Are you a researcher or practitioner working to connect research and society? Are you looking to challenge your practice, learn from peers and experts from across the world, and push your work to the next level? Then join a passionate, diverse group of engagers from across the world online for the Collaborative Futures Academy 2023!
To create a meaningful and inclusive dialogue between research and society, engagement needs to build on an ethical foundation of care, participation and authenticity. This starts with understanding our personal motivations and capacities as engagers, and it extends to interrogating the practices and power dynamics that shape our field. How can we foster more equitable processes of engagement that bring in those often left out? What are the tools that help us develop our own voice and drive change? The Collaborative Futures Academy invites you to explore these questions and develop a bold, creative and innovative engagement practice with integrity and equity at its heart.
If you would like to get a feel for CFA then take a look back at last year's Academy: CFA 2021
The CFA'23 will take place online 10-25 May 2023, with 2 weekly sessions on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11am-2pm British Summer Time, plus an optional, informal networking 30min before and after.
The Programme

Who is the CFA for:
The key requirements is that participants come with experience of public engagement with research. This includes participation, citizen science, science communication, community engagement or related fields. You must also be committed to develop your own practice in a way that contributes to a positive culture change in research. You might be:
- A researcher who is actively engaging publics in your research or cultivating a participative research culture. You can be at any stages of your research career (from PhD) and we invite all disciplines across humanities, natural and social sciences.
- A practitioner supporting researchers with their engagement: you may be working within an institute or indepently, and come from different backgrounds, but you work contributes to creating a strong dialogue between research and society.
Places are funded by the host institutions and are therefore free of charge to participants.
What you will get: Masterclasses and conversations with world-leading engagement practitioners and researchers An immersive and interactive learning structure that will support and challenge you throughout the Academy Supported peer learning groups to share experiences and learning Individual mentoring with members from the CFA team Creative and practical skills workshops that will enhance your engagement practice An international network of like-minded engagers for mutual support and sharing
| What you need to bring: A commitment to fully participate in all elements of the programme across the 3 weeks Openness to challenge your own practice and try out new ways of working and thinking A willingness to listen, learn and share in a diverse and international cohort
|
How to Apply
To apply, please read the instructions in the applicant guide and complete the application survey below. If you have any questions about the application process, please contact BerlinSchoolTraining@mfn.berlin.
Applications have now closed. Successfull applicants will be notified by 15 March 2023.
Over the past two years, more than 100 researchers and practitioners from across the world have explored how to connect research and the public in innovative and meaningful ways in our Academies. Now it is your chance.
About the Hosts
The Collaborative Futures Academy is a collaboration between the University of Cambridge Public Engagement team, Wellcome Connecting Science, the Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science and the Public, Stellenbosch University, and the Berlin School of Public Engagement and Open Science. It is funded by UK Higher Education Innovation Funding, The Wellcome Trust, Robert Bosch Stiftung and Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.

Are you a researcher or practitioner working to connect research and society? Are you looking to challenge your practice, learn from peers and experts from across the world, and push your work to the next level? Then join a passionate, diverse group of engagers from across the world online for the Collaborative Futures Academy 2023!
To create a meaningful and inclusive dialogue between research and society, engagement needs to build on an ethical foundation of care, participation and authenticity. This starts with understanding our personal motivations and capacities as engagers, and it extends to interrogating the practices and power dynamics that shape our field. How can we foster more equitable processes of engagement that bring in those often left out? What are the tools that help us develop our own voice and drive change? The Collaborative Futures Academy invites you to explore these questions and develop a bold, creative and innovative engagement practice with integrity and equity at its heart.
If you would like to get a feel for CFA then take a look back at last year's Academy: CFA 2021
The CFA'23 will take place online 10-25 May 2023, with 2 weekly sessions on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11am-2pm British Summer Time, plus an optional, informal networking 30min before and after.
The Programme

Who is the CFA for:
The key requirements is that participants come with experience of public engagement with research. This includes participation, citizen science, science communication, community engagement or related fields. You must also be committed to develop your own practice in a way that contributes to a positive culture change in research. You might be:
- A researcher who is actively engaging publics in your research or cultivating a participative research culture. You can be at any stages of your research career (from PhD) and we invite all disciplines across humanities, natural and social sciences.
- A practitioner supporting researchers with their engagement: you may be working within an institute or indepently, and come from different backgrounds, but you work contributes to creating a strong dialogue between research and society.
Places are funded by the host institutions and are therefore free of charge to participants.
What you will get: Masterclasses and conversations with world-leading engagement practitioners and researchers An immersive and interactive learning structure that will support and challenge you throughout the Academy Supported peer learning groups to share experiences and learning Individual mentoring with members from the CFA team Creative and practical skills workshops that will enhance your engagement practice An international network of like-minded engagers for mutual support and sharing
| What you need to bring: A commitment to fully participate in all elements of the programme across the 3 weeks Openness to challenge your own practice and try out new ways of working and thinking A willingness to listen, learn and share in a diverse and international cohort
|
How to Apply
To apply, please read the instructions in the applicant guide and complete the application survey below. If you have any questions about the application process, please contact BerlinSchoolTraining@mfn.berlin.
Applications have now closed. Successfull applicants will be notified by 15 March 2023.
Over the past two years, more than 100 researchers and practitioners from across the world have explored how to connect research and the public in innovative and meaningful ways in our Academies. Now it is your chance.
About the Hosts
The Collaborative Futures Academy is a collaboration between the University of Cambridge Public Engagement team, Wellcome Connecting Science, the Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science and the Public, Stellenbosch University, and the Berlin School of Public Engagement and Open Science. It is funded by UK Higher Education Innovation Funding, The Wellcome Trust, Robert Bosch Stiftung and Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.
