In the community

Giving back to the community – our mandatory internship programme
Dr Chinmay Pandya, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, India

The education model of our university is to provide free education to academically deserving students from disadvantaged backgrounds – this is made possible through financial donations from the local community. Students are therefore expected, during their time with us, to spend some time and effort serving society. As such, we have developed a core internship programme where each student is required to carry out three months of free social service before they can complete their degrees.

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North Meets South: Bridging the social gap in Winnipeg, Canada
Dammy (Mercy) Oluwafemi, psychology student, University of Manitoba, Canada

The University of Manitoba organises North Meets South: free monthly excursions, events, and intercultural workshops which provide an opportunity for students, staff, and faculty to learn about Winnipeg and engage with the local community. The main aim of the North Meets South programme is to foster truth, healing and relation-building between the affluent South and the less affluent North and to bridge gaps and encourage conversations around reconciliation.

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Rising above differences to embrace national interest
Syeda Anum Aftab, MPhil Scholar, Peace and Conflict Studies, National Defence University, Pakistan

The National Harmony Workshop is an annual event which hosts policymakers, academics, students and analysts to delve upon critical issues relating to national harmony. It spans five days in which renowned intellectuals and policy formulators deliver lectures to participants on the theme of mutual respect and understanding for sustainable peace. This initiative primarily brings students as participants from all provinces of Pakistan under one roof, as youth can become the best agents of change. It aims to eradicate extremism and terrorism from Pakistan by way of empowering its youth, especially from far off areas. Through engaging them in extensive discussion, the workshop gives an opportunity to voice their concerns and views in an open manner. The dialogue also helps in fostering empathy amongst students from various segments and provinces.

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Disability Matters in New Zealand
Roberta Francis, PhD candidate, University of Otago, New Zealand

In November 2017 the University of Otago hosted a three-day international conference entitled ‘Disability Matters: Making the Convention Real’. The conference provided a forum for discussions about disability, with a particular focus on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Over 260 people from around the world attended, including disabled people, families/whānau, students, practitioners, policymakers, researchers, self-advocates, service providers, community organisations, and government departments. A breadth of perspectives were explored including practice, policy and research initiatives regarding the implementation and impact of the UNCRPD in all aspects of people’s lives, across national and international cultural contexts.

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Award-winning project offering insight into religious and spiritual diversity through engagement with faith communities
Dr Susan Barker, Vice-Provost Student Experience, University of Calgary, Canada

Organised through the university’s Faith and Spirituality Centre, the Kaleidoscope Project offers insight into religious and spiritual diversity through engagement with faith communities in the city of Calgary. It aims to create a more pluralistic and inclusive campus community by inviting participants to engage in learning, conversation and action with others who may have a different background or viewpoint. Project participants reported gaining an increased self-awareness and understanding of religious and spiritual diversity and Kaleidoscope was awarded the 2017 NASPA (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators in Higher Education) Outstanding Spiritual Initiative Award.

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Delivering our mission of inspiring and engaging people to participate constructively in contemporary issues
Henry McGhie, Head of Collections and Curator of Zoology Manchester Museum, University of Manchester, UK

Manchester Museum is the UK’s leading university museum and a proud part of the University of Manchester. It aims to further the University of Manchester’s goals around excellent research, outstanding student experience and social responsibility. Social responsibility forms a backdrop within much of the Museum’s work, acknowledging the potential and need for cultural institutions to promote critical thinking, support people's participation in society, and to foster a tolerant society and sustainable future. With collections that span millions of years, including both human and natural heritage, Manchester Museum is firmly committed to promoting understanding between cultures and working towards a sustainable world. The Museum's galleries have been redeveloped to connect with these themes, supporting visitors' ongoing engagement with contemporary topics, supported – and challenged – through exhibits and related events. The Museum work with visitors to explore their own viewpoints and values, and provides opportunities for visitors to explore the viewpoints and values of others. We provide a platform rooted in values of respect, tolerance and diversity, and with a firm commitment to supporting visitors to contribute to and shape the/their future fulfils the Museum's obligations as a public institution.

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Dispelling myths in the community through education and counselling
Dr Issa Ziddy, Dean of the School of Kiswahili and Foreign Languages, State University of Zanzibar, Tanzania

Universities have a role in teaching students about global citizenship, and how to live together in harmony and respect each other despite different beliefs and backgrounds. Our university is a public university, and as such must remain secular in its teachings, but we are keen to teach students universal values that they can share in their local communities.

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#WeAreInternational
Julie Campbell, HR Manager - Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, The University of Sheffield, UK

The #WeAreInternational campaign celebrates the academic, economic and cultural benefits that international students bring to the United Kingdom. Established in 2013, the campaign was founded by the University of Sheffield and the University of Sheffield Students’ Union as a response to the 2013 Immigration Reform Bill, which placed further restrictions on international students wishing to study in the UK.

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Mentoring schoolchildren to improve academic performance and discipline
Dr Florence Itegi, Senior Lecturer, Department of Educational Management Policy & Curriculum Studies, Kenyatta University, Kenya

We have introduced a mentorship project whereby our students mentor schoolchildren in five different secondary schools in the central region of Kenya. Students participate in workshops and seminars where they are taught how to train their mentees. As part of the project the mentors visit schools and engage in interactive sessions, whilst also participating in core curriculum subjects. Part of this project is also for mentors to share their own experiences with the schoolchildren and respond to their questions.

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A student-run community engagement project to nurture integration in an English city
Rev David Weller, Senior Chaplain, University of Wolverhampton, UK

The University of Wolverhampton initiated a £4,000 project to nurture religion and cultural integration in Wolverhampton. The LEAF (Language, exercise and food) project was a student-run community engagement initiative within the city. Students and graduates from the university delivered 200 hours of English language sessions at various religious centres within the city. Over 150 people took part in the project, which received funding from the Near Neighbours programme run by the Church Urban Fund. Around 40 of the participants attended a special event hosted by the University Chaplaincy in April 2017 to ‘graduate’ from the programme. They received a Euro pass certificate, an English practice book and a £10 shopping voucher to celebrate their achievement.

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Popular annual interfaith Peace Lectures
Rev Gregory Hughson, University Chaplain, Otago University, New Zealand

Since 2004, Otago University Ecumenical Chaplaincy organises an annual interfaith Open Peace Lecture in partnership with the Dunedin Abrahamic Interfaith Group. The lectures alternate between different presenters from Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Vice-Chancellor of Otago University usually introduces the Peace Lecturers every year, and the lectures are published online at www.dunedininterfaith.net.nz. These lectures promote understanding between people of different faith backgrounds and highlight Jewish, Christian and Muslim commitment to peace.

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An initiative to highlight Muslim contributions to British history
Professor John D Brewer, Professor of Post Conflict Studies, Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, Queen's University Belfast, UK

The Mitchell Institute is involved with the non-governmental organisation British Future in an initiative which promotes reflection on Muslim identity in Britain. We are using Commonwealth participation in the First World War, especially by Indian Muslim soldiers, to show Muslim engagement with events foundational to British identity, and to highlight Muslim contributions to British history. We want to offer an opportunity for Muslims to reflect on what a British Muslim identity can draw on for meaning and content. It is also an opportunity to rethink public images of Muslims in Britain.

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Global Hope facilitates moral and personal development in staff and students
Prof Gerald Pillay, Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Liverpool Hope University, UK

Global Hope is our university's award-winning international education charity, launched 32 years ago. It gives students and staff (academics and administrators) an opportunity to act as global citizens, by engaging with issues of social justice and participating in interfaith projects in developing countries.

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Inter-religious and intercultural student exchanges are invaluable
Dr Mark Owen, Director for the Winchester Centre of Religion, Reconciliation and Peace, University of Winchester, UK

More opportunities for students to participate in inter-religious and intercultural exchanges are invaluable. At Winchester, we have organised many such programmes, including one where we send undergraduate students from the Department of Theology, Religion and Philosophy to a partner college in India for three to four weeks as part of an accredited optional fieldwork module. Students go to Chennai with a research agenda of their choosing – it can be focused on topics like infant mortality or the caste system, but always relating back to religion – to collect data.

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Mental Health Matters: A spiritually uplifting project by NSBM
Thilini De Silva, Dean and Senior Lecturer, School of Business, National School of Business Management (NSBM), Sri Lanka

The project ‘Mental Health Matters’ was organised by students reading for their first year in the BSc in Business Management (Special) degree programme, and was a partial fulfilment of their Project Management module. This initiative was proposed to encourage the students of NSBM to further understand and grapple with real world issues, and the project was a resounding success.

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Religion, Theology and Bible Schools’ Outreach Programme
Julie Campbell, HR Manager – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, The University of Sheffield, UK

The university’s Religion, Theology and Bible Schools’ Outreach Programme is led by academics in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and consists of a number of projects which seek to introduce new and exciting research about the subject to school students and to further enrich teaching. The university recognises the importance of working collaboratively with community groups and schools in order to further human understanding of how theology and the Bible have played a role in our experiences.

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Woven together? Christianity and development between New Zealand and the Pacific
Associate Professor Hon Luamanuvao Winnie Laban, Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Pasifika), Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

In June 2016, the Religious Studies Programme at Victoria University of Wellington – with support from the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, the New Zealand Aid Programme, and Victoria University – hosted a conference on the theme ‘Woven together? Christianity and development between New Zealand and the Pacific’. The event brought together leading scholars and development practitioners to explore the complex relationships between Christianity and development across the Pacific.

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Religion, peace and reconciliation – a collaborative project
Prof Sebastian Kim, Chair in Theology and Public Life/University Head of Research, York St John University, UK

The Theology and Religious Studies Department at York St John University started a project on religion, peace and reconciliation in 2006 to examine theological and religious methodologies for sustainable and constructive contributions to peace and reconciliation. We raised funds for this project from Youngnak Presbyterian Church in Seoul and other sources, which enabled us to conduct five international conferences at York St John University (2006), University California Los Angeles (2009), the Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary in Seoul (2010), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2012), and York St John University (2015).

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Women in Engineering
Julie Campbell, HR Manager – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, The University of Sheffield, UK

The Women in Engineering initiative endeavours to inspire the next generation of female engineers by highlighting the huge diversity of engineering disciplines, and break preconceived notions of what engineering is. The initiative stemmed from the fact that women are under-represented in the field of engineering, with only 6% of the engineering workforce in the UK being female. The university believes that this is a problem and encourages the removal of barriers preventing women and girls from choosing to study engineering at university level or continuing to work in the area following graduation. Women in Engineering involves staff across Engineering at Sheffield, and is led by the Faculty’s Director and Deputy Director for Women in Engineering.

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Taking steps to develop opportunities for student and staff exchanges
Ven Prof Gallelle Sumanasiri Thero, Vice-Chancellor, Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka

We have signed several Memoranda of Understanding with local and international institutions to increase our student-staff exchange capacity, with the aim to achieve mutual understanding by exposing our Buddhist students to other religions and cultures.

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Religion, Theology and Bible Schools’ Outreach Programme
Julie Campbell, HR Manager – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, The University of Sheffield, UK

The University’s Religion, Theology and Bible Schools’ Outreach Programme is led by academics in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and consists of a number of projects which seek to introduce new and exciting research about the subject to school students and to further enrich teaching. The university recognises the importance of working collaboratively with community groups and schools in order to further human understanding of how theology and the Bible have played a role in our experiences.

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Collaborating with universities overseas to improve lives
Christopher McKenna, Director of International Affairs, University of New South Wales, Australia

A critical element of our university’s ten year strategy to 2025 is our commitment to establish a new Institute for Global Development. This will see the University of New South Wales (UNSW) forge strong and lasting bonds with universities already working to improve the lives of some of the most disadvantaged communities across Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. We believe that by partnering on key projects we can achieve greater progress together, transforming people’s lives for the better.

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Broadening horizons and bringing students together
Jane O’Rorke, Multifaith Chaplaincy Coordinator, University of the West of Scotland, UK

We have students from over 70 different countries, the majority of whom attend our main campus in Paisley. International Advisors from Student Services support our international students by organising activities and events to bring students of different cultures and faiths together. One of the most popular activities is the Discovering Scotland with UWS trips to places of interest which helps students of different cultures and faiths engage with each other and also learn more about Scottish culture. Feedback is always very positive and trips this session have been to Edinburgh and St Andrews. Future destinations this session are to Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond.

Pioneering public engagement project at the Sheffield Institute for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies
Julie Campbell, HR Manager – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, The University of Sheffield, UK

The Sheffield Institute for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies (SIIBS) is one of the leading global institutes for innovative, multidisciplinary research on the Bible. They host a varied research seminar programme throughout the year and are committed to ensuring that their research has a significant and positive impact locally, nationally and internationally. Their passion for up-to-the-minute thinking inspires scholars and students across the globe.

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