Team GB banner on Brynmor Jones Library

NEWS •

Team GB Knowledge Exchange event

  • Engaging Local Government
    Monday 16 November – 9.15 - 11 am | Register here
  • Knowledge Exchange in Heritage and Creative Industries, featuring History in Partnership with Team GB
    Friday 20 November – 9.30 - 11 am | Register here

 

A unique collaborative research project with our partner, Team GB is just one of the highlights of the University of Hull’s Knowledge Exchange Celebratory Week.

The week of events, which runs from Monday 16 to Friday 20 November, is designed as a celebration of the transfer of ideas, expertise and skills between the University, businesses and communities, in the hope of addressing real-world issues by increasing the impact of research.

Liz Jenkinson, Director of Knowledge Exchange at the University of Hull, said: “We are delighted to be celebrating the myriad of ways that knowledge is transferred between the University and its many stakeholders and partners in our first Knowledge Exchange Celebration Week.”

As part of the University’s exclusive partnership, Team GB commissioned an exciting research project which required the skills and expertise of our academics and students. Focusing on the history of Team GB and British Olympic Champions of the past, students researched the team’s past successes in order to inspire and support athletes in the run-up to the Games, connecting them with the team’s heritage and creating a strong sense of team identity, with the overall aim to improve performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

A webinar, which is the final celebratory event of the week, will take place on Friday 20 November in which students and academics will discuss their research and its mutual benefits. Titled Heritage and Performance: History in Partnership with Team GB​ and chaired by Professor Glenn Burgess, the webinar will also feature Team GB consultant, Owen Eastwood, research project lead, Dr Catherine Baker, project manager, Nicole Bateman, and students Grace Hawkins and Lewis Carter. Dr Jenny Macleod, senior lecturer in 20th century history and head of the University’s history department, also worked with students on the project.

Lewis, a third-year History student, said that he felt “privileged to be part of rediscovering the diversity of our sporting past”, and particularly because “sport is often treated as separate from the wider political and cultural spheres, when instead they are entwined”.

The webinar is one of seven events set to take place in Knowledge Exchange Celebration Week.

Liz said: “Knowledge Exchange brings our staff and students together with non-academic partners to increase the impact of research, making a difference to the ways in which questions, events or problems are understood and addressed around the world.

“Over the years the University has achieved many accolades for its knowledge exchange, such as a Guardian University Award for best Business Partnership. This year, we’re delighted to have launched our new Knowledge Exchange Strategy to guide our work over the next 5 years and ensure that this fantastic momentum is maintained.”

The University has a strong history of Knowledge Exchange. This dates from its foundation, when the importance of translating knowledge to practical use for the benefit of individuals and society was enshrined in its Royal Charter, to today, when its knowledge exchange continues to benefit the world, including in the fight against COVID-19.

As well as the Team GB event, the public also have the chance to hear a discussion on how best to engage with Local Government. Chaired by Professor Gerald Midgley, Professor of Systems Thinking at the University, and with panellists including representatives from local councils in the region, the aim is to use innovative approaches to the use of systems to create a happier, healthier local community. This event takes place on Monday 16 November.

Additional events taking place throughout the week include: Community Engagement and Archaeology (16 November), Working in Partnership to Tackle Modern Slavery (17 November), Dare to Bee: Knowledge Exchange in Student Entrepreneurship (18 November), Accelerating a Net-Zero Future (18 November) and Dialogue and Participation in Public Engagement (19 November). (These additional events are for internal registrations only).

The Knowledge Exchange history project follows an exciting range of Team GB activities on campus, including a marketing challenge for first-year students, a series of Team GB appearances where athletes have shared their personal goal-setting and medal-winning experiences with students, and a family sports event for local schools and colleges. In November 2018, one lucky student went to Tokyo to assist with a virtual reality project to help prepare athletes for Tokyo 2020.

The relationship covers a six-year period, and includes the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. This unprecedented partnership, announced in January 2019, is borne out of a synergy between the University’s ambitions and beliefs, and those of Team GB.

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