at University of Nottingham and will be working alongside the Public Engagement team to deliver key events in our calendar.

Cultural Heritage

The training session had a core focus on the cultural heritage of Nottingham and the surrounding area.

Nottinghamshire is widely known for its association with the legendary outlaw Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest along with its rich industrial, literary, and mining heritage. The local heritage sector plays a vital role in driving tourism, regeneration, culture, and investment across both the city and county. Cultural heritage is a shared asset that benefits the wider community so by supporting our academics in actively engaging with local heritage and cultural partners we hope to ensure that their research remains relevant, accessible, and meaningful to the people it serves.

Principles of partnership

Sally Nightingale, Public Engagement Project Manager introduced the session by explaining the principals of partnerships, how to management of them and how to sustain and upscale partnerships before, during and after the project.

Our head of public engagement, Maria Richards, joined the conversation and explored the upcoming project at Nottingham Castle that is in process. Still at the initial stages, this project is already bringing various external partners and University of Nottingham faculties together including Engineering, Science and Arts to create an exhibition based on the Major Oak.

Guest speaker: Ann Inscker

The cohort also heard from Ann Inscker, a curator at Nottingham City Museums & Galleries. Nottingham City Council’s museums and heritage sites attracts around one million visits per year and contributes over £3.8 million annually to the local economy. Ann spoke about the various Nottingham Museum sites, research partners and current collaboration projects such as Weaving Together and History of Bronze.

The partnership opportunities Nottingham City Museums & Galleries offer for researchers include Doctoral training placement and Academic residency programme and Creative Europe Cultural Partner Programme.

Guest speaker: Dr Lucy Jones

The training session was at the Justice Museum as the cohort heard from Dr Lucy Jones who spoke about there LGBTQ+ project ‘The Words we Live by’ which they delivered in partnership with the Justice Museum. Dr Lucy Jones, an associate professor of English at the University of Nottingham, spoke about her research on a guide to LGBTQ+ Language research project which supports the museum's mission to promote equity and justice through engagement, inspiration and learning.

‘Words We Live By: A Guide to LGBTQ+ Language’ is an online guide and glossary to help people understand the language used by many LGBTQ+ people to describe their lives and identities to support them into adulthood. Dr Lucy Jones collaborated with members of LGBTQ+ youth groups in England to complete this project.

During the training, Lucy spoke of the public engagement aspects of her work and how this collaboration was vital in shaping the research as the words were chosen and defined by young people, as well as collaborating and utilising the skills of the team at the Justice Museum. This work continues to have a real-world impact on local and national scale.