Introducing UPEN’s new Communities of Practice

Following a period of consultation and conversations with membership, and as ratified by our newly formed Executive Board in April 2026, we are excited to announce that UPEN is refreshing its subcommittees, which will henceforth become Communities of Practice (CoPs).

This change marks an exciting new chapter for UPEN, as we seek to renew a key component of our member offer.

Why we are making this change

At its heart, this move is about ensuring that our CoPs continue to operate as a dynamic and collaborative space where members can share knowledge, develop skills, exchange best practice and work together on strategic initiatives that contribute to the academic-policy engagement ecosystem.

CoPs are chaired by UPEN members and bring together knowledge brokers, academics, policymakers and external partners. Our CoPs will continue to inform UPEN’s strategic direction, not only through facilitating peer learning and building capability and capacity, but also through identifying shared challenges, and working with UPEN leadership to build new areas of work –  producing guidance and outputs that support the wider network – alongside strengthening relationships between universities and the wider policy community.

What is changing

There are a few important changes that this transition brings:

• A formal and structured model. The remits of UPEN’s CoPs will be more clearly defined than was the case for legacy subcommittees. Each will operate under agreed Terms of Reference and will be strongly encouraged to maintain a wide-ranging and diverse membership.
• Member-led. CoPs are drive by member need and will be encouraged to work on issues and projects important to their membership. As part of the restructure, the UPEN Executive Committee – made up of subcommittee chairs has been discontinued and replaced by a smaller Executive Board.
• Greater self-sufficiency. Some central UPEN support will be provided, but CoPs will be largely expected to be self-sufficient, seeking external funding and support to deliver pieces of work.

Meet our Communities of Practice

We are pleased to launch the following CoPs, each chaired by members from our network:

• Areas of Research Interest (ARI) Practitioners, chaired by Clare Stainthorp (UCL) and Rich Pickford (Nottingham Trent University)
• Arts and Humanities, chaired by Laura Bea (UCL / University of Southampton) and Rebecca Di Corpo (Bath Spa University)
• Place, chaired by Rebecca Riley (University of Birmingham)
• International, chaired by Yaryna Basystyuk (University of Southampton) and Will Pryor (University of Oxford)
• Research Communication in Curriculums, delivered in partnership with POST
• Knowledge Mobilisation, chaired by Hannah Durrant (Wales Centre for Public Policy, Cardiff University)

Our Arts and Humanities, Research Communication in Curriculums, and Place Communities of Practice will be running elections for new and additional co-chairs. Sign up to hear more about this.

Thanking our previous sub-committees

As part of this restructure, our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Professional Development subcommittees have been discontinued. UPEN remains firmly committed to equity, diversity and inclusion. The decision to step away from the sub-committee format was made by the EDI subcommittee itself, which agreed that the committee format was not the most effective way to advance conversations or embed EDI across UPEN’s work.

We want to recognise the excellent work the EDI subcommittee has conducted since its inception, and we will be celebrating this with a renewed roadmap and direction of travel soon. Former members of the subcommittee are working with our Executive Board to integrate EDI throughout UPEN’s activity, including the development of an EDI action plan, a dedicated webpage, and a research-based tool for knowledge mobilisers.

Our Professional Development Sub-Committee, led by Neil Heckels, Alison Clarke and Audrey Tan, has likewise been discontinued, with its work now absorbed into our UPEN Programmes investment under the ‘People’ strand.

Get involved

Our investment from UKRI is enabling UPEN to scale its activity and innovate. Whether you want to share expertise, collaborate on shared challenges or simply connect with peers facing similar questions, there has never been a better time to join. Membership of existing CoPs is open to all members with an interest in the areas covered. Our intention is to launch a call for new CoPs during the next academic year, so please watch this space.

Join a Community of Practice today.