P09 SIG Practice Panel

Panel Chairs

• Dr Garth Britton, Connexity Associates Ltd (Corresponding Chair and Review Group Chair): garth@garthbritton.net 
• Professor John Diamond, Edge Hill University
• Christine Flynn, Australian Institute of Company Directors
• Associate Professor Sue Olney, University of Melbourne
• Professor Robert Shepherd, Carleton University
• Professor Rob Wilson, Northumbria University

Call for abstracts

The overall 2025 Conference theme underscores the importance of our understanding and critically reflecting on the ways in which civic institutions, universities and civil society can be supported in not only developing practice for engagement and social capital but also in learning from what we might describe as promising practices.

The Practice Panel welcomes contributions from researchers and practitioners working in these spaces as well those with a role in supporting and promoting such work. We are acutely aware that such work is not always straightforward and is often highly dependent on sustaining relationships of trust and integrity. We are aware that such relationships necessitate support and guidance for those just starting out as well as those who are experienced. We are also aware that those who are both academics and active practitioners in their field can face unique challenges in navigating research ethics processes and publishing peer reviewed research.

This Panel welcomes contributions from those doctoral students or early career researchers who are engaged with working across the boundaries of scholarship and practice as well as those based in city hall who are committed to working with the academy. We also welcome proposals from those city managers and leaders who are engaged with doctoral study drawing on their professional skills, knowledge and experience and their experience of occupying a more ambiguous space. The Panel will be seeking to include in one of our sessions the insights and experiences of those working in this way from the city of Bologna.

We invite proposals which seek to promote the maximum dialogue and opportunities for learning and engagement.