KCESP has been an organising partner of the Collaborative Futures Academy since 2023, along with the University of Cambridge Public Engagement team, Wellcome Connecting Science, the Berlin School of Public Engagement and Open Science (Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), and Stellenbosch University.
Each year we bring together a new cohort of public engagement practitioners and researchers from around the world to learn and reflect with us – sharing best practices, common frustrations, and innovative ways to make our engagement truly matter.
The Academy is a live, online teaching programme that is free to attend. Taking place over three days, with opportunities for further mentorship and follow-up, the CFA is not ‘just another zoom’ but rather a collaborative and creative community that stays connected long after logging out.
The 2024 programme drew 45 participants from 16 countries, and we are committed to increasing our diversity and our reach every year. See more about the 2024 programme in the resulting toolkit here, or the blog post here.
The 2025 programmme brought a global cohort together to think about the role of ‘Place’ in engagement. It successfully created lasting connections, as illustrated in this testimonial by Olivia (Uncomfortable Tours team):
“One of the most meaningful outcomes of the Collaborative Futures Academy has been the relationships it helped to build. Through the programme, I connected with Caitlin White from Trinity College Dublin, and our shared conversations about public history and social responsibility grew into a collaborative project. Together, we applied for SEED funding to develop a proof-of-concept “Uncomfortable Dublin Tour”, with Caitlin leading the work and Uncomfortable Oxford / Uncomfortable Tours contributing as collaborators and consultants. The application was approved in December 2025, confirming the value of the ideas and partnerships fostered through the CFA. The project will be developed between January and September 2026, and we look forward to sharing how this collaboration continues to evolve.”
Previous Academy themes include Sustainable Futures (2019), Pause, Reflect, Engage! (2021), Ethics and Equity in Engagement (2023), Emotions in Engagement (2024), ‘Place’ (2025).