Member Article

Universities on the look out for 'every day experts'

University researchers are searching for ‘everyday experts’ in the North East who can help come up with new ideas around ageing, vitality, energy and the environment. They are particularly interested to hear from people who have no formal training in these areas but do have valuable life experience and are keen to help influence future research.

This work will be part of the £1.2 million Beacon project, a four-year pilot bringing together Newcastle and Durham Universities and the Centre for Life, which aims to connect local people with expertise available in their area.

Dr Tom Wakeford, director of the Beacon project, said: “The idea is to make universities more open to learning from local people’s own life experiences as workers, patients or carers. They bring a fresh perspective and will often ask better questions than academics. It’s important to include them in decisions about where our research needs to be heading in the future.

“By bringing ‘everyday experts’ together with academics, we can get the best of both worlds and really make a difference to the issues that affect all of us living in the North East and beyond.”

Young people in the region are already involved in the Beacon through the Climate Change Schools Project, run by Dr Krista McKinzey at the Science Learning Centre North East (SLCNE) at Durham University. The project aims to show how developing technologies can lead to a more sustainable world. To get the message around the region, the project uses an electric Smart car, charged by the SLCNE’s own wind turbine.

The Beacon project needs to recruit 15 people for its steering group, and is open to application from anyone from 16-years-old upwards, covering an area from the Scottish border across to Cumbria and down into North Yorkshire. Members will have to meet four times a year, and travel and any care costs will be reimbursed. For more information about the Beacon and becoming a member of the steering group, contact beacon@ncl.ac.uk before 27 May 2008.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .