Higher Education Institution Staff Roundtable Event: “Understanding HEI requirements and challenges for Digital Action”

Are you a staff member at an HEI (Higher Education Institution)? Are you interested in participating or organising activities such as citizen science, hackathons or makeathons – or are such activities part of your job? Do you have ideas about how Higher Education Institutions could support their staff or students in running such activities, or in improving their digital skills or communications in order to do so? Do you want to know more about what methods you can use for Digital Action or how to design successful citizen science and similar activities? Or would you like to meet other HEI staff with similar interests? If so, please join our Roundtable.

The UCL team of the HEIDI Project invites any HEI staff members with an interest in Digital Action to join our Roundtable on Zoom. This Roundtable is designed to bring together staff from different colleges and universities, and who work in different roles in the HE sector, to contribute their thoughts and experiences. Over the one hour session we will explore your experiences, hopes, challenges and what you have observed about the needs and requirements of participants in and organisers of Digital Action events, whether these are part of your day-to-day work or a voluntary activity. We will use a simple method (a Padlet) to record your thoughts and experiences in writing as well as verbally. We will explore such questions as:

• What is Digital Action? What has been your involvement in Digital Action?
• What is the impact of Digital Action?
• How does the HEIDI Project understand Digital Action?
• What are the challenges of and barriers to Digital Action? How can we overcome these?
• What skills are needed for Digital Action?
• How can HEIs support their staff in participating in or organising Digital Action?

Who is this event for and how will it be run?

This event is for any HEI staff member who is, or has been, interested in the idea of participating in or organising some Digital Action activity, such as citizen science, a hackathon or a makeathon – perhaps for your research, or to benefit some community, or to develop your or your students’ skills. This may take place at your HEI or outside it, in a voluntary organisation.

You do not need to have participated in Digital Action to join us – we are interested in finding out why people do not take part and what could overcome barriers to participation, as well as what people find interesting about the idea of Digital Action.

This event is for staff at any HEI. It will be run by UCL staff, but you do not need to be working at UCL or in the UK. You do not need to be research or teaching staff – professional and support roles, e.g. technicians and librarians, will be very welcome.

The Roundtable will be run on Zoom and will last 1 hour. You will be e-mailed a Zoom link a few days before the event. You will not need to prepare or bring anything, though we will send you one or two links during the meeting such as to a registration form and a Padlet.