Public and Community Engagement: Impact Case Studies

At UEL, we are committed to supporting local, national, and glocal communities by working with and for them to generate new knowledge and meaningful impact. Our public and community engagement is embedded across learning, teaching, research, and knowledge exchange, creating an open and inclusive environment for collaboration. These impact case studies highlight how our work responds to community-identified challenges, harnessing university expertise and resources to build strong partnerships and deliver positive, real-world change.

Telling the untold stories- developing creative writing practices with survivors of domestic abuse

This project explores how creative arts can support healing and resilience for survivors of domestic violence. This pioneering collaboration with Broxtowe Women’s Project highlights how art can amplify survivor voices, challenge stigma, and foster social justice, offering audiences a powerful insight into the lived experiences of women affected by domestic abuse.

Linked staff member: Dr Roberta Garrett, Senior Lecturer

Diabetes Prevention Within Neighbourhoods and Local Communities

Dr Patricia Smith introduces the annual UEL diabetes conference, which is the centrepiece of community engagement and outreach in Newham and nearby boroughs, aiming to address community health-related topics (including diabetes), and bringing together researchers, academics, NHS and Public Health professionals, charities, voluntary groups, service users, students, and the wider public under one roof.

Linked staff member: Dr Patricia Smith, Senior Lecturer

Dancing with Dr E - the role of dance in early childhood education

This research project explores the role of dance in early childhood education. Through a dance-based intervention involving Level 5 and 6 early childhood education students at the University of East London, this project shows that structured dance sessions can support students’ professional development and confidence and highlight the potential of dance to reduce anxiety around arts-based activities and better prepare future practitioners for their work with young children.

Linked staff member: Dr Evgenia Theodotou, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies

Creative Walking for Wellbeing

Dr Claire Qualmann introduces a creative walking project and its effects on physical health, mental well-being, and social connection. Focusing on experiences during the pandemic, this project highlights how creative walking activities—such as chalked pavements, stone trails, creating challenges in neighbourhoods and playful interventions—helped reduce isolation and anxiety, supported wellbeing, and encouraged cultural participation.

Linked staff member: Dr Claire Qualmann, Director of Education & Experience, ACI

Using and innovative software to engage looked-after children and young people in the Personal Education Plan process

Craig Wilkie explains how UEL Rix Inclusive Research Centre’s innovative software (RIX Wiki) can be used to better engage looked-after children and young people in the Personal Education Plan (PEP) process. It highlights the challenges these vulnerable children and young people face, such as poorer educational outcomes, a higher likelihood of entering the criminal justice system, and limited agency in their lives, and shows how technology can amplify their voices in planning their education and future.

Linked staff member: Craig Wilkie, Research Fellow

Exploring Experiences within a Mentoring Programme: Perspectives from Undergrad Students and Alumni

This pilot project explores mentorship as an effective way to support undergraduate students’ and alumni's academic and professional development. Mentoring facilitates personal growth, improves confidence and communication skills, while also providing academic guidance, career advice, and networking opportunities. Mentors benefit by gaining leadership skills and fresh perspectives. The project aims to support Early Childhood Education students and alumni to learn and later implement mentoring in their educational practice.

Linked staff member: Rebecca Blake, Senior Lecturer

EAST LONDON HEROES - Ethnoacting in Virtual Reality environments for Growth Mindset

Ethnoacting in Virtual Reality (VR): Do It Yourself (DIY) Soft Skills is an innovative project inviting participants to engage in ethnoacting, repeating real-life testimonies while listening to them through headphones in a fully immersive VR environment. The VR setting replicates the world of testimony, enhancing focus, presence, and empathy. The project explores how VR can help various social groups and professionals develop essential interpersonal skills that support wellbeing. The EAST LONDON HEROES pilot study applies Ethnoacting in VR, where young people in Newham use virtual reality and ethnoacting techniques to build resilience, confidence, and a growth mindset, demonstrating the potential of combining creative performance with digital technology.

Linked staff member: Dr Evi Stamatiou, Senior Lecturer
Georgina Cox, Associate Professor in Nursing Associates (inc. Apprenticeships)
Volker Thoma, Professor

The Stopping Place- the History of the Roma Holocaust Opera

The Stopping Place is a new opera that draws on music from the Roma tradition to tell the history of the Roma Holocaust. Created and performed with artists of Roma heritage, the production also brings together a chorus, choir, and orchestra made up of secondary school students from Newham, East London. Through music, performance, and collaboration, the work aims to engage underrepresented artists, create engagement with new diverse communities, amplify Roma voices and connect young people and audiences with an often-overlooked chapter of history.

Linked staff member: Prof Dominic Hingorani, Director of Impact and Innovation for the School of Arts and Creative Industries

Crip Queer Performance for Breaking the Code of Silence

Not Fkin’ Sorry!** is a radical, queer punk Crip cabaret created by learning disabled and autistic artists that amplifies voices too often silenced. The film of this cabaret captures a powerful, life-affirming performance that confronts ableism, challenges misconceptions about disability and neurodivergence, and calls audiences to listen and act. The film forms part of a wider training and outreach programme aimed at driving cultural change and promoting disability justice in the arts and beyond.

Linked staff member: Dr Liselle Terret, Associate Professor in Performance

International PGCE Teachers Research

This video explores research on international Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) trainees and Early Career Teachers (ECTs) in England, focusing on barriers to training, employment, and retention. It highlights challenges such as visa sponsorship and access to teaching roles.

The study follows four cohorts over three years, examining systemic racism and curriculum inclusivity.

Linked staff member: Dr Sheeba Viswarajan, Senior Lecturer

Radical Play in Urban Design

Radical Play is a creative approach to urban design that uses play to bring people together and rethink how cities work. This video shows how participatory projects help communities build connections, address inequality and imagine new ways of living in urban spaces.

Linked staff member: Dr Catalina Pollak, Senior Lecturer

Paludiculture and Peat Soils Explained

Paludiculture is the practice of farming wet peat soils to reduce carbon emissions. This video explains how research at the University of East London is helping farmers adopt sustainable land use while protecting peatlands and supporting climate goals.

Linked staff member: Jack Clough, Research fellow

Pollution Pods: Experiencing Air Pollution

Pollution Pods is an immersive artwork that lets you experience air pollution from around the world. This video shows how the project uses real data to recreate global air conditions and spark conversations about health, inequality and environmental justice.

Linked staff member: Dr Michael Pinsky, Reader

Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases Explained

Ticks are parasites that feed on blood and spread diseases such as Lyme disease. This video explains how ticks survive, why their numbers are rising, and how research at the University of East London is improving prediction, diagnosis and prevention of tick-borne diseases.

Linked staff member: Sally Cutler, Professor

Digital Revenue and Cybersecurity in Nigeria

Nigeria loses billions each year through cybersecurity gaps in digital revenue systems. This video explains how research at the University of East London is helping improve security, increase revenue and support financial inclusion across the digital economy.

Linked staff member: Dr Bilyaminu Auwal Romo, Senior Lecturer