Inaugural conference held for Partnerships Network

The Aziz Foundation has hosted an inaugural mini-conference to explore the formation of a Partnerships Network amongst its university partners. A range of representatives from partner institutions participated at the event, where discussions took place in respect to how the network could function.

The intention of the mini-conference was to consider the development of a forum for university partners – who have a stake in bettering the British Muslim student experience at the PGT level – to exchange knowledge and good practice in respect to impactful interventions that can lead to a more inclusive learning environment for Muslim learners. Furthermore, it considered the best way in which to pool the intellectual resources across partner institutions, particularly in the areas of EDI and WP.

Some of the discussion points at the conference included:

• The importance of equality between institutions from different mission statements being a key operating principle of the network
• The idea of facilitating knowledge exchange between regional partners – in addition to the holistic level – in order to tap into the ‘levelling up’ agenda
• Collaborating on data gathering methods, in particular emphasising the critical nature of complete datasets on protected characteristics, such as those on religion and belief
• Incorporating research functionality, drawing on different research strands such as on PGT widening participation and the lived experience of British Muslim students

After such constructive discussion between partner representatives, the Foundation is now looking forward to working closely with its allied universities in establishing and developing the network.