GATHER/ IMPACT REPORT2014

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CONTENTS/

ABOUT GATHER

ADDING UP IMPACT

HIGHLIGHED GATHER VALUES Bringing people together Building community Thinking big Cultivating connections Offering space to share Understanding culture

GATHER BACKGROUND

MEETING UNIVERSITY STRATEGY

MOVING FOWARD

CONTACTS

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ABOUT GATHER/

“The Gather Festival was one of the moments I’ve been most proud of EUSA this year. In a lot of the work I’ve done around mental health at the University; students have brought up how hard it is to create meaningful communities and conversation when social interactions are many and vast but not particularly deep. What was excellent about Gather was seeing lots of people being brought together, slowing down and connecting with other people. I’m just sad it was so short but I hope the University realises how positive it was for our community and works on embedding the principles of the festival across University life.”

NADIA MEHDI Vice President of Edinburgh University Students’ Association

THOUGHTS ON GATHER/

Gather is an annual week-long festival celebrating culture, community, and the ethos of global citizenship on campus and beyond.

Organised by EUSA, the International Office, various University departments and student leaders, Gather took place from 14 to 22 March 2014. Additional support came from the Student Experience Project, the College of Humanities and Social Science, and the College of Science and Engineering.

Gather displayed a rich programme of events and activities run centrally, by Schools, by EUSA, by student groups, and by the local community. It was tied together visually through a student-designed concept.

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ADDING UP IMPACT/

23 student-run events

17 staff-run events

12 community events

52 EVENTS

ONLINE

IN PERSON

PRESS

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE

10,000 students via EUSA emails

11,615 students via EUSA Facebook

5,800 students via EUSA Twitter

16,000 Gather website page views in a month

50 events run by 47 different event organisers

Over 2,500 people attending events during the week

U21 Global Citizenship workshop, Nottingham University

Malaysia i Graduate Best Practice Exchange, London The National Union of Students Internationalisation Day, Sheffield University

Integration Summit, Warwick University (May)

STV article, 14.03.14 edinburgh.stv.tv

The Edinburgh Reporter article, 11.03.14 theedinburghreporter.co.uk

Edinburgh Now article, 19.03.14

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chai and a talk from the India Institute about Indian culture and the role of the mighty masala chai which has been drunk in India for thousands of years.

SCIENCE AT LARGEWith refreshments provided by Chemi-cal Cultures, schools at Science and Engineering hosted Science at Large for students and staff to showcase activities around a superconducting magnet race-track, Higgs Boson & CERN and x -ray free electron laser facilities!

BUILDING COMMUNITYThrough a strong visual identity and by bringing people together, Gather builds a stronger sense of belonging to the University of Edinburgh. Gather allows students the opportunity use their skills and knowledge to mould their student experience to a greater extent.

CONVERSATION ON KB COMMONSStaff and students came together to discuss how we can better use communal space at the King’s Buildings campus. Facilitated by the Estates Development

HIGHLIGHTED GATHER VALUES/

BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHERWe bridge gaps between students, staff, disciplines, campuses, and the city by gath­ering people in innovative ways for a wider and deeper understanding of all aspects of student life at the University of Edinburgh across academia, societies and the arts.

TAI CHI & CHAI TEAAttended by nearly 100 people, this fusion event included a Tai Chi beginners workshop in Bristo Square and an introduction to the role of Tai Chi in Chinese society from the Confucius Institute, followed by a welcome cup of

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The website allowed staff and students easy access to information about the events. The use of illustration as part of the brand identity gave the website, printed materials and merchandise a fresh, accessible feel.

TEDX UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH SALON: ENVIRONMENT & SOCIETYWith an audience of 50 people, the TEDx team at the University of Edinburgh presented one of their Salon events as part of the Gather programme at the Grassmarket Community Project. This smaller event was a combination of TED like talks and interactive spaces to

Team and EUSA, students and staff voiced their perspective on more study space and places for the KB community to come together socially.

GLOBAL STAR AWARDSTo celebrate the Gather Festival and the Global Star Award winners, staff and students organised a reception. Thanks to filmmaker Chris Rubey, the Modern Dance Society, and poet Rachel Rankin the event showcased some of the amazing talent at the University and provided an opportunity for different groups of people across the University to come together.

THINKING BIG AND OUTSIDE THE BOXGather captures and celebrates the vast amounts of resource and knowledge that lives within our University community by providing more opportunities to think outside the box.

ACT! FESTIVAL OF SOCIAL CHANGEACT! was a one day festival that shows the breadth of ways in which people can feel inspired to make informed decisions

about how to live their lives. Completely student run, the day included workshops based around skills not issues, as well as speakers, film showings, performances, and local food events. Over 400 people attended, team of 30 volunteers, 20 25 organisations involved. Film: http://edin.ac/1jM3aht

CULTIVATING CONNECTIONSGather is a catalyst in encouraging cross­disciplinary friendships, collaboration be­tween student societies, and facilitation in conversations between academics in order to make change.

VISUAL IDENTITYGather’s branding and concept was student-led and based around “tea” - a common yet diverse connection between cultures and an important part of how we “gather” together. This provided the festival with a strong visual identity, a consistent style, and vibrant colours.

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“Gather builds a stronger sense of belonging”

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“We bridge gaps between students, staff, disciplines, campuses, and the city by gathering people in innovative ways.”

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spark informal discussions on one of the Global Academy themes Environment and Society. The event featured two live speakers: Louise Horsfall and Chris Speed.

TEA CUPThe Tea Cup was a platform for various sporting events; the CamoMILE relay run, the international climbing workshops, a football World Cup tournament, and a tug-of-war. Over 200 people participated in the Tea Cup events.

OFFERING A SPACE TO SHARE STORIESBy providing a space for sharing stories and experiences, we enable our students to grow, learn and broaden their knowl­edge through alternative channels of communication.

BROWN BAG LUNCH WITH CRAFTIVIST FOUNDER20 people came to listen to Sarah Corbett, Founder of Craftivist, talk about her experience catalyst in the the craftivism movement (The Times featured her as the leader of one of the 5 “New Tribes” of

2012) using creative and crafty ways to communicate and inspire change.

UNDERSTANDING & CELEBRATING CULTUREGather is an opportunity to celebrate our diversity on campus and beyond, to better understand the similarities and differences within the student and staff experiences.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT CENTRE EVENINGOver 100 students gathered at the ISC’s International Evening which brought together traditional cuisine, dance and song to the table, including a clarinet band!

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“Being a part of the Gather Festival team was a truly valuable experience for me, both as a student and as a member. The opportunity to be a part of creating Gather has enriched my university experience. It has added to my understanding of student life as a time for learning, for new challenges and for reflections both within and outwith the classroom. Working in such a fast paced, creative and thoughtful team has been very inspiring, and the lessons learned have been priceless. Gather as a festival demonstrates a genuine will to create a meaningful, inclusive cultural festival that draws on the vast potential in our own student body,

by empowering them through each others’ culture. It shows an invaluable commitment to enhancing the student experience for everyone. Thanks for letting me be a part of the festival!”

THOUGHTS ON GATHER/

MARI WØIEN

4th Year Undergraduate & Gather Events Team Leader

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GATHER BACKGROUND/ Since 2008, the International Office and EUSA have hosted Global Horizons, a festival to celebrate the international student community and promote internationalisation at the University of Edinburgh. As our understanding of the global community on campus has evolved, we felt it was time to refresh and rebrand how we celebrate culture. Gather reflects not only internationalisation on campus, but the growing collaboration and innovation around it.

WHERE UNIVERSITY STRATEGY MEETS THE STUDENT EXPERIENCEThe University’s Strategic Plan highlights an enhanced student experience, external engagement, internationalisation, global citizenship and community impact. Our students are already active in these areas but sometimes disconnected from the top level strategy. We see Gather as a convergence of the two where strategy meets the grassroots.

INCREASED PROFILE FOR THE UNIVERSITYUniversities and Student Unions run cultural festivals all over the country. However, we don’t believe that these capture the holistic view of their university culture and community which Gather does. Through the development of a visual identity and a diverse programme of activity, Gather has increased the profile of the University of Edinburgh externally, with alumni, and even with its own students.

MEETING UNIVERSITY STRATEGY/ EDINBURGH AS A FESTIVAL CITYEdinburgh is the epicentre of interna-tional festivals. We should aspire to have a University festival which reaches the standard of the city festivals. We have a wealth of talent, skill, and passion within our own student community, many from other countries. Our performers are in our own classrooms.

BUILDING COMMUNITY BETWEEN USWe have learned from such initiatives such as TEDx and Innovative Learning Week that there is a strong need for community between staff, students, and academics. Our students (both postgraduate and undergraduate) have a lot to offer and if given the opportunity these skills and experiences can be used, shared, and valued. This is a powerful community.

ACROSS CAMPUS ENGAGEMENTDespite some obstacles, Gather brought people together from across the Univer-sity campuses and empowered Schools to host activities in their own spaces. With more support and planning, this can be expanded.

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MOVING FORWARD/ From the inaugural Gather festival, we aim to continue to develop and expand our reach in the community, on campus and beyond. A key ambition is to extend headline events to other campuses, especially the Kings Buildings and Easter Bush to ensure visibility and engagement with all students and staff. We will also be increasing the number of student interns that we will hire to ensure that student input to Gather remains high, and that there are more useful work experience opportunities for our students.

This autumn, a Gather taster will take place featuring 3 events. At this time we hope to engage our sponsors, prospective event planners, volunteers, collaborators and our target audiences. The autumn events allow those international students who join the University for just one semester the opportunity to get involved. We want as many new people as possible to join the conversation to help shape the project and the programme of events for Gather 2015.

“The foundation that Gather has established in terms of the values, identity and brand have given us something we can continue to build on in years to come. With the right support the opportunities to expand and grow in ways that further enhance student experience will be really exciting.”

THOUGHTS ON GATHER/

LORNA BRUCE

Marketing Team Leader, Gather Festival (International Office)

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CONTACTS/

ISABELL MAJEWSKYSponsorsisabell.majewsky@ed.ac.uk

JOHANNA HOLTANEventsjohanna.holtan@ed.ac.uk

LORNA BRUCEMarketinglorna.bruce@ed.ac.uk

GATHERUOE.WORDPRESS.COM

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