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2021 ASU Social Embeddedness Network Conference
We are no longer accepting presentation proposal submissions for the 2021 ASU Social Embeddedness Network Conference.
We encourage you to lean into the Conference theme and tracks of gardening, growth and spring. This event is an opportunity for a change of (virtual) scenery to exchange information, learn from each other, connect with others and amplify the work we do together. Have fun and get creative! Click here to learn more about the 2021 ASU Social Embeddedness Network Conference.
The 2021 Conference Planning Committee seeks to increase the diversity of presentations on the agenda and accessibility during the event. The selection process is competitive, with each application reviewed and weighted equally and not based on participation in previous ASU Social Embeddedness Network Conference events. We encourage you to think broadly about your work and its impact locally, regionally, nationally and/or globally.
Planting seeds for mutually-beneficial partnerships
Planting seeds for mutually-beneficial partnerships
Guiding questions:
- How do you start a community-university partnership?
- What are best practices or resources that establish the foundation for a mutually-beneficial partnership?
- Where did the need for this partnership come from?
- How do you know this collaboration is mutually beneficial?
- What strategies or techniques do you use to establish common ground/values?
What we’re looking for:
Share the story of how your own community-university partnership started and the work you do together, including how this collaboration benefits the partners and other possible stakeholders.
Cultivating relationships that last season over season
Cultivating relationships that last season over season
Guiding Questions:
- What structures or processes have you used or created that ensure these collaborations endure over time?
- When a formal project ends, should you maintain the relationship, and if so, how?
- What are best practices to help deepen existing relationships?
What we’re looking for:
Share the story of your own evolving or longstanding community-university partnership, the work you do together and how you care for the health of this relationship to ensure it continues to thrive and endure.
Companion planting to help each other thrive
Companion planting to help each other thrive
Guiding questions:
- How do you broaden university-community partnerships and expand them to increase other opportunities for collaboration?
- What does it look like to have multiple touchpoints with an external partner?
- How do you ensure that goals and values are aligned without duplicating efforts and while advancing the work and the relationship?
What we’re looking for:
Share the origin story of your community-university partnership, the work you do together and how the collaboration has expanded (or will expand) through additional projects or initiatives, additional touchpoints or connections, introductions to other collaborators, etc.
Adapting collaborations in this new climate
Adapting collaborations in this new climate
Guiding questions:
- What changes or adjustments have you made?
- What are the temporary or permanent features, and what skills do we need to collaborate successfully in this new climate?
- What can we do to enhance our relationships and communications with technology?
- What have you learned and what challenges have you encountered along the way?
What we’re looking for:
We are experiencing a new climate in community-university partnerships. Share the story of your own evolving or longstanding community-university partnership, the work you do together and how you care for the health of this relationship given the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing guidelines.
Preparing the environmental conditions to plant, grow and bloom
Preparing the environmental conditions to plant, grow and bloom
Guiding questions:
- How do you build organizational culture that embraces community-university partnerships and collaborations?
- What are the structures or processes that partners must have in place already in order to be prepared to collaborate?
- How might we leverage existing relationships or back-channel communications to seed possible collaborations?
- What are ways to articulate the value of/return on investing resources into collaboration outside of your organization?
- Whose buy-in do you need and how do you get support?
What we’re looking for:
Share what individuals can do in their organizations or teams to create a culture that values the knowledge, expertise and input of external collaborators. Describe the work you had to do separately to prepare, the work you do together and how this has impacted the way you view collaboration now.
Being able to see the forest of trees
Being able to see the forest of trees
Guiding questions:
- Where have partners revealed new information or helped you gain new insights that you wouldn’t have otherwise reached?
- How have you evolved your work to better connect with diverse perspectives, needs and opportunities?
- Individually, we might “miss the forest for the trees.” Partnerships can help us expand our view to see the forest. How do we form these alliances?
What we’re looking for:
Share the before and after story about the insights and perspectives partners gain from working together. Describe the work you do together and how this helps you see how your work contributes to the bigger picture. Community-university partnerships can help us gain a big picture understanding of complex issues.
Sharing the fruits of our labor
Sharing the fruits of our labor
Guiding questions:
- How do we determine what key milestones to establish? What do small and big wins look like?
- How do you manage realistic expectations among partners?
- And, how do you determine who gets the credit?
- What are strategies and tools to determine responsibilities, and how do you make sure that we all win?
What we’re looking for:
Share the story of how partners agree on the scope of the work, how responsibilities are determined and what it looks like to win together.
Enhancing diversity, inclusion, growth and opportunity
Enhancing diversity, inclusion, growth and opportunity
Guiding questions:
- How do we ensure that community-university partnerships are inclusive and participatory?
- What intentional action or resources might we leverage to ensure that historically underrepresented groups are engaged as equal partners in strategic planning, decision-making, implementation and review?
- What can partners do individually and collaboratively to always pursue the highest levels of social inclusion and impact?
What we’re looking for:
Share what actions partners have taken to accelerate meaningful change and contribute to a local and/or national agenda for social justice together. Draw from your own experiences, your ideas and creativity to share how your work benefits and includes underrepresented groups and individuals.
Deciding when to plant, replant and/or transplant partnerships
Deciding when to plant, replant and/or transplant partnerships
Guiding questions:
- At what point do you know when to reach out with an existing idea/collaboration vs. start a new partnership or project?
- How do you know when you are ready to start planting seeds?
- How do you get started in community engagement work?
- What are small steps those new to the field can take to begin building their community engagement profiles?
- When should collaborations grow? Move on? Or go dormant/end?
What we’re looking for:
Share the story of how you started your community engagement work together and the journey it took to get to where you are now. Describe how you make decisions about expanding partnerships, deepening relationships, sunsetting collaborations, etc.
Questions
If you want to know more about what we are looking for in greater detail, please review this document.
For any additional questions, please reach out to Christina Ngo, Director of Social Embeddedness, at christina.ngo@asu.edu.